[note: I completed this post on 9/22/10, but because I started workin on it on 9/20/10, the Blogger system says this was written "Monday, September 20, 2010". If anyone knows how to change those settings, let me know]
Last week Saturday (9/18/2010), Hawaii had it's primary elections.
That's when people chose who should be their favored political party's candidates! They also had non-partisan elections for Honolulu mayor, prosecutor, and state Board of Education!
The General Election will be on November 2, 2010. That will be when the people will make the final choice for who will be the next governor, as well as state and federal representatives.
1) The Mayor's Election
Because Mufi Hanneman wanted to run for governor (which I'll discuss later), he had to resign from the mayor's office, and a special election had to be held for the Honolulu's mayor's office!
http://hawaii.gov/elections/results/2010/primary/files/cch.pdf
Former special prosecutor Peter Carlisle won the winner-take-all election, with 38.8% of the vote! Kirk Caldwell (who was Hanneman's assistant as "managing director) was 2nd place with 34.6% of the vote!
My favored candidate Panos Prevedorous, the only major candidate opposing the rail project, got 18.5%
For my reason opposing the rail project, check out
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2008/06/light-rail-and-property-confiscation.html
And the GREATEST NEWS from this mayoral election?
Former City Council member Rod Tam only got 1.5% of the vote!
Tam was very well known for all the wrong reasons.
The most infamous one was back in 2008, during a city council meeting on the construction of the UH-West Oahu campus, Tam said he didn't want "wetbacks" working on the project!
After angry protests, Tam with his usual evasiveness, claimed he didn't know "wetbacks" was an insulting term towards Mexicans, and claimed he was just opposed to "illegal aliens" working on the construction project!
Nevermind, that his district (downtown, Chinatown, Liliha, Nuuanu) has WAY MORE Asian immigrants than Latin Americans! Hawaii, in general, has way more Asian immigrants than Latin American immigrants, but especially Tam's district, which is the center of Chinese culture in Hawaii!
For more general info on that controversy, check out
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2008/06/my-editorial-on-rod-tam.html
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2008/06/who-youre-calling-wetback-rod-tam.html
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Later, Tam had another controversy relating to ethnic issues! In his quest to ban people from riding the bus if they "smell stink", Tam had this to say
http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2009-09-02-honolulu-bus-odor_N.htm
"As we become more inundated with people from all over the world, their way of taking care of their health is different. Some people, quite frankly, do not take a bath every day and therefore they may be offensive in terms of their odor."
Pay attention to what I highlighted in orange. Rod Tam is blaming immigrants for "bad odor" on the bus! Rod Tam is basically calling immigrants (though he didn't mention a specific ethnic group) "dirty" and "stink"
Rod Tam thinks he could get away with insulting minority ethnic groups and still get elected to the mayor's office!
Rod Tam thinks he could get away with referring to Mexicans as "wetbacks" since the Mexican population in Hawaii is small!
But when Rod Tam used the word"wetbacks", he didn't just make the small Mexican population (and other Latinos) upset!
He also pissed off many Asians, Pacific Islanders and European-Americans in Hawaii, who are offended when ANY ethnic group gets discriminated against!
That's right, there's MORE THAN ENOUGH Asians, Pacific Islanders and European-Americans who weren't happy with Rod Tam using racially divisive words, even if it's not referring to their own ethnic group!! MORE THAN ENOUGH of them got tired of Rod Tam's crap and chose other candidates for mayor!
Good riddance to Rod Tam!
2) The Democratic Primary Election for Governor
The 2 major candidates running for the chance to represent the Democratic party in the governor's race were Mufi Hanneman (former Honolulu mayor) and Neil Abercrombie (former US House representative).
Hannemann and Abercrombie ran against each other for the Democratic ticket for the US House seat back in 1986. While Hannemann won the chance to represent the Democrats that year, he end up loosing to Republican candidate Pat Saiki!
