Abercrombie v. Tanonaka

[pzarquon]

Re: Abercrombie v. Tanonaka

Illegal campaign loans alleged
Derrick DePledge, Honolulu Advertiser, Sept. 28, 2004

The manager of Dalton Tanonaka's unsuccessful run for lieutenant governor in 2002 has filed a complaint alleging that Tanonaka hid loans to his campaign to circumvent legal limits. Ed Nishioka, president of Professional Results Inc., who has also sued Tanonaka over payment for media work, filed the complaint with the state Campaign Spending Commission on Friday.

Ed Nishioka's outfit, Professional Results, also publishes Hawaiian Hard Drive.

[pzarquon]

Re: Abercrombie v. Tanonaka

Following up on my post on the push poll a couple of weeks ago, Tanonaka's campaign website does mention a poll by Neil Newhouse of Public Opinion Strategies. I can only surmise that this was the outfit behind the fake survey.

Notably, Neil Newhouse is a prominent pollster but not an independent one. He's appeared on CNN and has been interviewed elsewhere and is described as a "Republican pollster." And a quick search for news about the company, POS, turned up this article on how another push poll's widely touted results were suspect.

Meanwhile, front and center is a photo of Tanonaka with Denis Hastert. I'm not sure if highlighting the affiliation will be an asset or a liability to the campaign.

[mel]

Re: Abercrombie v. Tanonaka

I always wonder about blank votes.

I've turned in ballots for Mr./Ms. "Blank Vote" several times over the years mainly because I am not satisfied with any of the candidates who are running for the race in question. Right now, "blank vote" is still my choice for the mayor's race and the possibility of casting another blank vote in this race looms too.

[pzarquon]

Re: Abercrombie v. Tanonaka

Abercrombie's name made the papers across the country this morning, as part of the coverage of the bizzare draft bill. Mike Perry this morning is having fun with the "he voted for it before he voted against it" line. The measure no one really wanted succeeded in its actual purpose, at least, in getting people to think about the possibility of the return of the draft... one that could include women, and be for agencies other than the military.

Meanwhile, I noticed that Abercrombie is actually campaigning, at least on television. They're strange ads, featuring Abercrombie and Inouye sitting at a talk-show table, being chummy as they "discuss" issues and accomplishments. So far I've seen a "partners" ad (which seems to end with Inouye making some inaudible crack about Abercrombie's hair!), and a "support our troops" ad (a direct response to Tanonaka's main line of attack).

Since both Abercrombie and Inouye appear in the ads, it appears they took the cautious route and gave us the "campaign finance line" from both of them. So the ad ends with, "I'm Neil Abercrombie, and I approve this message... I'm Dan Inouye, and I approve this message."

[Miulang]

Re: Abercrombie v. Tanonaka

Meanwhile, I noticed that Abercrombie is actually campaigning, at least on television. They're strange ads, featuring Abercrombie and Inouye sitting at a talk-show table, being chummy as they "discuss" issues and accomplishments...
Since both Abercrombie and Inouye appear in the ads, it appears they took the cautious route and gave us the "campaign finance line" from both of them. So the ad ends with, "I'm Neil Abercrombie, and I approve this message... I'm Dan Inouye, and I approve this message."

I don't think that's so strange. It's actually quite innovative and fiscally responsible (and in the advertising world, that's called co-operative advertising or marketing where each participant shares in the cost). At least the Dem's are getting more bang for their buck this way, and Abercrombie can ride on Dan the Man's popularity since there is some subtle neural programming going on that implies that if you like Dan you should also like Neil.

Miulang

[pzarquon]

Re: Abercrombie v. Tanonaka

Congressional candidate faces criminal probe of 2002 campaign
The investigation focuses on what a state panel says are suspicious loans to Dalton Tanonaka
Rick Daysog, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Oct. 14, 2004

Less than a month before the general election, congressional candidate Dalton Tanonaka is facing a criminal investigation of his 2002 campaign. But the local Republican said the investigation is based on a smear by his former campaign manager. The state Campaign Spending Commission voted 3-2 yesterday to refer its investigation into Tanonaka's unsuccessful campaign for lieutenant governor to city Prosecutor Peter Carlisle for a criminal investigation.

Prosecutor to look into Tanonaka campaign complaint
Honolulu Advertiser, October 13, 2004

The state Campaign Spending Commission today voted to refer a complaint that Dalton Tanonaka disguised private loans to his 2002 campaign for lieutenant governor to the prosecutor for a criminal investigation... Bob Watada, the commission's executive director, said he believed the Tanonaka loan activity was "intentional, knowing and reckless."

