A longtime U.S. senator and war hero, Daniel Inouye for decades has been one of the most respected men in Hawaii. And that's why during the campaign over the constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage there was a behind-the-scenes battle over using or neutralizing his influence. Inouye was courted
on same-sex issueFor months, leaders of the "No" campaign on the gay marriage constitutional amendment quietly sought Inouye's endorsement. Inouye voted "No" on the amendment but didn't want to become a poster boy for the no-vote campaign, since he had a re-election bid to worry about, said his campaign aides.
But the day before the general election, the no-vote Protect Our Constitution group, seized on remarks Inouye made the previous day. He said approval of the amendment would put discriminatory language into the state Constitution and he would hate to see that happen.
Protect Our Constitution claimed that Inouye was encouraging voters to reject the proposed amendment. That wasn't true, said Inouye's press secretary. Her boss was simply stating a personal opinion, said Michele Konishi.
Invoking Inouye's name came too late. Leaders of the yes-vote group, Save Traditional Marriage-'98, knew that opposition leaders wanted Inouye tied to their cause. So weeks in advance they countered by running newspaper and broadcast ads touting that Democratic Gov. Ben Cayetano and Republican challenger Linda Lingle were voting "yes." The purpose: use Cayetano and Lingle to inoculate the electorate should Inouye surface.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE When the state Campaign Spending Commission recently went behind closed doors, panel Chairman A. Duane Black said commissioners needed clarification on the campaign finance law.
"There's only one attorney on the commission," he explained. "The rest of us sometimes are so far out of it in terms of the technical stuff. We really want to be able to sit down without everybody looking at us and ask some dumb questions. That's basically it - so we cannot be afraid to ask dumb questions."
By Star-Bulletin staff