Richard Long sees a striking similarity between Winston Peters and Houdini:
Imperious self-assurance. Charismatic. Thick, curly black hair. An expansive smile. A love of performing.
These were descriptions of Harry Houdini, the great Hungarian-American escape artist who thrilled audiences 100 years ago. Today they sound uncannily like our own great political trapeze artist, NZ First leader Winston Peters.
… As he prepares for today’s parliamentary showdown with Opposition MPs, Mr Peters must feel as hogtied as his famous doppelganger. If he manages to wriggle free he deserves to be listed up there with Harry as one of the great escape artists of all time.
The trouble for Mr Peters is that he is being pinged in at least three directions about quite different sets of donations to his party, and questions about where the money went and why it was not declared. That’s like being handcuffed and straitjacketed inside the water torture cell.
…IT MAY well be that Mr Peters has adequate explanations for how such donations have been used, even if there has been a failure to declare.
He may have felt boxed in last week with the visit of United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and failed to concentrate sufficiently on explaining rather than attacking his critics.
But he will need to do better with the answers this week, although he will be tempted to continue the counter-punching role, in which he revels, rather than giving explanations, which he hates.
Apart from his political opponents, Mr Peters is facing an increasingly exasperated prime minister who watched as the undeclared donations saga last week upstaged what should have been a major political showcase in the visit of Dr Rice.
… She will not want to precipitate an early election, but if she cannot coax suitable explanations from Mr Peters and, if she calculates her image as a strong leader would be enhanced by action, she could strip Mr Peters of his portfolios.
NZ First would be sealing their own death warrant if they responded by bringing down the Government over that.
Mr Peters would, in these circumstances, portray himself as the injured innocent and go on an all-out campaign for the pensioner vote. With Tauranga being a lost cause, he needs a focused campaign to get his party vote over the 5 per cent threshold. Presently it is hovering nearer four.
Harry Houdini, the escape artist, would no doubt approve.
But Peters isn’t supposed to be entertaining us, he’s supposed to be hleping to run the country which puts his antics in a very unfavourable light.
P.S. Long discussed this issue Jim Mora and his guests on The Panel this afternoon.
Homepaddock 
I’m no fan of Winston Peters. I’ve met him several times and had direct dealings with him when he was Minister of Maori Affairs in a National Government. His weakness, in my view, is his lack of openess and inability to trust people. He shares these same faults with Jim Anderton, oddly enough. He could have been a real leader had he ever learned how to give in order to receive.
I’m fairly certain that whatever he did was – ultimately – legal. Hearing Matthew Hooten hooting about “ethics” this morning was unedifying givn the source.
The circus around these donations is certainly politically motivated. Bob Jones never pops up unless there is something afoot. I wouldn’t believe a word from that source given his past glee at having been believed when leg-pulling for political purposes – like the New Zealand Party.
The strategy seems to be to try to knock NZ First out of the House. This will be one more plank in the Crosby / Textor playbook….and it certainly did get the rising public pressure for more meaningful policy from National off the font pages.
The aim appears to be mis-direction intended to eat up the clock between now and voting day…and the media are happily playing along, thinking it all will matter some how.
It won’t.
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Good grief TS – the man who has built his political career on railing agaianst big business and anonymous donations has been exposed as a hypocrite what on earth has Crosby Textor got to do with that? The media went to Jones first after someone in NZ First gave them information. Peters is in a hole of his own making.
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