Horror show in East Oahu
Perhaps this question reflects my ignorance of local politics, but I’ll pose it anyway: Is Frank Lockwood the best candidate the Dems could find to run against Fred Hemmings? A few nights ago I attended a ‘candidate’s forum’ out in Hawaii Kai that featured (??) Hemmings and Lockwood as well as Gene Ward and Lyla Berg. After an hour of responding to written questions, it was impossible to distinguish Lockwood from Hemmings. Lockwood bashed mass transit, worker’s comp, public education, etc. etc. Lockwood mentioned that Mike McCartney asked to run against Hemmings. Is this really true? Hemmings is nothing but platitudes and tired cliches and the best the Dems can do is Lockwood, a Hemmings-wannabe? Pretty depressing.
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I think your example illustrates exactly why WE need to become more active within the Democratic Party. WE should be looking at races and finding people to run so that there are no uncontested seats. Look at Cynthia Thielen… She would not be able to run for US Senate without giving up her current position if someone, anyone, from another party had run against her.
The hard part is that all of this is easier said than done. It is difficult to run a campaign against an incumbent, especially with limited funds. One step in the right direction would be to implement comprehensive public funding of campaigns so that it would be easier to recruit quality candidates.
Comment by rachel — September 29, 2006 @ 1:25 pm
Hi Rachel,
I personally am a republican understand your frustration regarding “politics”. Though I won’t try to convince you that Fred is more than “platitudes and cliches”, I will assure you that he has done much to improve our state in many ways. I started getting to know Fred because I knew enough about Frank that I did NOT want him in office with any power. A simple fact is that Frank was a registered republican up until the day before he signed up on the Democratic ticket. This is just a fact.
I completely sympathize with your frustration, but I do ask you to get more information, like I did, and won’t end up being so disheartened about Fred. My main concern is that the candidate has integrity and honesty, thus treats others in the political arena respectfully and is willing to cooperate with them despite different desires. I know that senator Hemmings is a man who does not speak antagonistically or derogitorilly to or about anyone.
May you and I both educate ourselves on the truth of what is really happening, even if we don’t like the politician. May we also be willing to admit that someone from the “other” party may actually be doing a good job, like Hemmings… he is not just an icon that doesn’t do anything like some we have in government. Check the facts, he has helped get more money to the needy, schools, the working people, etc…
Sincerely,
Jaci
Comment by Jaci — November 8, 2006 @ 4:25 am
Jaci–
FYI, I was not the one that wrote about the Hemmings race… that was registered user “tshelly.” I just commented regarding how I think progressives can be more active in the Democratic Party to help steer it in the direction WE want it to go.
Rachel
Comment by rachel — November 8, 2006 @ 7:48 am