Investigate magazine does a NZ version of How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, courtesy of John Tamihere. The once-promising career of the man who could have been PM now lies in tatters after the most vicious public hissy-fit in NZ political history. Swinging away at TV3 on a Labour blog was bad enough. Hurling abuse at his colleagues on paper was political suicide. Scoop has links to the Tamihere interview in MP3 format.
Will this be the impetus for an early election? Probably not. Even if John Tamihere crossed the floor, it would take every party bar United Future to vote against on no-confidence; ie. very unlikely. Also, unlike last time, Helen Clark cannot blame it on external damage. This is internal bleeding and the polls will reflect that if it goes early.
