Professor, expert on politics brought bipartisan polling to Hawaii
Daniel Webster Tuttle, Jr. / 1925-2006
Daniel Webster Tuttle, Jr., the political pollster and educator who pioneered political polling in Hawaii, died on Dec. 23. He was 81.
His wife of 59 years, Elsie Tuttle, said he had been battling pneumonia at the Arcadia Retirement Residence.
Tuttle became well known in Hawaii politics after arriving in 1950 as an associate professor of political science at the University of Hawaii. He was best known for introducing nonpartisan political polling to Hawaii.
"At the very core he was an advocate of pure democracy. He was a great believer in the democratic process," said Tom Coffman, an author and former political reporter at the Star-Bulletin in the late 1960s and early '70s.
"He prided himself on being bipartisan or helping both Republicans and Democrats understand what was going on. He saw himself as an educator," he said.
Respected by Hawaii's politicians, he was often sought out for his political advice and gave dozens of speeches a year, his wife said.
During the 1960s, Tuttle gave political commentary with Bob Sevey on KGMB and covered the national political convention, his other passion, in 1960 and 1964.
"He was like the signature of election night," Coffman said. "He gave by far the most intelligent commentary, nobody has come close."
He also wrote a column for The Honolulu Advertiser from 1959 to 1984.
"He was the first kind of independent pollster that studied public opinion and the changes in public opinion," said Gerry Keir, a former Advertiser editor. "He was very well regarded as a pollster and also as a lobbyist for the education community."
"He was one of the guys you'd talk to to try and get a sense of what was going on. And he always had pretty good insights," Keir said.
Politics was always his great love, more than his love for baseball, his wife said.
When he was about 10 years old, she said, Tuttle listened to a speech by the mayor of Chicago, then told him he disagreed with him, to which the mayor signed an autograph, "to the man who disagreed."
"My husband was always interested in politics," she said.
Tuttle retired from UH in 1966 and became the executive director of the Hawaii Education Association. He returned to UH in 1971 to teach political science.
About the same time, he opened a polling firm called Public Affairs Advisory Services, and worked with his students to conduct door-to-door polls.
After retiring in 1987, Tuttle again became the executive director of the Hawaii Education Association, holding the position for about 11 more years.
"He was not a jolly person, but he was always thinking and enjoyed life," Elsie Tuttle said.
Besides his wife, Tuttle is survived by sons Daniel Tuttle III and David B.H. Tuttle; daughter Kay Hancock of North Bethesda, Md.; and grandchildren Parker Tuttle and Nanea Tuttle.
Services are set for 3 p.m. Saturday at Central Union Church.