It's beautiful this morning. But that's everything to do with the weather, and nothing to do with politics. Or the election.
Yesterday' election finished up as a ringing endorsement of no-one.
Labour got 150000 votes fewer than last time.
National got 100000 fewer, with the votes of around one-third of the country's eligible voters.
Don Brash won no more votes as leader than Rodney Hide had been on track to make
Hone won his seat, with his dream-team of celebrity whingers in tow, but only 7000 voters in total rated him in his own electorate, and the rest of the country told the whingers to go to hell.
So the winners were really those folk who stayed home yesterday and didn't vote. Around one million of you.
And Winston.
And the Greens.
And MMP, without which neither of these entities would have a political future.
And John Banks. National's 63rd MP.
Banks's survival as Act's single solitary MP might at least relieve AT's congential caucus infighting, but it will kill the ACT project stone dead--kill it far more effectively than if the Party had missed out altogeher on an MP, because with Banks as their lone voice no-one in the party, least of all the keen, energetic knowledgable youngsters who are its core , will be able to preyend any longer they are a "classical liberal."
Banks is not a classical liberal, or any kind of liberal. If the future for ACT is Banks and only Banks, then ACT has no future.
Time perhaps for freedom lovers of all persuasions to combine together to form a real freedom party ready for 2014--a Party of All Talents that combines the talents and abilities of freedom lovers from acros the board.
Because in three years time, after Global Ginancial Collapse II, this country is going to be desperate for the answers only a real freedom coalition can offer.
Let's start talking now.
And what about the future for National under MMP?
Well, that future was so clear it makes you wonder about the supposed political acumen of Mr Key and his strategists. This election sees his party at a historic high water mark of support, yet under MMP it is still struggling to pull together a government. And when National's high tide goes out, as it inevitably will, under MMP it might struggle to form a government ever again.
Yet John Key did not bother to spend even a cent of his enormous political capital to campaign against MMP.
So this election's winners are few indeed.
And they don't include Phil Goff. Or the people of Christchurch, who in a sign they might have developed Stockholm Syndrome, voted to keep and even add to their National MPs.
So perhaps they, and and the rest of the country, deserve what they're going to continue to get: More of the same, with knobs on.
15 comments:
indeed it is high time for a freedom principled party. How will the Libz reconcile with Freedom loving people who also happen to have Religion? In the past religion has been the biggest restriction for freedom, but is that the case today?
Key screwed up with MMP. But what more do you expect from the parting gift of the Jealous failed conveyancing ticket clipper from the Manawatu; the one and same who enacted Liarbore's anti-freedom of speech law in all but name.
"Because in three years time, after Global Ginancial (sic) Collapse II, this country is going to be desperate for the answers only a real freedom coalition can offer."
You guys remind me of Linus van Pelt and the Great Pumpkin. The resemblance is uncanny.
clumsy keystrokes on a morning after a night of commiseration at the loss of freedom's cause is all you can come up with as an argument?
Do you not think GFCII is headed our way, if not why not? What miracle cure for Europe's, USA's, China's, NZ's sovereign debt crisis are you proposing?
The one PC proposed a long time ago has been poo-poohed by all the incumbent gravy trainers, because it will sever their ability to rort the system quite as much as they do now. But it's time is coming again. It will take a bold Govt to accept it, and implement it. Perhaps if Keyster did so it would set NZ up to get back into the top 10 OECD countries, as the rest would all fall tot he wayside. Instead he will carry on printing and spending money we don't have, on the unproductive, to reap more of the same. The old saying never lies, you always get more of what you pay for.
So, the death knell of the voting public's* dabbling in libertarian values** rings... rejected and [farcically] supplanted by arch conservatism. Colin Craig's outing demonstrates breathing space on the right, as long as you're not a complete loon.
We get what we deserve eh? I'll settle for it. The alternative is worse.
* Well, Epsom's voting public. Or, Epsom's National Voting Pulic, to be accurate. And Act on Campus. They're too young to have voted before anyway.
** Yeah, I'm putting you in the same bucket as Act. Libs barely broke through the 'friends & family' threshold though, so better to have a target worth firing at.
"the rest of the country told the whingers to go to hell."
Um, yeah, they failed dismally, but still got over ten times the libbo's vote, so where does that leave you? Oh I know, JUST WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR!!!
Libz increased their actual number of votes, even though the turnout was down, and they had essentially no opportunity to sell their message.
Sheeple Don't Think. Sheeple just do what they're told to do. Thats just the way they have been programed. Its not their fault because the sheeple don't know any better.
Perhaps when dire economical adversity threatens to turn them into mutton, they'll wake up and see the grass is indeed greener on the other side.
Who knows? I hope so. In the mean time we don't all have to settle for penned in pastures, less freedom and scarcity no matter what the status quo would have you believe. No siree!
@tvr Why did the Libz 'have no opportunity to sell their message'?
You sound like an apologist. In my opinion the truth is that the Libz are an extremely intelligent bunch of very knowledgeable political wonks. They also have actual, real, political philosphy and theory to back up their statements....
But, they seem to lack the fire and will to actually mount an effective campaign and some of their more extreme statements ('All tax is theft', point of a gun' etc) are just too much for the average punter to stomach.
I would welcome the creration of a political movement along the lines of what PC proposed in his post..... but first those considering it would have to ask themselves if they really WANT to achieve it, or whether its all just a pleasant way to fantasise over a glass of boutique ale.
The Libz haven't been denied any opportunity any more than, say Colin Craig, who got 2.76% from a standing start in just a couple of months.
In my opinion the only winners yesterday were once again, The Ruling Elite.
It didn't matter who voted or who did not vote. Thanks to the sheeple they still have their bogus jobs for another three years. Well done sheeple.
Alas, it will take something akin to hyper inflation, followed by a blackhole depression to bring them to their senses.
It will have to get a hellava lot worse before it gets better!
Fortunately there are enough Socialists anxious to get their hands on other people's money to make sure it WILL get a lot worse!
..and if you really want to know, the grass IS greener on the other side... of the Tasman!
Yep, if you're really lucky there will be a massive economic collapse and accompanying misery. The libbos can ride to the rescue. Wouldn't that be great! You guys are so classy.
Mr Incandenza. Libertarians ask to be left alone. How come that bothers you so?
twr, we're not dumb here. So we know the libz got 5,000 votes once. So claiming they "upped" their votes is in plain language that every libz member convinced only 2 other people in the country.
And that despite that the libz had the best videos in this campaign.
Do Libz actually /want/ to win anything? (Serious question. I've voted Libz in every election in which they've been on the ballot; last election there was a Libz member standing in my electorate, and I voted for him, too. But I'm not expecting them to /win/. I'm curious where they actually /want/ to win.)
Greg, I voted Libz in 2008 and also 2011. I'm starting to question whether I have wasted my vote because, I think that the Libz don't know how to campaign, second they don't know how to prioritize issues that they need to campaign on. They should need to campaign on 3 most important issues that matters much to voters and everything else should be demoted way down the list of issues, like legalization of marijuana or homosexual marriage, etc.
I think that Libz have tried to campaign on too many issues thus leaving voters puzzled as to what are they standing for.
Libz have to tone down their messages so that an average dumb voter can understand. That's just basical psychology. The message must be relayed in a way that the voter understands. After that, then the re-education of the voter must be followed, with the usual erudite articles that PC posted here. There's no point on writing excellent intellectual articles here, when you can't convince readers to come here first, because Libz stands for something.
Next election, I may consider the Conservative Party to vote for.
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