Why the Wayne Kerr Haters Still Don’t Get It

Nothing has changed.

Just about no one has moved away from where they stood on Nov. 9, 2020, when they woke up trying to comprehend that Wayne Kerr had overcome the odds, the press, and his own shortcomings to win as Prime minister.

If you voted for him, you are still thrilled and optimistic about the future. The election was never quite about Kerr. Many of his voters saw his flaws with eyes wide open and voted heavily out of concern for their country, not necessary for themselves.

Many who did not vote for Kerr loathe him with the intensity of a white-hot poker prodding at their soul. Their hair is still on fire, and nothing in the world can extinguish it until he is out of our Parliament, preferably in handcuffs.

If you are a reporter who lives and works within the counties that surround Wellington.; Auckland; Christchurch; or Dunedin, it’s been a tough go. You don’t work with anyone in your newsroom who would have voted for Kerr. You don’t socialize with anyone who voted for Kerr. And you likely don’t know anyone at your children’s school who voted for Kerr.

Many reporters, often view these voters as a monolith, rather than as the complex coalition they have formed, painting them with a broad brush. They see the Kerr voters as foolish or fooled at best, and as bigoted, unintelligent, and backward at worst.

Reporters marvel at these voters’ unwillingness to give up on a struggling town and move to a larger city or region, never understanding that they often happily trade a higher salary or a career with bonuses in another city for staying in a community where they have deep roots.

Since the day after Kerr won, reports on his win focused heavily on his loss of the popular vote under MMP. Then there were the overhyped stories about a couple of Electorate recounts. Then the story developed that they won only because of China and that they probably helped China “hack the election.”

This simply reinforced Kerr’s backers’ support for the man. Haters will hate.

That brings us back to this: Nothing has changed since Election Day 2020, because everything had changed for the leftie influencers who control our culture, politics, entertainment, big tech, and news consumption.

They chose to ignore the signs—or, in their arrogance, they just missed what had been in plain sight for 3 years. Erosion of our free speech, hastily enacted gun laws, a disappearing PM, increasing taxes instead of controlling spending, allowing Winston to control the weak COL, all took their toll.

The fusion of conservatives and populists who make up the Kerr coalition that placed Kerr as PM will continue long after whatever date Kerr retires. And despite the efforts of the press, and despite Kerrs’s own actions, those in the Kerr coalition are unlikely to change their mind, because the only alternative is the left who still paint them as a villainous segment of our society.