After the embarrassing drubbing former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann took from Neil Abercrombie in last year’s governor’s race, who would have thought he’d have a chance to climb back into one of the state’s top offices just two years later? But the 2nd Congressional District seat opened by Mazie Hirono’s run for retiring U.S. Sen. [...]
Posted tagged ‘Politics’
The political gods smile on Mufi Hannemann
September 7, 2011A ‘waha’ state of mind
September 6, 2011My last “serious” column before going on vacation was about Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s tendency to orate over and over about the state’s problems without having new progress to report in solving them. A reader wrote in using a word to describe the governor that I haven’t heard since my days in Hilo High — “waha.” [...]
Bachmann debate turns crazy
August 10, 2011The latest tempest in the political teapot involves a Newsweek cover photo of GOP presidential contender Michele Bachmann that some supporters say is unflattering and makes her look crazy. Even liberal feminists from the National Organization for Women are denouncing as sexist the headline that proclaims the tea party favorite to be “The Queen of Rage.” [...]
R.I.P. Herb Matayoshi
July 14, 2011I was sorry to hear of the death of Herbert Matayoshi, a gentleman politician who served as Big Island mayor from 1974 to 1984 after earning his stripes as a leader on the County Council. Matayoshi, 82, provided Hawai‘i County steady guidance through a period of major political transition, leading with an easy manner and an [...]
Guv agrees to pay losing bidders
July 13, 2011The last batch of bills signed by Gov. Neil Abercrombie included one of the hold-your-nose gems of this year’s Legislature — HB 985, which allows the state to reimburse some losing bidders on public works projects for the cost of preparing their bids. The measure, which Abercrombie approved without comment, allows the state to spread around [...]
Dueling ex-mayors
May 26, 2011Prominent politicians who lose their jobs can be forlorn figures while waiting for the next election opportunity. Honolulu’s most recent former mayors, Mufi Hannemann and Kirk Caldwell, have been gamely trying to keep their public personas alive on Twitter since September, when Hannemann lost badly to Neil Abercrombie for governor and Caldwell was edged out [...]
Pirates of the Campaign Trail
May 23, 2011Light is always a good way to start the week, so when KITV posted a random pirate name generator in honor of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” opening, I couldn’t resist entering the names of some of our elected officials to see what it would spit out: Gov. Neil Abercrombie: Shoutin’ Neil the Pain Distributor [...]
Was the Senate heroic or peevish on unfinished business?
May 12, 2011State senators acted like there was something noble in their decision to rigidly enforce a procedural deadline, resulting in the Legislature adjourning with major business left unfinished. According to news reports, Senate President Shan Tsutsui choked up as he thanked senators for backing a leadership decision to cut off conference committees at exactly the 6 [...]
Abercrombie touts political diversity
May 10, 2011In a speech to O‘ahu Democrats over the weekend, Gov. Neil Abercrombie raised the intriguing possibility of supporting a return to multimember legislative districts. Hawai‘i had many multimember House and Senate districts until 1982, when a Republican reapportionment lawsuit forced a change to all single-member districts. It was one of the biggest bonehead moves in [...]
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