This was the re-match, though this time for governor!
Mufi Hannemann started off making some strong points against Abercrombie! Hannemann emphasized that Abercrombie didn't have executive experience and hadn't held a private sector job in 40 years.
However, those strong points got diluted on July 17, 2010 when Hannemann and Abercrombie made an appearance at a forum for the Hawaii Carpenter's Union
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/hawaiinews/20100718_Gubernatorial_rivals_court_carpenters_union.html
Hannemann told carpenters they deserve a candidate they can relate to, who shares their values, and who identifies with working-class families. The mayor, who is of Samoan and German ancestry and grew up in Kalihi, did not mention Abercrombie's background, but his remarks drew a contrast with the white, Buffalo, N.Y.-born former congressman.
"I can identify with you," Hannemann said. "When I look in the audience, I look like you, you look like me. Is that a right thing to say? And even for our Caucasian brothers in the audience, I'm local to the max. My last name is Hannemann. That's German. My middle name is Francis. English. So I'm Samoan-German-English, born and raised in Hawaii, and married to a katonk, a Japanese-American woman.
Again, look what I highlighted in orange. "I look like you, you look like me"? We sure as hell aren't talking about height, since Hannemann is almost a foot taller than the average man!
It sounds like Mufi Hannemann is telling the members of the Hawaii's Carpenter's Union (many of whom are Polynesians or Filipinos) "hey, vote for me since I'm as brown as you guys".
Some have said that Hannemann is trying to tell the audience "vote for me, not that haole boy Abercrombie"! Of course, Hannemann would be quick to point out he's part-German, even though emphasizes his part-Samoan side WAY MORE OFTEN!
Either way, he shouldn't have emphasized this "I look like you, you look like me" stuff! Who cares what you look like? This emphasis on "I look like you, you look like me" insulted our intelligence and have caused Hannemann to lose many supporters, even those who "looked like him"!
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Also, weeks before the election, it turned out many residential property owners who lived near "industrial areas" had their property tax dramatically increased. Since it's the city & county that collects property taxes, and the mayor is in charge of the city, it's Hannemann's fault!
An article from Hawaii Free Press on the issue
http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/main/ArticlesMain/tabid/56/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2825/Hannemannrsquos-property-tax-hike-forces-eviction-of-Kalihi-nonprofits.aspx
Among the tenants being forced out are the Hawaiian Hope computer literacy center and several other non-profit groups at 611 N. King St. Under the newly enforced tax assessment rules, the affordably-priced storefront space they had been using on the ground floor of a four story apartment building triggers a reclassification of the entire building at the much higher commercial property tax rates. The difference-$40,000 per year in new taxes—makes continuing with the commercial space unrealistic for the landlord. The groups are ordered to vacate by September 15.
That’s not all. According to Curtis Kropar, Executive Director of Hawaiian Hope, “Notices found hanging in the building announce to residents that rent will be going up for all of the 400 low income apartments unless something else is done about it.”
Nonprofit leaders say it will be difficult for them to find commercial space priced comparably to the $1 per square foot they had been paying.
The tax changes are part of a package which became controversial when low-income Kalihi homeowners suddenly found themselves owing $13,000 in annual property taxes because the city chose to reassess their homes based on the industrial zoning of the property they sit upon rather than its residential use.
Even more damaging to Hannemann, a large number of those victimized by Hannemann's property tax increase live in Kalihi, where Hannemann could say "I look like you, you look like me". But if your property taxes has dramatically increased to the point you might go bankrupt, IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT THE MAYOR LOOKS LIKE! He could look like you, and you still want to vote him out!
And that's exactly what happened to Hannemann! It's over for him!
3) Democrat Nominee for Lieutenant Governor
In a crowded race for the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor, filled with legislators like Bobby Bunda, Norman Sakamoto, Lyla Berg, Gary Hooser .......... Brian Schatz came out on top!
