An established organization decides to back Neil Abercrombie in the Democratic primary race for governor and then find itself confronted by a newly-formed group adopting a very similar name and announcing its support for Abercrombie’s opponent, former Honolulu mayor Mufi Hannemann.
When it happened recently to the Hawaii Venture Capital Association, it made news.
But when the same thing happened to the liberal-leaning Progressive Democrats of Hawaii earlier this year, it went largely unnoticed by all but a handful of Democratic Party activists.
The Progressive Democrats of Hawaii (PDH) are an established group within the Hawaii Democratic Party which was organized in 2005 and held its first general meeting in January 2006. It has a website, blog, has sponsored many events, and maintains an active presence on facebook.
But just days after the 2010 Democratic Party of Hawaii State Convention, where it was clear that PDH and its members supported Abercrombie, a new group calling itself “Progressive Democrats for Hannemann” (also with initials PDH) suddenly appeared with its own facebook page.
The new group was the effort of Trisha Kehau Watson, a consultant who describes herself as a “policy advisor” to Hannemann’s campaign.
In an earlier telephone interview, Watson said she joined the Democratic Party for the first time earlier this year. She quickly caught the political bug and, with the support of some friends, ran at the convention for a slot on the State Central Committee against an active member and officer of Progressive Democrats of Hawaii. A tie vote was resolved through a two-out-of-three match of jan ken po. Watson lost.
Watson was obviously unhappy about her personal loss, and also felt she was subject to unfair personal attacks during the convention election process (she was referred to as a “Mufi-bot” in one exchange) and by hostile comments towards Hannemann by members of Progressive Democrats.
Watson said:
“I genuinely like and believe in Mufi. I am a strong supporter of rail. I really love his support for Hawaiians and Hawaiian issues. I have always found him to be a great leader and strong environmentalist. I firmly and absolutely believe he is the governor we need to help address the needs of Hawaiians going into the future. “
The result was Progressive Democrats for Hannemann, which Watson readily acknowledges has “absolutely no crossover” with Progressive Democrats of Hawaii.
It’s probably no surprise that, according to one of the Hannemann campaign’s facebook pages, Watson is also co-chair of another group, Hawaiians for Mufi.
A longtime member of the original Progressive Democrats of Hawaii said the group spent weeks discussing whether to respond publicly to Watson’s appropriation of the “Progressive Democrats” label, but eventually decided it would not be worth the effort.
“If they wanna start their own group, they should try another name,” he said.
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Given that your blog and David’s blog seem to basically be leading the political conversation-djour, I guess I consider a blog entry dedicated to any one person, in this case Trisha, as ‘getting on her okole’.
Call it a G-rated term of art. 🙂
She shows up in the 6th paragraph. It’s not about her, but about what she did.
Malia, you seem like a genuinely nice person. The people that Trisha accused of racism are good people too, and are not racists.
I’m with Ulu and Lynn on this.
Hey on a different topic, here’s a person who decided to try and turn a penny found on the sidewalk into a million dollars to help others. He (or she) is up to something like 11 grand worth of food donations. Wow!
http://www.pennyexperiment.com/i-just-bought-672-boxes-of-cereal/
We don’t understand Watson on this one. She seems like a smart lady, but we think she picked the wrong candidate to work for on this one.
I, nor the FB page (which is really nothing more than the “group” is), really deserve this much attention. But since you opened the door – this is what I think of the “so-called” Progressive Democrats here and their endorsements:
Race is a tough issue. It makes people uncomfortable. No one likes to talk about it. Considering the violent, ugly history of race in Hawai’i and throughout the United States, it’s no wonder. Like most unpleasant things – many would agree that it would be best to just put it behind us.
The problem is that race issues persist. Despite the want of a colorblind world, race nonetheless continues to be a factor in the opportunities and success rates of individuals everywhere. The insistence on ignoring race has in itselfbecome a new form of racism. Perhaps this is the greatest danger of having elected a Black President – it gives the illusion that America’s race issues are a thing of the past. For what greater potential proof could therebe of the abolition of racism in America than the election of a Black man to the Presidency?
Obama’s election is not the summit of Martin Luther King Jr.’s famed mountain – it is simply a wonderful leap up on this continuing journey towards justice.
