Of An Election

Well, in a few short days, what I have been found to be a torrid, awful, tedious, abridged Election Campaign will be over.I am glad to have the opportunity to vote.I am glad that I live in a country where we haven’t, in living memory, had to risk everything to overthrow repressive brutal dictatorial regimes in order to become empowered.I lean to the Right politically. I am quite open about that. I’m strongly a National supporter.However, I live in an Electorate where National isn’t represented well. National has put little or no resource into campaigning there. The incumbent MP is a Labour candidate. So, I have, on this occasion, taken some time to consider some alternatives.An electorate vote for my National candidate is wasted. She will lose handsomely.An electorate vote for my Labour candidate is not wasted. It doesn’t really gain him his seat as he’s going to win easily, but it does give him more influence in the forthcoming Leadership challenge post-election. (And oh yes, Goff is gone...!). Having done a little bit of research on him I do think he may be the person to renew and revitalise a tired Labour Party.My Party Vote. Now this is interesting. I know where it’s going. However, in my considerations, I actually did ask myself the question “What would it take for the Green Party to win my Party Vote”?And surprisingly, not that much.If they moved to the Centre of the political spectrum, and focused on the environment, with accurate costings and accurate “How we’re going to pay for it”, they could become a perfect party of balance who could work with anybody.There is a caveat. As long as they have ranting ideologues such as Robyn Malcolm, they can’t. Of course, the Greens worldwide have figured out that if you have party leaders that can wear suits and speak well, they’ll gain traction.However, as we have discovered with the vandalism of National billboards (and breaking of Electoral Law), there is still a grassroots aspect of the Greens that simply hate the Right. In whatever form it takes. It’s not a reaction to any policies per se, it’s just a “hate the right” mentality, which will take a generation or more to outgrow.So, voting aside, what has bothered me about this cycle?I hate the personal attacks. The attacks on our leaders and MPs - how they look, how they talk etc. These things are irrelevant. And I haven't enjoyed seeing people indulge in these cheap shots. For example, Cunliffe about Judith Collins. Completely unnecessary. I hate the attacks on individuals because they don't adhere to the same policy beliefs as the attackers.There’s not been a lot of debate on actual policy. So we, the people, have missed out.I have been horrified at what I perceive to be media grandstanding. Minor issues have been turned into mountains. Journalists not addressing policy. Journalists not asking questions of politicians that they should. Journalists not holding them to account on our behalf. Journalists not exploring things like "Who in the Green Party knew of the orchestrated vandalism"?We have seen a few ‘personalities’ making it about them and their media company, rather than about the campaign. I think it’s really important that in a campaign, the media go neutral. Ours have not.I have been dismayed at some of Labour’s tactics of the last week. Fear-mongering pamphlet drops. Prevarications (Police numbers). Distortions (Asset Sales). Prior to that, wild policy releases with the caveat “As resources allow”.This is a time of necessary global fiscal restraint. NZ is a tiny economy and we simply can’t continue to spend more than we earn. As individuals, this is good policy. We need to reduce debt. Across the board.It’s been a very hard 3 years, and trust me. The next 3 years are going to be more challenging. Europe’s economy is imploding. Do you think that will affect us? Of course it will.We also have the Voting System referendum. Do we retain MMP? Modify it? Explore an alternative? There is a lot to like about MMP but there are also some aspects I don’t agree with. I hate Party Lists. I don’t like the idea that an electorate can remove an MP who hasn’t served them at all, and then that MP is returned, without a mandate or electorate responsibility, to Parliament.So STV? SM? I’m still researching. I’ll probably make that call on Saturday.Soon it will all be over. Can't wait.Oh.. and my voting for David Shearer? I actually was leaning that way. However, despite him seeming to be a good guy, with a heart for social justice, he is in a party that has gotten very nasty. He could effect change. I hope he does. But I simply can’t give my vote to anyone who is associated with Labour after this campaign.- S