I'm very glad this prime minister is no longer anywhere near power. The way he was assured when he is taking pieces out of the interviewer, and wobbly on the actual facts is queasy-making. I find the heaviness and snakiness of his manner disturbing. Fascinating to see the echos in Winston Peter's approach.
The contrast with this interview with Norman Kirk is quite marked. Aside from anything else, the interviewer doesn't look like he made sure his will was signed before he started asking questions. But the lightness of touch, the quiet voice and the almost diffident way he approaches the considerable power he has is a bit of a shock to my modern sensibility. Key manages some of this light touch, but Key seems flippant where Kirk seems thoughtful. The conversation about price stability is bizarre though - it's been that long since New Zealand farmers had subsidies - but they're talking about it like it is unexceptional. Facinating that my and their policy assumptions are so static and yet so different.
That said, both Kirk and Muldoon are adept at twisting questions and shifting to discussing the media instead of themselves. Kirk tends to drop the level of tension with his answers though, which I can't say Muldoon does.
And baby Ross Stevens is a hoot!
Posted by carla at December 4, 2009 08:03 PM