KEY POINTS:
If the National Party is worried about Labour's cunning election year Budget, it's sure doing its best not to show it.
The blue-ribbon brigade was out in force for National's northern and central North Island regional conferences over the weekend and there was an upbeat, almost expectant feel in the air.
Familiar old faces, such as former Prime Minister Jenny Shipley - in striking blue jacket - and former leader Don Brash - in casual pants and tie-less shirt - mingled with fresh faces of the party such as 28-year-old Auckland Central candidate Nikki Kaye.
Never mind that Finance Minister Michael Cullen had spent all the Government's money just days before. Never mind that National had initially looked surprised by Labour's tax cuts and uncertain of how it should attack the Budget.
National's party faithful in Hamilton and Takapuna simply didn't care - they cheered and hooted and twice gave leader John Key a standing ovation as he sharpened his attacks on the Budget. With the benefit of a couple of days to digest it, Key is now zeroing in on what he thinks is wrong with Labour's plan.
As Labour vigorously claims National won't be able to offer bigger tax cuts without ramping up debt or cutting spending, Key is signalling where some spending cuts are likely to come. Far from running away from the issue, he is asking people to consider whether every dollar of the $57 billion being spent by the Government in the current fiscal year is being spent on vital services.
Michael Cullen provided him an answer yesterday morning on TV One's Agenda programme - "no, you couldn't possibly say that - no Minister of Finance could say every dollar has been well spent".
The Tertiary Education Commission and Ministry of Education came in for strong attack in Key's weekend speeches, and the extra $621 million Labour is pumping into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade over the next five years is clearly under threat if his party wins power.
Key went off-script for a big portion of both his weekend speeches in a new style of delivery he is trialling at the regional conferences. Delivering written speeches as leader has not been a strong point for Key and he knows it. Internal discussions have led to him being freed up to ad-lib more, to indulge his talent for story-telling before reverting back to script.
So far the new style appears a vast improvement on the somewhat stilted delivery of Key's biggest speeches over the past year.
Of course, ad-libbing brings with it a risk of saying something that is wrong. Not that those attending National's weekend conferences would have worried too much about that. They were too focused on the man they think is finally going to end the National Party's nine long years on the Opposition benches.
Party president Judy Kirk may have told conference-goers repeatedly that there was no room for complacency, and that National's lead in the polls now means absolutely nothing. But you couldn't help but notice they sensed they were close. Very close.* Paula Oliver is the Herald's political reporter.
