I put up with last night’s fireside chat as much as was tolerable, then swapped the television for my book. At my age time is of the essence and I don’t have it to waste.
The problem of course is there’s basically no substantial difference policy-wise between Labour and National, thus so-called debates are reduced to trivia.
My sympathies went out to our political journalists with the impossible task of writing something interesting about all of this.
That said, I was staggered to read Mike Hosking’s report, specifically his criticism of the moderator John Campbell.
Hosking wrote, “If John Campbell learned to stop thanking people over and over – and over again, if he trimmed his question from a lengthy tedious dissertation and stopped summing up each section with a lot of “this is a good debate,” “gosh it’s good to have you here…” they could have saved 22 minutes”.
Mike must have been drunk when he wrote that. It was the equivalent advice to asking Campbell, who has developed unctuousness to an art form, to pull out a knife and hack his legs off.
12 Comments
That’s the best laugh I’ve had in days. Totally agree, both with Mike’s comments, and yours which had me sniggering for 10 minutes. As an aside, I didn’t watch the debate, being unable to stand looking at or listening to two of those on screen.
I watched the first 45 minutes until I couldn’t stand it anymore. I thought it was mostly meaningless blather from both sides and nauseating virtue signalling and faux humility from Campbell. I liked the response to Taxcinda: “We have $14B in the covid fund” from Judith: “Pfffft, it’s all borrowed money”. I also think the current polling is soft and NZ voters know that Labour will tax them to death if they govern alone or (by some miracle) with the Greens. On election day the public will vote with their wallets and there will be a National Government supported by the likely increased number of ACT MPs.
2023, yes, after the nation realises what a mess Labour has made of the economy, but not this year. No, we have three years of a Labour-Green Communist government to eagerly look forward to.
“We have $14B in the covid fund.” Jacinda Ardern and Labour love to talk about ‘borrowed money not yet spent’ as ‘savings’. They are economic illiterates. Children are in charge of the economy.
Bob, Campbell looks, dresses and talks like an undertaker.
Although he is a raging leftie I thought his chairing of the debate was extremely fair.
Collins won hands down.
The reason was that Ardern, without a speech writers notes to read from , or Mallard’s availability for protection – as in the House, was reduced to a skeletal “ empty suit.”
She merely talked of empty platitudes, hands flapping like a sign reader, head bobbing and frowning while Judith went for the jugular.
Meanwhile, Seymour cleaned up in Queenstown against Robertson.
Hope indeed for the right in three weeks.
Empty platitudes always worked for the beautiful, but largely inconsequential Obama.
My gym has big TVs and no sound and I ‘look’ at ghastly morning TV. Mr Campbell, strangely enough, is worse when the sound is off as are Anderson Cooper and Chris Cuomo on CNN. TVNZ could dispense with the guests and have Mr Campbell do both sides.
That was the longest time in the past 3 years that I can recall actually looking at Arderns face instead of the top of her head as she is usually head-down furiously reading the narrative already written for her by the army of woke speech writers. No wonder she looked so fragile & uncomfortable having to actually think on the hop to answer questions. The difference between these 2 women was laid bare last night; Judith relishing the chance to flex her experience whilst the other looked lost & outclassed. While Judith has depth, Ardern demonstrated that she has as much depth as a supermarket car-park puddle in Darwin in mid summer. With ACT on a roll & hopefully Winston & the Greens consigned to the landfill, this is going to be better entertainment than 1984 (sorry Bob)
Poor Jacinda was not at her best..Perhaps it was just me but for some reason she bore an uncanny resemblance to 70’s pop star Tiny Tim (sans ukulele mind you)…Judith Collins wisely resisted the urge to look for the knockout punch knowing that it would not help her cause…
Didn’t even bother. I know who I’m voting for and I also know one person would throw up lies, misdirects, utter nonsense and pure BS while asking us to be kind, love everyone, constantly reminding us how she saved our lives. After 30 seconds of her I develop a burning desire to throw something at her destroying the TV in the process.
Great to hear Judith showed her up for what she is … an empty vessel with teeth and a smile. And sadly about to destroy the country totally.
They’re both poll-driven drones. They have to be, to survive politically.
Who are the real politicians? The opinion makers: The media, hollywood, universities, etc. The rest is just a boring sports show. So you’re right Bob – don’t waste your time.
Didn’t watch the “debate”. Thought it would be no different to two women arguing over a bag of spuds at the supermarket. Seems I wasn’t wrong.