Posted on 11/07/2008 10:42:20 PM PST by george76
Helen Clark, the prime minister of New Zealand who has governed the country for almost a decade, is expected to be swept from office on Saturday in a general election which could leave the balance of power in the hands of the Maori communuity.
If she is defeated, the victor will be John Key, 47, a political novice who has revitalised the opposition National Party ...
While Labour is laying claim to being a safe pair of hands as the international economic crisis rages, the Centre-Right National Party has campaigned on the theme "it's time for a change", ...
Although Miss Clark, 58, has presided over the longest period of growth in a generation, the economy is in recession and Mr Key has lured voters with a more generous package of tax cuts than Labour's.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Tax cut promises win every time. Clinton proved that in 1992 (though he was, of course, lying) and Obama proved it again in 2008 (and he was lying, too). Someday, the mindless chattering class will hold such scumbags accountable for their lies.
But I ain’t holding my breath.
What's the deal on this guy? Is he your country's version of Barack Obama?
Is this close to accurate?
This is the liberal world of pretzel logic and moral relativism.
We learned, as you stated, that when a liberal’s campaign centerpiece is a “middle class tax cut”, it really means “massive tax increase”.
Obama is a different animal than Clinton, however. Humorless, cynical, and ultimately contemptuous of that “middle class” he feigns to champion.
I’m watching a live stream of election coverage right now. I’m enjoying it a lot more than our coverage here.
At the moment, the Nationals are just over the majority line in projections, but there’s still a lot of counting to go. No way I’m going to stay up that much longer.
Well, we know what our Founders felt about Mob Rule...
Well, it worked for Obama,,,
As I understand it the National Party is something like US Conservatives, probably without the social conservatives, and Labour is what its name implies, though not so left wing on economics?
Excellent! It’ll be great to see her go.
That sounds possible, but some of the policy outlines on the websites are nothing but fluff, so I can’t be sure.
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.” —Thomas Jefferson to William Stephens Smith, 1787.
I’m in New Zealand watching our election. The National Party would be the equivalent of your conservative party,but in fiscal policy only. Both Labour and National are fairly centrist. Issues on religion and morality etc are seldom discussed during the election. New Zealanders would be unlikely to elect a government they suspected would intrude on their personal choices.
Reuters, Saturday November 8 2008
WELLINGTON, Nov 8 (Reuters) - New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark has conceded defeat to the centre-right National Party led by John Key after Saturday’s election, media reported. Clark had telephoned Key to concede that her Labour Party had lost the election, Television New Zealand said.
With almost 99 percent of the vote counted, Key’s centre-right National Party had 45 percent of the vote, which would translate to 59 seats in the 122-seat parliament with support from its allied parties enough to give it a majority.
The centre-left Labour Party, which had been seeking a fourth three-year term, had 34 percent of the vote, translating to 43 seats.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/feedarticle/7997444
Time to fly Quantas and take a look at my new home!
John Key is conservative National Party- equivalent to your Republican party.
The Maori Party will not hold the balance of power here. Key does not need them in coalition to govern. But he has indicated he will discuss things with them, but again, he does not need them to govern (they ended up with 5 seats). He will, however, be bringing Act and United Future in with him to complete a centre-right setup.
But on the global english-speaking scene this result makes for a very interesting picture for the political landscape-
UK .. Socialist
Australia .. Socialist
USA .. Socialist
New Zealand .. Conservative
Canada .. Conservative
Yes, I happen to have that quote in my profile.
Helen Clark lost the election. The new Prime Minister elect is John Key of the National Party. He came close to winning an outright majority — very unusual in our MMP political system. He is in coalition with the ACT party and Christian Heritage — both right-of-center.
So New Zealand now has a Conservative government.
John Key is a rags-to-riches multimillionaire who made his fortune trading currency. I have met him several times. While relatively new to politics (6 years total) he is quite savvy and I think he will make a brilliant Prime Minister.
> What’s the deal on this guy? Is he your country’s version of Barack Obama?
He is about the same age as Obama, and the similarities really end there. I’d call him the “anti-Obama”, if that makes sense. He’s a self-made millionaire who has actually accomplished meaningful things in life. Jewish Mum. Plenty of substance, not all show. Not a particularly inspiring orator. Not corrupt. No known dodgy criminal or terrorist connections.
I have met John Key several times and I am impressed.
Because Barack Obama has a fair degree of populist appeal here, John Key cleverly made a linkage between him and Obama in people’s minds. That is about as far as the similarity goes.
John Key is right-of-center.
LOL, check mine - - I have it in my profile as well.
FRegards,
LH
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