Thielen vs. Akaka

[DavidThi808]

Re: Thielen vs. Akaka

If I was a little testy in my posts above, I'm sorry. I have a full-time job (president of a software start-up) plus I am my mom's entire web operation (with only 4 weeks there wasn't time to staff anything adequately). So I'm not getting a whole lot of sleep right now.

And my decompression time is hitting the blogs because writing is soothing for me. But it means you generally get me when I am not operating at 100%. So I apologize where I have been short or abrupt.

thanks - dave

ps - if you ever get a chance to do this - do it. Yes it's exhausting but it is also incredibly interesting and I have a very different view of what it takes to run for office now.

[poinographer]

Re: Thielen vs. Akaka

Thanks for your speculation, Dave.

If the Hawaii GOP did not know Cynthia Thielen's opinions of Rumsfeld/Iraq, then I don't think she represents any significant "reform" of the party. Rather, she was the closest thing to Ed Case they could come up with who had a "safe" seat in November. They sure as heck were not going to select Slom or Meyer (from the conservative end of the party).

I'm still hoping that you ask your mother so that we could know for certain if your speculation is correct.

[MadAzza]

Re: Thielen vs. Akaka

You had me until this part, Maddie. While I agree M?noa’s suggestion was rediculous, I can’t help thinking your SB connection biases your opinion on web-based forums.

HUH??

If this is what you got out of my post, then I suggest you reread it.

No candidate has time to jump into a Web forum three days before the election. And watching Dave running in circles for just the past day or so proves that point, as well as the other points I made about such a pointless endeavour.

I can't explain it any better. Pau.

[TuNnL]

Re: Thielen vs. Akaka

If this is what you got out of my post, then I suggest you reread it. (You seem to be trying awfully hard to misinterpret posts from S-B employees lately -- your twisting of Buzz1941's meaning in another thread, and somehow deciding his post was "insulting," bordered on bizarre.)

There you go again, Maddie, putting words in people’s mouths. Frankly, I don’t think Burl needs you to defend him, and I don't believe he even implied that I misinterpreted him. My point still stands. You work for SB. SB sucks (or is clueless) when it comes to web forums. The Advertiser is doing well in this area. Therefore, it doesn’t hurt for you to criticize web forums, as you have, and discourage politicians (or anyone else for that matter) from participating in them.

Simple, yeah? Now we’re pau.

[MadAzza]

Re: Thielen vs. Akaka

Tunnel, I deleted those comments from my post for a reason.

Your conclusions are incorrect.

What do you mean, "there I go again, putting words in people's mouths"?? You did say you thought Buzz's post was arrogan and rude. (OK, not insulting, I had that wrong.) I am not the one who puts words in people's mouths, so don't even go there. Talk about insulting.

Heh ... this is funny. It perfectlys supports my original point about the futility of trying to get your point across in this type of forum.

(Yes, I was pau -- before you somehow quoted comments I had deleted 10 minutes earlier!) (smiley!)

Carry on, if you wish!

[pzarquon]

Re: Thielen vs. Akaka

Well, I voted this morning as soon as the doors opened at City Hall, and Lloyd Mallan got my vote. Surprise! "Akaka vs. Thielen" indeed!

Trust me. It's "Akaka vs. Thielen." Heck, it's pretty much "Akaka versus Whatshername" for some people. I feel your pain -- I voted for Elyssa Young, remember? -- but for all practical purposes, the question is, how much of Ed Case's Akaka-fatigued support base will go for a liberal Republican?

And thanks, Dave, for doing your best, despite the snarkfest that is the blogosphere and message boards. I ended up racing to Pearlridge this afternoon to vote, and gave my vote to Thielen. Notwithstanding this election, I'm very curious what your mom will do next (apart from, you know, holding her "safe" seat in the local legislature).

[DavidThi808]

Re: Thielen vs. Akaka

Thanks for your speculation, Dave.

You are very welcome. Once I realized your specific question I kicked myself for not answering it sooner as I could answer that.

If the Hawaii GOP did not know Cynthia Thielen's opinions of Rumsfeld/Iraq, then I don't think she represents any significant "reform" of the party. Rather, she was the closest thing to Ed Case they could come up with who had a "safe" seat in November. They sure as heck were not going to select Slom or Meyer (from the conservative end of the party).

My guess is that they know her from her 16 years in office and selected her as the person who had the best chance of winning this election. I also guess that specific policies did not come up because they know her already.

