10-20-2008, 06:03 AM
Frankie, if you had been at the Kalani candidate forum, you would have cringed at Faye Hanohano's performance. When asked why she had not accomplished more, she said it was hard for her to get things past the "Leadership" in Honolulu. She did not display any inclination whatsoever to stand up and fight that leadership or even make a noise for Puna. She didn't even express any passion for the job, saying that she really didn't want it that much, but wanted to "give back." Very inspiring. What good is showing up every day if you don't do anything?
There is, however, a much bigger problem with the Democratic Party in Hawaii than Faye Hanohano. It is called the "good old boy network," and wresting control of the party from said network should be priority one for Democrats. You can complain all you want about Linda Lingle (and I am not an avid fan,) but she got elected for a reason. People were tired of the GOBN and its methods of governance. Like so many others, I voted for Lingle to send a message and not necessarily because I like all her policies. (Though I do like some of them.)
For another example, one need only look at the howls of indignation and "wait your turn" that went up when Ed Case ran against Senator Akaka. I didn't like some of his policies, but I voted for him to send another message. Shortly before the 2006 election, I stumbled into an event at Nanimau Gardens where Sen. Akaka was appearing. He got away from his handlers in the corridor for a few minutes and I spoke to him. I don't think he really knew why he was there or what the event was really about, because he couldn't clearly tell me when I asked. He did, however, have a prepared text to work from. I never did find out exactly what the event was, but there were a lot of cars with realtor signs on them in the parking lot. Senator Akaka got voted one of the two least effective Senators of the last 50 years by Time Magazine, hardly a pro-Republican organ.
I have voted Democratic over 80% of the time up to now, but that percentage is dropping since I moved to Hawaii. Many of us here on Punaweb consider ourselves progressive, meaning we want positive change and more direct popular input into policy making. Where I lived before, voting Democratic was the progressive thing to do. Here in Hawaii, sometimes voting Republican (or Green, or Libertarian, or anything else) is the progressive thing to do. Most Democratic officials in Hawaii fall into the conservative mold, meaning against any real change in the status quo. So by all means go to the Grand Rally and see all the fossils and the self-congratulatory back-slapping.
In the case of Fred Blas, I am not voting to send a message, but to elect a candidate who will get up and fight for the constituency. He is clearly the best person for the job. I voted in the Democratic Primary to support Anthony Marzi and to try to get some Reform Democrats on the November ballot. Since that didn't work out too well, I will be voting for at least one Republican this time. I strongly suggest it. It's the progressive thing to do.
Cheers,
Jerry
There is, however, a much bigger problem with the Democratic Party in Hawaii than Faye Hanohano. It is called the "good old boy network," and wresting control of the party from said network should be priority one for Democrats. You can complain all you want about Linda Lingle (and I am not an avid fan,) but she got elected for a reason. People were tired of the GOBN and its methods of governance. Like so many others, I voted for Lingle to send a message and not necessarily because I like all her policies. (Though I do like some of them.)
For another example, one need only look at the howls of indignation and "wait your turn" that went up when Ed Case ran against Senator Akaka. I didn't like some of his policies, but I voted for him to send another message. Shortly before the 2006 election, I stumbled into an event at Nanimau Gardens where Sen. Akaka was appearing. He got away from his handlers in the corridor for a few minutes and I spoke to him. I don't think he really knew why he was there or what the event was really about, because he couldn't clearly tell me when I asked. He did, however, have a prepared text to work from. I never did find out exactly what the event was, but there were a lot of cars with realtor signs on them in the parking lot. Senator Akaka got voted one of the two least effective Senators of the last 50 years by Time Magazine, hardly a pro-Republican organ.
I have voted Democratic over 80% of the time up to now, but that percentage is dropping since I moved to Hawaii. Many of us here on Punaweb consider ourselves progressive, meaning we want positive change and more direct popular input into policy making. Where I lived before, voting Democratic was the progressive thing to do. Here in Hawaii, sometimes voting Republican (or Green, or Libertarian, or anything else) is the progressive thing to do. Most Democratic officials in Hawaii fall into the conservative mold, meaning against any real change in the status quo. So by all means go to the Grand Rally and see all the fossils and the self-congratulatory back-slapping.
In the case of Fred Blas, I am not voting to send a message, but to elect a candidate who will get up and fight for the constituency. He is clearly the best person for the job. I voted in the Democratic Primary to support Anthony Marzi and to try to get some Reform Democrats on the November ballot. Since that didn't work out too well, I will be voting for at least one Republican this time. I strongly suggest it. It's the progressive thing to do.
Cheers,
Jerry