David Shearer – The Labour Party’s answer to Fozzy Bear
No one knows how to feed a political media feeding frenzy like Rodney Hide. His brutal blueprint for character assassination as laid out in his NZ Herald column last Sunday should serve as a reminder that the right play politics with all the empathy of a brain hungry zombie.
Beyond the terrible beauty of Hide’s Machiavellian sophistry, there is an inconvenient truth in his conclusion…
But National has done none of this. That means only one thing. National want Shearer right where he is: leading the Labour Party into the next election.
When Shearer’s greatest cheerleaders are Fran O’Sullivan, David Farrar and one of the architects of the media manufactured leadership crisis, John Armstrong, it’s no wonder left wing and progressive voters aren’t throwing their support behind Labour in any real way. With friends like these who needs cancer? O’Sullivan, Farrar and Armstrong will sing Shearer’s praises right up until National win the next election.
Labour’s old guard are as wedded to neoliberal dogma as they always have been. They have no interest in negating the TPPA, they are still frightened to challenge free market religion and their language towards beneficiaries comes across as diet National.
As Shearer flounders by trying to seduce National Party voters rather than inspiring Labour voters who didn’t bother to vote, the possibility of a meltdown within Labour is real and ticking. All it would take to generate a real tailspin is one of Shearer’s shadow front bench to self combust.
The question really comes down to Robertson. Every day that passes means he has less leverage with the inevitable phone call he is going to have to make to Cunliffe.
Team Shearer (14)
David Shearer, Phil Goff, Annette King, Trevor Mallard, David Parker, Clayton Cosgrove, Shane Jones, Damien O’Connor, Darien Fenton, Kris Fa’afoi, Ross Robertson, Carol Beaumont, Maryan Street, Ruth Dyson.
The Young and The Restless (9)
Grant Robertson, Jacinda Ardern, Chris Hipkins, Phil Twyford, Clare Curran, Megan Woods, Ian Lees-Galloway, David Clark, Andrew Little.
Cunliffe’s People (11)
David Cunliffe, Lianne Dalziel, Moana Mackey, Nanaia Mahuta, Louisa Wall, Sue Moroney, Parekura Horomia, Rajen Prasad, Rino Tirikatene, Su’a William Sio, Raymond Huo.
When Labour stops having a party for their In Group/s, and starts being a party with an invitation to many for making a country worth living in…
But they’re far too busy popping balloons and digging the dirt to get down to work, so
perhaps we could nurture a spectrum of parties from far left to middle, instead of waiting for the old hacks to stop squabbling?
Labour seems to be staring at the horizon hoping for an appearance of the Third Way.
Get over it. Tony Blair spun it up and gave the same old outdated neolib results until the world economy fell to its knees.
What large numbers of voters want now is some form of government that represents a more humane type of leadership. A party that considers people and their values in its decisions rather than seeing money as the only goal.
Labour is looking increasingly conservative in its direction. The old economic theory has been shown to be lacking in many areas.
If they could work out some sort of Fourth Way so that productive work is valued and non-productive investment isn’t we would at least be heading towards a more balanced society.
Take the power of printing money off the banks and give it back to the government. Have the government bank make loans available at 0% interest and low fees (most operating costs covered by taxes).
That will make accumulating a stack of cash that you could loan out for interest worthless.
I warned Grant either Labour or National were going to die as a political party some time in the early 21st century. I thought it could have been National – pulling itself apart via a rift over conservative values verses libertarianism and no values. Instead it will be Labour and their inability to look after the people who put them into power in the first place. Well I look forward to their fall, to embrace the free market and all the nasty social and economic consequence like true worshippers at the beast of profit – they are getting what the deserve – goodbye you failures. On the bright side, your political death has give rise to parties with honour and respect for all people – Mana and the Greens. Shame their death throws will keep National in power.
David Shearer is appealing to me, just like smelly, damp socks, worn for weeks and overdue for a wash-out with Janola. Call that “charisma”, dear Fran O’Sillivan, John Armstrong, Farrar and whosoever may like the guy, and I believe anybody like Joe or Jan Average in the street can do a better job.
So my view has been uttered before, Labour will not get up in the polls as long as Shearer will continue to “lead” the rest to the political abyss.
Something needs to happen damned soon, or the chance to throw out Key and his gang will have to wait until 2017. To allow this would be a crime in the eyes of so many desperate out there.
We are not going to get any true movement in this or any other political party (including the Oz party of Ms Gillard!) if we continue to demonise anyone who stands up to suggest that “we” ought to take another look at the leadership! It ought to be a fundamental right of anyone in a democracy to present alternative leaders and it is crime against democracy for current leaders to display their insecurities to the extent that those people are dropped off the bucket list! Look at the way Cunliffe, who possesses a compelling and important understanding of economic reality has been for many long months silent on those very important issues! Such a waste and so very short-sighted!
i watch/do commentaries on questiontime..and cunnliffe is the best performer in labour..
..he is the only one from labour that key/national don’t just automatically sneer/laugh at..
..and he has the intellectual grunt to hold key/national to account..
..and the sad thing is i can’t think of anyone else in labour who performs as they should..
..(the much-vaunted king up against ryall has damp-squibbed..)
..and you have to look to the greens to find other effective opposition performers..
..(the maori party are silenced/bought..and harawira is rarely there..)
..norman is..day after day..the most effective opposition figure..
..and the funniest battle is the (totally one-sided in her favour)..of genter stalking brownlee…
..it has mouse vs elephant qualities to it..
..and genter finds it so easy to get brownlee rearing and bellowing..
..but..bottom line..shearer has to be rolled..
..philip ure..
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