Debate Strategy (Day 10)

Republican Linda Lingle’s extreme makeover not only extends to her, um, spotty record on debates in the 2012 campaign, but also to her debate history during her re-election bid for Governor in 2006.

During that 2006 election, Lingle reluctantly agreed to just one debate against her Democratic opponent Randy Iwase. Lingle’s sole debate was on October 6, 2006, just one month before the general election.

During Hawaii’s 2012 Republican primary campaign, how many debates did Linda Lingle agree to with her opponent, John Carroll? Zero. Between October 13, 2011, the day Linda Lingle announced her candidacy for U.S. Senate, and the primary election on August 11, 2012 – Linda Lingle went 303 days refusing to debate.

And, despite repeated attempts to convince voters of her “bipartisanship,” Republican Linda Lingle was the only major U.S. Senate candidate who failed to appear at the bi-partisan Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association (HLTA) debate on May 29, 2012 – one that Mazie Hirono, Ed Case and even John Carroll participated in. This was just one of five debates Hirono participated in during Hawaii’s 2012 primary campaign.

So, don’t take the bait on Linda Lingle’s belated and hollow attempts to create a false “debate about debates” with Mazie Hirono. Hirono and Lingle will have plenty of debates between now and November 6^th – Linda Lingle knows it and she clearly has no standing when it comes to lecturing others about debating.

2012 Republican Platform (Day 9)

At next week’s 2012 Republican National Convention (RNC), Hawaii’s U.S. Senate Republican nominee Linda Lingle will be noticeably absent as she has played a prominent role at each RNC during the past 12 years.  At the 2008 RNC, she introduced Sarah Palin; in 2004, Lingle served as an RNC officer and presided over the Convention; and, at the 2000 RNC, she was the head of the Hawaii Republican Delegation.

This year, Linda Lingle’s national Republican Party has put forth a platform that “calls for a constitutional amendment banning abortion, and which does not provide exceptions for victims of rape or incest, or to save the life of the mother” [CBS News, 08/21/2012].  This is in addition to the Republican Party platform calling for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman.

In her efforts to rebrand herself as a moderate, it makes sense that Lingle would try to distance herself from the 2012 RNC.  However, we will not forget her record as governor, which includes Lingle using her executive authority to institute an agenda that mirrors the extreme platform of the 2012 RNC.  As governor, Lingle vetoed a bill that would require hospitals to provide emergency contraception to rape victims, and she also opposed same sex marriage, vetoing a bill that would have legalized civil unions.

Money Talks (Day 8)

As outrage escalates over remarks made by Todd Akin, Linda Lingle’s fellow U.S. Senate Republican nominee in Missouri, about women and rape – Akin said that women’s bodies can prevent pregnancies in “a legitimate rape” – we can’t forget the stunt Lingle pulled earlier this year in trying to distance herself from another controversial stance over women’s health care that was being pushed by the current sitting U.S. Senator from Missouri.

On March 1^st, U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) offered an amendment that would have allowed any U.S. employer, not just those affiliated with a religious institution, to deny contraceptive health coverage to its employees based on religious or moral objections.  While Lingle claimed that she opposed the amendment, Lingle had no problem letting Blunt host a Washington, D.C. fundraiser to help fill her campaign coffers just 5 days after the vote on the controversial amendment.

This headline alone highlights today’s “Extreme Makeover, Lingle Edition”:

Dismantling Medicare, Credit or Gamble? (Day 7)

Over the past week, and especially during this weekend, the Republican Presidential ticket of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan has doubled down on their plans to privatize Medicare.  Just one week ago today, Linda Lingle stated that the Ryan budget plan “deserves credit,” which includes privatizing Medicare.  However, a number of reports have shown that privatizing Medicare would severely hurt seniors, but this doesn’t seem to concern Lingle.

Here’s how the Los Angeles Times characterized the Romney-Ryan Medicare plan today:

Buck Stops Where…? (Day 6)

President Harry Truman famously had a sign on his desk that read, “The BUCK STOPS here!”  The phase referred to Truman’s belief that as President, he had to make decisions and accept the ultimate responsibility for those decisions.

Since Governor Linda Lingle signed the Executive Order that furloughed tens of thousands of state employees on June 24, 2009, she has not followed Truman’s famous motto.  Lingle has consistently blamed others, like the Hawaii Department of Education and recently even Mazie Hirono, for the decision, despite the fact that Lingle herself had the final word on furloughing thousands of state employees, which resulted in students losing 17 school days.

