MPs distancing themselves from Goff

Dene Mackenzie in the ODT reports:

Prime Minister John Key’s visage will be smiling at voters throughout the country now that election hoardings have started to appear in the lead-up to the November 26 election.

But if voters want to see Phil Goff’s face on a hoarding, they will probably have to visit Mt Roskill, his home electorate.

I wasn’t sure if Goff’s photos were even on his own hoardings but dispatched a spy to Mt Roskill who confirmed it is the one electorate in the country where a Labour sign mentions him, or shows him.

Being seen with Mr Key is regarded as a major campaign asset by National candidates.

Being with Mr Goff is a liability for Labour candidates.

It’s a bit like the 2008 US elections when Republican candidates did not want to be seen with George W Bush as he was so unpopular.

I do wonder here though whether the stated view is that of the reporter, or is based on what people in Labour have said.

Labour MPs … are distancing themselves deliberately from Mr Goff.

The party signs will show the candidate’s photo, a silver fern and a tick to vote Labour.

The MPs believe Mr Goff will hamper their campaigning and want to put as much distance as possible between him and themselves during the campaign.

Well that answers that question. That means one or more Labour MPs have confirmed that it is a deliberate policy to distance themselves from Goff.

Some of the MPs believe Mr Goff will announce his resignation on election night, leading to the real election for Labour taking place on Sunday, when a new leader will need to be identified.

I suspect some MPs are more focused on the Tuesday 29 November election than the Saturday 26 November election.