If Key wants to be considered properly then he needs to avoid dumb statements like that - and as I said, I was happy to consider paying attention until I read that. Irrespective of your opinion of Labour tactics or Obama’s actual ability to win - Key comparing himself Obama is a foolish thing to say and definitely not short on pomposity. Given that game number one for these guys needs to be establishing trust and authenticity (something they have been well short on for a good while) - it’s definitely a case of “foot meet mouth”.

Key winning will be largely part a pretty standard MMP type cycle - the battle over the centre fuelled largely by apathy and a general desire to grizzle… Obama’s success to date represents the struggle of Black Americans (whether it is or not is another thing), the retaking of US politics from the religious right and the realisation that the US suffers from some pretty dire social and economic problems. Being non-institutional has very little to do with it and given who Key is talking to, funding wise, a pretty shaky statement by itself. Further more it shows a pretty poor understanding of how Obama has gotten to where he is at present - which has a lot to do with him and his team understanding the institutions very very well (booting the Clintons out of the top spot in the Democratic party is not something a naive political player pulls off).

By my reckoning, if Key is a ‘pompous fool’ then Obama is a ‘naive fool’.

It’ll certainly be interesting coming back to these comments in November: but I think only one of these guys is going to win their respective election and it ain’t going to be cappuccino-coloured freshman senator from Illinois…

(Only three months to go to see if need to eat my hat on that one…)