Gordon Campbell on what our Labour Party could learn from Zohran Mamdani
Heaven forbid that an abrasive punk duo that calls itself Bob Vylan should lead a hostile chant at the Glastonbury music festival against a military […]
Elections
Gordon Campbell On Our Austerity Fixation And Canada Staying Centre-left
Truly, these are tough times for our nation’s leaders. In future, how on earth are they going to find the sort of money they’ve been […]
Gordon Campbell On Why Having Elections Less Often Is A Bad Idea
Are we feeling the country is in such capable hands, that we can afford to take a longer break between elections? Outside the parliamentary bubble […]
Gordon Campbell on South Africa’s harsh election choices
T he ANC’s goal in Wednesday’s election will be to staunch the bleeding of its support. The ANC has reason to feel anxious. For months, […]
Gordon Campbell on Biden v Trump, and the Taiwan election
If the allegations against Golriz Ghahraman are found to have substance – or even if they merely result in an official Police investigation – then […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s need for Winston Peters
As a spectacle, politics can be pretty boring. MMP politics isn’t a cage fight, or even (ultimately) a struggle between individual parties. Moreover… Under MMP, […]
Gordon Campbell on TOP, and the bank inquiry
The 5% MMP threshold soaks up a disproportionate share of the attention paid to the struggle by small parties to get into Parliament. By now, […]
Gordon Campbell on Ardern, business confidence, and the worth of sanctions
The decision by Jacinda Ardern to end her term as Prime Minister on February 7 has come as a stunning surprise. It turns the task […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s fraught journey back to the centre
Ever since Christopher Luxon became leader, National has adopted a “small target” strategy. This consists of offering nothing to distract the media from its focus […]
Gordon Campbell on Fiji’s journey back to the future
For wealthier New Zealanders and Australians, Fiji is just one option among many for their tourism resort experiences, poolside. Obviously, the country amounts to a […]
Gordon Campbell on abortion politics, Murdoch and the DeSantis surge
So the Democrats did a whole lot better than OK in the midterm elections despite the cost of living crisis and despite the President’s low […]
Gordon Campbell on what the rise of Liz Truss signals for us
True, the writing is a bit florid, but the following passages capture a few of the psychological realities that have been dawning for some time: […]
Gordon Campbell on why Chile’s experiment in direct democracy failed
In overwhelming numbers yesterday – the “no” vote was 62% – the people of Chile voted to reject a draft Constitution that would have been […]
Gordon Campbell on the Sharma chameleon
Gather round the camp-fire, folks. Let me tell you about the Ice Age era of the fourth Labour government, when mean, sabre-toothed tigers like Richard […]
Gordon Campbell on the “one person, many votes” principle
That gormlessly glum picture of Christopher Luxon in Samoa graphically tells us what kind of image New Zealand would be projecting abroad if there’s a […]
Gordon Campbell on the Greens, and on free market myopia
Climate change has gone from being one of those allegedly wacky Green ideas to wide mainstream acceptance. In their own ways, leaders like Jeanette Fitzsimons, […]
Gordon Campbell on Luxon’s “cost of living crisis” gambit
Clearly, no-one should underestimate the political pulling power of a suit offering tax cuts. Last week’s rise of Christopher Luxon and the National Party in […]
Gordon Campbell on some of the barriers facing female politicians
On the current evidence voters are less likely to regard a female politician as ‘likeable’ than a male one, and this perception tends be a barrier that only female candidates have to face.
Gordon Campbell on the Peters/Ardern triumph
On the Peters/Ardern triumph by Gordon Campbell There are a lot of good reasons to feel joyful about this outcome. It is what so many […]
Gordon Campbell on the rise of the far right, and battle bots
In his victory speech at the Cannes film festival this week, the British film director Ken Loach warned that the rise of far right parties […]
Gordon Campbell on the future of conservatism
For years, observers have noted the contrast between Prime Minister John Key’s ordinary Kiwi bloke persona, and the patrician prat more commonly seen in Parliament. […]
Gordon Campbell on whether Donald Trump has peaked
For the past ten days, the world has been daring to hope that the wheels may finally be coming off the Trump bandwagon – sufficiently […]
Gordon Campbell on where Hillary Clinton may be worse than Trump
Anyone with misgivings about Hillary Clinton’s presidential ambitions had them confirmed in spades by Clinton’s appalling speech this week on the Israel/Palestine conflict. In one […]
Gordon Campbell on how Obama’s Supreme Court choice says everything (bad) about his presidency
Nothing has epitomised the presidency of Barack Obama quite like his Supreme Court nominees. Time and again, Republican presidents will blithely nominate right wing ideological […]
Gordon Campbell on the Aussie banks, and patriotic death porn about the flag
If the New Zealand economy was a tennis player, it would be Maria Sharapova – a player reportedly reliant on artificial stimulants, and corporate endorsements. […]
Gordon Campbell on the security services review, and Bernie Sanders’ victory against the TPP
To no-one’s real surprise, the Cullen/Reddy review of the security services has recommended an extension of the powers of the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB), […]
Gordon Campbell on Rubio’s last stand, and tonight’s Sleater-Kinney show
Well, it certainly was entertaining to watch Rubio succeed in getting under Donald Trump’s skin the other day, in the last debate before tomorrow’s Super […]
Gordon Campbell on the support for the Clintons among black voters
Nevada has been conducting its politics via caucuses only since 2004, and the state’s tepid interest in this method of democratic expression still shows. Historically, […]
Gordon Campbell on the middle class anger behind the rise of Donald Trump
One of the best examples of the Alice Through The Looking Glass nature of US politics occurred on the weekend, when Donald Trump – in […]
Gordon Campbell on the Bernie Sanders aftermath
Even as Bernie Sanders was celebrating his win yesterday in New Hampshire, the road ahead for the Sanderistas seemed as dark as ever. The notion […]