Nodding in unison

Claire Trevett at the NZ Herald reports on the post frontbench press standup in Dunedin:

Behind him, they nodded like bulldog toys in the back of car. When he announced he had unanimous support from his frontbenchers, it set off a Mexican wave of determined head nodding.

They also laughed. When an apparently ridiculous question about Mr Goff’s support levels was asked, they laughed scornfully as one. When Mr Goff made a joke they again laughed as one, too loud and too long.

Some overdid it. David Cunliffe stood glued to Mr Goff’s side when they arrived and when he was asked how he would have handled it had he been Labour’s leader, he announced “I’m delighted to say I’m not the leader of the Labour Party.” He went on, further announcing that the actual leader of the Labour Party was “right here and he has my full support”.

Afterward, he was again glued to Mr Goff’s side. He nodded so hard when Mr Goff said he had unanimous support that he risked a dislocation. When Mr Goff was asked how he had tested his unanimous support, it was Mr Cunliffe who answered first, yelping “because we told him” and shaking his head in disbelief at the suggestion a show of hands might have been required.

I’m trying to think of what the scene best resembled. It reminded me of the 60 minutes interview by Steve Kroft with Bill and Hillary Clinton in 1992. You know the one – where they are trying to look like the relationship is perfect, but they are just trying a little bit too hard to be genuine.

But on the positive side, it worked for Clinton!