In case you haven’t noticed there is an election campaign happening. November 8 is d-day when we will be finally put out of our misery and find out who is going to lead us into the next three years. Since the campaign launched the world has been hit by an unprecedented financial crisis, the likes of which we are unlikely to ever see again. It’s going to take a while for the dust to settle but it seems likely the world will be in recession for a while. Whatever that means.
So in a short space of time the whole landscape has changed and the choice for voters will now be made on the basis of who is going to look after us best during bad times. Meanwhile, the polls tell an interesting story. The centre-left grouping of Labour, the Greens and NZ First has made some inroads and in some polls has them level pegging with National, Act and United Future. Leaving the Maori party as potential kingmakers. We live in interesting times.
As far as the campaigning from the major parties goes I have one word. Uninspiring. Both parties are neck and neck in one of the most uninspiring campaigns in living memory. Anyone in business knows that in a contest when there is an established incumbent you can’t just beat them with a wet flannel and hope to win. You have to go in with a smart fight strategy and beat them into submission. You have to deliver a knock out blow. You have to look fresher, more decisive and more energetic. Instead of this, National are giving us the exact opposite. The billboards are so subtle they almost disappear into the side of the road. There have been no advertisements that do anything more than provide some good ideas for wallpaper and the steely spine required in front of the camera is all but missing in action.
If you want to earn the trust and respect of a large constituency you need to stare down the barrel of the camera and stand your ground. The absolute much ado about nothingness that was the Lockwood Smith affair was a perfect opportunity for John Key to tell us what he stood for. Mr Smith was merely relaying what he had been told. I didn’t see anything racist in what he said. The response from Mr Key was weak and unbecoming of a potential leader, and I am reminded of a saying – “if you stand for nothing you will fall for anything”. It’s time for National to stand for something so I am really looking forward to the full announcement of the packages they are going to offer people who suffer hard times through the upcoming recession. At last we are seeing the National Party being able to think on their feet. I hope for their sake they have a few more tricks up their sleeves before election day.
Meanwhile on the centre left side of the campaign trail, Labour look completely thread bare. After nine long years they are absolutely bereft of ideas, initiatives and imagination. “It’s all about trust.” What on earth do we read into this? Does this mean that they haven’t been trustworthy to date? Does this mean that in a recession we can trust them to find ways to work and grow our way to further prosperity? If so, where is the detail? Or, does this mean that we can trust them to bed down with a multitude of partners, hang on to power by the plaque on their teeth and hold it all together enough to provide vision and progress. Trust is a big word. It is earned. One way to earn it is to present a consistent look and feel to your advertising. Labour are all over the place on this front. There are ads with photos and logos, billboards with type only, no photos, ads for this, ads for that. It’s like a jumble sale. No clear strategy, no clear message. Maybe that sums the whole thing up. On the PR front Helen Clark is the exact opposite to John Key. She stands her ground but to a fault. After the first leaders debate she tried to tell us that the online poll giving victory to John Key was wrong. So 60,000 people got it wrong. Sorry Helen, we will try harder next time.
If this campaign is making you grumpy, you are not alone. The worst part of it is that there is a portion of the electorate who will vote on the basis of the communication strategy. And because everything is so bland, there is no apparent winner emerging. In an environment when we need a government with a clear mandate to govern, the weakness of the campaigning could leave us with no clear winner and no clear leader.
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