The New Greens

Its quite funny that after 15 years in parliament, as an electorate and list MP that Greens co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons is stepping down to enjoy life after parliament.

I have to give credit where it is due. Shes brought the Greens out from obscurity and into the forefront of politics. Shes been the face of compromise between the bigs and the smalls. She proved that the Greens can be reasonable...for the most part.

But her standing aside does prove problematic. Who takes over. According to their own rules the co-leader must be male and female, and since Mr Russell Norman obviously has the male slot, if you look at the current crop of lady MP's, you either have an MP which is the scourge of most people in the country, and carries very little respect, or a "rising star", who at times herself could be a radical, but also could provide a face that the Greens have never have had to this point. A relative moderate, and a Maori.

The thing is, they dont have to be a sitting MP as demonstrated by Norman's entry as co-leader after the death of Rod Donald, but Norman faced a publicity hurdle by being outside the house and in the shadow of someone more favoured and in the public eye like Nandor Tanczos. So once our resident Rasta left, Mr Norman came into the house.

Now is Bradford Vs. Turei. For me thats enough said. Here is how a Stuff.co.nz poll sees it right now.
Total Votes: 9747 as of 3pm today.
Sue Bradford: 965 - 9.9%
Metiria Turei: 2108 - 21.6%
Someone else: 1260 - 12.9%
This one was amazing though.
"I dont care about the Greens: 5414 - 55.5%.

Personally, I think Sue Bradford at the helm along side Russell Norman will be as useful as a Torpedo in Pearl Harbour and the same effect. She has no ears. She cannot listen to the populous and especially if what the people want is not on her agenda. Case in point for this one is her dog like persistance with the anti-smacking legislation that I hope gets thrown out pretty quickly. The down side to her, other than what I have already mentioned is that she is 56.

If it was a vote between these two alone then current "musterer" for the Greens Metiria Turei would be my pick. By comparison, a little more inexperienced but at the same time, years to offer ahead than behind. She has her passionate issues as any red-blooded politician and is in some areas considered a radical. However, I think she is the more likely candidate to be the face of the leadership with Russell Norman...and thats the thing that needs to be considered with replacing Jeannette Fitzsimons. They need someone who can strike the balance.

So thats my little spin on things. I will be watching.