Schatz is a relatively young and charismatic guy. Easy-going, nice guy. Seems to be filled with compassion! The type of guy you would want to have as a son! The type of guy you want your daughter to marry!
Well, I remember a few years back, when he used to write for the Honolulu Weekly. This one editorial he wrote had 5 ideas, 2 of them very ridiculous!
http://honoluluweekly.com/diary/2007/12/high-five-2/
Schatz wanted to ban plastic bags and wanted to restrict public self-storage facilities!
Here's why I HATE the idea of banning plastic bags!
http://archives.starbulletin.com/2008/01/17/editorial/letters.html (my letter was on the top!)
And if you got stuff you want to keep, but don't have the room for, you would love public self-storage facilities, they same one Schatz wants to get rid of!
If the Republicans find out about what Schatz wants do about plastic bags and public self-storage facilities, they could easily ridicule him as an "out of touch, far-left elitist"! If more people found about those Schatz proposals, they would think twice about voting for him!
4) The Republicans
James "Duke" Aiona and Lynn Finnegan had an easy time getting their party's nomination for governor & lieutenant governor! Charles Djou also easily got his party nomination for the US House seat
Since the 1950's, the Republicans had a hard time winning major elections in Hawaii. Sure, some of the candidates won a few elections (ie. Pat Saiki, Frank Fasi) but Democrats won way more often. In the late 1990's, when Hawaii was trailing the other US states economically, people were willing to give the Republicans a 2nd look. Linda Lingle, a moderate Republican, was able to get the votes of many of those who usually vote Democrat! While Lingle lost a close one in 1998, she got elected governor in 2002 & 2006!
Now that Lingle's time is up, the question remains! Is the Republican Party really rising, or will the voters go back to voting Democrats as usual!
On the continental US, the conservative Republicans got the momentum right now! After the Hope & Change promised by Barack Obama, the recession is still on-going. People are worried that the Democrat policies would lead to more taxes, over-regulation and bureaucratic red tape!
But here in Hawaii, Obama is still popular. Here, he's "the Punahou grad", "the guy who surfs at Sandy's", and off course, "the first minority president". Preaching anger at Obama will NOT work in Hawaii!
Being that Aiona is Native Hawaiian, and Finnegan is Filipina, no one can call the Hawaii Republicans "the haole party". Hannemann couldn't use the "I look you, you look like me" stuff because Aiona & Finnegan also "look like a lot of voters". I even go as far as saying Aiona & Finnegan look MORE like the average local person, since they're not a foot taller than them!
While even in Hawaii, European-Americans are still more likely to vote Republicans than other groups, even many Asians and Pacific Islanders agree with the Republicans on taxes, business, civil unions, education and moral issues. But the question remains - would that be enough for the Republicans to win the governor's seat!
Also having Aiona & Finnegan run on for governor is good P.R. for the Republicans in the rest of the US!
Some Republicans this year are emphasizing the fear of Muslims and making phony rumors of Mexican illegal aliens beheading people (ie. Jan Brewer of Arizona)! That doesn't look good for the long-term health of the Republicans since the non-white population of the US is growing!
However, Democrats aren't immune from prejudice either, especially the already mentioned examples of Rod Tam and Mufi Hannemann. If any white Republican said what those 2 guys said, there would be articles about them on http://www.thenation.com/ or http://www.salon.com/ . But since they're Democrats, the liberals on the continent pretty much ignored their idiotic statements!
The Republicans need to have high profile people like Duke Aiona, Lynne Finnegan, Bobby Jindal (governor of Louisiana) or Nikki Hailey (running for South Carolina governor)! They need to make in-roads with the non-white populations. Those non-white politicians sure as hell not liberals, and not every non-white is a far-left liberal.
Republicans nationwide need to distance themselves from the anti-immigration crowd, no matter how noisy they are! If Aiona & Finnegan win in Hawaii, it will be a sign that Republicans could make in-roads with the growing non-white audiences elsewhere!
