Brash enjoys his morning read

Don Brash

National leader Don Brash can't deny he enjoyed picking up his Herald yesterday.

The front-page headline "Labour support plunges again" made him feel good.

The sub-heading "National shoots up ratings to lead by nearly four points as election date closes in" was even better.

What's more, he even enjoyed the illustrator's rendering of his smiling portrait, which dominated the page, ahead of a harried-looking Prime Minister Helen Clark.

"Except they didn't get my glasses right. I changed my glasses 12 months ago," he said, pointing to his frame-less rectangular specs.

But while bathing in the pre-election polling yesterday, Dr Brash said there was no room for complacency.

"It is obviously a pleasing result but we are not counting our chickens yet."

Dr Brash said there were "probably 12 weeks to go" and things could change markedly.

But sitting at a cafe in the Viaduct Basin with a tall glass of water, enjoying the winter sun and a sea breeze, he did not look too concerned.
With Dr Brash was a buoyant bunch of like-minded souls; senior whip and MP Simon Power, Northcote candidate Jonathan Coleman, Waitakere candidate Paula Bennett and Manurewa candidate Fepulea'i Ulua'ipou-O-Malo Aiono.

They were in a good mood but laughed even more uproariously at the suggestion they might regularly get together for chin wags in such attractive surroundings.

Dr Brash rushed to point out that all sitting MPs and candidates were under strict instructions to use every spare moment to campaign, campaign and campaign.

He then launched into election-mode himself, quickly running through key messages such as disillusionment with Labour, tax policies, and the critical importance of the party list vote.

It was as if he was in a hurry.

But Dr Brash paused to run his finger round and round a spot on the newspaper - a beaming caricature of New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, positioned in third place behind himself and Helen Clark.

"Shall we talk about him?" he asks rhetorically.

"The point I'd like to make about this guy is that voting for New Zealand First is like tossing a coin ... people have no idea of whether that will produce a change of Government or not ... it means delegating your vote to Winston Peters."

Asked why he thought Mr Peters was doing so well, Dr Brash clammed up.

That, it turned out, was all he wanted to say about the MP for Tauranga.