The date of the election

Because we don't know the date of the election we know when it will be. That is - as it hasn't been called yet; it can only be late September.

The question is whether taking the term to the very end has been a good or a bad tactic. There was some talk that it should have been called in January around the time of the John Tamihere kamikazi run into his own career. Force him to go and then call an election. Labour may well have romped home then.

Since then it's got worse. The issue is - was not calling it for August a good idea? As usual there are two views
1) Waiting is better because- National and NZ First support will peakand level giving Labour time to pick up.
2) Waiting is silly because it has allowed National to build and set the agenda. Oh and perhaps Labour is in free fall in the polls and rather than National peaking and levelling Labour will just haemorrhage support.

Personally I think the smart National neo-con billboards and the budget were the turning point waiting to happen, after Labour destroyed the electoral support base it established in 02 bit by bit. National's billboards, the budget, the Benson-Pope situation were catalytic rather than causative of the switch.

Still it does show that despite being a sensible and cohesive government it's not the big wounds that can drag you down but a lot of paper cuts.