Justice

How to win an election (Part 1)

By Ant / 1 March 2008

Okay, so here’s the thing. Labour are well behind in the polls. Of course, no one pays them a blind bit of notice. But were they to be given a moments thought the fact that the party and the Prime Minister are now in the nations proverbial Dog House might cause one or two to wonder how, exactly, they might claw things back.

Contrary to this, of course, John Key and his band of merry men (and women) are reveling in their good fortune. Ahead in the polls, it seems almost inevitable to some people that they will lead the next Government. It’s not that they have something persuasive to offer (although from youtube evidence, he at least seems to know his apples from his oranges) – there are no significant policy offerings that will radically improve the nations social, personal and moral welfare any better than they could be advanced by the present government.

It’s largely that the present government looks like it has been running a marathon, and the opposition are just getting warmed up. Energy, or the perception of it, counts for a great deal in politics. That and ‘openness’. Image can be everything. And Labour, in some ways to their credit, have never been especially good at making the most of what they have.

Take the raft of announcements in the PMs speech recently at the beginning of the parliamentary year. Radical changes to how social service agencies will be funded were announced, but pass us by as generally irrelevant – and well they might be for this government, because the fruits of their policy may only be realised after they are out of office. No doubt leaving room for the incumbent government to take the credit.

If all this seems a little doom laden for Labour, here are a few thoughts on turning it around.

Firstly, get us excited. We’re not going to be interested in voting for things that don’t connect with our hearts. Convince us you have something worth sticking with. And please, Michael Cullen, don’t tell me I’ve never had it so good! Rekindle in yourselves the spirit of a people who have passion and hunger for what they do, or make room for people who do. That kind of spirit is infectious. Be authentic. Get us excited about the future. There’s a saying in group dynamics – to plan a party, have a party.

Second, get coordinated. Half the time it seems as though one portfolio doesn’t know what the other is doing. You can’t have sustainable integrated policy being developed if people continue to act independently.

Thirdly, look to the future. As I’ve been saying now offline for about the last nine months, there are at least two likely successors to Helen Clark: Phil Goff and David Cunliffe. While Goff’s been around Parliamentary politics for a lot longer, there is little doubt that this is a two edged sword. Cunliffe has cunning, for sure, but he also has passion and a commitment and ability to make a a real and positive difference to this nation’s political scene. Perhaps his ‘arrogance’ is nothing more than commitment and determination, and a real belief in what he is doing (and in this game, if you don’t believe in yourself, no one else will). Perhaps it’s time, if not for a new leader, at least for a reordering of rhetoric. Perhaps it’s time for the government’s voice to echo more strongly the voice of it’s Minister of Health, if not in word (because he can be a man of few of them) at least in intent. By the way, I’m delighted to hear that sentiment at least in part echoed in today’s Dominion Post.

Fourth, don’t underestimate how bored people can be with simply looking at the same, old, tired faces, uttering the same well worn, tedious, irritating rhetoric, day in, day out, for ten years. Whatever good policy you may announce, it needs to connect with people where they are. It’s failing to do that. However much good has been done, people have a habit of remembering and recalling the other stuff, don’t they. Why not take time to remind us, graphically, of the good…

Fifth, re-orientate, re-locate, re-engage. Nuff said. Much of it in these other paragraphs.

Sixth, get your laughing gear around some bold policy. Stop ignoring the reality that, for instance, the best way of removing the statistical tail of poverty in our nation is the introduction of a universal child benefit. Hey, don’t take my word for it – listen to what Holly Sutherland and others have told you. (BTW, the ‘tail’ of people who live in poverty despite the various attempts to lift income which simply benefiting the middle-ish classes to encourage them to vote, because we all know a child from kindergarten could name three reasons why trickle down is a joke). Of course, your tension is you think it will lose you votes, cost too much, or be badly received. But look at it this way – there is very little to lose, and it’s closer to what the labour party stand for – the very core of your beliefs and passion – than so much else that you end up announcing: how can you afford to finish your term without announcing it? As in previous decades, when such a benefit existed, people could draw down on their entitlement to put a deposit down for a house. And in a nation where home ownership is almost a religion, that would be an act of faith by a secularist leaning government!

Seventh, get your laughing gear around improving access to child dental treatment. It’s an absolute joke at the moment. Wellington are refusing to see children unless they are ‘in pain’.

Eighth, how Helen Clark looks. This is a really delicate area I guess. Why do I even mention it? Well, because in the last election you put out that glamour shot of Helen which people saw through immediately. Understandable in its aim. But it just created backlash (from which you still suffer). Honesty. Integrity. Meaning. You have them all. Tell the spin doctors to take the day off – they could go and spend the day ‘correcting’ Wikipedia!

Ninth, get your story straight. Either we are committed to sustainability, or we are not. But stop fudging the message. You can’t sit on both sides of the fence with this one. Lobby groups for major earners now need to recognise that their best bet is to transition, not preserve. Our nation depends on your sound and clear wisdom. It’s not getting it.

Lastly, this governmnet has done an enormous amount to benefit this country. And it’s stuffed some things up too. Being willing to talk about both is a sign of maturity, but can only take place if the proposed policies are exciting and imaginative (morally imaginative perhaps) to refresh our confidence. It’s unlikely you will admit mistakes, but selling off the mining rights to the seabed to foreign companies, and putting at risk large tracts of our wonderful and sacred coastline, puts more than the government at risk. It continues to be one of the little known stains on the government’s proverbial backside. It needs sorting out.

That’s all for now. Part 2 will come when I have time, no doubt trying to balance things a bit – as though politics was ever balanced in the first place.