Francesca Rudkin: There's something deeply unsatisfying about this election campaign
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So on Saturday morning, driving around Auckland, the sledgehammers were all go pounding election billboards into the ground. As once neat and tidy patches of grass were being transformed into a visual assault of names and faces just waiting to be vandalized by some smartarse, I thought to myself, only 9 more weeks to go.
I love elections, I love a contest of ideas, I love watching my son be politically engaged and eager to cast a vote for the first time on November 7th.
But I’m also getting concerned that this contest of ideas is going to be frightfully dull, and short on ideas.
Are we going to learn anything from a televised debate if a leader is constantly telling us what dreadful things their opponents will do if they get the chance, rather than selling us their own bold vision for this country? It’s politics by warning label.
The campaign so far feels defensive, reactive and relentlessly focused on the other side. Rather than asking voters to imagine a better New Zealand, the parties seem more interested in persuading us to be frightened of the alternative. Fear is a reliable political motivator.
I know - it’s a strategy and a tactic which is as old as marketing. Stick to the core message you want in people’s minds, and they will ultimately believe it. The National Party has decided that the only thing they want you to take away from any interview over the last week, and from TikTok, is that Labour is going to lump you with taxes if they come to power.
It’s already a tedious tactic as proven by National’s campaign Chair Simeon Brown on Friday afternoon talking to Heather du Plessis-Allan.
So, when does staying on message start to make you look silly? I would say on Friday afternoon, at about 7 past 5.
For those of us who would like more than a soundbite this election, it’s going to be a long 9 weeks. But you have to hand it to National, they are controlling the conversation, and have put Labour on the backfoot as they have constantly had to defend their tax policy and account for their spending.
The problem with sticking to the message, and telling us what other parties are planning to stick us with post-election, is that two can play that game. Labour has been pacing itself when it comes to getting into election mode, and they had a bit of a messy week, but as soon as they get a little momentum and decide on the messages they want to repeat, constantly, there is nothing stopping them doing the same.
And with all the yapping back and forth, we’re the ones missing out on valuable conversations. There is something deeply unsatisfying about this election campaign so far.
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