KEY POINTS:
Everyone expects him to be our next Prime Minister.
Not since David Lange's landslide victory in 1984 has there been an election that has looked so farcically one-sided - but even with the Government's poll ratings in freefall, John Key is doing his best to dispel any
suggestions the campaign is little more than a victory march.
Nothing is guaranteed in politics, Key insists, adding that his nemesis Helen Clark is "not someone you ever write off".
Choosing his words carefully, he uses phrases like "hard-working" to describe Clark and says he has "nothing against her personally".
But that's where the charity ends.
"I think she is distracted," he says, before taking aim at what he says is her disintegrating caucus.
"Labour MPs are speaking out. I'm starting to see the signs emerge. They have been a pretty disciplined bunch but if the polls are any indication, a reasonably large chunk of her caucus will be leaving Parliament shortly and they are now starting to ask questions of Clark and Cullen."
It's vintage Key - not smug or cocky, rather someone whose lead is so great, whose stroll towards the country's top job such a cakewalk, that he's barely breaking a sweat.
Today is another chance to espouse National's message. It's heavy on duty, responsibility and self-sacrifice; the central tenets of Key's personal philosophy.
The beliefs are all references to his own upbringing; the boy from the state home turned good. But occasionally you get the feeling Key struggles with his own success.
It would be much easier if he was just an average bloke rather than a millionaire former merchant banker.
Clark often makes capital out of Key's lack of political experience. Last week she described him as "thin-skinned", someone who would "hang himself because he wasn't good on his feet".
"There's this guy who has been in Parliament for a second term. He has no background in public life. He's spent years out of New Zealand. Heaven knows what he did."
Key knows the rhetoric well.
"She's always trying that one on," he says. It's a reminder that there's still plenty of fight in Clark.
"[The election] is a long way from a foregone conclusion," Key concedes.
If a week is a long time in politics, anything can happen in three months. "I know it's a cliche, but there's only one poll that matters."
Key accepts he has detractors. In some circles he is described as indecisive and insipid, someone who flip-flops on policy. But that aside, no one can deny that National without Key would be a very ordinary proposition. As much as it grates him (and it does) Key says he's used to the criticism ("water off a duck's back") before he spouts some well-rehearsed rhetoric.
"Every politician has their own style, and I think you have to stick to what you do well and I care about the issues and where New Zealand is going. I came into politics because I think we underperform as a country and I think we are capable of doing a lot better."
He says that until polling day National will be "working to the plan we have established". It's that sort of rhetoric that infuriates critics.
"[There will be] an increasingly fast rollout of policy and putting together the pieces of the puzzle. It will be an agenda focused on what we think are the critical election issues the country will be facing."
It's more Key speak - the politician who hits all the right notes with talk of "this common vision", but who critics say delivers little in the way of concrete policy.
Key disputes that.
He alludes to the "comprehensive economic plan" National has in store, which will revolve largely around tax cuts, "reining in the impact Government bureaucracy has on peoples' lives" and a heavy infrastructure investment programme.
Key also says there will be "lots of changes around education and law and order", but won't go into specifics apart from promising more power and resources for police, including Tasers.
"Drugs are changing the dynamic for police officers on the street now and the number of violent attacks is increasing," Key says. "I don't think there is any question the police need more resourcing. We like the idea of a ratio of one police officer to a certain number of citizens."
Keys says South Auckland remains a troubling hotspot and National is committed to an "action plan" that "is pretty comprehensive around resolving the issues".
Again, no specifics but Key says the policy - coming off the back of his "underclass speech" last year - will deal with "everything from education through to how we deal with young people going off the rails".
"It is a very creative policy. You will see some out-of-the box thinking here," Key assures.
On the economic front, he accepts National's eagerly awaited tax package will be the central and most important plank of its pre-election policy announcements.
Again, he's not yet in a position to reveal just how much New Zealanders will get in their back pockets, or how National will fund the cuts.
"But Kiwis aren't fools. They know the economy is slowing down. They know the options for National are reducing. They know Labour has been on a big spending binge and are clearly on a bender to try and leave the cupboard not only bare, but without shelves.
"That is going to make life more challenging for us and that is one of the reasons we are not going to over-promise. But we certainly have a tax plan that works and is affordable."
Happily for Key, last week's talk wasn't about tax or the economy.
Even he knows the rhetoric will stretch only so far and sooner or later the New Zealand public will want to see some firm policy. But he assures that, cometh the hour, National will be ready to govern.
"We've got a talented team ready to go, ready to make the changes this country wants to see," he says firmly. "This Labour government has run its course. It's time for a change."
