COMMENT:

Where’s ‘Crusher’ gone?

What’s happened to Judith Collins now that she’s hit the campaign trail?

I fear the same people who muzzled Muller to the point of blanc mange are still in the same jobs and now muzzling Judith.

Think back to pre-campaign Judith. Fiesty.

Sassy slap-downs and witty one liners.

She had an “I don’t care what anyone thinks” vibe which was part of her appeal.

Not fitting into anyone’s pre-ordained box, just being herself. And it’s part of why she got the leadership job. People loved her for it.

And now I worry that she’s taking too much advice. That the people around her are clipping her wings, trying to trim her attitude, talking too much to her about “optics” and “tone”. She may be drowning in a sea of too much ‘woke’.

Word of advice you didn’t ask for Judith, if anyone’s mentioning the words ‘optics’ and ‘tone’ to you - run a mile.

Nobody wins friends or votes by being boring. Just ask the long lineup of Labour leaders before they landed on Jacinda.

David Shearer, David Cunliffe, Andrew little - I rest my case.

To be a truly engaging leader, you need to be yourself. You need to have a personality. You need to speak from the heart or the gut.. more than you do from the bureaucrats spreadsheet notes.

For all the advice Jacinda takes from her army of “experts” you still get the sense that what she’s saying comes from her.

She doesn’t always get it right, “Sanzaar politics” being hastily thrown out as an excuse for why we lost the rugby championship being case and point. She fluffed that - panicked, made something up which is patently untrue and in doing so only inflamed Rugby management more. Big mistake. And one National should be capitalizing on - so why aren’t they?

Trying to be kinder, or softer, or Jacinda 2.0 won't work, don't even try. Be the opposition. Say what you think.

Pounce on the government's mistakes and failures - the rugby championship blunder is huge - Nationals leadership should be all over this like a rash - millions lost to our economy, a slap in the face for our All Blacks, slap in the face for tourist operators, a ball dropped by a government incapable of getting back to people on time, far less making any bold decisions.

This was ripe for the picking.

While Simon Bridges was accused of barking at every passing car, I do wonder if we could do with some of that now, given there is after all, an election in a few weeks, and that is, after all, the oppositions job.

The media advisors who diminished Todd Muller into looking like nothing more than a mealy mouthed robot, should be held at arm’s length by Collins. We need less of a softly softly, yawn yawn approach, and more opposition.

Get the attitude back. Bring back Crusher.