I'm still hoping that you ask your mother so that we could know for certain if your speculation is correct.

It's on my list of things to talk to her about once the campaign is over. (I have a long list - most of which is not political items.)

[damontucker]

Re: Thielen vs. Akaka

Dave -

Do you know what your Moms stance is on the Immigration laws... and the recent decision to allow Non-Hawaii Residents to apply for state jobs?

[scrivener]

Re: Thielen vs. Akaka

From the Star-Bulletin's Election Guide.

Do you support immigration reform? In what form?
Our immigration policies must continue our rich heritage of encouraging legal immigration, while discouraging illegal aliens who take jobs away from legal residents and who drive down wages for everyone. I support policies that allow legal immigrants to the United States.

As for the other issue, that's a state issue, and as a state representative, she's surely got an opinion, but that's probably not relevant to her current campaign.

[DavidThi808]

Re: Thielen vs. Akaka

And thanks, Dave, for doing your best, despite the snarkfest that is the blogosphere and message boards. I ended up racing to Pearlridge this afternoon to vote, and gave my vote to Thielen. Notwithstanding this election, I'm very curious what your mom will do next (apart from, you know, holding her "safe" seat in the local legislature).

Hey, I'm part of the snarkfest (I have a blog) and so it's only fair I get the other end of it. It is interesting though to be on the receiving end.

I've noticed that there are two kinds of people that go into the legislature. The more common is this is step 1 on the road to the presidency. Next is state Senate, US House, governor, US Senate, and then President.

The other are the people who view it as a place where they can do a lot of good for their state and stay there to accomplish things. This second group tends to get a lot more done as they are focused on using their office for improving the state, not personal advancement.

My mom is definitely in that second category. I think as long as she was able to be effective in the house, she would have stayed there. And she clearly views the senate as a place where she can accomplish a lot more, especially on renewable energy.

So whichever office she ends up in - I think that is where she will stay as long as she can be effective using the office to improve the world. I don't think in either case she will be looking to "advance" from that office.

[DavidThi808]

Re: Thielen vs. Akaka

Dave -

Do you know what your Moms stance is on the Immigration laws... and the recent decision to allow Non-Hawaii Residents to apply for state jobs?

I will defer to scrivener on this as I know nothing and he found a policy quote.

[DavidThi808]

Can Cynthia Thielen win?

I thought this was deserving of a new thread.

Ok, one of the giant questions is, does my mom even have a chance? Because all of this other discussion doesn't count for squat if the Democratic machine has already decided this race.

Well... Survey USA has it's most recent poll on Akaka (and this is the only real poll in existence for this race). And his favorables have dropped to just 45%. When an incumbents favorables drop below 50%, they are in great danger of losing their seat.

So this is a real contest. My mom can win. And we you now have a very real question - which candidate is better for Hawaii. And I think a very good argument can be made that Cynthia Thielen is better for the state - including for Democrats.

For those of you that support her, please email, call, IM, TXT, etc all friends and family and ask them to vote for her. And if you would like a nice email to send - click here.

And I have to close with OMG - wow. We got this survey and it was just !!!!! As you can all imagine, we have been positive and hopeful. But it is a giant uphill battle. But now - it is winnable. And that makes all the effort so worth it.

[damontucker]

Re: Can Cynthia Thielen win?

Dave of course she can win... she just needs the votes....Do I think she will...well that's a different question.

Having you represent her on HT will not make nearly as big of an impact if your mom herself decided to start posting here.

[scrivener]

Re: Can Cynthia Thielen win?

...says the guy who once boasted that he wasn't going to vote.

Forget about approval. Akaka is practically an institution in this state, and there is just no way the combination of history, incumbency, and being a member of the Old Guard Democratic Party can fail to win him re-election. By a lot. The neighbor islands will never vote for Cynthia, a haole from Oahu, against a guy like Akaka. His "approval rating" could drop below twenty-five percent, and in the absence of some kind of major scandal, he'd probably still win election.

I do think Thielen would be better for Hawaii ('though maybe worse for the country). However, I think a Libertarian senator would be even better.

[damontucker]

Re: Can Cynthia Thielen win?

...says the guy who once boasted that he wasn't going to vote.

Yes... but I did vote... I was trying to stir a feeling about why vote if you don't want to vote for any of the politicians in your race... It was stupid for me to post the things I did in that election thread during the primaries... however, I wanted to instigate reactions.... and I guess I did it in the wrong way.

I still think the whole voting process should be made easier in general.