Transtasman Political Letter – 25 August Digest

25th August 2005

This was raw, brutal, no-holds-barred politics
... Forget chivalry, forget the pallid campaigns of the past decade, Election 2005 is shaping up as a tooth-and-claw contest
... Labour is playing for keeps ...Will Brash become more brash before it’s too late?
... Do voters mind being bribed with their own money?
... And will other issues now stand up: big Govt versus small state, Govt-knows-best versus choice and freedom.

Clark Scents Victory As Labour Narrows The Odds

PM Helen Clark scores the first week of the election campaign as a clear win for Labour: its family tax relief package blunted what National offered, and National has been left, after over-egging its tax breaks, as a “one-trick pony.”

Nats Up Against Hardball Politics...

National’s determination to set the election agenda has been knocked sideways by the Labour Party, which has played hardball ruthlessly week by week, leaving National strategists asking themselves what further shots their opponents have still in the locker.

...But Nats Buoyed By Tax Package Reaction

The National camp, surprised though it may have been by the ferocity of Labour’s charge, was positively chipper this week, buoyed by the reaction to its tax package. Polling since the tax package was introduced shows the gap closing.

Bad News For Integrity Of Electoral Process

The tax debate has developed into an unseemly greed-based rush to website calculators to see how much in the way of benefits can be extracted from the two major competing parties: this spells bad news for integrity of the electoral process.

CAPITAL TALK

The cheerleading group of Nats that ruffled Labour feathers at TV-One’s first “Leaders Debate” were assembled by the Nats regional chair Scott Simpson. Labour President Mike Williams' post-debate humour was apparently not improved when Simpson and his mates cranked up a streetside chorus of “Thank you very much for your high taxation” as he left TVNZ’s studios ...

PLAY OF THE WEEK - Nasty, Nastier, Nastiest

The big showdown between Helen Clark and Don Brash on TV1 this week was a bit of a shambles. Attracting most of the attention though was Don Brash’s comments afterwards that he was not as rude as he would have liked to be because Helen Clark is a woman.

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