Just Left

What next?

I've been mulling a bit with how to proceed (and whether to do so) with writing anything on Just Left for about two months now, which is the main reason for the lack of posts. Time pressures with work and study and Labour commitments mean it's hard to fit it in, and they're all more important than the old blog unfortunately.

The tentative decision I've made is to only try and post once or twice a week, and for my posts to be focused on Labour's future and the prospects for social democracy in these islands we call home. 

The day to day ratrace of Government, and the opposition-government contest that haunt the media and most political blogs, are not as interesting to me as the broad question of "where Labour goes next". And obviously, if one is talking about where Labour goes next, then that has to be a long term question to avoid the day to day rat race. That's fine by me: my interests in politics have always been more about the long game than tactical management of issues, or who is up and who is down.

This is in a sense a return to home for this blog. That was the focus I used to have in my writing. For a few years tho the focus went somewhere else, and with a greater media and "game" theme appearing in the writing.

I'll see how it goes. Might work out, might not. Drop me a line if you've any feedback on it. The other authors remain free, if they choose, to write as they like from a Labour point of view.

Jordan

Radio Silence

In case anyone's out there - I have been travelling since 8 July and obviously others have not been posted. Come or go as you like :)

New Blog: Red Alert

Labour MPs have begun blogging at Red Alert: http://blog.labour.org.nz/

I'm very pleased to see this initiative. Unfiltered access and conversation between MPs and the public has to be a good thing. It brings their mode of working in real life into cyberspace. Here's hoping that people read about it and start a conversation.

New blog - Life and Politics

http://lifeandpolitics.wordpress.com/ - worth a read.

Jacinda on HandMirror

Jacinda Ardern, the youngest MP in the new Parliament, has done a post over at The Hand Mirror. It's good to see some blogging from new MPs!

http://thehandmirror.blogspot.com/2009/02/guest-post-new-school.html

Introducing - Tony Milne

Some of you will know me from "I See Red".  My intention is that I will continue to post on that blog, but will occasionally post here - and thanks to Jordan for the opportunity!  Here is a short bio for those of you who don't know me.

I was born in Invercargill in 1981 and come from a working-class family (my parents are both at the freezing works).  I moved to Christchurch in 2000 and went to Canterbury University majoring in English and Political Science (Hons).  I stood as a candidate for Labour in Rakaia in 2002 when I was 21 (Jenny Shipley was the MP but stood down), and again in 2005 against Brian Connell (who came and went).  I continue to do a lot of work in the Ashburton community.  While I was at University I also did a certificate in youth work, and worked as a peer supporters for 3 years at the 198 Youth Health Centre in Christchurch.

I worked for Tim Barnett in Parliament for a few years, including doing a lot of work on the Civil Union campaign, and for the  past few years for the 5 Christchurch Labour MPs in Christchurch.  I was on the Government Board of the Labour Party for 4 years (and was on the 2005 campaign committee) and involved in Young Labour and Rainbow Labour for several years.  My first involvement with the Labour Party was election day 1999 when I helped Mark Peck in Invercargill. 

Last year I got married to my partner of 9 years (who thankfully is into computers and not politics), bought a house and changed jobs: I now work for the Problem Gambling Foundation doing public health work and liaising with local and central government around policy.  I also spent 8 weeks in the US last year doing volunteer work for the Service Employees International Union and spent 4 weeks working on the Barack Obama campaign in Pennsylvania during the primaries.

I am interested in politics at all levels - local, national, global.

My particular interest on this blog will be how each NZ Political party responds to our new environment: a National-Act Government supported by the Maori Party.  A Labour-Progressive-Green opposition.  A global economic crisis.  The challenge of climate change.  

A few years ago I began talking about a new New Zealand - the growing majority diversity coalition - and argued that neither Labour nor National could win elections without getting that majority diversity coalition on board.  That was why Don Brash lost in 2005.  I laid out a platform for how each Party could win-over that majority diversity coalition.  John Key followed the template perfectly.  His 2008 victory was in large part because he reached out (rather than attacked, as Don Brash did) the majority diversity coalition - Maori, women, new migrants, gays, pacificka.  He boldly went into Labour heartland and didn't accept that it was Labour heartland.  In an electoral system where elections are won or lost by 1-2%, it was enough to pull over some Labour voters to National or suppress some Labour turnout.