Further, I believe we are now seeing a dark undercurrent emerge in the wake of Obama’s election. It began with the Tea Party and the rally crying in town halls of “We want our country back.” The criers were overwhelmingly white, and ethnic minorities everywhere shuttered as we felt the other shoe dropping. They didn’t want their country back. They wanted their white country back.
The problem is not just with conservatives though. We are seeing currents shifting here as well among self-identified liberal groups. The Progressive Democrat PAC announced their endorsements yesterday. The endorsementswere shocking, and overwhelmingly Caucasian.
The current State Legislature has 75 members, and the delegates are fairly representative of the state population. Currently, a little over 20% of the legislators are Caucasian. Yet, of the Progressive Democrats endorsements made, 43% were Caucasian. This is more than double the existing percentage in the legislature and significantly larger than the percentage of state residents who are Caucasian.
Whereas Caucasians saw a disproportionately high percentage of endorsements, other groups saw a disproportionately low percentage. For example, Filipinos who make up 15% of the current legislature were only given 7% of the PAC’s endorsements. We see similar numbers for Hawaiians.
The numbers certainly are curious. They are also concerning.
The PAC claims its process was colorblind, and they simply selected the most qualified candidates, yet claims of colorblindness are dangerous. They are most dangerous for groups who have historically suffered because of race. I am reminded of a recent speech by Senator Inouye who recounted that the death penalty in Hawai’i wasoriginally outlawed because a disproportionately high number of Hawaiians were being put to death. The process was “colorblind,” the results were not.
Those of us who believe in social justice and the importance of diversity in a representative government must bemore vigilant than ever, because if there is any one truth about racism that has emerged over time is the reality that racism does not go away – it simply evolves.
I don’t belive the orginal post mentioned race…It belive it was about Venture Capital Association and how Mufi supporters have been known to capitalize on other organization’s names. Would you care to comment on that and stop calling others racist.
Ooops I feel another opus comming….
I have admired Kehau for her spunkiness in sticking up for Hawaiians against the Ken Conklins of the world. But she is not the only Hawaiian who cares about Hawai’i’s future. I am a Hawaiian who will be voting for Neil because I have lost all respect for Mufi and his political machine. Careful not to get to close to that huge truck of his with his face plastered on it because it will mow you down just like Mufi does to anyone who doesn’t look like him.
I am a Hawaiian who is not a Hawaiian. I grew up here, yet because of my blood lines “I will never belong or understand the people here.” I guess my love for these Islands is less informed because I have have no Hawaiian blood in me.
At least that is what a few individuals seem to feel about people like me.
Leianij, your post hit me in the heart. It made me want to yell, “Yes, Hawaii is not about blood.”
Hawaii is a precious land that your ancestors found first. We are all privleged to live here and together we are reposnsilbe for its upkeep.
Mufi hasn’t kept it up very well. You are so right about his political machine…
Aloha Lynn,
I feel from your words that you really do care about Hawaii very much.
Please don’t be offended when I tell you that people without Hawaiian blood are not called Hawaiians. It’s a funny fact of language that is just the way it is.
People without Hawaiian blood can be local, can be called ‘from Hawaii’, but being Hawaiian is a different thing. Even blue eyed, blond haired people with one distant ancestor are Hawaiian. It’s not a race thing, it’s a different thing. Just one of those distinctions of language.
Bless your heart for caring so much about the islands; I’m sure your efforts to make things better extend into the real world and help others.
My mistake!! I didn’t recall that you said you grew up here. Of course you know all that already.
E kala mai.
Hi Ian.
I am surprised that you would use this entry to disparage someone who is using her resources to try to make Hawai’i better for everyone. Obviously you want Neil Abercrombie to win but is this ugliness really necessary? I fully support Duke Aiona for governor but do not have to cut others down in order to stand tall. Clearly some of Neil Abercrombie’s supporters lack style and grace and feel so threatened that they have to personally attack his opponent’s supporters.
By the way that is a Facebook-based community which had its last update on July 26, 2010. She or anyone else for that matter is entitled to use Facebook to build communities how they see fit. She is smart, strong, and gets alot of respect from me irrelevant of her support of Mufi. She is entitled to support who she wants to support. She can also use Facebook how she wants.
As for the other Neil Abercrombie supporters… try to be humble. Not too long ago some of his supporters were so sure that they would beat Djou but they lost. Be humble, people.
