Make your own Labour leadership post!
I’m going to put my cards on the table and say it straight out: in the upcoming Labour leadership contest, I am firmly behind [Grant Robertson/David Cunliffe].
The thing about [Robertson/Cunliffe] which sets him apart from [Robertson/Cunliffe] is sure, he’s got an ego, but he’s good at controlling it. When people meet [Robertson/Cunliffe] they really get a sense of warm and genuineness, unlike [Robertson/Cunliffe].
Sure, [Robertson/Cunliffe] has been a public servant for a long time, but he can still appeal to people outside the beltway because of his life experiences. And while some people this [Robertson/Cunliffe] really reflects the progressive, leftwing values I support, I just don’t agree, because he has a really checkered history on those issues, whereas I think [Robertson/Cunliffe] has been really vocal and visible in those areas.
Now I understand that [Robertson/Cunliffe] might appeal to some people, and that’s totally fair, because we should all vote in line with our consciences. But on the other hand, I think he’s just not going to win against John Key, whereas [Robertson/Cunliffe] can totally take the fight to him, especially in televised debates.
The other thing is that we really need a break from the Goff/Shearer style of leadership, and [Robertson/Cunliffe] fits that bill for me because he can really stand apart from it, whereas [Robertson/Cunliffe] is just too closely associated with the failures of the past.
I’ve been a [Robertson/Cunliffe] fan for ages, and I’m not going to apologise for backing [Robertson/Cunliffe], but it’s really annoying me how fannish the [Robertson/Cunliffe] supporters are being. They’re just jumping on the bandwagon because they think [Robertson/Cunliffe] is going to win and they just don’t understand that [Robertson/Cunliffe] is the real man for the job.
What I guess I’m really saying is that we need unity and leadership, not smugness and divisiveness, and that’s why Labour needs [Robertson/Cunliffe] and not [Robertson/Cunliffe] because he’s a doodyhead, and I just wish everyone who supports [Robertson/Cunliffe] could stop slinging mud around in the debate because you’re making us look fractured and spiteful.
~
Homework: choose the options which reflect the opposite of how you feel, and consider how fucking smug it sounds and how much it annoys you. Then choose the options which reflect how you actually feel, and get some nice warm fuzzies about how balanced and rational you’re being.
Ideologically Impure 
only one candidate (Grant Robertson) gave the correct answer on a woman’s right to choose – what they call a no-brainer for anyone who supports a woman’s right to control her own body.
I’ve actually got a post about this tomorrow – but I would note that there is no “correct” answer and Cunliffe’s wasn’t bad. It wasn’t as good as Grant’s … but Grant’s also framed abortion as an issue affecting women only, and it doesn’t.
There most definitely is a correct answer, and it is that women should have sovereignty over their own bodies. I don’t really see how it’s a men’s issue.
Because men can get pregnant too. And not all women can get pregnant. And all people should have sovereignty over their own bodies, and that’s a principle that extends far beyond abortion.
And while we’re on the topic? The “correct” answer might also include something like “and when Steve Chadwick tried to get together votes to reform our laws, I was a vocal supporter of this”, only none of the three Labour leader candidates would be able to say that.
Overall I think either/or will be better than the shit we have – and either/or will not really be able to control the factionalism in Labour. So personally as one on the left – were are the left wing leaders again – and when will they stop being white middle class men – shit even this white has had enough of that boys club.