Mike's Minute: Are we out of charismatic leaders?

John Key not only appeared on our show Friday, having put out a video reminding us all what is at stake this Saturday, he also appeared on a podcast suggesting Luxon has been the victim of a hit job by the left and the media. 

I think he is right. I would also suggest the media is the left, and the left is the media. 

But, and it's a big "but", it makes no difference. It is what it is, and to his credit, Luxon has not complained about his treatment, often using the line "it's like a farmer complaining about the weather". 

I do worry about John Key and his role. He left office ten years ago and he clearly is still the National Party's greatest asset. 

What's that say about the National Party?   

I thought about this last week when I watched Obama get rolled out as part of the midterms. He is as electric as he ever was. 

But you can equally ask the question, given Trump got to the White House also a decade ago, why hasn’t he been replaced by someone new and just as charismatic? 

Is it the times? Does the world not produce leaders anymore of any real consequence? 

A similar thing happens in Australia. They still roll John Howard out and he still carries more weight than you might want to admit in a party that has badly fallen by the wayside. 

Is it nostalgic? Is it not so much the character of the individual but the times themselves? They just happened to be at the top during those times so when we hear them, we are transported back to a better place. 

It's memory lane and we like it better than what we have now. 

And is what we have now the result of leaders who aren't up to much, or is it the march of the modern world? Whether it be social media and AI and humanoids, could any leader could make it any different? 

Howard is too far removed to be an issue for the current leader of the coalition and for Obama, he is still current because the Democrats don’t have a leader. Would Obama fade if Gavin Newsom officially ran? 

But does Key haunt Luxon just a little bit much? 

Has Luxon not shone because he never lived up to the Key reputation? 

Or is Key right, and no one could have survived the beating of the left and the media?