I’ll say again. I did not try to “disparage” Kehau. I have tried to describe a situation in which the name of an established group was adopted by a new group backing a different candidate. She happens to have been involved. I have attempted to explain the background. I don’t think that is disparaging to her.
Hi again Ian.
You are an amazing writer, researcher, photographer, cat lover and doggy lover but I respectfully disagree with you. You dedicated nearly half of your entry to Dr. Watson yet you don’t have Dr. Watson “on” your Facebook so do not read her thoughts on matters political and otherwise. It is very clear to me that she is a Democrat. Anyone who reads her “Wall” would know her thoughts on matters like the Progressive Democrats’ endorsements so it was not a surprise that she created another Facebook community. She has others too like Hands Across the Sands which she used as a tool with one of her friends to get people to participate which they did.
I checked and you have Neil Abercrombie and the Progressive Democrats but do not have Dr. Watson on your Facebook. If you read her thoughts she reposted her reasons for her Facebook-based group above and on her Facebook wall. She has a multitude of people added to her Facebook including Duke Aiona supporters like myself.
What I’ve noticed is that some of Neil Abercrombie’s supporters are some of the nastiest mean-spirited people as illustrated in some of the comments above which say alot about the candidate.
By the way some of them used this opportunity to post pilau things about her here… and you did not disagree with them LOL
Lana, I don’t think you understand. Taking another group’s name and endorsing your candidate whom they oppose is not an honorable thing to do. For example, if I posted something you strongly disagreed with here under the name ‘Lana’, that would be doing something wrong. If you read a post here that had your name signed to it and was the opposite of your considered mana’o, I am sure that you would agree that it is wrong to do that.
When she said that she had created an organization “Progressive Democrats for Hannemann”, I took her at her word. I assumed that she had gone to all the work of creating a 401-c-3 nonprofit, set up a bank account with treasurer, and completed all the other necessary steps. It never occurred to me that she would not have done so.
For my part, I have no intention of ‘friending’ Trisha on facebook. I only know her by her actions. I am not interested in reading her wall. I hope never to come into contact with her, as my blessedly limited experience of her is more than sufficient. As another poster said, life is too short.
As true as your experience is for you, and mine is for me.
I don’t think anyone seriously disputes the charge that the PDH as a group has issues of unconscious racism to dealw ith or that Hawai’i suffers from institutional racism.
However, that doesn’t mean they ought to endorse a social conservative like Mufi simply because he’s Samoan and Neil is white. It’s an affinity group on progressive values. The Filipino statistic is also misleading because few current Filipino legislators consider themselves to be or are considered progressive. Most are social conservatives or simply shut their mouths about their views and vote in a social conservative manner. There are very few progressive Filipino leaders and they generally congregate around UH (which may be why you would bring such a statistic up, not knowing how the Filipino community and the leaders are).
Also, during the Territory period, it was Filipinos that were disproportionately executed not Hawaiians. It was during the Kingdom period where Hawaiians were the sole recipients of capital punishment. The last to be executed by the Territory was a mentally retarded Filipino from Kauai. There were a number of Hawaiians in the 50s that had death sentences which were commuted before capital punishment was abolished. And, there is no dispute that the criminal justice system from the Kingdom period had institutional classism problems which translated into institutional racism problems when haoles assumed authority. (Civil executions during the territorial period: Caucasian 1, Hawaiian 1, Puerto Rican 3, Korean 6, Japanese 7, Filipino 24, Unknown 1.)
The only way to demonstrate whether the PDH endorsements were racially motivated is to develop a method of rating each candidate and his/her opponent in terms of progressive positions and see if, in fact, they picked less progressive candidates that were white over more progressive candidates that were not white (if we use white as the sole criterion on the racism issue; although in the Oshiro/Okino race endorsement, obviously this would be meaningless).
It is also possible to set up a number of these ranking profiles to see if how progressive positions are defined injects unconscious racism into the process (or the relative weighting of progressive positions, etc.,). It seems clear that picking Hooser over Berg may be a case of unconscious sexism or racism or both. But I don’t think under most measures for progressive values, that can be demonstrated for Mufi or Gabbard or Okino — where their opponent was endorsed. (All three pander to religious conservatives on social issues and have consistently and historically done so and Okino is running against someone of his own race.) A generalized discussion of institutional racism in executions during the Territorial period which misstate the facts really doesn’t really relate to whether PDH’s endorsements demonstrate unconscious racism.