[BKHale2007]

Re: Abercrombie v. Tanonaka

As today's Beltway Boys (FNC) drew to a close, Fred Barnes mentioned Dalton Tanonaka as a politician to watch, i.e., he's up-and-coming. This also counts as a passing mention of Hawaii in the non-local media (see Mixed Plate).

[Konaguy]

Re: Abercrombie v. Tanonaka

I hope the criminal charges against Dalton Tanonaka are not true.
I was planning on voting for him lieu of Neil.

[Miulang]

Re: Abercrombie v. Tanonaka

As today's Beltway Boys (FNC) drew to a close, Fred Barnes mentioned Dalton Tanonaka as a politician to watch, i.e., he's up-and-coming. This also counts as a passing mention of Hawaii in the non-local media (see Mixed Plate).

I saw the show, too, and the first thing that came to mind was, "How much did the Republican party have to pay Fred Barnes for that endorsement?" I mean, come on. How many people in Hawai'i would be watching that kind of show at the time of day that it probably aired in your market? And how many viewers throughout the rest of the US would even know who he was running against, or care?

Miulang

[Linkmeister]

Re: Abercrombie v. Tanonaka

I see the standard mud-slinging tactics of the national Republican party in Tanonaka's new ads, too. Abercrombie "doesn't support the troops." I suspect that might be a deliberate misconstruing of a vote on how the funding was to be done. If the House behaved like the Senate, there were initial attempts to roll back Bush's tax cuts to fund the defense authorization bill; when those failed, Abercrombie may have voted against the bill since it just added to the deficit instead.

[pzarquon]

Re: Abercrombie v. Tanonaka

I wonder if Fred Barnes knows about the criminal probe referral out of the CSC? Depending on how messy that gets, I'm sure a lot of the folks who've stood up and backed Tanonaka (Linda Lingle, Pat Saiki) are going to have to keep their distance. In fact, I wonder if those ads are still running?

Because the ad that is running is pretty embarassing. A grainy, over-slowed clip of Abercrombie throwing a temper tantrum? It's not like the people who already have a poor opinion of Abercrombie are going to be surprised, and for those curious about Tanonaka, the whole ad just comes across as ugly.

The ad also came out after the infamous draft bill to which it refers, which was introduced in protest by Abercrombie, was pulled up and killed for good.

Wonder how much airing those ads during prime-time local news costs?

[Linkmeister]

Re: Abercrombie v. Tanonaka

Wonder how much airing those ads during prime-time local news costs?

Same question I asked about Gabbard's ads. As yet, none of our tv folks on this board have seen it, I guess.

[pzarquon]

Re: Abercrombie v. Tanonaka

Funding questions dog GOP’s Tanonaka
Nelson Daranciang, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, October 19, 2004

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in Washington, D.C., filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission accusing Tanonaka of hiding the source of $69,000 he loaned to his campaign. The complaint said Tanonaka does not have the financial resources to make such a loan, having almost no income and debts of between $160,000 and $365,000, according to his financial disclosure statement.

Tanonaka faces federal complaint
Derrick DePledge, Honolulu Advertiser, October 19, 2004

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which campaigns and helps raise money for Democrats, filed a complaint against Tanonaka with the Federal Election Commission alleging that Tanonaka did not have the financial means to loan his campaign $69,000. Tanonaka is running against U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i.

[Miulang]

Re: Abercrombie v. Tanonaka

So now you have the candidates of both parties being accused of financial hanky panky. What are you voters of that district gonna do? Vote for the one who has cheated less?

Eeesh.

Miulang

http://starbulletin.com/2004/10/23/news/story12.html

[pzarquon]

Re: Abercrombie v. Tanonaka

Results from the latest Star-Bulletin/KITV poll:

The poll shows Democrat Neil Abercrombie with a 17 percentage-point lead over Republican challenger Dalton Tanonaka in the 1st Congressional District race... Of 300 respondents, 52 percent said they would vote for Abercrombie, 35 percent said Tanonaka, 12 percent were undecided and 1 percent picked neither candidate.

Results from the latest Honolulu Advertiser poll:

Abercrombie leads former television and newspaper journalist Dalton Tanonaka 62 percent to 28 percent among likely voters in urban Honolulu... According to the poll, 7.5 percent of urban Honolulu voters had not yet settled on a candidate.