KEY POINTS:
Was it just a slip of the tongue? Probably. But Pita Sharples' political enemies were not allowing him that kind of leeway yesterday.
Commenting on National Radio on Sunday's Marae-DigiPoll survey, the Maori Party co-leader initially said the findings made it "easy" for his party to go into some kind of governing arrangement with National after the election.
No sooner had he uttered the word "easy" than he had modified it to the much safer and less definite "easier".
The self-correction was understandable. Given the Maori Party is likely to have a power-broking role in post-election negotiations and given the party has yet to determine how it will approach those talks, any prior statements risk being interpreted or deliberately misinterpreted as indicating a preference.
Shane Jones, Cabinet minister and previous chairman of Labour's Maori caucus, was quick yesterday to treat Sharples' comments in such fashion, referring to "Maori munchkins" attaching themselves "as minor appendages to the blue-rinse brigade".
Apart from reiterating Labour's mantra that "a vote for the Maori Party risks being a vote for National", Jones was also quick to pick up on one important component of the Marae poll which was overshadowed by its flagging of a Maori Party clean sweep in all seven Maori seats.
The latter finding was rubbished by the Prime Minister who argued the small sample of respondents in each seat made the results a "statistical nonsense".
More difficult for Helen Clark to dismiss - and as worrying for Labour - are the party standings in the poll. Among voters on the Maori roll, the Maori Party secured 49 per cent backing against Labour's 33 per cent.
That indicates a big turnaround from the 2005 election when Labour won nearly 55 per cent of the party vote in the Maori seats against the Maori Party's 28 per cent.
Many Maori voters split their vote in 2005 - backing the Maori Party candidate in their electorate, but still giving their party vote to Labour.
The signs are more and more of those voters are opting to give both votes to the Maori Party, although some of Labour's party vote is also heading National's way.
Spotting the danger for Labour, Jones is predicting the Maori Party leadership will use the increase in the party's share of the party vote as a "moral mandate" for taking an independent stance into post-election talks and thereby empowering it to endorse National afterwards.
The Marae poll certainly backs up Sharples' assertion it is becoming easier for the Maori Party to justify supporting the formation of a National-led Government, especially if that backing is confined to abstaining on confidence motions in exchange for policy "wins".
Sharples and the party's other co-leader, Tariana Turia, need to be wary. While people are shifting their party vote to the Maori Party, they may still expect its MPs to line up with Labour in post-election negotiations.
Notably, the latest Herald-DigiPoll survey has 57 per cent of respondents who backed the Maori Party still preferring to deal with Labour after the election, as against 43 per cent who want the party to talk with National first.
That finding - admittedly based on a tiny number of respondents - could equally be interpreted as showing Labour's historic hold over Maori voters being further on the wane.
