Pity the volunteers

The Chris Carter circus is all very amusing for those of us looking on from the outside but it will be anything but funny for insiders.

Phil Goff will be fuming. Instead of attention focussing positively on Labour for attacking the government it’s on him, his caucus and the Te Atatu MP.

He may also be worried. What if Carter isn’t a lone wolf but a stalking horse?

The rest of caucus will also be angry. Even if they agree with Carter that Labour can’t win the next election with Goff as leader, he’s added poison to the chalice because anyone who took over would be splattered with mud from this mess.

But the people who will be really upset, and for whom I have real sympathy, are the volunteers.

They’re the ones who do the fund raising and the organising. They pound the pavements delivering pamphlets, they phone talkback write letters to the editor, comment on blogs, perhaps even contribute to one. They sit through meetings, in often cold halls, to provide moral support for candidates and MPs.

They are the ones who give their time, their energy and their money for a cause they believe in. They stick with the party through thick and thin, in opposition and government.

And most do it in the knowledge the only reward they will get is seeing some of the policies they support and may have helped shape take effect.

Carter thinks Labour can’t win the election with Goff as leader. He should also realise the party won’t get anywhere without volunteers and he’s just kicked them in the shins.