Mufi Is Still a Bully, July 2008
Honolulu’s mayor has an amazing ability to make enemies.
Hanneman’s has every major issue in local politics breaking for him. Mufi’s Train is chugging along nicely with lots of union support. (Publis doesn’t care what the mayor says, local people will forever call the rail Mufi’s Train.) Hannemann’s faction at the City Council is firmly in control of things and the council is pretty much doing everything and anything the mayor asks for. At the Legislature, Mufi has the legislative leadership eating out of his hand. (Isn’t it fun to see House Majority Leader Kirk Caldwell ready to jump up at Mufi’s every beck and call – together now, let’s all say Hannemann‑Caldwell in 2010?) The mayor is sitting on a multi-million dollar campaign war chest. Best of all, Hannemann has no real opponent for re-election. (OK, there’s this Greek guy with a name no local person can pronounce running against Hannemann, but come on, Panos is going to be chicken feed for the Mufi machine.)
Yet Mufi still has yearning to find a ways to get people to hate him and come unglued.
Let’s start with the Stop Rail Now people. They start getting close to putting a question on Mufi’s Train on the ballot. Hannemann lashes out by criticizing Miss Texas and saying mainland big oil is behind all of this. What?!
That prompts Former Governor Ben Cayetano to chime in that Mufi really should stick to fighting for his message, not attacking the messenger. That gets Mufi to launch into a very petty attack on Vickie Cayetano. What?!
Equally bizarre, UH Prof. Panos Prevedouros jumps into the race for mayor. This causes the Mufi to go totally nuts. Rather than being gracious (knowing full well he will totally crush this uppity Greek) Mufi instead growls into the TV cameras and blames Cliff Slater and Charles Djou. What?!
Governor Lingle then decides to have her fun with Mufi. She declares to the Star Bulletin that she may sign the rail petition. That causes the mayor to declare that Mufi’s Train is actually Linda’s Train. What?!
Perhaps the mayor needs to just take some medication and calm down. Publis, like most local people, likes WHAT Hannemann is doing, but absolutely can’t stand WHO Mufi is.
With Inouye off in newly married bliss and spending more time in Los Angeles than Hawaii, Mufi is the single most powerful politician in the state right now. At Honolulu Hale, Hannemann’s word is God’s word - no one dares to question the mayor. (OK, Charles Djou tries to, but Mufi just orders Barbara Marshall & Co. to pound him down.) Everything is going exactly as Hannemann wants. Yet, at his core, Mufi is still a bully.
Maybe it’s the quiet buzz Hannemann is hearing that’s making Mufi-the-Bully come out. When Publis attended Abercrombie’s very well attended (and very profitable) fundraiser last week, there were more than a few Democrats whispering about Mufi’s awful temper and Hannemann’s total inability to get along with anyone. These local Democrats all agree – in 2008 Neil is going to win re-election and so is Mufi. But in 2010 things will be very different. Gov. Abercrombie? Yeah, probably. Hannemann for anything other than the crazy house – don’t bet on it.
Pau,
Publis Hawaii
Honolulu’s mayor has an amazing ability to make enemies.
Hanneman’s has every major issue in local politics breaking for him. Mufi’s Train is chugging along nicely with lots of union support. (Publis doesn’t care what the mayor says, local people will forever call the rail Mufi’s Train.) Hannemann’s faction at the City Council is firmly in control of things and the council is pretty much doing everything and anything the mayor asks for. At the Legislature, Mufi has the legislative leadership eating out of his hand. (Isn’t it fun to see House Majority Leader Kirk Caldwell ready to jump up at Mufi’s every beck and call – together now, let’s all say Hannemann‑Caldwell in 2010?) The mayor is sitting on a multi-million dollar campaign war chest. Best of all, Hannemann has no real opponent for re-election. (OK, there’s this Greek guy with a name no local person can pronounce running against Hannemann, but come on, Panos is going to be chicken feed for the Mufi machine.)
Yet Mufi still has yearning to find a ways to get people to hate him and come unglued.
Let’s start with the Stop Rail Now people. They start getting close to putting a question on Mufi’s Train on the ballot. Hannemann lashes out by criticizing Miss Texas and saying mainland big oil is behind all of this. What?!
That prompts Former Governor Ben Cayetano to chime in that Mufi really should stick to fighting for his message, not attacking the messenger. That gets Mufi to launch into a very petty attack on Vickie Cayetano. What?!
Equally bizarre, UH Prof. Panos Prevedouros jumps into the race for mayor. This causes the Mufi to go totally nuts. Rather than being gracious (knowing full well he will totally crush this uppity Greek) Mufi instead growls into the TV cameras and blames Cliff Slater and Charles Djou. What?!
Governor Lingle then decides to have her fun with Mufi. She declares to the Star Bulletin that she may sign the rail petition. That causes the mayor to declare that Mufi’s Train is actually Linda’s Train. What?!
Perhaps the mayor needs to just take some medication and calm down. Publis, like most local people, likes WHAT Hannemann is doing, but absolutely can’t stand WHO Mufi is.
With Inouye off in newly married bliss and spending more time in Los Angeles than Hawaii, Mufi is the single most powerful politician in the state right now. At Honolulu Hale, Hannemann’s word is God’s word - no one dares to question the mayor. (OK, Charles Djou tries to, but Mufi just orders Barbara Marshall & Co. to pound him down.) Everything is going exactly as Hannemann wants. Yet, at his core, Mufi is still a bully.
Maybe it’s the quiet buzz Hannemann is hearing that’s making Mufi-the-Bully come out. When Publis attended Abercrombie’s very well attended (and very profitable) fundraiser last week, there were more than a few Democrats whispering about Mufi’s awful temper and Hannemann’s total inability to get along with anyone. These local Democrats all agree – in 2008 Neil is going to win re-election and so is Mufi. But in 2010 things will be very different. Gov. Abercrombie? Yeah, probably. Hannemann for anything other than the crazy house – don’t bet on it.
Pau,
Publis Hawaii
posted by HawaiiPublis at 2:05 PM
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