In case you're wondering where we are... And a few ideas bouncing off Toby's post
It's damned hot and the computer connection's on the blink... Pundit HQ has decamped from the comforts of the big city and is now stationed out the back of Gisborne, which is why Pundit service has been a little tardy over the past day or two.
I know the government's broadband expansion is focused on city folk, but if anyone in Steven Joyce's is reading this, a little fibre out Taurau Valley Rd wouldn't do anyone any harm. Just say it fell off the back of a truck, no-one would miss it!
Anyway, Toby Manhire's piece on British Labour's new class-based strategy has just gone up. Interesting read. Of course Labour here tried and failed to use John Key's wealth against him, most notably with the H-bomb, but then it's been probably close to a century since class had as much power in this country.
Having said that, as Labour seeks to re-connect with voters in Waitakere, Maungakiekie and New Plymouth, it'll be interesting to see what class-like language it uses. Phil Goff's tried race, which has unsettled some in his party by doing so. David Cunliffe has been toying with patriotic language in the past month or two.
Goff and his strategists seem keen to paint over the inner city liberal, opera-loving, special interest group-friendly Labour hue of recent years with some good old-fashioned daubs of workers' red.
So while British Labour goes after the Tories as inheritance-tax killing Etonian toffs, what will local Labour use to taint National? And will National fall into that trap by, say, cutting the top income tax bracket?
And how will the new intake of Labour MPs react to the rennovation of their party? Most, I'm sure, will see the political sense of stripping up the carpet to expose the floorboards. And they'll rally around Goff for now.
But they're a capable lot and will want to play their part in the work being done now, as it's they who will be left with the house after Goff's had his crack in 2011, win or lose. They want to do some future-proofing. It'll be interesting to see what form that takes.
That's all I've got time for now. Please be patient over the next ten days or so. The World News Brief will still appear, as will fresh posts from the pundits... it may just not be as timely as usual.