It's the center, stupid

SageNZ loks at the NBR's poll showing that more Kiwis consider themselves right than left, and asks So why the hell are helengrad in power?. The answer is in the part of the spectrum he doesn't talk about: the center. It's the largest group, and Labour dominates it - and rather than fighting for this centre ground (or trying to shift it significantly), National under Brash are going harder and harder right.

There's also the fact that in New Zealand, support for public services and the welfare state is not simply a left wing position, but stretches a long way up the spectrum. But by saying essentially that they want to repeat the failed policies of the 90's, which actively threatened these core components of New Zealand society (remember the hospital reforms, anyone?), National are cutting themselves off from the bulk of New Zealanders. Which frankly suits me just fine.

So, to put it bluntly: Labour are still in power because their policies are far more acceptable to the majority of New Zealanders than those offered as an "alternative". And as long as National looks as if it is stealing its policies from ACT or the Business Round Table, it is likely to remain that way.