Today, we would like to remind Lingle and her campaign of Truman’s motto and encourage her to take responsibility for the decisions she made.  Maybe this headline will help remind Lingle of what she alone did on June 24, 2009:

Voter Enthusiasm…? (Day 5)

At the candidate forum that Linda Lingle attended last night, the audience was a no-show.  Lingle’s campaign quickly realized that this would look bad on the live stream web broadcast of the forum, so she had her staff move the camera before the start of the forum to create the impression that Hawaii voters were interested and excited about her candidacy despite the reality that no one was actually interested and excited enough to attend the forum.

Are Hawaii voters enthusiastic about the Romney-Ryan-Lingle agenda?  No. But we’ll let these two pictures answer that question from an objective point of view:

Obama’s Now Awesome…? (Day 4)

Linda Lingle’s extreme makeover to gloss over her record as a national Republican insider now involves her campaign circulating a 2009 picture of Lingle with President Barack Obama. This picture was taken shortly after Lingle criticized Hawaii-born, then-Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama while nominating Sarah Palin for vice president in 2008.

At the 2008 Republican National Convention, according to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Linda Lingle stated:

“I find it especially amusing that the other party says Gov. Palin lacks experience, when their own candidates for president and vice president have no executive experience - zero.”

The comment resonated with delegates, who began chanting, “Zero! Zero!”

Lingle clearly thinks we have short memories andis trying to have it both ways – circulating a dinner photo with President Obama won’t distract the people of Hawaii from the fact that Lingle is a loyal member of the national Republican party, which includes being recently named honorary chair of the newly-formed Jewish Americans for Romney Coalition.  A picture is worth a 1,000 words (well, 1,011 words in this case):

Campaign Debates (Day 3)

Republican Linda Lingle’s extreme makeover extends to her public debate record in the 2012 campaign.  Lingle refused to debate her opponent, John Carroll, during Hawaii’s entire Republican primary campaign for the U.S. Senate nomination.  Lingle was even invited to a bipartisan debate hosted by the Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association (HLTA) on May 29th, but declined to attend.  At the HLTA debate, however, Mazie Hirono joined her primary Democratic opponent, Ed Case, and Lingle’s Republican opponent, John Carroll, to discuss issues related to tourism, the state’s number one industry. This was one of the 5 debates Hirono participated in during Hawaii’s primary campaign.

The Honolulu Civil Beat noted:

“Carroll certainly made a case for his argument that his primary opponent, Linda Lingle, should debate him — for example, criticizing her failure to get an EIS for the Hawaii Superferry.

“But Lingle won’t join Carroll at any campaign appearance.”

Lingle clearly thinks that the people of Hawaii have short memories and wants to distract the people of Hawaii and the media about her record of refusing to appear in public debates.  A picture is worth a 1,000 words:

Social Security (Day 2)

Today marks the 77^th anniversary of Social Security, a vital program that Mazie Hirono believes must be protected as more than 220,000 people in Hawaii depend on Social Security benefits as their primary income source.  Despite Linda Lingle’s attempted extreme makeover as a bipartisan moderate, her true record on Social Security is strong support of national Republican plans to privatize Social Security put forth by President George W. Bush, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.

Just this week, Lingle credited Republican VP candidate Paul Ryan for putting forward a budget plan—a plan that would raise the retirement age and privatize Social Security [Linda Lingle Press Conference, 8/12/2012]. In 2005, Lingle was “impressed” by similar proposals put forth by President George W. Bush, which would have eviscerated the Social Security Trust Fund as it would have been subject to the whims of Wall Street and the 2008 economic crisis.

Lingle clearly thinks that the people of Hawaii have short memories andwants to distract the people of Hawaii and the media from her record of being a proud member of the national Republican party and everything they stand for including dismantling Social Security as we know it.  A picture is worth a 1,000 words:

Silly Season of Politics (Day 1)

On the first Monday of the general election, Linda Lingle initiated the silly season of politics by dishonestly portraying Mazie Hirono’s record – part of Lingle’s continued effort to remake her extreme record.  Earlier this morning, Lingle suggested that Hirono was unwilling to compromise and had no interest in reducing the deficit.

The truth is that Mazie Hirono strongly supported the Budget Control Act of 2011, which was a compromise between Democrats and Republicans to reduce the deficit.  And, President Barack Obama signed that bill into law.

Why is Linda Lingle resorting to the silly season of politics?  Because she wants to distract the people of Hawaii and the media from her record of being a proud member of the national Republican party and everything they stand for.  A picture is worth a 1,000 words: