Here's an article I wrote for Te Rau Mata, the Auckland Green e-newsletter. But thought others might be interested.

Timing is everything.

That is especially true of elections. Peaking too early is a recipe for complacency and disappointment. Start your run too late and it's difficult to gain momentum. The Green's timing this election is about as good as it gets.

From polling a couple of months ago that had the commentators speculating about whether we would be back in parliament at all, we have risen steadily, but not too rapidly. Green-friendly voters who had been thinking of voting Labour to prevent a Brash government have got the message that a Green party vote is a vote for a Green Labour government. Labour has helped reinforce that message. Greens and Labour are starting to look like a government in waiting.

These last few days are the crucial period. We need a rapid and energetic rise going into election day, to hit our peak as people are voting. This is what will decide how many Green MPs we get, and how much Green policy gets implemented.

We have a great team here in Auckland. We have done well getting a huge amount of literature out to people and getting the Green message into people's minds. Let's use these last few days to reinforce that work, to reach those people that haven't yet heard our vision, and to lock in a committed and confident Green vote.

Nandor