Every now and then John Key does something to remind us that he’s a regular(ish) kiwi bloke.
Feeding the masses, Kinleith 25 Nov 2011 Pic: Patrick Gower via Twitter (click to enlarge)
I remember TV3’s Patrick Gower tweeted a pic of the National Party leader on the campaign trail — offering pizza to members of the media stuck on his campaign bus the day before last year’s general election.
Waiting for my coffee at our local café this afternoon, I idly flicked through the NZ Herald and read that the prime minister had tweeted a photo of himself with US President Obama. (See Key Tweet home pal Obama [sic].) Oh, neh, I thought. Surely not!
Well, shucks, folks. It appears to be true. Bwhahahaha. (Blush.)
Now, to be fair, I don’t know that the PM actually tweets himself or whether he has one of his helpers like the effervescent Sarah Boyle do the donkey work … but to quote McPhail and Gadsby: ‘Jeez, Wayne!’
Q: Do you think Obama tweeted a picture of the two of them? It seems unlikely.
How adorable.
– P
Didn’t Ms Clarke enjoy photo opportunities as well?
Standard political fare…
So be it.
I was going to end there, but actually, when I think about it, John Key does strike me as quite a “regular bloke”. I’m sold.
Is poormastery a sucker? Maybe. Perhaps I have lapped up his sales pitch? Irrespectively, I am quite convinced this is his character.
Alas, my taste is not for “regular bloke” politicians, in any case.
I prefer ideologues to pragmatists, as a rule.
Sir Roger Douglas or Mrs T, or even a lefty such as Mr Savage had a plan (beyond holding power). They had a vision, rather than a flip-flop, moveable feast approach to policy setting. They had strategic goals that any detailed implementation should and must adher to.
So perhaps Mr Key’s pitch worked on me, and as a consequence he failed for me. Incrementalism wouldn’t be my approach.
Rgds,
*Irregular p*
Helen Clark with Shrek. Do you think she tweeted it?
Yes poormastery, you’re right. Photo ops are a standard for politicians.
But tweeting skite pics of yourself is (ahem) a relatively new phenomenon and, pardon me for saying, appears a wittle bit adolescent. But no harm, no foul. Like you, I think he’s being authentic.
John Key’s popularity is a huge political asset to National (and ACT) and well-earned. Carefully, deliberately well-earned. Remember the label ‘Labour Lite’ he attracted in 2007-2008? “You like Labour’s anti-nuke policy? Guess what? Now it’s ours too!”
Democracy in action. No complaints here.
Now as it’s Labour’s turn to try to re-claim the centre, one obstacle that stands in their way is Mr Key … and his common touch.
I’m not all that critical of the lack of apparent political vision you refer to, nor to his quest for ‘elegant solutions’. As you imply, these ideologue traits can frighten people. Political pragmatism goes a loooong way. (‘The art of the possible’ remember?)
Watching the frustration of the anti-MMP brigade last year pleading with Key to throw some of his ‘political capital’ into the campaign to knobble proportional representation was instructive. He wouldn’t do it, and his last minute ‘I support SM’ was lost in the pizza crusts.
I think Mr Key has, for the most part, extremely good political instincts and he is, again for the most part, a very competent communicator. One of the best with that guy-next-door approach. Not so great under pressure, but who is?
But that’s not what I was saying in my post. I was just sharing a chortle.
– P
[…] Ha! I know I pointed, affectionately, to our PM skiting about his recent ‘pull aside’ with President Obama (see: ‘Regular bloke’ John Key … skites). […]