John Key lost a great deal of credibility over the weekend, as he was caught misleading the NZ people over a statement made by a credit ratings agency. He was wrong to have used the statement in the first place. More so, because the statement that a ratings agency would downgrade a Labour government is simply wrong. Seriously wrong. Of course it would depend on the context - most importantly the Labour government's handling of policy and the dynamics of the global market itself.
Until now John Key might well have been known as 'Honest John', much in the way of 'Honest John Howard', but as is always the way, 'Johns' are inevitably proven to be liars....or if you want to be kind, "good pragmatists". He got away with it for so long, because he is well-prepared, and he does always have the 'right' thing to say. It is fair to say though, in such times, he is probably tired...there is a lot going on, and he was destined to fall out of his honeymoon period.
His lack of candour did not help. This is unlikely to result in Labour picking up votes; but the question is, can Don Brash make a great deal of difference for NZ in the election for the ACT Party.
In defence of John Key....he cannot be considered any more dishonest than all other politicians. Its really not so much the politician, but the system that drives them. Inevitably there are going to be few if any politicians in this system who actually end the extortion, the tyranny of democracy, because it serves their practical interests, and they don't have the intellect to reform it. They are salesmen, not statesmen.
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