John Armstrong: Brownlee voice of desperation

To listen to Gerry Brownlee on National Radio yesterday morning was to listen to the National Party sounding rather desperate.

During an angry exchange with Nine to Noon host Linda Clark, Brownlee lashed out at Radio New Zealand's election coverage to distract attention from the embarrassment at hand - Don Brash's confession that he had been aware all along of the covert campaign being run by members of the Exclusive Brethren church against Labour and the Greens.

It was the classic example of shooting the messenger when you don't like the message.

While it is Brownlee's job as deputy leader to enter a radio studio all guns blazing, the puzzle is why he went on the programme, especially as Murray McCully, another member of Brash's kitchen cabinet, had made a pretty reasonable fist of putting the whole matter to bed on Morning Report an hour earlier.

From the moment the anti-Greens leaflets landed in letterboxes, National should have ensured it was squeaky clean before issuing lofty-sounding blanket denials of any knowledge of who was responsible.

It now turns out, that apart from meeting Brash, Exclusive Brethren members have been assisting the party with canvassing and putting up hoardings.

It is a plus and a minus that Brash did not alert Brownlee, McCully or others on the party's strategy committee that he had been told in advance by the church members of the $500,000 anti-Government campaign.

That has confined the damage to Brash, rather than the wider National Party. Even so, he should have had the nous to alert his advisers to the time-bomb about to blow up in National's face.

Colleagues have fretted for months about how he approaches his job, particularly his treating media preparation as just one of his daily chores, rather than a key one.

There was also concern he would be skewered by Helen Clark when it came to possessing the detail to back up arguments because he lacked her institutional knowledge.

His political deficiencies have been on view throughout the campaign.

But on Thursday, they came home to roost with a vengeance. The resulting body-blow to his campaign is ameliorated by the strong branding Brash has given National and the electoral potency of National's tax cuts and Brash's stance on special rights for Maori.

The lesson the party should draw from this week is that regardless of his intellect, Brash's brain is simply not wired in a way which makes political connections between seemingly separate and random events. Where colleagues scent danger, Brash smells nothing.

If this is a problem now, it is a disaster-in-waiting for a Brash prime ministership. Right now, though, National will be content just to make it to next Saturday without further calamity.