In an election that is all about the economy, Labour can't afford to be weak on economics. Yet that is the nagging perception in the public mind. One survey out today shows that Voters back Nats' economic policy. Unfortunately for Labour, last night's leaders debate has done nothing to quell public uneasiness about the party's ability to manage the economy. In all the evaluations, reports and commentaries on the debate the single biggest theme is how the leaders (and parties) are approaching the economy. And on this issue, Phil Goff was badly wounded by Key. As explained in report by Adam Bennett, John Key has been able to embarrass Labour's leader by asking him how his party would pay for all its election promises - see: 'Show me the money' line hits the spot . Goff simply didn't have an answer. This is also covered well in Andrea Vance's John Key gets his mojo and Tracy Watkins' Costings stumble cost Goff.
Goff's poor showing in the debate is addressed by Gordon Campbell in a scathing article on the Scoop website. Campbell says, 'The centre-left can feel justifiably furious at Goff and his minders for going into this debate without a narrative (much less a credible defence) for Labour's election costings. Sorry, but "We'll have them for you by the end of the week" doesn't really cut it. Somehow, Goff managed to make Key look like a hard-headed and credible manager of the economy'.
But Goff's inability to deal with such economic questions is not simply down to poor preparation - it's much deeper than that. Instead, the problem is that Labour has a rather contradictory economic orientation at the moment - it's desperately attempting to be both economically austere and social democratic. These two goals push Labour in two very different political directions, and the party can't quite 'square the circle'. It strives to be as fiscally 'responsible' as National, and has promised to match the Government in terms of getting the state back into surplus in the same timeframe. Yet its attempt to be a social democratic party means it wants to make promises that involve spending a whole lot more. Quite simply, it can't do both - it can't be both leftwing and rightwing at the same time, and ultimately this contradiction shows up when it gets called out on the detail by people like John Key.
But for those more interested in 'who won' last night's debate, most commentators picked Key, including Vernon Small (Second debate a win for Key), Claire Trevett and Felix Marwick. There was also some very interesting commentary on the format and nature of the debate. In an item entitled Goff flaps as Key talks cash, Audrey Young seemed to enjoy the absence of on an interventionist debate moderator: 'the result was fantastic - they were pretty much left standing at a lectern debating each other, bouncing uncontrollably from issue to issue. Goff asked the questions of Key and Key asked the questions of Goff. They ran the show'. Similarly, John Hartevelt has asked 'Is the old-fashioned Town Hall political debate back in vogue?'. Hartevelt explains that last night's debate was the only 'public debate' between the two leaders, and that the 'live audience, viewers and the leaders themselves seemed to relish the more open style' - see: Leaders relish public debate. John Key is also quoted as preferring the format.
Labour will be very disappointed in Audrey Young's news that Labour slips further in latest poll. The survey has the party dropping to only 29% at the very time that it might have expected a rise based on some positive media coverage - but perhaps the party's policy of raising the age of superannuation is not going down well with core supporters. Meanwhile the Greens have finally breached the 10% mark in the Herald's poll. This will ensure further publicity for the party, potentially adding momentum to push the party even higher. But it will also lead to an increased focus on whether the Greens might end up supporting a National-led government. There are already reports on the party's ambitions today - see: TV3's Norman wants ministerial roles for Greens, Newstalk ZB's Questions asked over National-Greens relationship, and RNZ's Greens 'highly unlikely' to support National.