A little bit of theoretical rigor and some facts and analysis to support these claims would go a long way to convincing people that unconscious racism played a role in the endorsement process for the PDH. Otherwise, you do a disservice to the cause of anti-racism struggles. It is not itself racist to disagree with you.
On voting records alone, Gary Hooser is more progressive than Lyla Berg. Now I give Lyla credit for her “progressive” rhetoric, but when it comes to voting (where the rubber meets the road), she definitely represents her conservative constituents on generating new revenues to balance the State budget. Then there’s someone like a Kyle Yamashita who votes for progressive issues (perhaps because he was part of leadership and the House behind a Blake Oshiro had a more progressive agenda the last two sessions) but doesn’t talk the talk and likely would NOT be endorsed by PDH if there was another Democrat in that race.
Della Au-Belatti is a Filipina who would fall under the progressive label, but WITHOUT A NAME is generally right about Filipinos being more moderate to conservative in their voting in the legislature (come to think of it, Lyla is a Filipina).
Thanks Nikki for that clarification. A number of members of various groups that picked Hooser over Berg had used to the “he is a real candidate” or “he is actually electable” as the reason. I guess, two votes that come to mind where they voted the same were Act 2 and HB 444. I don’t know that I would characterize Hooser’s votes on those as a matter of conscience or difficult since his constituency opposed Act 2 and were mixed on HB 444. Berg’s constituency was for Act 2 and, historically against measures like HB 444. Her votes against her constituency’s general position for progressive issues should have a different qualitative weight than a candidate who doesn’t have to take that kind of risk. That turns it into a judgment call where unconscious bias can play an undetectable role. But that is a totally different story than Kehau’s claims against PDH for not endorsing people like Mufi, Gabbard or Okino who openly and consistently pander to the religious right and when given any chance fall over themselves proving their conservative mettle to those fringe groups.
The following comment was received via email from Bart Dame:
The following remarks are mine alone and people should not hate either PDH or Progressive PAC if they get p.o.’ed at anything I write here.
I have been trying to stay out of this for a number of reasons, but I have dusted off a draft of a lengthy response to these attacks on PDH and the Progressive PAC and have posted it on the PDH Blog:
http://pd-hawaii.com/blog/?p=647
It would be foolish to deny “subconscious racism” among haole activists, even progressives. Any good progressive should be on guard against their actions being guided by these attitudes. And both PDH and ADA, whose members make up the Progressive PAC, are predominantly haole organizations.
Any organization, particularly one which aspires to participate (not “lead”) in the broader struggle for social justice in Hawaii has to build ties, and recruit members from all of Hawaii’s social groupings to be effective. It is a weakness of PDH that it has not done a better job of doing this.
But other activists have a responsibility as well. If they share a commitment to also building a broad movement, they have to behave responsibly and avoid cheap shots, even when they find themselves passionately committed to the election of a candidate opposed by most “almost all”?) other progressive activists.
PDH and ProgPAC are currently under attack for our endorsements from two inter-related operations, both linked with the Mufi campaign. The attempt to explain the PAC’s endorsements, particularly that of Neil over Mufi, as rooted in white racism is one front of attack. Simultaneously, we are attacked from the open rightwing when we are being denounced by religious conservatives like Gary Okino, who wrote in one widely circulated email:
“To put it mildly, this is not a good group (“Progressive” is bad). They are working against everything that God has given us and expects from us. They have endorsed the candidates listed because what they intend to do at the Legislature will go against God’s values. Their list of endorsements, however, helps us because it identifies those candidates that we must work to defeat. We need to do everything we can to keep them from being elected.”
Okino himself is telling “Christians” to vote for Mufi against Neil in the primary, and for Aiona in the general. Other “Christian leaders,” like Dennis Arakaki, are being used by Ken Wong of the Mufi campaign to tell “Christians” Mufi is “acceptable” to God, though Neil is not.
I would urge all folks who aspire to be “progressive” to re-consider their actions when they find themselves on the same side as such people. And to avoid forwarding (or “re-twittering”) redbaiting attacks on Neil Abercrombie, which accuse the congressional “Progressive Caucus” of being a Marxist front group. If you are repeating talking points from David Horowitz or, locally, Andrew Walden, you might stop and think before continuing.
Those wanting to respond can do so here or on the PDH Blog itself.
