KEY POINTS:
The body is still breathing - just. But some of the family already seem to be fighting over the corpse.
It is a sure sign that a Government is on its last legs when its members admit they might lose the coming election and discuss - even in passing - what might happen to their party afterwards.
Phil Goff can talk all he likes about "media beat-ups". And he sure did his best to talk his way out of the embarrassment inflicted on the Prime Minister and Labour by his loose remarks in an interview on Alt TV.
But all his placatory smiles and patter could not erase what he said in that interview on Oliver Driver's Let's Be Frank show.
The trouble is Goff was exactly that - frank. The more he talked about not being defeatist, the more defeatist he sounded.
He may have stated the obvious in saying "there's a prospect we might lose". However, no matter how dire things might be looking - and they do look pretty dire for Labour right now - no politician worth his salt admits the possibility of defeat. Never. Full-stop. Period. And certainly not a politician as smart, seasoned, politically wired, competent and ultra-careful as Goff.
It is a rare occasion that the words "Goff" and "gaffe" appear in the same sentence. So rare, in fact, that his mention of losing and his accompanying willingness to be drawn into the no-go territory of Labour's leadership has to be assumed to have been very deliberate.
That, at least, is how Goff's critics in Labour will see it. They consider all his positive attributes are outweighed by naked ambition. They will wonder whether his talking about what happens to the leadership post-election presages anything beforehand.
This is the first time Goff has ever opened up on the possibility of his leading the Labour Party. Even if he did not say that much, it was in marked contrast to his line back in February. When he was asked then if he had leadership aspirations, he replied "absolutely none" and instead heaped praise on Helen Clark.
If he is now sticking up his hand, the party is not yet desperate enough to grab it. Rather than undermining the Prime Minister, his comments have probably made her even safer.
With her Government besieged on almost every front, however, Clark could have done without one of her Cabinet ministers writing its political obituary, especially in Budget week.
Goff's defence is that the interview was conducted two weeks ago. It is Labour's bad luck that it should pop up now. But then Labour's luck seems to have run out, with an economy slowing dramatically and a resumption of last year's ministerial stumbles.
One thing had held firm for Labour no matter how tense the arguments behind the closed doors of its caucus. Publicly, Labour MPs have been united and disciplined throughout its time in power.
The cracks might now be showing. Goff's musings may have flowed from the ever-intensifying pressure on MPs as the election draws ever closer, but Labour's deficit in opinion polls becomes, if anything, even larger.
Voters, however, will draw only one conclusion from a Cabinet minister failing to express total confidence his party can win - that Labour is admitting it could soon be time to measure up the coffin and ready the nails.
