City Council Elections: District 3

[scrivener]

Re: City Council Elections: District 3

It probably wasn't necessary for Anderson or Felix to do it in this special election. But you never know for sure. Sometimes, 527 smear ads come out unexpectedly at the last minute,.... and then, there's a lot of finger pointing and accusations going both ways. You never know when someone has skeletons in the closet. And when the dirty laundry is aired by a 527 group, even the "beneficiaries" of such a commercial could be tainted by accusations that they are involved in smear campaigning. But if a candidate can clearly differentiate his own commercials from that of the 527's, then it will make it easier for him to steer clear of the fray.

If you yourself are speaking in the commercial and if it's NOT a negative commercial, and if the only message in the commercial is how nice and how qualified you are, why the heck would you feel the need to say you approve (of) this message? In addition to being grammatically suspect (I'm still trying to work out whether or not it's grammatically ill), it's completely unnecessary.

[Frankie's Market]

Re: City Council Elections: District 3

If you yourself are speaking in the commercial and if it's NOT a negative commercial, and if the only message in the commercial is how nice and how qualified you are, why the heck would you feel the need to say you approve (of) this message? In addition to being grammatically suspect (I'm still trying to work out whether or not it's grammatically ill), it's completely unnecessary.

Completely unnecessary for you, Scrivner, I'm sure. And if everyone was as educated as you are, such disclaimers would be totally unnecessary. But for better or worse, not everyone is as discerning as you are. There's lots of smear ads out there,.... some of which can be very deceptive to other people who may not be as sharp-minded.

You would think that it should be self-evident that a candidate who personally speaks on a commercial ad has "approved that message." But unfortunately, we live in a political age where unscrupulous candidates or 527 groups will use soundbites of another candidate saying something and take it out of context in a radio/TV commercial. Or worse yet, a voice actor (sounding like the opposing candidate) is used to say something that is inflammatory, like this one that former US Senator Libby Dole used against her opponent, Kay Hagan, last year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JkxT...eature=related

With commercials like these that use soundbites to misrepresent the views of candidates, it's no wonder that modern day candidates want to make to make it clear, in no uncertain terms, messages that do indeed come from them vs. the static that their opponent might be dispensing. And if they have to utilize 5 seconds in a commericial specificially stating that they "approve this message," so be it.

Once again, I'm sure that someone like Scriv will have stuff like this all figured out without any help from those "silly" disclaimers. But there will be others who might be fooled and have their votes swayed for the wrong reasons.

[Jewlipino]

Re: City Council Elections: District 3

Gotta agree with Frankie here. All this talk about the absurdity of candidates saying that they approve their own message is making a mountain out of a mole-hill. That's the world we live in. It's a nice thought to give the electorate the benefit of the doubt when it comes to discerning attack ads from 527s from regular candidate funded and scripted ads, but the evidence is against it.

Crap we just got done with 10 or so YEARS of GOP rule that was based in part on just such negative attack ads. The clarification is necessary and at the same time, totally absurd. Sounds like most of govt and politics to me. You can rail about it, but it doesn't change its nature. If you choose to ignore the fact that the electorate has been conditioned via the national elections to only attribute those ads that have that disclaimer at the end (more of a claimer really) then welcome to fantasyland, make sure to take pix of the gumdrop castle for me.

[Frankie's Market]

Re: City Council Elections: District 3

Not even 8 months on the job, voters in city council district 3 have already started a petition to trigger a recall election for Ikaika Anderson.

It's a controversy so intense, protesters say they're planning to recall Honolulu Councilmember Ikaika Anderson, who authored the bill.

"It will require about 10% - about 6,000 signatures we should need, and we're already getting to roll," said Leigh Prentiss, a member of Keep It Kailua.

Prentiss says they'll launch the recall when Anderson hits his one-year mark in office.

"That's news to me. I was elected almost a year ago with 49% of the vote. If they want to recall me, it's unfortunate. I had really hoped that this bill would bring the community to a consensus, bring the community together," said Anderson.

We've seen past recall petition drives that have succeeded and failed. But this is the first time in this island's history that a city councilmember has been targeted by his constituents for a recall this soon.

[sansei]

Re: City Council Elections: District 3

hi,im voting for our possible mayor rod tam and maybe for governor,which is our mayor at this moment and for congress,it would be ec and those would be my vote's for office's.

well thank's for your time=O)

[TuNnL]

Re: City Council Elections: District 3

Not even 8 months on the job, voters in city council district 3 have already started a petition to trigger a recall election for Ikaika Anderson ... this is the first time in this island's history that a city councilmember has been targeted by his constituents for a recall this soon.

Well, it looks like this absurd so-called “recall attempt” was just a cheap publicity stunt (albeit effective) put on by opponents of the B&B Bill. I’d be surprised if there were more than two dozen signatures before the petition went into the ’opala bin. They got what they wanted, and once again, the vast majority couldn’t care less who their council rep is... until the next big “hot button issue” controversy.

[Frankie's Market]

Re: City Council Elections: District 3

Well, it looks like this absurd so-called “recall attempt” was just a cheap publicity stunt (albeit effective) put on by opponents of the B&B Bill. I’d be surprised if there were more than two dozen signatures before the petition went into the ’opala bin. They got what they wanted, and once again, the vast majority couldn’t care less who their council rep is... until the next big “hot button issue” controversy.

You're only kidding yourself if you think that the recall efforts (even ones that fail) are forgotten when the next election rolls around. You can be sure that Anderson's opponents will remember.

The last two councilmembers who were targeted by recall efforts also saw those petitions fall by the wayside. But in both cases, it signalled the beginning of the end for their careers. Leigh Wai Doo was targeted for recall in 1993 by constituents who were unhappy with his vote to increase the excise tax to fund a rail system. He saw the writing on the wall and chose not to run when his term ran out the following year.

And of course, there was Rene Mansho, who was targeted for recall in 2001 for various abuses of power. The petition fizzled out, but she was forced to resign the next year when she was indicted.