It may surprise many Westerners, but Mikhail Gorbachev was not and is not, shall we say, fondly regarded in the former Soviet Union. Even when he was in office, his poll ratings plummeted to negative numbers between 1990 and 1991. Even today, Gorbachev is less popular in Russia, Georgia and Amernia than Josef Stalin. In Ukraine, less than a quarter of people believe he played a positive role in history.
How can this be? The West loved Gorby! How could his own people disagree with the New York Times, who raved about what a ‘hit’ he was with the American public?
Well, New Zealanders might be able to explain the disparity.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is currently leading a trade mission to the United States, with a meeting between her, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris pencilled in for later this week. Her appeal on the world stage is evident – the New York Times over the weekend hailed her ‘inspiring’ – but there is a considerable disconnect now between her high regard internationally and the discontent she is facing domestically.
There’s the NYT times again. I mean, who could disagree with the paper who once printed reports furiously denying famine in the Stalinist Soviet Union?
If the Times gushed over Ardern, much of the US media didn’t even notice she was there. Ardern got distinctly second billing, way below… a K-Pop band.
But what really got the Ardern fans bloomers damp was her gushy appearance on Stephen Colbert. Given Colbert’s ratings, one might be forgiven for suspecting that most of his remaining audience consists solely of New Zealand media hacks.
But what has garnered the most focus internationally is Ardern’s comments on gun control following the shooting of 21 people – including 19 children – in Uvalde, Texas. The Late Show host Stephen Colbert opened his interview with Ardern by referencing New Zealand’s gun law changes after the Christchurch mosque attacks in 2019.
Imagine if she’d gone on a show that people actually watch, like Greg Gutfield. But that’s never going to happen, because Gutfield would almost certainly bother to do some research and point out that New Zealand is undergoing a wave of gun crime at the moment. Stuff Kiwis are very much aware of as they watch their Dear Leader primp and preen for the most unpopular US president in history.
Ardern’s ratings have dropped to 36.6 per cent, down seven points, a fall larger than that of her party. Meanwhile, opposition National leader Christopher Luxon is gaining. He’s up six points to 23.9 per cent.
It marks Ardern’s lowest result in the poll since she became prime minister in 2017 and the best result for a National leader since before that election. This is part of a consistent trend. In March, a TVNZ/Kantor poll found National had overtaken Labour – albeit by a smaller margin – for the first time since the pandemic began.
A large part of the reason for Gorbachev’s unpopularity at home was the havoc his economic policies wreaked for the average Soviet citizen. Which brings us back to the socialist from other end of the Earth.
In recent months, New Zealand’s attention has turned from the Covid response to the mounting challenges of inflation and the cost of living. In April, annual inflation reached a 30-year high of 6.9 per cent, and in March, food prices were 7.6 per cent higher compared with the year before. Despite government tax relief on petrol, prices at the pump have been driven up by the flow-on effects of the war in Ukraine. Median rents are up seven per cent year on year and high prices are locking many first-time buyers out of the housing market.
Spectator Australia
Oh, but she got an honorary degree from Harvard. Well, so did Kermit the Frog – but people actually like him. And at least we knew that it was Jim Henson’s hand up his arse that was controlling that puppet.