Witch-Hunt Colleen & the 2007 Session, May 2007
The 2007 Legislature was a big disappointment. There were moments when the legislature looked like it would take up the mantle of great issues, but in the end the 2007 session will be memorable only for its witch hunts.
For a flashing instant the Hawaii legislature appeared poised to live up to it progressive traditions and pass a civil unions bill – but Rep. Tommy Waters, the House Judiciary Chair, killed that off. Then for a brief instant, it looked like Hawaii would finally pass a death with dignity bill. Then Rep. Waters killed that too. Everything was dead in the Waters so to speak. With not just a majority, but an overwhelming three-quarters Democrat majority in both chambers, Publis asks why do we need so many Democrats if these Democrats can’t muster the guts to pass a civil unions or death with dignity bill?
So, what did the legislature do this pass year? Pass meaningful broad based tax relief with a $700 mil. surplus? Nope. STEM? Well, o.k., it did pass something to do with “innovation” – but like the new Diet Pepsi Challenge, Publis puts out its challenge to ask any 10 random Hawaii voters what the heck STEM is – our bet is that 0 out of 10 Hawaii voters will have a clue. Publis is sure that the legislative leadership will recite a whole bunch of good things they think did in 2007. But again, the Publis challenge is to ask 10 random Hawaii voters and chances are not one Hawaii voter will come up with recalling anything remotely close to what any of the legislative leaders say.
What will a random selection of Hawaii voters come up with? If voters can recall anything about the 2007 legislature it will be about the witch hunts for Glenn Kim, Iwalani White and Peter Young. Pretty much, that is all the average Hawaii voter will remember from the 2007 session. That of course means the State House did absolutely nothing, but compared to the State Senate, that’s not that bad.
Sen. Clayton Hee, brother-in-law of the aforementioned Rep. Waters, got things started by trying to smear Glenn Kim for a judicial appointment. Interestingly, Hee decided to give a pass to mainland haole (and Publis think he even has blue eyes) Mark Rectenwald for the much more important post of Chief Judge of the Intermediate Court of Appeals. Instead Hee opts to go after local-boy Glenn Kim, a decorated Vietnam Vet and Harvard grad. Needless to say, Hee missed. Sen. Willie Espero, however, was more successful in bagging the head of Iwalani White. Then Sen. Russell Kokubon was really successful in managing a kangaroo court to bag Peter Young.
All of this was done under the watchful eye of the new Senate President Colleen Hanabusa. In the past Publis has been impressed by Hanabusa’s intellect and her akamai wits. This is what nearly helped her win a congressional seat last year and propelled her to the Senate Presidency. But Hanabusa also has a dark side – a clear penchant for witch hunting. As a freshman senator, it was Hanabusa who lead the charge to oust Margery Bronster as Attorney General. She convinced her four other fellow freshman senators to join her in the charge to get Bronster’s head. Hanabusa was ultimately successful in ousting Bronster and the voters then promptly punished all of the freshmen senators who followed Hanabusa by voting all of them out of office.
Publis even takes a bit of sorrow in noting that Hanabusa got tagged for Rep. John Karimitsu’s stupid idea of buying a private jet for legislators to fly in style between the islands. Life is unfair, this was Air(head)-Karimitsu’s idea, but Hanabusa got the blame. Anytime Hanabusa ever runs for higher office in the future, look for the Air-Karimatsu jet to rear its head. But look on the bright side, legislators are now getting big fat raises.
In 2007, Publis is disappointed that witch-hunt Hanabusa decided to make a return visit. Rather than lead with her intellect, Hanabusa this year lead with her dark side. The witch hunting has clearly damaged Hanabusa’s reputation. A few months ago, Hanabusa’s stock was on the rise and Chinatown had her as one of the most likely individuals to put the word “governor” in front of her name in 2010. Things are not over yet, but after the 2007 session, let’s just say Chinatown has Hanabusa’s stock way down. That bet on a Governor Case looks much better and a Governor Hannemann bet now looks really good. (Publis notes that interestingly on the GOP side there are still no takers for a bet on a Governor Aiona. See below for the latest on all Chinatown odds.) Right now, after this year’s session, Hanabusa appears likely to follow the great career trajectory of previous esteemed Senate Presidents Bobby Bunda, Norman Mizuguchi, and Jimmy Aki. That is, Hanabusa has now reached the high point of her political career. That may be a little harsh as it is still early, but Publis is not advising any bets on Hanabusa unless something dramatic happens very soon.
