KEY POINTS:
After a tough weekend in which he was politically outflanked by Labour, National leader John Key received an excellence award yesterday - and he didn't even have to do much to get it.
Mr Key flew to Gisborne to join his education spokeswoman and East Coast MP Anne Tolley on the campaign trail and the pair stopped at Kaiti School. It is a decile 1A school - a step down from decile 1 - meaning it is at the bottom of the socio-economic scale.
Towards the end of his visit, a girl handed the National leader a paper basket and a certificate as gifts.
"Excellence Award. To: John Key. For: Visiting our school."
A delighted Mr Key promised to hang the artwork on his office wall and urged the children to have big dreams.
When he was 10, he told them, he wanted to be Prime Minister. Of course, he still does, and he faces one of the biggest tests of the campaign tonight when he goes head-to-head with Prime Minister Helen Clark in a televised debate.
Yesterday, he described the election to the schoolchildren as "a really, really big competition".
Many seemed more interested in the TV cameras than the National leader, although one asked if he was going to vote for John McCain or Barack Obama in the US elections.
Mr Key, of course, cannot vote but said he did not mind which of the two men became President. "We probably know McCain a little bit better."
Mr Key got a good reception on Gisborne's main street but shopkeepers said it had been a bit quiet.
He then flew back to Wellington for a meeting with Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard to discuss deposit insurance for the nation's banks.
