Posted on: Monday, July 26, 2004
ANALYSIS
Election campaign brings on 'silly season'
By Bruce Dunford
Associated Press
A very familiar but unidentified voice is telling radio listeners these days that the merger of Hawai'i's largest macadamia nut grower with its top competitor is a good thing, although the issue of antitrust has been raised.
The voice is that of radio and TV personality Brickwood Galuteria, who recently was elected chairman of the Democratic Party of Hawai'i but still does radio commercials.
Does this mean the state's Democratic Party endorses the merger?
Probably not.
Does this mean someone in the Hawai'i Republican Party might make it an issue?
Probably.
It's just one of a number of peculiar happenings as the campaigns for this fall's elections get into full swing now that the candidate filing deadline has passed.
Some political pundits call it the "silly season."
Few of the episodes have much to do with campaign issues.
At the state Capitol last week, a dozen Democratic lawmakers called a news conference in the atrium outside the House chambers to introduce a dozen new candidates seeking to oust Republican incumbents.
"Ethics violation," declared GOP state Chairman Brennon Morioka, accusing the Democrats of unauthorized use of state property for a political function.
He fired off complaints to the State Ethics Commission, naming 13 Democratic lawmakers he said participated.
One of those named was Rep. Eric Hamakawa, D-3rd (Hilo, Kea'au, Mountain View), who wasn't there and isn't seeking re-election.
Oops!
Senate Majority Leader Scott Saiki, D-22nd (McCully, Pawa'a), who was there but wasn't named in the complaint, said he failed to find the difference between the Democrats' news conference at the Capitol and a June 1 news conference the Republicans held in the lobby of the state office tower to introduce their candidates.
Oops!
Galuteria, meanwhile, declared the Democratic Party to be the "Party of aloha," only to have Morioka counter by recalling the resolution passed by the Democrat-controlled state House in 2003 condemning unilateral action by the United States in disarming Iraq.
"They're the party that sent aloha to Saddam," Morioka zinged at the Democrats.
Galuteria's voice also surfaced as a bone of contention in the nonpartisan race for Honolulu mayor when it was used in an advertisement featuring the Hawai'i Fire Fighters Association's endorsement of candidate Mufi Hannemann.
Although the distinctive voice is not identified as Galuteria's, candidate Duke Bainum called foul, saying the Democratic Party chairman should remain neutral.
Galuteria said the Hannemann ad was left over from the aborted 2002 special mayoral election, long before he became party chairman in May. He offered to do the voice on an ad for Bainum, if it would make him feel better.
Republican Sen. Fred Hemmings, R-25th (Kailua, Waimanalo, Hawai'i Kai) who isn't up for re-election this year, may have kicked off the silly season early, calling into a talk radio show during an interview with ousted University of Hawai'i President Evan Dobelle in late June, identifying himself in thick pidgin as "Sonny from Kapolei."
"Is that you, Fred?" Dobelle asked when he recognized the Lanikai senator's voice.
This election season appears to have a bumper crop of campaign signs along with a growing number of complaints of sign stealing and vandalism.
In the Bainum-Hannemann contest, it led to the hiring of a private eye, all-night stakeouts and night vision video catching one culprit in the act.
Both sides say they've been victimized.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Ed Case, who is seeking re-election to his 2nd District seat, has launched a question offensive in his campaign against Republican Mike Gabbard, a Honolulu city councilman.
On his campaign Web site, Case shows off his "Dear Mike" letter to Gabbard that lists 43 questions Case says "any voter would want answered," starting with: "Where and when were you born?"
While some question Gabbard's position on a variety of national and international issues facing Congress, several others appear intended by Case to disclose Gabbard's ties to some non-Christian, nontraditional religious movements.
"Are you or have you been a follower of the religion sometimes called Vaisnava or Vaishava, and have you worshipped or do you worship Lord Brahma or Lord Vishnu?" Case asked. "Do you follow or have you followed the teachings of the Vedas?"
"Are you or have you been a follower of Chris Butler, also referred to as Jagad Guru, Siddha Swarupa Ananda, or Siddhaswarupananda Paramahamsa?
"What is or has been your relationship with any of the Science of Identity Foundation, Identity Institute International, the International Society for Khrishna Consciousness, or Down to Earth Inc.?"
It suggests Case already knows the answers.
Then there's the case of Rep. Brian Blundell, R-10th (W. Maui), a freshman seeking re-election who was arrested earlier this month on a fourth-degree sexual assault charge involving an undercover male police officer near Waikiki's Kapi'olani Park.
To counter the bad publicity, Morioka suggested, in an apparent poor choice of words, that Blundell needed to "work even harder to touch his constituents ..."
For more silliness, stay tuned. The state's primary is still about two months away.
