When I say the right will always win a campaign based on fear of the Other, this was discussed on a recent edition of the RNZ Caucus program:

"I wonder whether Labour is going to go for the fear factor now... I think they'll really ratchet that up... the fear of the ACT government."

#GuyonEspiner, 2023

https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/caucus/story/2018903988/don-t-stop-believing-act-hits-fawke-in-the-road-as-labour-falls-and-national-stalls

This was the Clinton campaign strategy. It didn't work. Demonising the opposing candidate just made him seem more threatening and more powerful, boosting his vote.

WTF?!?

"The Cell Buster, made by American company Sabre and marketed under the tagline Making Grown Men Cry Since 1975, involves hosing pepper spray into a closed cell to incapacitate the inmate.

It was used multiple times against Mihi Bassett and Karma Cripps at Auckland Women's Prison in 2019 in what the District Court earlier ruled was cruel and degrading treatment designed to break their spirit."

#GuyonEspiner, 2022

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-depth/470123/use-of-cell-buster-pepper-spray-in-prisons-was-unlawful-judge

#RNZ #PrisonIndustrialComplex #Sabre

@ryancrawcour This morning I listened to Guyon Espiner's interview with Luxon for RNZ. Very slick. We may have another Teflon John on our hands ;)

#RNZ #GuyonEspiner #ChrisLuxon #NationalNZ