There is a difference between accountability and opposition. The Virus evaluation group showed that. 

Muller has well known socially conservative views, which makes him utterly repellent to most political moderates and certainly anyone leftwards of that. The one advantage he should have over Bridges is that he might be able to enunciate English words better and won't sound like he has a mouthful of food to contend with every time he opens his mouth but his views on life are likely to be equally intolerable to me and many other NZers.

No thanks.

tdgeek:

 

Wow ok. I though he was clean. Ex cop? 

 

There's something about that question that has me scratching my head.  I'm not sure if ex-cop and "clean" necessarily correlate very well.

dejadeadnz:

 

Muller has well known socially conservative views, which makes him utterly repellent to most political moderates and certainly anyone leftwards of that. The one advantage he should have over Bridges is that he might be able to enunciate English words better and won't sound like he has a mouthful of food to contend with every time he opens his mouth but his views on life are likely to be equally intolerable to me and many other NZers.

 

No thanks.

 

 

 

Ok, I dont know much about him, which appeared to make him clean. I read he was climate change friendly, and a little liberal focussed. That leaves Mark Mitchell? Im just scared of Paul Goldsmith as the finance man. Stick to PR and books

Fred99:

 

tdgeek:

 

Wow ok. I though he was clean. Ex cop? 

 

 

There's something about that question that has me scratching my head.  I'm not sure if ex-cop and "clean" necessarily correlate very well.

 

I read he was an ex cop, good guy, and so on, I know more than that. I trust cops, I trust a Govt. A while back he was seen as a future PM. News tells me he is not in the mix, he supports SB. But supports SB can change when SB is fired.....

tdgeek:

 

I trust cops.

 

Mostly if you're calling them , then sure - I trust them too.
It's a horrible job - and they are never unscathed from it.  It's going to result in horrific bias in perception of what society is really like - and what is needed to fix problems.  An ex-cop entering politics is on a mission.  Probably also true for Bridges - ex prosecutor.

tdgeek:

 

Wow ok. I though he was clean. Ex cop? 

 

Ex-cop, yes.

Also the owner of a "private security" (Mercenary) company in Iraq.

https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/21-02-2018/why-aspiring-national-leader-mark-mitchells-war-for-profit-past-matters/

dejadeadnz:

 

Muller has well known socially conservative views, which makes him utterly repellent to most political moderates and certainly anyone leftwards of that. The one advantage he should have over Bridges is that he might be able to enunciate English words better and won't sound like he has a mouthful of food to contend with every time he opens his mouth but his views on life are likely to be equally intolerable to me and many other NZers.

 

No thanks.

 

Mueller and Kaye are potentially a much stronger leadership team than Bridges and Bennett. A rural conservative and an urban liberal cover the national base very well and Mueller does have some blue-green credentials. 

Muellers personality is pretty unknown to me but he can't be more of a dick than Bridges.

Handle9:

 

tdgeek:

 

Wow ok. I though he was clean. Ex cop? 

 

 

Ex-cop, yes.

 

Also the owner of a "private security" (Mercenary) company in Iraq.

 

https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/21-02-2018/why-aspiring-national-leader-mark-mitchells-war-for-profit-past-matters/

 

Thank you! I'd forgotten about that. I hate him.

Handle9:

 

Mueller and Kaye are potentially a much stronger leadership team than Bridges and Bennett. A rural conservative and an urban liberal cover the national base very well and Mueller does have some blue-green credentials. 

 

Muellers personality is pretty unknown to me but he can't be more of a dick than Bridges.

 

I wouldn't disagree with anything you wrote. I just tend to think this reflects more on how hopeless the BB ticket is, rather than Muller being particularly palatable. I do however hope that Muller wins his tile - anything to get Bridges and Bennett off the TV as much as possible in the future is a good thing.

Fred99:

tdgeek:

No idea what you're on about

I do.  Not sure it's an entirely fair comparison, but MM could fit in to the present US Republican party very easily.

Anyway - he's not in the race.

 

Handle9: I really wish the media would stop describing this as a "coup". A formal leadership challenge is almost the opposite of a coup.

True - but it's pretty standard news headline hyperbole.

Bridges called for the caucus meeting - so that's not really consistent with the idea of a "coup" -  IIRC Matthew Hooten described what Bridges has done on RNZ news as "Hari Kari".

I guess if you were in some foreign land and had never seen NZ on a world map, reading that "the knives are out", a coup was in progress, and that a political leader had disembowelled himself - this really wouldn't match expectations for how hobbits should normally behave. 

I think Bridges has proven the Peter principle. 

As one of the so called 'Young Guns' on breakfast TV (with Ardern) he came across well and was generally pretty sharp.  As a former crown prosecutor he had to be articulate and think on his feet.  These days he seems to have lost any x-factor he once had. He doesn't have the same alacrity and at times he seems to struggle to state a clear position on simple questions. He almost seems afraid to give a definitive answer some of the time.

Put simply I think he has risen to position he isn't competent in.

I don't see how any opposition leader could make a dent right now.  People don't actually value an opposition in times of crisis. 

Fred99:

Handle9: I really wish the media would stop describing this as a "coup". A formal leadership challenge is almost the opposite of a coup.

True - but it's pretty standard news headline hyperbole.

Bridges called for the caucus meeting - so that's not really consistent with the idea of a "coup" -  IIRC Matthew Hooten described what Bridges has done on RNZ news as "Hari Kari".

I guess if you were in some foreign land and had never seen NZ on a world map, reading that "the knives are out", a coup was in progress, and that a political leader had disembowelled himself - this really wouldn't match expectations for how hobbits should normally behave.