Here’s a little tidbit from a friend in Hilo concerning the Democratic Party’s election eve rally in Hilo.
Billy Kenoi gave the opening speech. When he circulated around before the rally, people could not get enough of him. They were lining up to shake hands, with hugs and kisses for the women. Tulsi and a considerable group of supporters were there, as were Mazie and others, but no sign
of the governor.
So, political observers. What should we make of that?
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Who else is even close to Kenoi in terms of charisma?
Was he picking up the bar tab?
Rehabilitate? Nothing to rehabilitate, people have been saying that the case was “made up” by the governor’s guys to stop him. It wasn’t an acquittal as much as an exoneration in Kenoi’s eyes. You ever heard the saying no such thing as bad publicity. This is a case in point.
With the Democratic establishment, ANYTHING is possible.
If Marion Barry was still around, he’d tell ya so.
I almost decided to block this comment by Allen N. It’s one of those comments that contributes nothing, relies on an ad hominem attack (they’re Democrats, after all, what do you expect?), and avoids any serious effort to deal with the information presented in the post. It’s just cheap talk, and I do block comments like this from time to time. Advice: Make an argument, provide some factual claims that can be assessed and then accepted or challenged by readers. Make it interesting for us when you feel like making such broad brush comments.
So if I substituted “political” for “Democratic,” would that have been okay with you? Whatever. I don’t have any affection for the GOP establishment, either. But I still have to say that I find Dems more forgiving than their counterparts on the right. But I’m willing to reconsider that stance if you can name for me one example of a GOP version of Marion Barry. That is, a Republican who was arrested and convicted on criminal charges while holding office, got sent to prison, and eventually was voted back into the same office as a Republican. I honestly can’t think of one.
Absent a reply to my challenge for nearly two days, I rest my case.
If Kenoi does want to successfully get back into elective politics, it’s not going to happen anytime soon. And even then, it will almost certainly be on the Big Isle. Forget about running for governor or Congress. Voters outside of his home district will reflexively think about P Cards and hostess bars when you mention Kenoi’s name. Maybe he could host a radio talk show or be a election night analyst for one of the local news channels in the future.
Ian, but with all due respect, how then do you justify the above comment by “t”?? Frankly, many of the t posts (and there are many) really ever contribute much. Just curious.
t will attempt to live up to your crucial & holy standards of posting on a blog.
but you are going to have to allow people to have a sense of humor. and sarcasm. even if you don’t like the message. i think you can handle it.
Thank you,
t
Billy Kenoi = a Democratic party Trump. Billy would beat Ige handily. For all of Ige’s benign persona, he is not much more than a party hack out of touch with working locals the way Billy is.
I think the real question on Kenoi’s rehabilitation is whether he is summarily rehab’ed his reputation with the power brokers and money consolidators on Oahu. The Big Island and their constituents are going to continue to love Kenoi no matter what he does. He is the islands boy and, yeah, he did some stupid stuff, but he is summarily forgiven because of whom he is.
Lets see if Kenoi can truly get the small group of believers in Honolulu back, and then expand his reach in the interim.
We on the Big Island love Billy as a person, but there are many that have not been happy with his governance. His administration has been noticeably unresponsive when contacted for bread and butter, grass-roots community concerns and has a bad reputation for being a “who you know” operation. So we might hug him but that’s not necessarily the same as voting for him.
What a joke. Continued Good Old Boy mentality. I have seen him at several functions…not at all impressed with his demeanor nor condescending attitude. No thanks.
I like Billy, Always have, he is in touch with the local folks. I have been able to talk with him on a number of occasions. He is personable and sincerely engaging.
I have always like many believed if he ran for Governor he would WIN Easily ! I too believe Ige and his Democrat Hacks had much to do with bringing Kenoi into the Bad Lime Light with this court trial and all.
I also told Billy that this is a stain he may not be able to wash away and that his political rising star may forever be tarnished beyond repair.
But I also think that one can use this adversity to ones advantage. If one is truly sincere they can show that things like what Billy did will NEVER happen if given the chance to hold the people of Hawaii’s trust again.
I believe ANYONE OR ANYTHING will be better than the Democrat PUPPET IGE ! His being a LIFETIME POLITICIAN makes me puke! He has NO idea what us regular people are like. There is NO place for the two words of Career Politician in my vocabulary! TERM LIMITS for all offices. As for IGE he needs to be REPLACED SOON!