KEY POINTS:
The most often-repeated putdown levelled by his political opponents at National Party leader John Key is that with only six years in Parliament he lacks experience.
But to me, and I suspect to a huge section of the electorate, that is his strongest appeal.
It has become obvious in recent months that, in the English-speaking Western world at least, the public has had an absolute gutsful of politicians, and particularly those politicians who have been around for far too long.
In the United States the fresh, young Barack Obama is running neck and neck with the old, stale Washington insider Hilary Clinton. In Australia the old, stale Canberra Liberals led by time-serving John Howard were thoroughly routed by a relative newcomer to federal politics, Kevin Rudd. And in Britain the stale old Labour Government is under threat from David Cameron, a Conservative parliamentarian for only seven years.
In each case the election pitch of these young contenders - only Kevin Rudd has reached his 50s - is a variation of the British Conservatives' theme "It's time for a change", which will be familiar to Kiwis of more mature years.
So, as the first shots were fired this week in what is shaping up to be a year-long election campaign, I was delighted to note that Mr Key headed his Tuesday state of the nation speech "2008: A Fresh Start for New Zealand".
Because, just as in the US, Britain and Australia, this country desperately needs change and a fresh start.
We need to be rid of the time-servers whose politics have become irrelevant and whose Labour-led Government, as Mr Key so rightly pointed out, "as time has gone on [has] concentrated more and more on its own survival and less and less on the issues that matter to the people who put them there".
Americans want quit of the machinations of the power-brokers, the deal-makers, the filthy rich lobbyists; they want a fresh wind to blow through the corrupt corridors of Washington power, where favours are given and markers called in.
They want quit, in short, of the politics of the Clintons of this world, and if the Democrats have any sense they will make very sure Mr Obama wins the nomination, because if he does he will win the presidency.
For, most of all, Americans want rid of a President who has not only made a disgraceful hash of international affairs but has allowed the domestic economy to career headlong towards recession.
Here we want rid of exorbitant taxes and government charges, of low wages, of the socialist dogma that the state can best spend our money and run our lives, and of the grossly bloated, expensive bureaucracy that such a dogma engenders.
We want free of the deal-making that comes with coalition politics and brings with it a disinclination to make firm decisions, and a return to real leadership unencumbered by political correctness and the need to try to please all those on whom your Government's existence depends.
We want rid of state interference in our families, of a Government that takes our money out of one pocket and puts some of it back in the other, but only after wasting untold millions in administration costs.
We want rid of antediluvian and long-discredited socialist economic thinking evident in just about every statement made by Finance Minister Michael Cullen; and we want rid of a Prime Minister who, while an engaging and pleasant woman in private, is long past her use-by date as the nation's leader.
If she weren't, we wouldn't have to want to be rid of the lack of accountability among Cabinet ministers, and of men and women in Government who have retained their prominent places in spite of episodes of unacceptable behaviour.
In short, we want rid of a Prime Minister and Cabinet who after so long in power have lost touch with the man and woman in the street.
Are John Key and his National team the answer to our woes? Judging by the full text of his address on Tuesday, he and his party certainly have plenty to offer.
I was much taken with his plans for wayward and underprivileged youth, particularly the plan to involve the Army in the turning around of recalcitrant youngsters. For one who not long ago advocated resumption of compulsory military training to help solve both youth and services recruitment problems, this is good news.
The pragmatic and unapologetic nature of Mr Key's policy announcements give me great hope. But I really don't think this election campaign will be won or lost on policy points.
Rather it will, as in Australia, hinge on public desire for freshness and change - for a Government with a mandate to govern decisively, unhindered by hangers-on.
