Cynthia Thielen (my mom) needs your Contributions - help flip Hawaii
By DavidThi808 Comments (6) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Hi everyone;
First off, I am a liberal Democrat (although I live in Boulder Colorado and by Boulder standards I'm a right wing reactionary).
My mom received the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate 3 days ago on Thursday (Jerry Coffee had a heart attack). So she is facing Senator Akaka having had only 2 days to start raising funds, while at the same time putting together a campaign, website, etc.
Why am I supporting her? Well first of all, she's my mom. And she has always supported me.
But equally important, I have watched her work for 16 years as a legislator. I think she is the only person in the Hawaii leg that reads every bill. I will get calls from her several times each session as she reads me parts of bills having to do with high tech and together we try to figure out why someone wants it and what it will do. She is competent and works her okole off.
I've also seen her campaign. She is in a Democratic district in a Democratic state and she is so good at campaigning that the Democrats have given up even running a token candidate against her.
How good is she? The Akaka campaign was planning on taking it easy from now till the general election and suddenly they have been pushed into full gear. They're upset that they have to work and work hard.
How good is she? Daniel Akaka is refusing to debate her. He debated Ed Case. He was planning on debating whoever the Republicans put up (based on who they thought it might be). But not Cynthia Thielen.
Here's where the readers of this blog come in. She needs donations and she needs them fast. The first "measure" of her campaign will be the report of September donations. The fact that Akaka is the incumbent and was raising money for 30 days of September while my mom has 6 days won't matter. All that will matter is the totals.
So please, go to https://www.completecampaigns.com/FR/contribute.asp?campaignid=Thielen and make a donation. No matter how small, please make one. If everyone here made a $5.00 donation, that adds up.
And then forward this to your friends and tell then the same thing - donate something.
Because I've seen my mom campaign. The Republican party has seen her campaign (that's why they selected here - she did not ask for this). The Democrats have seen her campaign (that's why they're "concerned").
This is a chance to flip not just one of Hawaii's U.S. Senate seats, but start turning the state Republican. It's a long shot but not an impossible one. So please, donate.
I apologize for being so direct in the plea for money - but we have very limited time and a great possibility if we get adequate funding.
http://www.cynthiathielen.com/
ps - if there is a way to get this posted to the main RedState page - please do so.
I have seen this piece up on other (Democratic) sites, which I know think may have been your blog. You seem very sincere, which is refreshing in politics.
Presumably as a Linda Lingle selection, your mother is a moderate Republican. I had somewhat been hoping that Lingle could convince Case to switch parties and run. But Lingle Republicans seem to be the future in HI and a SEN seat would really cement that movement. A lot of moderates who lean Republican in HI have stayed in the Democratic Party because of their dominance. If Rs can win a SEN and GOV race in the same year, there will be movement. I wouldn't say the state would turn "red" but it may start to be competitive.
I will watch this race closer than I had expected to. I think Lingle is a savvy politician and her endorsement of your mother is important in my mind. Best of luck with your efforts in donations. I echo Neil in saying that national issues bring in national dollars.
I keep hearing over and over again that Hawaii is going to go solid red within a decade. Well...8 years, now.
Part of the reason that Case was running was in order to give Hawaii a Democratic incumbant that will be there for a while to buffer against the trend because many Democrats are afraid that the two 80-year-old Democratic senators may be stepping down at exactly the time the GOP starts to hit its stride in the Aloha State.
I expect Linda Lingle will take the first seat that comes open. Since Hawaii's senators are the same age, the second seat shouldn't be far behind.
Moderate Republicans wouldn't bother me so much if they were also pro-economic growth fiscal conservatives. After all, moderated social stands is simply a failure of character, but moderated fiscal conservative stands are a failure of intellect.
I think there would be many who would take offense at the suggestion that those who are moderate on social issues somehow have flawed characters.
The reality is that the "values issues" that dominate many eletions are simply not shared by some voters or are not important. This is especially true in the "blue states." The reality in many places, inlcuing places like the suburbs of New York City, is that people either 1) don't care enough about those issues to vote acccording to them; or 2) have fairly moderated stands on them (akin to the idea that there is room for discussion and compromise).
I agree that fiscal liberalism is simply a case of bad policy - a flawed perception of economic realities that lead to detrimental positions. So, we should all be able to unite around that and let some of the "moderates" on social issues have some leeway when they represent states that don't share those priorities.
If we continue to treat social moderates like their flawed then we act no better than the high and mighty in the elite that believe that every values voter is a half-step from caveman status. The reality is that candidates in places like New York and Vermont that run heavily as pro-life, anti-gay-marriage candidates are not going to win. Even Steve Laffey ran a campaign that played down social issues and focused on economic issues - pro-growth, small government, increased personal freedom policies that unaffiliated voters are in favor of.
When I set up my mom's website we had 24 hours and my mom had no spare time. I needed her signature to get the contribute link set up.
She told me that the Republican party said that online contributions were not worth the effort. And I won't repeat numbers but they have had a pathetic return elsewhere.
I told her it would be faster to sign and fax than to keep arguing with me (the advantage of being family). So she signed and faxed it in.
And the money is coming in. It's still pretty small, but it's only been a couple of days and I believe we will be over 50K by the end of the month. I hope, I hope, I Hope.
And that really puts this race in to play.
So to those that donated - THANK YOU. And to those that haven't yet - I don't care if it's $5.00 but donate, and get everyone you know to donate.
Again, thank you for the kind words.
And thanks for bringing her to our attention. You are a good son for helping your mama.
I meant what I said and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful 100 percent.
I can't help but be touched at your story here, helping her out.
I would also suggest you pass along this advice: get her positions on the War, on the Judiciary, and other national issues up on her webpage. Issues like that are what motivate nationwide support to come in.
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If you're seeing shades of gray, it's because you're not looking close enough to see the black and white dots.