National has no friends, leaving them with an obvious problem in the MMP coalition game next election. Their solution? To simply create one:
Talk of a new centrist green political party which could potentially partner with National in a future government coalition is starting to become more than just speculation.
It is understood preliminary discussions among interested parties have already been held on creating a party that combines economic and environmental credentials, filling a demand not already taken up by existing political parties.
It is also understood former Green Party leadership contender and one-time National candidate hopeful Vernon Tava is the front-runner to lead the party.
One political commentator said financial backing would not be an issue because the business sector would support the formation of such a party.
The problem: if they do, then its a clear signal that the party isn't really green. Because National's policies of supporting the dairy, oil and trucking industries, sucking the rivers dry, and dragging their feet on climate change in the name of "balance" with economic growth are inherently anti-environment, and any environmentally-minded voter can see that. Which makes their "BlueGreen" astroturf idea laughable - the only people it convinces are people who don't understand environmental issues at all. But like Colin Craig, Kim Dotcom and Gareth Morgan, they probably think they can simply throw money at the problem and buy the votes they need, with a fallback of hoping to buy enough votes away from the actual Green Party to drive them out of Parliament - a deeply undemocratic goal. But unlike National, I think environmentally-minded voters are smart enough not to fall for it.
