Mt Albert – Labour, Greens and National

[UPDATE-- 2:10PM:
Labour launches Mt Albert by-election website.

--UPDATE ENDS]

Goff thinks fresh face has winning edge
Labour leader Phil Goff says his party's bid to keep the Mt Albert seat in the coming byelection will be stronger with fresh faces. He made the comment yesterday after the eight Labour candidates vying for Labour selection this Sunday faced their first meeting with local members.

Hmmm, this byelection is looking like it will be a nasty affair – for the Nats, to rob Labour of Helen’s own electorate would be the sweetest victory, for the Greens an electorate seat would finally mean the will-they, won’t-they 5% threshold fears would be overcome and for Labour this could be their fight back for the next election as the economy turns sour and turns sour fast.

NATIONAL: While head office may want the very electable and competent Melissa Lee, the local office is dominated by crazy Ravi Musuku who made himself appear a wee bit wide eyed when breathlessly telling reporters last election that he and John Key could solve crime if they only both went to the Prisons and preached the gospel of Christ. I’m not sure why John Key turned down his offer, but it gives a gleam of how much power Ravi has amassed in an electorate National have never bothered with, and now that they are, they are finding him harder to get rid of than syphilis. If Ravi runs, it will be a farce, if Melissa runs they have a narrow chance to win in a split race between the Greens and Labour, but that is their only chance, the recession will start to bite in June and the fears that the country is sinking while John Key goes about privatizing the lifeboats will be a much more solid theme.

GREENS: Smart money from the Greens, but they are buying a fight that will get nasty very quickly, and the question is can they take a punch? The stance on no new roading is smart and using the Super City representation as leverage is smart money too, but the major theme of this byelection will be the economy and how rapidly NZ is sinking. By buddying up with the Nats the Greens can be painted as no longer an opposition party, and while things get rapidly worse the only legitimate opposition to the direction the country is falling into under the leadership of Joyful John and Grumpy Bill becomes Labour be default. Keith Locke looked very sure of Russell standing when he was on Q+A last week so they understand the significance a win in Mt Albert could give them, but can Mr Canberra sell himself to Mt Albert?

LABOUR: Need to come out swinging, they need to viciously attack the Greens as being part of the Government, and sell the idea that Mt Albert residents get to send this Government (and this Governments proxies) a message ranging from local Super City representation to national issues on the privatization direction of National/ACT. Labour are scared, that’s apparent by the fact they let those smug little fuckers on Whaleoil and Kiwiblogh dictate the selection process by throwing up the Tizard back card, and Labour have a right to be scared, IF National or the Greens win this, it’s Phil’s leadership that will be questioned – Labour have to dump the ‘why didn’t we win’ navel gazing bullshit (btw – you lost because instead of challenging bullshit talkback redneck nanny state mythology you tried to manage it, meaning you fucking stood for nothing which is why so many Labour voters in Auckland didn’t bother voting leading to the second worst electoral turn out ever) and start to fire up about the disintegration of the State and the genuine pain these National/ACT policies are bringing. Whoever is managing Phil should be trying to reawaken the social democrat passion he sparked up on Q+A, and a fresh faced candidate aiding that discussion could be Labour’s redemption. Less Tub, more thumping!

Byelections are usually a message to the incumbent Government, and in a months time we can expect the economic recession to get much more tangibly worse, and the idea that this Government is setting the country up for privatization as a response to that crises is the theme Labour need to adopt that give them a unique voice over the Greens who can be painted as within the National tent.