Gordon Copeland’s Ohariu Belmont

May 17th, 2007

Sometimes the inexplicable looks cunning in hindsight. Even if John Key’s extraordinary capitulation to Clark on the smacking prohibition was impetuous, to historians it could look like a very deep plan.

National need to help create their coalition partners. By sending decent Christian parents to despair they have perhaps given Gordon Copeland the best possible chance of crossing the 5% minimum party vote threshhold at the next election. Ecclesiastical politics have never been welcome in New Zealand, but if it was deliberate this is cool execution of a stunning strategy.

Lets hope John Key’s famous luck makes it pay off better than the last time the National Party gifted a seat to a prospective ally – Peter Dunne’s Ohariu Belmont.

Filed under Politics

Comments

Surely you over-estimate the cleverness of politicians.

Rick you may well be right about some politicians’ lack of cleverness. Prior to the last election a particualr Act MP shot himself in the foot and alienated a particular group of voters, not forgetting their family, friends and colleagues, by throwing glib comments around instead of answering or entering into discussion when people asked him questions. Result? See Stephen’s bio comment re “former politician”

I don’t see a page matching that description.

What’s the matter? You’re not as happy as I am the party has been ‘taken over by libertarians?’

Danni, In respect of ACT Stephen would field questions others preferred to avoid. He may hold views I disagree with but he was always willing to defend them and challenge others. If he is planning a re-entry to politics we could do a lot worse.