It appears the 2012 campaign season has begun in earnest, if former mayor Mufi Hannemann is any indication. An email blast called attention to his “new” generic campaign web site, www.MufiHannemann.org, which is now up and running.
The domain was registered on May 31, 2008, along with MufiHannemann.com, which forwards back to the .org site.
Yes, Mufi has a new job with the Hawaii Hotel & Lodging Association. But you have to wonder when that work gets done among all of the Mufi sightings that look an awful lot like campaign appearances.
One of Mufi’s maxims, generously listed out on the web site: “There’s no ‘I’ in ‘team’.”
But there’s lots of “I” in Muliufi, and this site is heavy with Mufi. It’s so thick that it reads almost like a parody of a campaign site.
And what is Mufi lining himself up to run for? Senate? Is Lingle’s possible run against Akaka enough to open up the seat? Or is he staking a claim, “just in case.” You’ve got to wonder.
Back in January, he told the Star-Advertiser:
Q: What about 2012? Are you thinking about running for the Senate?
A: You know, at this point, there’s no opening. Sen. Akaka has indicated that he plans to run again. So to me, as long as he’s there, I will not run against Sen. Akaka, period. So I think that question is moot, until there is an opening; then we’ll look at it then. But at this point in time, I’ll just focus on doing this job, and doing it well.
By the way, HB 1376, one of two House bills that would make the journalists’ shield law permanent, passed out of the House Judiciary Committee yesterday with 14 votes in favor, none opposed. It now goes to the full House for a vote, where it is expected to receive bipartisan support, before going to the Senate.
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Maybe Mufi knows something about Sen. Dan 2 that we don’t. Other contenders had better get their shadow campaigns going soon. Then, we’ll start seeing juvenile parody sites of people who might be running against Mufi. So much fun ahead!
Is Mufi awake? He’s campaigning, for something. Heck, he’s probably campaigning even when he’s sleeping. For him, it’s a dream; for the rest of us, it’s a nightmare.
Mufi’s ego is rivaled only by the myopia of the people that vote for him.
I am fond of Mufi’s Maxims.
The cliche is always half full, not half empty.
Senator Akaka is definitely running for Senate, so I guess Mufi isn’t?
I think it is time for Senator Akaka to retire and allow a younger person to take over the office. I say this as someone who has voted for Akaka in every election and has a great deal of personal affection for the man.
My problem is I do not see who is better suited to take over the job and defeat Linda Lingle. Certainly not Mufi. If Ed Case were to demonstrate that he has lost his need to demonstrate how “tough” he is by uncritically supporting military over-reach AND demonstrate he has moved beyond his pro-corporate/anti-consumer economic bias, I would consider supporting him.
But I think those defects are too deeply lodged into who he is and how he views politics.
If Akaka wants to gain support from his fellow Democrats, he has to spend some face-to-fact time with us, convincing us he still has the physical and intellectual stamina to do the job.If he is unwilling to take this course, he will have extreme difficulty countering the growing doubts over his ability and will find many of us who actively supported him in the past will be sitting this one out.
Nice to know there’s at least two of us with this notion. That is a lot of “ifs”.
I don’t think Case could stand up to Hannemann in an election. Indeed, even Akaka handily defeated Case. Case’s image now is that of an upstart carpet bagger, and Hannemann easily and rather subtly played the local card against Bainum with the slogan “Mufi: Our Home, Our Mayor”.
Linda Lingle might be able to go up against Case in the future, but right now her public image is healing, just the way any politicians public image needs to heal after being in the gladiatorial arena for eight years. It will take time to rebuild her political capital, and right now she needs to focus on non-political public service to do so.
The one person who could stand up to Hannemann on both counts is Ben Cayetano. Also, Cayetano is enormously tough and could withstand any kind of slander campaign. Cayetano’s bold candor would also put Hannemann’s suave persuasiveness in a bad light, linking it with Hannemann’s tendency toward backroom dealings with the status quo. Cayetano led his state through the deserts out of Egypt in a financial crisis, whereas Hannemann led the City into a massive and perhaps boondoggle of wastefulness.
Cayetano rocks. He was perhaps our best governor, and he might be our best senator yet.
Can I just say a shuddering “eww”? The thought of Mufi or Linda in the Senate is brain strain figuring out the lesser of greater debasement to public representation. How can two people with such track records, characters and career trajectories even consider running? Ah, the power of ego and self-delusion… Now can we all not fall for it and ask the journalists to find better things and people to write about so that there are better choices come election time?