Our media are pretty lightweight at political analysis.I have a good bottle of Pinot Noir coming my way courtesy of Winston Peters.
Well, not from Winston himself, exactly, but from his efforts over the weekend. I had a bet with a colleague that Winston would make it back into Parliament. My colleague was adamant "no way".
What he didn't know was that Winston started planning his comeback as soon as the 2008 election was over when he just missed out. He never really left "the house" and that's why the media got it wrong - they don't know the man.
They had him written off right from the start of his 2011 campaign and maybe this is not surprising. Our media are pretty lightweight at political analysis; they don't probe and look only on the surface where political parties are concerned.
They are often not objective and this colours how they portray our politicians. They love to hate Winston and I suspect he has no time for them either, although I notice whenever he is interviewed by Maori TV journalists there does seem to be a degree of mutual respect. And now he's back.
Our Prime Minister will not have an easy time with Winston in the House. New Zealand First supporters are always scoffed at by the media and portrayed as "old and grey". That may be so but they have history and know a thing or two. A significant number ticked Winston's party on Saturday; enough to send him back to Parliament as a MP and leader of a political party.
But why this disdain for older people? Can't they hold a view contrary to others without being belittled? They are thinking and voting people and their numbers are swelling year by year now that the baby boomers are starting to retire. They are entitled to express their political party preference as they did at the polling booth.
Other parties should take a lesson from Saturday's result and not underestimate them. To do so is foolish.
They can upset the apple cart as Saturday's result showed. They care about their country and the place of their children and grandchildren in its future. They themselves worked and contributed over decades to New Zealand's past prosperity and growth. They don't go around with their eyes closed. They see what greed, previous asset sales, slick talking financial investors and market forces have done to New Zealand.
And they talk.
At their Probus, Bowling, Citizens, RSA and service clubs. Wherever they volunteer their time they are exchanging views and expressing an opinion. I often listen to talkback radio, the shows no one will admit to listening to. I listen mostly late at night or in the early hours of the morning, apparently this is quite common when you find yourself left on your own.
Talkback callers are considered weirdos and oddballs too, so they get dismissed accordingly. And that's another mistake. They are a mixed bag; people working at night, travelling, listening at home, some are older and some younger, often calling for the first time.
It would pay media representatives to listen in for a couple of hours from time to time, particularly in election year, to hear what the "uninformed" are saying. Winston's supporters used this medium for the past three years to get their message out.
I stopped to listen to him last Tuesday while he was speaking in Rotorua at City Focus.
Apart from the two dozen older people seated in chairs at the front the other 100 plus people were of all age groups. He connected with his audience.
He talked about our growing export to Australia - our children and grandchildren.
He highlighted the millions being borrowed each week - but is it making a difference? And the sale of State Assets. He spoke of failures in the first round of sell offs.
The gains were not universally realised and indeed the government had to buy back a number and bail others out.
The people who voted for New Zealand First may be of the older generation but they haven't lost their marbles.
They used them over the weekend and hit the jackpot.