Originally Posted by
elZorro
I think I know why the National Party doesn't have any real policies (they make stuff up as they go, and this recent election was a classic, in that their 'policy' was that they'd keep going down the same fiscally conservative track as in the previous term).
The National Party is equally as divided as any major party. There are neo-conservatives and neo-liberals amongst them, and I have it on good authority that they have never been able to sit down and find policies that both factions agree on. How have they been able to gain and hold onto power? They have used attack politics, and one of the major fronts has been the anti-PC brigade.
You see and hear these comments all through blog sites, in conversations in public and in the media. Something that is 'politically correct' is automatically 'bad'. In fact, such policies are socially correct, or progressive policies generally, they are perfectly normal, sensible policies when viewed accurately, without the 'PC' filter. Policies like no smoking in public buildings. All this anti-PC work started in the early 2000's, and not long after, C/T were hired by Richard Long for the National Party. Since this firm is strongly neo-liberal in its attitude, for a long time Don Brash was keen to keep it a secret that they had been hired. Even now the National Party doesn't shout the association from the rooftops, but they are running the same type of campaign strategy that they did from the start. The ideas have come from USA politics of course, where neo-liberalism has become a way of life. Even the Democrats are right of centre, according to NZ standards.
I have become convinced that to win in 2017, Labour need to understand how the National Party's strategy works, who is pulling the strings, and figure out how to attack their inane statements, each and every time they occur.