Pau,
Publis Hawaii
PS – OK for you punters out there, here are the latest odds Publis has compiled from the bookies on Hotel Street. As a general statement, 2010 looks really good for the Democrats to retake Washington Place. The clear front runners is Mufi Hannemann for Governor, with Ed Case in second. Donovan Dela Cruz is the bet for Lt. Governor with Donna Kim, Brian Schatz, and Kirk Caldwell far behind. Dela Cruz and Donna Kim make the most political sense as they ethnically fit with all of the leading Democrats: Hannemann, Case and Abercrombie. On the other hand, a Case-Caldwell or Abercrombie-Schatz ticket makes as much sense as a Hirono-Matsunaga ticket in Hawaii’s ethnic politics game. For the record, Publis is pulling for a Hannemann-Dela Cruz ticket. This would finally give us some real fun like the good ol’ days when the Gov and LG actually fought with one another. Enough of this gushy Lingle-Aiona love-fest crap. Who can forget the good times when we had with Quinn-Kealoha or Ariyoshi-King or the epic Burns-Gill fights? Then again, at this same stage the last time there was an open seat for governor looming, the Chinatown odds makers had a Harris-Yoshimura ticket winning it all. Nothing like a spending spree and a drunk driving accident to wreck all of that.
Just a reminder, the numbers below are odds not polling numbers. Odds don’t just reflect popularity. A large portion of the odds are a reflection of bookie’s bets on if a particular candidate will even run for the office. Thus, for example, Publis thinks Abercrombie’s odds and certainly Dodd’s odds would be way higher if they actually committed to run. But Abercrombie is probably slightly discounted and Dodds heavily discounted on if either would run for Gov.
GOVERNOR
Hannemann 1:3
Case 1:4
Abercrombie 1:7
Carlisle 1:9
Hanabusa 1:16
Djou 1:18
Kim (Donna) 1:31
Dodds 1:38
Kim (Harry) 1:50
LG
Dela Cruz 2:5
Kim (Donna) 1:10
Schatz 1:14
Caldwell 1:17
Finnegann 1:29
Espero 1:40
Shimabokuro 1:44
Kane 1:50
Hee 1:50
Garcia 1:65
The 2007 Legislature was a big disappointment. There were moments when the legislature looked like it would take up the mantle of great issues, but in the end the 2007 session will be memorable only for its witch hunts.
For a flashing instant the Hawaii legislature appeared poised to live up to it progressive traditions and pass a civil unions bill – but Rep. Tommy Waters, the House Judiciary Chair, killed that off. Then for a brief instant, it looked like Hawaii would finally pass a death with dignity bill. Then Rep. Waters killed that too. Everything was dead in the Waters so to speak. With not just a majority, but an overwhelming three-quarters Democrat majority in both chambers, Publis asks why do we need so many Democrats if these Democrats can’t muster the guts to pass a civil unions or death with dignity bill?
So, what did the legislature do this pass year? Pass meaningful broad based tax relief with a $700 mil. surplus? Nope. STEM? Well, o.k., it did pass something to do with “innovation” – but like the new Diet Pepsi Challenge, Publis puts out its challenge to ask any 10 random Hawaii voters what the heck STEM is – our bet is that 0 out of 10 Hawaii voters will have a clue. Publis is sure that the legislative leadership will recite a whole bunch of good things they think did in 2007. But again, the Publis challenge is to ask 10 random Hawaii voters and chances are not one Hawaii voter will come up with recalling anything remotely close to what any of the legislative leaders say.
What will a random selection of Hawaii voters come up with? If voters can recall anything about the 2007 legislature it will be about the witch hunts for Glenn Kim, Iwalani White and Peter Young. Pretty much, that is all the average Hawaii voter will remember from the 2007 session. That of course means the State House did absolutely nothing, but compared to the State Senate, that’s not that bad.
Sen. Clayton Hee, brother-in-law of the aforementioned Rep. Waters, got things started by trying to smear Glenn Kim for a judicial appointment. Interestingly, Hee decided to give a pass to mainland haole (and Publis think he even has blue eyes) Mark Rectenwald for the much more important post of Chief Judge of the Intermediate Court of Appeals. Instead Hee opts to go after local-boy Glenn Kim, a decorated Vietnam Vet and Harvard grad. Needless to say, Hee missed. Sen. Willie Espero, however, was more successful in bagging the head of Iwalani White. Then Sen. Russell Kokubon was really successful in managing a kangaroo court to bag Peter Young.
