Oh, really? Detail from a photo at Sarah Palin rally today (pic by Dave Weigel - click)
Photo by Dave Weigel, last mentioned at ThePaepae.com when he resigned from The Washington Post after being exposed as having opinions (gasp!), see: Do your opinions invalidate your reporting?. Weigel now writes at Slate with today’s piece Sarah Palin’s Big Day Out.
That sugared John Le Carré-style honey trap (‘Conservatives Have More Fun!’) is kinda undermined by the regulation cargo pants (and is that David Farrar in the background, on the left(!) also in cargo pants, with his back to us? Neh!)
Anyway, there IS a new Conservative Party here in New Zealand, founded by the [by all reports] carefree and fun-loving Colin Craig, who is standing against ‘awful‘ ACT/National retread John Banks in Epsom. UPDATE: as a candidate in the Rodney electorate. See Dom Post.
Newly-formed Conservative Party of NZ is standing Colin Craig (above) in Epsom (click)
I wonder if Colin Craig will adopt this ‘Conservatives have more fun‘ sloganeering from the US, in fine The Hollow Men tradition. (Oh, hang on, that didn’t work out quite so well for Don Brash …)
Apparently, just to prove the (NZ) Conservative Party promises oodles of fun for the whole family, you can start with this neato quiz: ‘How Conservative Are You?’ (Oh boy! You know I’ve always wondered about that.)
Time is a precious thing and of course not everyone is going to be a conservative voter. So for the benefit of all readers here is a checklist of key principles and policies. You might like to check the boxes provided as you go and score your “conservative total” at the bottom.
Go on. You know you want to find out ... (click)
To paraphrase Nathan Hale, I only regret that I have but one vote to cast for my government.
Oh, hang on, MMP — two votes. Nice.
– P
I think this is a bit bit of hollow link here to the US. If you will excuse the pun.
Stephen, thanks for your comment. Hmpf! Think of it as an exercise in ‘compare and contrast’.
I’m sure Colin Craig’s Conservatives have their campaign strategy nailed down by now and won’t adopt the ‘Support us because we’re more fun’ approach promoted in that US banner.
That said, (and on a serious note): If you care to take a look at the questions in the ‘How Conservative Are you?’ questionnaire — count the dog-whistle statements.
At first blush the ‘test’ looks like an efficient way to put policy ‘out there’, but on closer inspection it resembles the sort of soft-voter-seeking-say-nothing-spin peddled by Don Brash’s local and imported spin doctors in the lead up to 2005.*
What do you think?
– P
*UPDATE: With exceptions, of course, like stopping asset sales & the ETS, which seem unequivocal.
While it is not a policy document, that’s for sure. I though it was broad but it still will drop a few voters out (Dropping the ETS, Sale of state assets). No greens going for him. I am not sure as the conservatives are yet to release more policy but he could be going for a broad base appeal.
That being said most political statements are spun. Just depends who reading it.
‘Broad base appeal’?
I must say, Stephen, the notion of ‘Conservative Party policy’ looks a bit like window-dressing for a spoiler attempt by Colin Craig against ACT and John Banks in particular. (Which he is perfectly entitled to do with his time and money.)
That’s how it’s being taken by ACT people, and others, I think.
from ‘Dreams of Act’s demise’ NZ Herald 31 July 2011:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10741939
There may be more to it, and no doubt Mr Craig and his supporters have good intentions…
– P
I don’t think a brawl between Act and the Conservatives will do either that much good. That is if he means to go for the center right vote. There are definitely some unhappy voters in that space.
I am not big fan of rushing to conclusions as others have done.
But I think we will be able to tell more about Colin intentions whenever he reveals where he will stand/ who he decided to stand with.
That being said he not shy of getting up john bank’b
Without leaping to conclusions, I had the impression that the formation of a ‘party’ purportedly standing in multiple electorates increased the amount of funds able to be expended in campaigning than could be expended by an independent candidate…
– P
No sure on that, guess we will have to wait and see
Graeme Tyree joined Conservative Party of NZ after ten years of no party affiliation in Nelson. Very happy to know The Electoral Commission registered the Conservative Party on 06.10.11. I’m lobbying for a party List with 15 Members.
It seems people have joined from at least five previous party backgrounds; mostly centre-right and progressive thinkers. Plenty of Campaign nous to draw upon ! Hoping to see good gender balance and ethnic spread. Probably room for up to five middle-aged pakeha males, if the Conservatatives want to resonate with the makeup of Kiwiland in this century. Early policy indications are rough around the edges, so obviously some very photogenic, media savvy and technically competent Spokespersons are needed to fill in the details and front for Panel discussions and interviews.
I favour a carbon tax at $25 per tonne of CO2 being introduced asap, and including NZ dairy industry. This will be cheaper than the National Party plan to have taxpayers pay subsidies for at least 50 years. Animal feedstocks and ruminant bacteria are being developed to greatly reduce Methane emissions; which are twenty times more potent than CO2, and make up 49% of NZ greenhouse gas pollutants. No excuses to delay action on protecting our life-support system. Use the best technology commercially available, and leave this planet in better condition than we inherited.
Regarding the future of Maori Electorate seats; Democracy can crush minorities. As Maori are around 15% of the population, a simple majority vote will never address their concerns. How about a Referendum requiring 65% of registered Maori voters to participate, and requiring a majority of those votes cast to decide the issue for all time ?
The Conservative Party quicky gained 3.5% support in horizonpoll and around 3000 paid members by 31.10.11. I’ve seen their Candidate List; it looks promising, with good gender and ethnic mix, vocational skills / professional experience, geographic and age range. Seeing the blue flyer “What do you really Want?: a quick reflex response indicates people assume it is National Party propoganda, however the back page headline “every vote counts” gains high acceptance. How come the Sunday Star Times article of 06 Nov ’11 did not include an assessment of the new Conservatives ? Their SST article well summarised the policy issues and candidate profiles of nine other parties. Recommended read: article by Rod Oram : “Does National have a plan” ??? No wonder the business community is seriously worried !
Mr Craigs’ comments on “keeping the State out of the nations’ bedrooms” have a curious irony in that he has failed to endorse (or even acknowledge) the colourful and broad spectrum of usual human sexual expressions. Homosexuality is readily observed in over 300 species; homophobia in just one. Which century was Colin raised in ? He comes across as being rigidly Victorian (in his official position, anyway). As for the Hon. John Banks; aaaah, well, the most repressed personalities tend to shout the loudest about their private phobias. Just sayin’ …
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