Mon, 31 Oct 2011 8:59p.m.
By Jeremy Elwood
If you’re reading this on Melbourne Cup Day, that would be appropriate. Our election campaign is shaping up to be more akin to that famous race than the usual war of attrition; it’s all come around suddenly, will be over before you know it, and many of us are only getting our first look at who’s in the running as they approach the starting gates.
By now all of the main contenders have launched their campaigns, both at live events in front of their respective party faithful and on our television screens, with the party political broadcasts over the weekend.
Those ads varied less in terms of content but style and delivery. Labour showed that, at least if production values are anything to go by, that they still have the support of film crews and editors. They asked us to remember the reasons why we might have voted for them in the past – family, community, working conditions - and they did it well. Aside from being slick, and occasionally even moving, it also made a good fist of reminding us that they have talented young blood alongside the remnants of the Helen Clark era.
National, on the other hand, focused almost exclusively on John Key. And why not? His ratings are through the roof, and even people who don’t follow politics at all seem to see him as a “good bloke”. In fact, a big part of his appeal is that he often seems above politics, but as their TV spot showed, he isn’t above a bit of stagecraft. Shame it was so badly done. National expected us to believe that he was answering genuine questions from a genuine crowd, despite the fact that the editing and acting was so bad, even Shortland Street fans would have had suspicions.
As for the others, The Greens and Maori Party were as you might expect, aiming firmly at their base audiences. Peter Dunne and Winston Peters both showed why they’ve managed to stick around for as long as they have, particularly Peters, who almost had me wanting to vote for his “Fair Go” agenda. Almost.
Which brings us to Monday, and the first Leader’s Debate on TV One. Great scheduling, by the way - Halloween, when a large proportion of the voters most parties are going after are either being dragged door to door by their kids or having their TV viewing interrupted by those who are. Overall, in my opinion, it was an event with a few interesting moments, but little lasting impact. Phil Goff had John Key on the ropes over his (broken) promise to not raise GST at the last election, and had him looking awkward over Afghanistan, whereas Key generally looked more polished, in the main using his usual trick of avoiding commitment to any specific policies.
The big loser, I felt, was the audience. It seemed that every time an actual debate threatened to break out, TVNZ cut in. The interruption of a serious discussion on child poverty with a flippant “video viewer” question about changing our flag was the most grievous example, but was by no means alone. I know the rebuild of Christchurch and the recovery of the bodies of the Pike River miners are close to our hearts (and therefore good for ratings) but is there much point in asking questions which neither side is willing to politicize, during a political debate?
Or are you just filling screen time?
The same can be said for the political pundits who were in studio with Mark Sainsbury, ostensibly to wrap up or comment. At times, you had to wonder if they were watching the same show as the rest of us; Claire Robinson in particular sounded like she’d written her own script weeks ago, in anticipation of a Phil Goff meltdown. Which didn’t happen. Her assertions that Goff should have been less aggressive, and stick to policy, were a bit like someone getting angry at a heavyweight boxing contender when he punches the other guy.
Overall, I think Goff won this debate, if only because the expectations around him were so low. At times, he looked close to the well versed policy veteran that he is. Equally, John Key’s mask repeatedly slipped to reveal the populist rookie that, relatively, he is. Was it enough to change anything? I doubt it.
I look forward to the multi-party debates, as the alternative online debate on Monday organized by the Greens looked like much more fun that the official one.