The Maori Party will not get to decide. But National will show Labour what being inclusionary really means.

MacDoc, Who said anything about a change in “overall direction”? Correct me if I’m wrong, but National has going out of its way over the past couple of years to neutralise any thoughts of radical change in NZers’ minds. Remember, Roger will NOT be in cabinet. So, no cause for alarm, is there?

Their vote is coming off the Labour tally.

Question.

Is this the result of some brilliance in the National ranks, pumping up the Greens, to divide the centre/left vote, and guarantee the current occupant of the dark blue suit provided for whomever fronts the Nats, long enough in the Prime Ministerial limo for a certain amidships-spreading to become a worry.

Of course, I could be wrong, and the lefties have managed this on their own. This is an even more worrying prospect. Still, we are likely to have a good long three years to give this matter thought.

I have to admit, I find the idea of the Greens – the party that foisted the repeal of Section 59 on Labour – doing well from disaffected Labour voters a bitter pill. And am I the only person who cheered loudly when Jim Anderton called out the irritatingly self righteous and whining Russel Norman in the RNZ environment debate?

The polls have genuinely got me confused. The spread is just to wide.

Anyway, not long now. If it is a rout for the left, I’ll probably avoid the blogs for a few weeks – I suspect that the kiwiblog sewer will prove to be appalling winners. If Helen does manage to stitch togother a new centre left government, I think the sewer will implode with hate, and so I think avoiding will still be the best idea.

But there were ten or so National polls and dozens of state-level polls being published daily there, whereas ours are very few and far between, making accurate prediction here that much harder. Which is why I wouldn’t put too much faith in the averaged poll numbers. Certainly not as much as you have here.

Curiablog gives the three headed hydra (NAT/ACT/Dunne) a 2 seat majority. Small enough for John Key to look to making a deal with the Maori party but big enough so that they are not the “kingmakers” (producing a good deal for Maori but not radical enough to step on National’s right-wing toes).