Thought I might as well resurrect this thread, given its election year and all.

And to kick it all off, Hone Harawira forcing a by-election for his seat - an incredibly gutsy political move, or an expensive act of political suicide?

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Are there aliens? There better be aliens.

F**k off, Brock, f**k off.

Hone's fine for this by-election. His personal support up there is massive.

The only danger really is that the Labour candidate, Kelvin Davis who is a very talented person (someone who I think could even be a contender for the Labour party leadership one day) will get a lot more exposure from it, and that might help Kelvin in a future election down the track if/when Hone's party self-combusts.

The more interesting question will be whether or not the Mana Party contest the other Maori electorates.

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^^^what an intelligent comment.

The Spoiler Club:
David, Amanda, GunJack, [A][U][L][E][L][E][I], DFan, Stinger Steven, Syx Seed, Rove1, The Valiant, The Drizzle, 2ndtuenon, Dazzamaniac, Knox Out Baby, J-Maca, Nathaniel, Jords, PrimeTimePlaya, Miss Rass, Hardcore_Legend, Skrippy, Go 2 Peep, little_jimmy.

I think it's a huge gamble for Hone Harawira. He's betting that enough people in his electorate are fed up with TMP's cosy relationship with a National government that is screwing poor brown people that they'll abandon the party that was once their great hope for him and his new vehicle.

But what I think Harawira better be hoping he hasn't misjudged, in my opinion, is Kelvin Davis and Labour. Davis, as you said, is a strong candidate, and the big unknowable is how many voters will abandon TMP but not go for Mana, but instead return to Labour?

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Are there aliens? There better be aliens.

F**k off, Brock, f**k off.

Yeah, even then I still think he's safe. Hone's personal following up there is massive right now, and there is a certain utu factor up there right now given that Hone's exodus from the Maori Party is seen as a snub not just to Hone, but to the electorate and I expect Hone's support would increase even further as a result.

In comparison to the other Maori seats, Te Tai Tokerau has had a history of apathy towards Labour, after all it was Te Tai Tokerau who first gave Labour the boot back in 1993, and Labour didn't return until the electorate made a strong decision to give Tau Henare the boot. I can't see Kelvin Davis or any other Labour candidate ever having a chance, unless the electorate makes a conscious decision to give Hone the boot.

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^^^what an intelligent comment.

The Spoiler Club:
David, Amanda, GunJack, [A][U][L][E][L][E][I], DFan, Stinger Steven, Syx Seed, Rove1, The Valiant, The Drizzle, 2ndtuenon, Dazzamaniac, Knox Out Baby, J-Maca, Nathaniel, Jords, PrimeTimePlaya, Miss Rass, Hardcore_Legend, Skrippy, Go 2 Peep, little_jimmy.

Was fun watching Hone squirm on Q+A this morning. Hes such a racist motherfucker. Im not sure what would make me happier...him not making it in after the election, or him getting in, but in such low numbers that hes essentially making noise in the distant corner while all the big boys talk.

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I haven't seen the interview but from reading some of the articles around the net, i actually quite like a lot of the stuff this Mana Party stand for. I hope Harawira gets in purely from a shit stirrer stand point.

Like what?? Just asking as I have no idea who or what they are.

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Yeah, I'm hoping the Mana Party stands in all the Maori seats, I'd like to flick them my electorate vote.

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^^^what an intelligent comment.

The Spoiler Club:
David, Amanda, GunJack, [A][U][L][E][L][E][I], DFan, Stinger Steven, Syx Seed, Rove1, The Valiant, The Drizzle, 2ndtuenon, Dazzamaniac, Knox Out Baby, J-Maca, Nathaniel, Jords, PrimeTimePlaya, Miss Rass, Hardcore_Legend, Skrippy, Go 2 Peep, little_jimmy.

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You will be traveling and coming into a fortune..
*Team Hurricane Sign*

I see someone is trying to start up a NZ branch of the 'Pirate Party' that has quite a bit of success in Europe.

Yeah the Pirate Party contested the Botany by-election, I think they only got 30 votes or something like that.

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^^^what an intelligent comment.

