Garth George: Election campaign shaping up to be great entertainment

There is comfort in the result of the latest political poll, which put National nearly four points ahead of Labour.

It's not that the figures indicate we might have a change of Government, for if a week is a long time in politics, then the time from now until the election is an eon.

The comfort is in three things, the first of which is that the poll indicates this election will be a hard-fought two-horse race, unlike the last one, when no party but Labour had even a bolter's show.

And that can only be good for the country and for democracy, or at least what passes for democracy in this MMP age.

The second is that, irrespective of the election result, the Labour Party hierarchy will have been rocked back on their heels to such an extent, one hopes, that they might pull their heads in and start again to take note of what the people are saying.

It is not surprising that politicians who acquire control of the levers of power eventually come to see themselves as omniscient and omnipotent and lose sight of what the men and women on the Mt Roskill bus are feeling and thinking.

That is part of the political psyche, for it is a truism that those who choose to become politicians by that very choice prove themselves to be the wrong people for the task. It's an ego thing, and there are no bigger egos than those who seek political power.

What is rather surprising is that the members of this Administration have come to that stage of omniscience and omnipotence so quickly, after only six years in power.

But I suppose that is part of the socialist philosophy of statism, which tells them that they know best, no matter what the subject or circumstance.

The third comfort from the Herald-DigiPoll survey published on Tuesday is that it appears that the next Government will have to be a genuine coalition and not just a minority Government relying on tame hangers-on, like United Future - and, most of the time, the Greens - have turned out to be.

It is certainly to be hoped that neither Labour nor National get enough seats to govern alone, for they both have nasty tendencies that need to be kept under control.

It is a myth to designate these two major parties as "centre left" and "centre right" because both contain, and come under the influence of, extremists on the left and the right.

It is vital that those in any new Labour Administration who are intent on pushing the boundaries of social and educational tradition be kept on a choker chain. It will be just as necessary that those remnants of the National Party who yearn for a return to the days when the Douglas-Richardson economic dogma sold out the country to foreigners and created a new class of poor be jumped on from a great height.

The way it looks right now, that moderating influence - which has been so tragically lacking for the past two terms - will fall to Winston Peters' New Zealand First.

Which, in spite of reservations, is, I think, no bad thing, for the enigmatic Mr Peters is probably the most astute and intuitive politician we have seen since Keith Holyoake.

He is the exception that tests the rule: he has never lost touch with his constituency, with those tens of thousands of New Zealanders who make up what we are in the habit of calling the "silent majority".

Who, incidentally, in the face of Labour's unconscionable tax thievery and assault on traditional social mores and structures, are not nearly as silent as they once were and who, I suspect, contributed considerably to the results of the latest few polls.

Last time Mr Peters was in this position he stuffed it up big time, but if I have read him right, he is not one to make the same mistake twice.

If he is this time put in a position of kingmaker, he and his team might be just what this nation needs to foil the machinations of the far-out fanatics who inhabit both sides of the House.

As for the rest, it would seem that the electorate has at last seen through the Green Party, which would have us go back to the future, and Act, which would have us do the same but in the opposite direction. Both are just a nuisance and the political landscape would be much cleaner without them.

The Progressives are simply Labour under another name and, as for United Future, no party given a go under MMP has been such a disappointment. If Peter Dunne points to his Families Commission as a victory for social conservatism, then he needs to be reminded of the tale of the emperor's new clothes.

He will be returned to Parliament but it is to be hoped that, as the poll indicates, he will have only one more MP with him and thus be neutralised.

And that leaves the Maori Party, which will be represented for sure because Tariana Turia will again be a shoo-in.

We can only hope that there aren't too many elected with her, for we need a racist party in Parliament like we need a hole in the head.

In the meantime I'm going to sit back and thoroughly enjoy the election campaign. It's shaping up to be fascinating.