Mike's Minute: The debate over the debate

Should I have been surprised?  The debate around the Press debate has entered day two. If it carries on today that’s day three and that's two days too many.  Sure, it's news that a Prime Minister gets ill and can't attend a pre-arranged event. But that’s about it.  There is a certain irony that, having spent the past week deciding broadly that debates are a bit of a waste of time, certain players should be wasting energy and going out of their way to scrap over yet another one.  In a sad kind of way it displays just how lost the Labour Party are. Even if you accept Chris Hipkins won the second debate, nothing has changed. The needle didn’t move.  Chris Luxon didn’t fall apart, he just wasn’t as interested in yelling over people as Hipkins was. As one reviewer put the Newshub debate, it was more game show than game changer.  To an extent, it's all Labour have left. Voting is underway, they are a mile behind, there isn't a poll that shows their three-way combo of craziness can get the numbers required, so what have they got to lose?  Well, quite a bit actually. One school of thought, surely, is that each debate they run the risk of losing.  Debate one they lost and they interjected their way to victory in debate two. Although, it's important to point out that it was the so-called media experts that called it for Hipkins. An online poll in the NZ Herald using real people had it for Luxon. Either way there is risk.  Labour might want to try and sure-up their vote and hope it doesn’t sink further.  Here is the simple truth if you are Luxon - why bother? His final week is full. I have seen the agenda and he is all over the country.  He is in the lead, he has the momentum and his final week and his schedule is carefully controlled. Why shake it up because the Prime Minister got sick?  Control the narrative, say the stuff you want to say and wait for the numbers to roll in Saturday night. Besides, there is already the previously scheduled debate on TV1 next Thursday.  The nonsense about Christchurch and the South island and a large audience smacks of desperation. It was on, one bloke couldn’t do it, it's now off. That's life.  You probably would have gained more brownie points by calling it off straight away and saving those of us who are left, and can be bothered to watch, a couple of hours of yet more regurgitated material, mixed with inaudible bickering. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.