The Spoiler Club:
David, Amanda, GunJack, [A][U][L][E][L][E][I], DFan, Stinger Steven, Syx Seed, Rove1, The Valiant, The Drizzle, 2ndtuenon, Dazzamaniac, Knox Out Baby, J-Maca, Nathaniel, Jords, PrimeTimePlaya, Miss Rass, Hardcore_Legend, Skrippy, Go 2 Peep, little_jimmy.

I'd vote for the Aotearoa Legalise Marijuana Party if they wern't a bunch of dirty useless raging morons, because I think their policies could actually do a lot more good for this country overall than most other parties. But seeing as they are probably still a bunch of dirty useless raging morons, I'm still casting my vote for "no vote".

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I agree with Killy...My vote always goes to the Legalise Cannabis party because it's the only party whose policy I agree with.

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Wikipedia that shit

97.9% of Zack Ryder's fans started liking him when he made Z! True Long Island Story, put this in your signature if you're one of the 2.1% who saw his talent before that.

Yes! I'm going to vote drunk again!

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Well tonight I'm gonna live for today
So come along for the ride

I'm glad I don't have to vote anymore...the problem I have is that I agree with little bits of each party...some of Nationals policies are good...some of Labours are good, some of the Libertarianz policies make sense...fucking hell even some of the Greens policies are ok. But they all have shit house policies that I don't agree with so i never know who to vote for.

Meh....not my problem anymore!!

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The only way I'd vote for the Mana Party is if Ben Mana were the leader of the Mana Party. I'd vote for Labour just to vote for the best of the worst, and because Phil Goff looks vaguely like James Remar.

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Moral of the story- Don't Mess with the Joker's boner.

Travis Banks Fact #34: Travis Banks isn't your pal, buddy.

I hope they don't pull a TV debate with just the two major leaders, i want one with all of them and for one of the minor party leaders to steal the show.

Agreed. I was very annoyed when Helen agreed to it.

It would be something of a clusterfuck though, just imagine:

Key
Goff
Turei/Norman
Turia/Sharples
Harawira
Dunne
Brash
Winston (hopefully)


Also, I would jizz my pants if the above poll happened on election day.

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^^^what an intelligent comment.

The Spoiler Club:
David, Amanda, GunJack, [A][U][L][E][L][E][I], DFan, Stinger Steven, Syx Seed, Rove1, The Valiant, The Drizzle, 2ndtuenon, Dazzamaniac, Knox Out Baby, J-Maca, Nathaniel, Jords, PrimeTimePlaya, Miss Rass, Hardcore_Legend, Skrippy, Go 2 Peep, little_jimmy.

That would be an epic debate.

There's no point in the main parties even doing a debate. They can only come off worse...and its a good chance for the smaller pointless parties to actually get heard.

I would, however, enjoy that debate if Paul Henry was running it.

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The I Love Swanton Club: PrimeTimePlaya, Machine Guns Go Bang, Macclad, Hurricane Girl, Nero, NZPWI Forum Moderator, Syx Seed, Shazza, Ang, James_C, Scott_A, D.Star, Paul and all variations of, bee, Dean, Miss Rass, Go 2 Peep.

You forgot Richard McGrath!!

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It's typically only those party leaders with an actual chance of being elected.

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^^^what an intelligent comment.

The Spoiler Club:
David, Amanda, GunJack, [A][U][L][E][L][E][I], DFan, Stinger Steven, Syx Seed, Rove1, The Valiant, The Drizzle, 2ndtuenon, Dazzamaniac, Knox Out Baby, J-Maca, Nathaniel, Jords, PrimeTimePlaya, Miss Rass, Hardcore_Legend, Skrippy, Go 2 Peep, little_jimmy.

Oh for sure...I just thought it would add an extra edge if Richard McGrath were also involved...would bring more lulz for one thing!!

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http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4955751/Ease-penalties-for-small-scale-drug-dealing-Law-Commission

I'm going to guess National will shoot this down as quickly as the last time a similiar approach was recommended.

That is one of the reasons National don't have my vote ( if I was going to vote that is) I believe each individual owns his own life; therefore he has the right to treat his body as he chooses and to ingest whatever he likes.
The Government seem to think that 1000's of kiwis are sitting at home anxiously waiting for drugs to be de-criminalised before embarking on a major drugs binge, most people who want to take drugs already do!!

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