So my key question, and what I'll be looking at over the coming three years is, how will National try to maintain that support and how will Labour respond to that challenge.

Just Left: Group Blog

After some reflection, I've decided to invite a set of posters to join me on Just Left.

The logic is simple. Some of the best blogs and spots of political writing out there now (Hand Mirror, Pundit, PublicAddress, The Standard) are sites with more than one author. They usually share a point of view, but they have diversity within that. The dynamic interaction between authors improves the quality of everyone's writing.

Perhaps more importantly, I think there's a niche for Labour aligned activists to post in a way that is less "agent provocateur" than The Standard, but which is undoubtedly connected to the labour movement as a whole.

I hope that Just Left can evolve into a community of people writing some interesting, thoughtful content that is insightful, and that comes from a perspective of being both activist and inside a major political party.

Obviously that constrains to some extent what is written here, depending on the topic. Some of the posters will be anonymous, and some will use their own names. Some might do both, issue by issue.

We'll try it for a while and see how it goes.

I will leave posters to introduce themselves as they see fit, in their first posts. I hope that what emerges is a good read for you, and makes you think.

Holidays

Nothing exciting coming your way blog-wise until 2009. I am back on deck around 9 January, so will begin posting after that. The rest is welcome and much needed, for me if not for you!

On the difficulties of blogging as a candidate

As a Parliamentary Candidate, you are a public face of your party, with the sole purpose of advancing the party’s policy and campaign in your district and more broadly.

As a blogger, you see yourself (ideally) as a citizen-debater, critiquing all comers – including your own party – and supporting things you agree with, while opposing things you don’t.

These two roles are not particularly compatible. One risks being reduced to a sort of shell-blogger, which is unsatisfying for the reader and the author. Alternatively, one risks creating an unintended and undesirable headline, possibly unintentionally, which is unsatisfying for the author (but quite possibly satisfying for the reader).

How to resolve this dilemma? I am not sure in my case it can be resolved. The energy one has for campaigning is very focused in the role of being a candidate, and it is not focused on writing for a blogging audience.  I have no desire to turn this blog into a blow by blow account of the Hunua campaign, which is sort of an obvious out from the “what to write safely about” problem.

What I’ve decided to do instead is just try and cast forward, and write a series of posts in the next few weeks leading up to polling day about where New Zealand needs to go in a range of areas: the economy, welfare system, education, health, infrastructure and so on. Obviously given the timescales and my role, these aren’t going to be policy announcements: just a few thoughts for the record. There’ll also be a few posts on the broader political situation, because that is what I am often interested in.

I find, reviewing the content and the comments here at Just Left, that I do not enjoy the adversarial, nasty spiteful tone that is endemic in the comments – and which sometimes as a result infects what I write as well. The echo chamber effect is tedious and not worth the effort. Once upon a time, a few years ago, I was well used to punching back in the blogging sense. I’ve moved on, or tried to, and this site shows I have some way to go. It’s time to make some more progress.

Thus the different approach as noted above. I intend to give those of you who come to read what I write something a bit more interesting and upbeat. I hope that those of you who choose to comment will offer me the same courtesy. We’ll see how it goes.

Help with research on Blogs

Dear Blog Reader,

My name is Andrew Cushen, and I am conducting a survey of New Zealand Political Blog Readers. This survey is part of my research toward a Master of Arts in Political Studies at the University of Auckland.

As the reader of a blog that features postings related to political news, discussion and debate in New Zealand politics, I invite you to participate in this survey.

Please follow this link:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=EJI9pne1hZOuX5IjsKvKnQ_3d_3d

This link will take you to the survey and also provide you with further information on how and why this research is being conducted. If you would like to ask me further questions about the survey or about my research in general, you will find my contact details listed on this page also.

I would appreciate it if you would complete this survey by Friday the 4th of July.

Thank you, Andrew Cushen