Word of caution: the PDH Blog is moderated. Civil comments, even when disagreeing with the original post, will be allowed. Rude, intemperate remarks risk being deleted. (Or– MORE WORSE– kept in place as examples of bad behavior!)
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“I may not be able to say all I think, but I am not going to say anything I do not think.”
–Eugene Debs
Ms Watson posted the following 12 hours ago on her personal Facebook page :
“open season on me is over. while I’ve always enjoyed open dialogue, people saying things about my family is over the line. i’m tired of nasty people. you’re mean – you go.”
????
Over on a related FB page, that linked Ian’s blog, someone decided it was ok to bring her son and family into the discussion. Its not. If anything, its more than fair to say the meanness and inappropriate comments are most definitely flowing both ways in the Gov race.
E’nuf, already.
I hope I don’t know anyone who would do that.
As someone who has had on-and-off involvement with the REAL PDH over the years, this bit of flummery on the part of Ms. Watson disgusts me. While I think Abercrombie is less of a crook than Mufi, I WAS going to vote for Mufi anyway (for reasons that are too tortured to get into here). This shenanigan has changed my mind, screw Mufi, Abercrombie for Gov.!
P.S. Three cheers to Kehau Watson for alienating a vote that had been for Mufi for a good year! I love the REAL PDH, however quixotic they can be.
This post tree is absolute madness! I love it.
If you know the lyrics to this Andy Williams classic, sing it with me (although the song is about the holidays, I think they are appropriate for the voting season).
It’s the most wonderful time of the year
With the kids jingle belling
And everyone telling you “Be of good cheer”
It’s the most wonderful time of the year
It’s the hap-happiest season of all
With those holiday greetings and gay happy meetings
When friends come to call
It’s the hap- happiest season of all…
An exhaustive list of letters behind your name isn’t a prerequisite for intelligence.
Intelligence isn’t a trophy. It is a tool that should be used to move worlds.
Again, it was a Facebook page with 11 fans.
It was never incorporated. Never intended to be. It simply spoke to the reality that there are Progressive Democrats who support Mufi – that Progressive Democrats of Hawai`i did represent all people progressive values.
Let’s fill in a few of the potholes here – I was in the pro HB444 ad that appeared in the paper. I recruited others, including my friend Q`Orianka Kilcher and Grammy winner Quinn Kelsey to appear in the ad. Despite all of this, I was treated, as noted in Ian’s blog, with utter distain at convention. I was sworn at and subject to outright racists comments in the Progressive Democrats of Hawai`i hospitality suite. (There were others there.) Some of the insults Ian notes came directly from the head of the Progressive Democrats of Hawai`i.
Their endorsements had not come out at the time.
It was a facebook page. Nothing more. The fact that the Progressive Democrats of Hawai`i had made such a big deal over it reveals two things: 1) they cleary have some insecurity to deal with, and 2) clearly their passion for liberties does not extend to freedom of speech.
Finally, this blog, however intended, did open the door to having all sorts of things written about me and my family, including my seven year old son. All by Neil supporters. It’s disgusting. All over a facebook page with 11 fans?
I am a Mufi support, that as Ian noted, truly believes in Mufi. I didn’t like the “compare and decide” flyer. I don’t like a lot of the things that have happen, but I do like Mufi.
But what I have witnessed and been subject to this election season is why people in Hawai`i hate politics. It’s one thing for the candidates to come after each other, but when did it become okay to come after volunteers? Or our families?
I’m a volunteer. A volunteer who started a facebook page. Nothing more.
I have not said anything about your family. I challenged you to support your claims of racism about the PDH (of which I am not affiliated) with actual evidence, which you have not done. Instead, you talk about people attacking your family (although I see no comments on Ian’s blog that evince that other than you and your friends making that claim that people have). Why don’t you answer follow up questions to the bombastic claims you make? It just makes people who googled you for the first time this weekend think that you are just an attention seeker without anything meaningful to contribute to the discourse.
I think your fixation on how someone or some people behaved towards you at a party during the Dem Convention weekend is likely a reflection of your own disrespectful behavior towards other people and how people react to your wholly unsupportable opinions which are riddled with factual errors (like the capital punishment argument above).
Being a participant “volunteer” in Hawai’i politics this year, you yourself contribute to why so many of us are turned off. If you don’t like the reaction that people give you, consider what your responsibility in the situation is because it seems apparent to an outsider that you have a hand in the backlash to your approach.