StarBulletin.com

Broadcaster Robertson speaks highly of Aiona on '700 Club'


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POSTED: Sunday, March 21, 2010

Lt. Gov. James “;Duke”; Aiona's campaign for governor picked up some support from Pat Robertson, the conservative Christian former presidential candidate and broadcaster.

Robertson introduced a profile on Aiona during his “;700 Club “; show last week, saying Aiona “;is taking a public stand for Jesus.”;

“;Aiona—what an attractive man!”; Robertson said. “;He would be a tremendous leader of the state of Hawaii. Wearing your Christianity on your sleeve isn't the easiest thing to do if you are a politician.”;

In the televised interview, Aiona talks about how his faith helped him in politics.

“;There's a different type of pressure that comes upon you as an elected official,”; he said. “;And without that divine intervention and that support from the prayer warriors that we have out there, we'd have a very difficult time in making it through these last seven years.”;

Campaign spokesman Travis Taylor said Robertson's remarks are not considered a formal endorse- ment, but Aiona, a Catholic, appreciates “;the very supportive comments.”;

Leaders of local Christian groups say Robertson's praise will be of help, but Aiona and Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann, who is Mormon, are already battling for the support of Christian voters in the fall race for governor.

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Hannemann has not yet announced he is running but has already collected more than $2 million for his campaign and plans a large-scale $25-a-ticket rally next week at the Blaisdell Center.

Hannemann's campaign spokeswoman, Elisa Yadao, said: “;I am declining comment as Mufi is not yet an announced candidate.”;

Former U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, who has never listed a religious preference, said he hopes also to draw from the “;faith-based community.”;

“;We believe Neil Abercrombie will have a strong appeal to people of faith based on the common values they share,”; said Abercrombie's spokeswoman.

Saying that homelessness, housing and poverty are issues of concern for the faith-based community, the spokeswoman said, “;Neil has championed these issues throughout his career.”;

Winning Hawaii churchgoing voters may be an advantageous strategy this campaign year because churches are doing more to organize.

Francis Oda, chairman of the board of the Hawaii Family Forum, who is also a pastor and CEO of the architectural firm Group 70 International, said the forum is working to register voters and make sure they vote through a program dubbed I Vote.

“;We are trying to do it systematically through the churches ... through pastors and priests and organize it,”; said Oda in an interview Thursday.

Oda estimates that there could be up to 200,000 Catholic and evangelical churchgoers who could vote. Speculating that if just 10 percent voted, it could be a politically important factor.

“;If we could get 10 percent, it would be 20,000 and any number like that would have a significant impact on races in Hawaii,”; Oda said.

He stressed that the Family Forum and I Vote were not supporting specific candidates or political parties, but instead would distribute churches information about candidates voting records and responses to a survey on issues.

Hannemann and Aiona appear to be the top candidates for the church-going voters, according to Dennis Arakaki, executive director of the Family Forum and the Hawaii Catholic Conference.

“;In the Christian community many are supporting Duke and there are also many supporting Mufi,”; Arakaki said. “;It is sort of 'Anybody but Abercrombie.'”;

Both Hannemann and Aiona have supported laws that keep marriage defined as between a man and woman, while Abercrombie has supported civil union legislation before the state Legislature.

Arakaki speculated that voters may reject Abercrombie in the Democratic primary against Hannemann, but then the issue would still be undecided in a general election between Aiona and Hannemann.