Our Bottom Line is You! The Naivety of National

I haven't blogged on politics for a while. I have had all sorts of thoughts but it is National's latest slogan that has led me to break my silence. 

I see with interest that National has a new slogan: “our bottom line is you” (https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12253263). Here is a brilliant example of the naivety of this National Party leadership.

First, it is naff! It is insipid. It is sickly. Get me a bucket. “Our bottom line is you”—what does that mean? It's kind of a reworking of “its all about you.” None of us can take that seriously because it is weak and puerile to the core.

Second, be real National! The bottom line is winning the next election. It is either getting over 50% of the votes that count to win. Or, getting a coalition partner and together getting over the line! There is no coalition partner. Hence, you are destined to wallow in the opposition for another round. Get on with making that happen.

Third, I suppose the bottom line from out here looking in is, “its all about you Simon.” It's about you doing an Andrew Little and stepping down and you doing your homework as a party to find a leader who can connect with New Zealanders through the media and who is highly regarded in the party as a leader. Clearly, Simon is the latter, but the former, the bottom line is, “no!” He doesn’t get us and we don’t get him. Your bottom line really is, “even with your polling in the mid-40s without a coalition partner and with a leader who can’t connect, you’re toast whatever your slogan is.”

Fourth, it is popularist, pragmatic politics. If we really are your bottom line, everything, including things like the euthanasia bill, etc., would be decided by referenda. Indeed, your bottom line is us, and we are showing in the polls what we think.

Fifth, who is “you”? The poor? The rich? The business owner? The leftie? The rightie? The farmer? The greenie? It is nonsense and meaningless. As “you” includes the full range of, I presume, New Zealanders, which “you” are you after?

Sixth, further to the previous point—be honest National. Your bottom line is getting encouraging your core constituents of farmers, business people, and so on to continue to vote with you and grabbing enough of middle-NZ to get over the line. So, it is not really “you,” I mean “us.” It is “those among you who have previously voted for us and more from the middle than we have had last time around.”

Finally, and this is a biggie—think about what a bottom line is. Yes, it can mean that the fundamental and most important factor. But “bottom” has other meanings and so, in reality, it can also mean what some would call “your butt-crack.” I know it’s a bit crass, but are we really the butt-crack to national? “Our butt-crack is you!” Nice! So we are the butt-crack of national?

Goodness, gracious me! Who in their right minds would use “bottom line” in a political slogan? What naivety! Love to know how much some marketing guru was paid to come up with this stupid line. Come on! “Make NZ great again” would be better than this drivel capable of a ridiculous range of meanings.

So, we see why this group of National leaders are in trouble. The last lot was politically savvy, really clever. Labour and their friends are holding their levels whatever you think of them. This lot is simply put, naïve.