25/11/24
TJ Perenara injected politics into the All Blacks' haka. Josie joined Heather du Plessis Allan and David Farrar on Newstalk ZB to discuss.
And it's been a year since the new Government was sworn in.
22/11/24
Celebrity threats to up sticks and leave when they don’t like the choice of more than half of Americans don’t help their case that the election was all about democracy.
The more celebs speechified about saving democracy, the less those focused on their own economy listened.
While affluent voters shifted to the Democrats, there was an almost 15 point swing towards Trump amongst voters earning less than $50,000. Shortly after Taylor Swift endorsed Kamala Harris, a YouGov poll found that only 8% of voters would be more likely to vote for her. 20% said the endorsement made them less likely to vote for Harris.
Like centre-left parties everywhere, the Democrats have been taken over by the cultural elite who tell the rest of us how we should talk, what we should eat, and who to vote for. Then they tell us off for making the wrong choice.
There was a case for celebrities in politics. They helped draw attention to a candidate. Now they make politics about who you like most. You can’t have a contest of ideas when political contests are about how you feel. How do you disagree with someone’s emotions?
Celebritisation of politics makes Trump more plausible because he does politics as reality TV. Each day he hucksters headlines with new outrages and excesses. His aim is to swamp the conversation, leaving no room for substance. Don’t look away.
Read Josie's column in The Post.
07/11/24
In the US a staggering class realignment saw those earning over $100,000 vote for Kamala Harris in 2024, where they voted for Trump in 2020. People on incomes lower than $50,000 voted for Biden in 2020 and Trump in 2024.
How did this happen?
The culture war has cost us.
The left has failed to come up with its own populist economic offer to counter the authoritarians.
Turning politics into a zero sum game about identity has been a disaster for the left.
The overwhelming majority of eligible voters in the US this week were working class - around two-thirds. In all seven swing states in the US, their share of the electorate was higher than this national average.
The left can't win without them.
Josie responds to the election of President Trump.04/11/24
48 hours to go until the US election - Josie joined Heather du Plessis Allan and Trish Sherson on Newstalk ZB.
Brian and Hannah Tamaki were in court over their Covid-19 rule breaches during the 2021 lockdown.
And the Prime Minister calls voters 'customers'.