Mike Hosking: National are blowing their election chances

COMMENT:

As if I need to reiterate this any more.

The mistake the National caucus made was electing Simon Bridges because they liked him and he was a good bloke. Never vote for people because they're your friends, or you like them. Vote for the person you think can best do the job, they're often separate people with different traits and qualities. That's why they should have voted for Steven Joyce and if they didn't do that, Judith Collins.

They didn't vote for Collins because they don't like her. Who cares? Do you want a mate in charge or a person who's good at what they do?

If you want a clear and present lesson in this, look at The Last Dance documentary on Michael Jordan. The upshot is he wasn't the world's best friend or nicest guy, but he was determined to win. He drove people to levels they never thought possible, had expectations he wouldn't relent on, and as a result every one of his teammates became champions. And as they look back that's the bit that really matters.

The seeming panic that's gripping National right now is about their fear of losing. Given that, why didn't they think that through when they had the chance to pick experienced talent that, without question, would see them in a stronger position today? Why did they pick a nice bloke?

Be that as it may, the vote coming by Tuesday, if there is a vote, and if it leads anywhere, solves what? Todd Muller, is he the saviour? Jim Bolger thinks so. The usual crowd gets mentioned, Mark Mitchell, Paula Bennett, and Nikki Kaye.

It seems hard to believe that National are turning into Labour. Labour, famous for the fish 'n' chip brigade, the threat to a poorly polling Helen Clark, the rolling of Sir Geoffrey Palmer, David Cunliffe, David Shearer, and Andrew Little. It was a joke.

And now National seemingly unable to help themselves any longer are morphing into them. They're panic-stricken, fearful of their personal plight, and not the party's.

Unable to see the bleeding obvious, this isn't their fault. Incumbent governments all over the world are popular because of fear and cash.

In our case, we have an election. For National, it's a bitch, it's badly timed, but it's also four months away. The economy is in play and National traditionally are good at economies. So it ain't over by a long way.

What is needed in dark days is spine, courage, conviction, and ethics. How about they start showing some?