Labour loser as bold plans fail to add up

Good article by Dene McKenzine in the ODT today, summing up the past few weeks.

A bold plan to bring forward infrastructure spending and create jobs at a time when unemployment was expected to rise was also revealed by Miss Clark.

The fact that National Party deputy leader Bill English issued statement after statement asking how Miss Clark would pay for the estimated $1.3 billion of unfunded promises escaped the wider group of voters.

It appeared as though Labour was heading on a road to possible victory rather than one of certain defeat as National continued to hover around 51% in the opinion polls compared to Labour lurking around 33%.

What a difference a week makes.

This column predicted some bold promises would be made on Sunday, thinking particularly of Labour as it continued its spending momentum. But that momentum stalled when Miss Clark at a Wellington rally ruled out making any more spending promises during the campaign. She went back to the issue of trust and leadership and how Mr Key, who made his estimated $50 million fortune on Wall Street, did not have the experience to lead New Zealand during times of global economic upheaval.

Across town, at Parliament, Mr Key used his merchant banking experience and finally found the edge he had been searching for on the economy.