All of this was done under the watchful eye of the new Senate President Colleen Hanabusa. In the past Publis has been impressed by Hanabusa’s intellect and her akamai wits. This is what nearly helped her win a congressional seat last year and propelled her to the Senate Presidency. But Hanabusa also has a dark side – a clear penchant for witch hunting. As a freshman senator, it was Hanabusa who lead the charge to oust Margery Bronster as Attorney General. She convinced her four other fellow freshman senators to join her in the charge to get Bronster’s head. Hanabusa was ultimately successful in ousting Bronster and the voters then promptly punished all of the freshmen senators who followed Hanabusa by voting all of them out of office.
Publis even takes a bit of sorrow in noting that Hanabusa got tagged for Rep. John Karimitsu’s stupid idea of buying a private jet for legislators to fly in style between the islands. Life is unfair, this was Air(head)-Karimitsu’s idea, but Hanabusa got the blame. Anytime Hanabusa ever runs for higher office in the future, look for the Air-Karimatsu jet to rear its head. But look on the bright side, legislators are now getting big fat raises.
In 2007, Publis is disappointed that witch-hunt Hanabusa decided to make a return visit. Rather than lead with her intellect, Hanabusa this year lead with her dark side. The witch hunting has clearly damaged Hanabusa’s reputation. A few months ago, Hanabusa’s stock was on the rise and Chinatown had her as one of the most likely individuals to put the word “governor” in front of her name in 2010. Things are not over yet, but after the 2007 session, let’s just say Chinatown has Hanabusa’s stock way down. That bet on a Governor Case looks much better and a Governor Hannemann bet now looks really good. (Publis notes that interestingly on the GOP side there are still no takers for a bet on a Governor Aiona. See below for the latest on all Chinatown odds.) Right now, after this year’s session, Hanabusa appears likely to follow the great career trajectory of previous esteemed Senate Presidents Bobby Bunda, Norman Mizuguchi, and Jimmy Aki. That is, Hanabusa has now reached the high point of her political career. That may be a little harsh as it is still early, but Publis is not advising any bets on Hanabusa unless something dramatic happens very soon.
Pau,
Publis Hawaii
PS – OK for you punters out there, here are the latest odds Publis has compiled from the bookies on Hotel Street. As a general statement, 2010 looks really good for the Democrats to retake Washington Place. The clear front runners is Mufi Hannemann for Governor, with Ed Case in second. Donovan Dela Cruz is the bet for Lt. Governor with Donna Kim, Brian Schatz, and Kirk Caldwell far behind. Dela Cruz and Donna Kim make the most political sense as they ethnically fit with all of the leading Democrats: Hannemann, Case and Abercrombie. On the other hand, a Case-Caldwell or Abercrombie-Schatz ticket makes as much sense as a Hirono-Matsunaga ticket in Hawaii’s ethnic politics game. For the record, Publis is pulling for a Hannemann-Dela Cruz ticket. This would finally give us some real fun like the good ol’ days when the Gov and LG actually fought with one another. Enough of this gushy Lingle-Aiona love-fest crap. Who can forget the good times when we had with Quinn-Kealoha or Ariyoshi-King or the epic Burns-Gill fights? Then again, at this same stage the last time there was an open seat for governor looming, the Chinatown odds makers had a Harris-Yoshimura ticket winning it all. Nothing like a spending spree and a drunk driving accident to wreck all of that.
Just a reminder, the numbers below are odds not polling numbers. Odds don’t just reflect popularity. A large portion of the odds are a reflection of bookie’s bets on if a particular candidate will even run for the office. Thus, for example, Publis thinks Abercrombie’s odds and certainly Dodd’s odds would be way higher if they actually committed to run. But Abercrombie is probably slightly discounted and Dodds heavily discounted on if either would run for Gov.
GOVERNOR
Hannemann 1:3
Case 1:4
Abercrombie 1:7
Carlisle 1:9
Hanabusa 1:16
Djou 1:18
Kim (Donna) 1:31
Dodds 1:38
Kim (Harry) 1:50
LG
Dela Cruz 2:5
Kim (Donna) 1:10
Schatz 1:14
Caldwell 1:17
Finnegann 1:29
Espero 1:40
Shimabokuro 1:44
Kane 1:50
Hee 1:50
Garcia 1:65
posted by HawaiiPublis at 12:33 AM
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