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I am very reassured by the ratings of the first Leaders' Debate. \xa0

It was a bit over one million, which is about the same as the last election and down a bit on the 2017 debate between Bill English and Jacinda Ardern.\xa0

I am reassured because engagement is critical and you could argue never more critical than currently, given the state of the country.\xa0

Just because the result is a forgone conclusion doesn\u2019t mean we shouldn\u2019t be involved.\xa0

If you want to talk numbers, look at the Ipsos issues poll.\xa0

It\u2019s a disaster for Labour. They have collapsed in virtually every issue that is important to us, I'll give the numbers later, but essentially, who do you trust more on any given issue? The answer is now National.\xa0

Also never forget the direction poll: is the country going in the right direction? The 63 % that say no is the real key to the election. Governments that deliver that number don\u2019t get three more years.\xa0

But along with the podcast numbers I gave you the other day, where this shows podcast has generated over a million downloads for the first time. \xa0

But\xa0not just for us, but for any podcast in this country, that shows we are into this thing, despite the fact it's not really a contest.\xa0

In a couple of weeks the debate will shift, it\u2019ll be about turn out.\xa0\xa0

Labour will have trouble with apathy. People can't be bothered turning out for losers.\xa0\xa0

But National will worry about people assuming it's over and therefore not voting. \xa0

Although I would argue those days are gone given early voting basically gives you no excuse not to participate.\xa0

A million people reminds us that elections are important, and politics, for all you want to say about it, still galvanises us.\xa0

You don\u2019t get a million people for anything anymore, apart from the All Blacks in World Cup, possibly the warriors in the final, and elections.\xa0

As segregated and busy as we may be, who runs the country and how they run it still matters to the vast majority of us, and that is a good thing.\xa0

They talk about teaching civics in schools, the best civics lesson you'll ever get is watching this campaign: studying what they say, what they promise, and what their record is.\xa0

\xa0And once you have done that, exercising your democratic duty.\xa0

\xa0It still thrills me that voting here is voluntary yet we still get such a good turn out\xa0

A million plus people.\xa0

Whether its viewership or downloads, numbers don\u2019t lie.\xa0

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