Hide the racist

So, Rodney Hide thinks it would be unfair for the Maori Party to be kingmaker (rangitira-maker, surely?) after the election. But not because they might enjoy disproportionate power due to an overhang (which can happen in any electorate seat), but rather because they are "ethnically-based" - in other words, because they're brown:

Mr Hide told Waatea News this morning he was opposed in principle to ethnically-based political parties exercising undue influence on the political system.

"If the Maori Party is in the position to play kingmaker (after the election), that could be very damaging for the Maori Party and MMP politics," he said.

"People will think hang on, how come these people in these (seven) Maori seats where I cannot vote are getting to decide whether it is going to be Helen Clark or John Key who is going to be Prime Minister.

"That does not seem on the face of it fair.

By Hide's reasoning, the fact that I cannot vote in Epsom should also make it unfair for his party to be Kingmaker. But that's apparently OK, because they're not "ethnically-based" ("rich male pakeha" not being an ethnic group).

There are principled arguments to be made about the unfairness of an overhang influencing the election result, but Hide isn't making them. Instead, he's nothing but a dirty little racist, playing the Brash card in an effort to get a few more redneck votes.