Polls and money stirred the political pot as we plant tongue in cheek and "flASHback" on the week’s news that amused and confused:
» The Star-Advertiser reported that Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s job approval rating "jumped" from 39 percent in February to 43 percent in its latest poll. This qualifies as a jump only for a guy with Papa Smurf’s legs.
» Despite his continued low popularity, Abercrombie reported raking in $2.1 million for his 2014 re-election campaign. It goes to show that in Hawaii politics, you don’t have to make good to make out.
» Former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann had to loan his congressional campaign $150,000 to fight off a charge by Tulsi Gabbard. How the mighty fall. He never needed to pay his own way when he had rail contracts to hand out.
» Hawaii U.S. Senate hopeful Ed Case made Esquire’s best-dressed candidates list for appearing at campaign events in an aloha shirt and lei. Democratic rival Mazie Hirono deserved an honorable mention for cutting a dashing figure in Dan Inouye’s coattails.
» After his construction lobby spent $1 million to attack mayoral candidate Ben Cayetano, Pacific Resource Partnership chief John White whined that Cayetano is bullying him. That’s like Bluto calling Popeye a bully.
» The Campaign Spending Commission gave City Council candidate Joey Manahan the green light to keep charging thousands of dollars in food and beverage expenses to his campaign fund. If Meals on Manahan doesn’t work out as a political strategy, there’s always the lunch wagon business.
» An audit of Hawaii County’s voter rolls found that four people voted twice in 2010. They should be an inspiration to the nearly 400,000 registered Hawaii voters who didn’t show up at all for that year’s primary.
» U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway ordered the state to stop blocking the right of prison inmates to get married. The prisoners will soon learn that "I do" is an even longer sentence than the one they’re already serving.
» Chicago is the front-runner to host President Barack Obama’s presidential library, but Hawaii is waging a spirited underdog campaign. Visitors could uniquely experience the president’s formative years with a scenic setting, multicultural exchanges and a pakalolo haze.
» The Honolulu Zoo has three new baby warthogs and wants the public to help choose their names. I don’t know why, but Carlisle, Caldwell and Cayetano come quickly to mind.
And the quote of the week … from Senate Majority Leader Brickwood Galuteria on Abercrombie: "The governor has never been hesitant about being himself. …If there’s a good thing about it, it’s that we know him. If there’s a bad thing about it, it’s that we know him." Or as Socrates said, the only true knowledge is knowing we know nothing.
Reach David Shapiro at volcanicash@gmail.com or blog.volcanicash.net.
