Ralston on Key

Bill Ralston uses his traditional colourful language saying John Key faces his own insurgency from Labour foot soldiers.

He does make the helpful point that neither Labour or NZ First had a manifesto policy on Iraq at the last election. So the issue isn’t (as I said) whether there should have been a mention of Iraq in the policy – it is the quality of the explanation as to why it wasn’t there.

Ralston points out MPs no longer have to just subdue the press gallery reporters, but with more and more reporters turning to blogging, their ability to really use a blowtorch is much greater than in their traditional print mediums. Ralston refers to said reporters becoming wolverines.

To some degree the blogs can be like instant focus groups. You don’t have to wait long to get a feel of whether people think an issue has been handled well or not. We’re a lot cheaper also 🙂

Ralston is spot on with his final para when he says:

David Lange once characterised the financial markets as “reef fish”, rapidly turning en masse this way and that. The media is a bit like that too, and National’s biggest problem will be getting the school to turn back its way.

At some stage the focus will go back on Labour, but for the next few weeks or even longer, National will be under scrutiny, as in this HoS editorial. Getting through those tough periods is what gets you ready for Government.