Called out
By ddepledge
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has called on former Gov. Linda Lingle to resign from the board of the Republican Jewish Coalition, one of the Republican groups that plan to target President Barack Obama and Democrats nationally in this year’s elections.
The coalition is among several groups working in alliance with Karl Rove, a Republican strategist and former adviser to President George W. Bush, according to a story Tuesday in Politico.
From Matt Canter, a spokesman for the DSCC:
This is a partisan organization that aims to support Karl Rove and launch millions in negative attacks against President Obama and Democrats across the country. If Linda Lingle’s rhetoric about ‘partisanship’ really matched reality, she would cut ties with the hyper-partisan organization and step down from its Board of Directors. Instead, Linda Lingle refuses tell Hawaii residents why she is heavily involved with the hyper-partisan group that’s helping fund Karl Rove’s negative, partisan attacks.
Democrats have sought to tie Lingle to controversial national figures in the GOP such as Rove and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. The tactic is intended to undermine Lingle’s claim that she would take a bipartisan approach if elected to the U.S. Senate. U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono and former congressman Ed Case are the Democratic candidates.
*Update: Lenny Klompus, a Lingle adviser, said Lingle would continue to participate in the Republican Jewish Coalition. He described the Democrats’ message as misleading:
The repeated attacks launched by the DSCC in the past 24 hours are both misleading and disingenuous. Matt Canter, the squeaky wheel of the DSCC, is calling the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) a hyper-partisan organization, but fails to recognize that his very actions are as hyper-partisan as they come.
Governor Linda Lingle has always run as a Republican in her more than 30 years of elected public office. She was a fellow Governor with former Governor Palin. And, Gov. Lingle is in fact a member of the RJC because she agrees with their pro-Israel policies. All of these relationships have been well known and documented, never hidden in the shadowy connections that opponents would like the public to believe. Knowing all this, Hawaii voters, whether Republican, Democrat or Independent have consistently chosen Governor Lingle as their elected leader in local, county and statewide offices.
In 2006, Hawaii voters were not blinded by the partisan rhetoric of organizations like the DSCC, and the people of Hawaii re-elected Governor Linda Lingle as their state’s chief executive with 63% of the vote, winning in all 51 house districts, the largest margin of victory in state history – an accomplishment that has never been achieved by any other candidate of either political party.
Judging by the lack of depth of the candidate the DSCC is supporting in the Hawaii U.S. Senate race, it’s clear that they must put all their effort into distracting voters from the fact that their candidate simply cannot compare with Governor Lingle’s issues-based campaign and her proven record of results. Effective leaders like Governor Lingle don’t need to stoop to the level of the DSCC and their henchman like Canter. The fact is that Governor Lingle’s record does match reality, and the DSCC doesn’t know how to deal with a leader like Linda Lingle.
Political Radar
March 28th, 2012 at 7:15 pm
OK, Lenny Klomp-arse, is Linda showing up at a fund raiser with Roy Blunt a current enuf political connection for you? You know, the guy who tried to pass legislation that would allow employers to opt out of insurance coverage for procedures with which they disagree for religious reasons including, I suppose, blood transfusions (Jehovah’s Witnesses), antidepressants (Scientologists), or other medical interventions (Christian Scientists)? Oh, that’s right, she’s from Missouri, just like Blunt. Maybe she should go back there.
A vote for Linda Lingle is a vote for Mitch McConnell, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and the whole lot of them.
March 29th, 2012 at 11:43 am
The DSCC statement fails to connect. Yes, the RJC is partisan and, big surprise, the RJC is working with Karl Rove to defeat Democrats and elect Republicans, including Lingle. So they want Lingle to dissociate herself from the RJC?
Lingle is vulnerable to criticism over her ties to Rove and the RJC, but the DSCC does not make a reasonable argument. I think Ohia touches on better points. Lingle’s support or Blunt and, more importantly, Blunt’s support for Lingle. And, “A vote for Linda Lingle is a Vote for Mitch McConnell. Yes, Karl Rove is an unsavory character and the fact he is helping coordinate a broader scheme to help Republicans take over the Senate and thwart the president and the national Democrats by electing Lingle has value.
The Republican Jewish Coalition is a partisan organization. But so is its twin counterpart, the National Jewish Democratic Council. The main problem with these groups is not their “hyper-partisanship” but their “hyper-Zionism.” They serve parallel, and complementary, functions. They raise money for politicians within their party in exchange for uncritical support for Israel. But the DSCC is unable and unwilling to criticize Israel or the powerful influence the Israel Lobby has in distorting American foreign policy.
The bottom line on the Lingle campaign is that it is a small part of a coordinated nationwide effort to help the Republicans tighten their control on Washington. Karl Rove is onboard, so is the US Chamber of Commerce, so is the National Right to Life organization. In Hawaii, Lingle is being marketed to voters as a “moderate” and pretends to be “non-partisan.” But that is just the sales pitch intended to mislead Hawaii voters into helping advance the NATIONAL Republican Party;s extremely “partisan,” un-”moderate” and mean-spirited agenda.
March 29th, 2012 at 12:59 pm
Three degrees of separation from Karl Rove? Must be a slow news day at the Star Democrat Advertising Bulletin.
March 29th, 2012 at 2:09 pm
“This is a decision that should not be made by one person sitting in her office or by members of the Majority Party behind closed doors in a legislative caucus, but by all the people of Hawaii behind the curtain of the voting booth.” ~ Ms. Smith Goes to Washington aka lingle.
If? A Rhino (republican Hawaii in name only) versus the neocons, left and right, conservative and liberals. I am for the party and not Hawaii. Where’s President Obama’s birth certificate? Should be one who is born and raised in Hawaii to run for an office of Hawaii.
March 29th, 2012 at 3:38 pm
Linda Lingle is establishment beltway republican.bad news for republicans and independents,as well as democrats i suppose that call for civil liberties,peace,free markets.
March 30th, 2012 at 10:04 pm
“I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself.
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough
without ever having felt sorry for itself.” ~ D.H. Lawrence
Boo Hoo Hoo!