KEY POINTS:
Does anyone else feel as if they're participating in the political equivalent of Big Wednesday? Except instead of being promised the Aston Martin, the Audi, the overseas travel and the $2 million, we're having tax cuts, nine weeks of maternity care, universal student allowances and the like as the prize package.
It all seems incredibly shallow - are we so naive and immature that a few sparkly vote catchers dangled in front of us are considered sufficient to earn a party vote? Surely not. After all, a million of us tuned into TV One to watch the leaders' debate on Tuesday night and it wasn't to be entertained.
We tuned in to be better informed but after watching most of it - I had to go on air at 8pm - I'm not sure we're any better off, other than learning that the 1981 Springbok tour was THE defining moment of Barry Soper's life.
We also learned that even a consummate speaker such as Helen Clark is prone to the odd Freudian slip - surely she didn't intend that crack about John Key shouting down people in his home.
But I, for one, would have loved to have learned more about long-term plans and policies.
If we have to tighten our belts, then surely we're big and ugly enough to hear it. If we have to take medicine, surely we're old enough to swallow it without being bribed with chocolate. What about vision? What about telling it like it is?
For example, introduce universal student allowances if that's what you consider important but what will be cut back to pay for them?
Or if locking up the worst offenders for longer is your particular thing, where will the money come from to keep them in prison?
And I'd love to see a list of ranked priorities from the minor parties so I know what to expect over the next few years. Even if they don't join forces with Labour or National to form a government, there will undoubtedly come a time when they will be asked to support legislation through the House.
What will they ask for in return? Which policies are most important to them? That would be a helpful guide for the voter in these uncertain times.
