I know I banned election comments, but I'm allowed to break my own rules...
Matt McCarten has some stellar advice for any wavering Labour-Green
voters in The Herald on Sunday (11 Sept):
As I say to Green supporters who are thinking of voting Labour, if Labour gers 44 percent of the party vote and the Greens get 5 percent … that equals 49 percent. That means that with Anderton they can govern. But if Labour gets 44.1 per cent and the Greens 4.9 per cent, that equals 44.1 per cent. Let me spell it out clearer: If the Greens go under 5 per cent they get no seats in parliament at all and Brash becomes Prime Minister. So if you’re a soft Green or an independent and want a Labour-Green government, you should give your party vote to the Greens.
Posted by Fionnaigh at September 12, 2005 09:50 PM | TrackBackWhat frustrates me most is that I have friends voting labour because they think a green vote will be wasted if the greens don't get in. Talk about self-fulfilling prophecy!
Posted by: heather at September 13, 2005 02:23 PMA Labour vote will be wasted if the Greens don't get in. If the Greens are out, National is pretty much guaranteed victory.
Posted by: darth sappho at September 14, 2005 11:37 AMMy rational exactly for casting a Greens party vote. I think that, in general, NZers are only just beginning to catch on to the concept of strategic voting. This election has certainly been the catalyst for fast-tracking that process.
Posted by: adagio at September 15, 2005 10:54 AMWhat are the Green's policies? I can't recall a single piece of legislation they have managed to get passed since they have been around as a coalition-typey party with Labour. All they seem to do is complain about issues without doing anything about them.
I voted for the Greens once and they didn't do any of the things they said they wanted to do. I don't think I'll vote for them this time.
Phreq, the Greens will have very little power to do anything unless they get a majority, which isn't on the cards this election. That's not a reason not to give them your vote. It's better to vote for a party that attempts good things and fails than to vote for one that won't even make the attempt, indeed is the reason for the failure (Green policy hasn't been passed because Labour has chosen not to support it). The more votes the Greens get, the more they'll be able to influence Labour - and they have been a positive influence in pulling the government towards Green policy.
Posted by: darth sappho at September 15, 2005 06:13 PMHey, Fionnaigh. I think this exercise has taught us that if the 2 biggest, richest kids on the playground get more money than the other kids to tell everyone how to play, then the big kids will make up stories to keep all the marbles for themselves. If you say something enough times and louder than the others many will believe you, so many people believed the big kids who said we shouldn't vote for smaller parties. I have to say I feel a very clever kid for giving 2 ticks to the Greens, but I have to thank you Fionnaigh because Matt McCarten's bit is what got me there.
Posted by: pamela at September 18, 2005 10:41 PM