Sen. Brian Schatz (D)
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Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D)
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Only one will emerge from the primary election to go on to the general election, which will probably be a cakewalk for the survivor.
Hawaii Political Info introduction: Yesterday morning Josh Handelman, Senator Brian Schatz's campaign finance director, sent an email to Schatz's email list attacking Colleen Hanabusa, his main opponent for the U.S. Senate seat being contested this election cycle. Senator Schatz is the incumbent. Here's the email:
______,
I need to get straight to the point because our campaign is in a critical moment.
Congresswoman Hanabusa yesterday took out paid advertisements falsely accusing Senator Schatz of supporting sending American troops to engage in another war in Iraq.
If that sounds far-fetched, you’re right. Not only has Senator Schatz been clear that he believes there is no military solution in Iraq, the Star-Advertiser has reported that:
"Schatz and Hanabusa both strongly opposed military action in Iraq." So why would Congresswoman Hanabusa take out paid advertisements attacking a position that Civil Beat called "strikingly similar" to her own?
Because our opponent is apparently willing to say anything at this point. The facts don't matter to her campaign.
Help us fight back against these deliberately false attacks: rush a contribution to the campaign.
It’s disappointing that Congresswoman Hanabusa and her campaign are taking this negative turn — attacking Senator Schatz and misrepresenting his views.
Senator Schatz has stated repeatedly that there is no military solution in Iraq.
Senator Schatz has been focused every day on running a positive campaign, representing our shared values, and fighting for Hawai‘i in the Senate. But when we face attacks like this, we need to set the record straight.
Click here to contribute $10, $50, or whatever you can to help us respond to these false attacks.
There are just 16 days until Election Day, so your help is more important now than ever — especially in the face of attacks like these. Your support will make sure we can get the truth out about Senator Schatz's record.
Mahalo,
Josh Handelman
Finance Director
P.S. Election Day is coming up, so time is short for us to fight back.
Click here to give $10, $50, or whatever you can today.
HPI: Hanabusa's campaign heard about the email and sent out a rebuttal yesterday evening to her email list.
Dear Friend,
Today, Brian Schatz placed advertising and sent fundraising emails claiming that Colleen Hanabusa is mounting “deliberately false attacks” against his record on Iraq.
Please consider the facts:
Fact: Colleen Hanabusa has always held a firm and principled stance on Iraq. She was an immediate critic of sending combat troops back to Iraq, so she introduced legislation to address her concerns about the President’s authority to escalate military intervention without Congressional oversight. Colleen's amendment was passed unanimously by both Democrats and Republicans, all before Brian Schatz made even one public comment on the recent situation in Iraq. The comments and dates quoted in Brian's ad prove this point.
Fact: The first comment by Schatz, issued after Hanabusa’s measure passed, was a statement "from his office" that offered no serious policy position: "The current situation in Iraq is a result of our invasion, not our withdrawal. U.S. military engagement is not the answer in Iraq. The future of Iraq is now up to the Iraqis.” Such platitudes did not and do not address the President’s recent actions, nor state Schatz’s forward-looking view on similar future actions.
Fact: In the weeks that followed, Schatz made no serious comment on the Iraq situation, except to voice support for the White House's plan at a Kauai candidate forum. Meanwhile, Colleen published an article in the Huffington Post detailing both her views on the crisis and the steps the U.S. should take going forward.
Fact: After nearly a month without substantive comment on Iraq, Schatz announced in the final televised debate that his position was in fact the same as Colleen's ... sort of:
"There is no difference between the two of us on this issue except that you sort of seem to be really focused on criticizing the President’s foreign policy, and it’s not just Iraq. It’s Syria, it’s Libya, it’s Iran, it’s Iraq; you find a way to never agree with the president on foreign policy."
However, he implied that additional troops were only sent to Iraq to protect our embassy, which is not true. At least 300 troops are there to advise and train one side in the growing sectarian conflict, a side we don't know but could be affiliated with Iran or tied to some of the heaviest attacks on coalition troops from 2004 - 2008. Hanabusa pointed this out in the debate; Brian never addressed it and insisted their views are identical.
Fact: This isn’t just the Hanabusa campaign's view. Schatz's ambiguity was clearly noticed by Richard Borreca, who has addressed the topic in not one, but two columns in the past several weeks:
"On Iraq, Hanabusa says no, while Schatz says little" - Honolulu Star-Advertiser, June 22, 2014
"Hanabusa wants clarity while Schatz waffles on Iraq" - Honolulu Star-Advertiser, July 11, 2014
Fact: This is not the first time Schatz has dodged, waffled or flip-flopped on U.S. policy in the Middle East. In August 2013, Civil Beat noted his about-face on the White House's plan to attack Syria:
"Schatz talks tough on Syria, downgrades to request for debate" - Honolulu Civil Beat, August 12, 2014
To date, Brian Schatz has backed the President's foreign policy 100% of the time. He has been very late and very confusing in stating clear policy on when and how the U.S. should go to war. His positions are not the same as Colleen's.
Now, he is trying to obfuscate those facts by playing the role of victim in an attack ad … ironic given his Chief of Staff Andy Winer's role as a chief architect of the most expensive smear campaign ever executed in Hawaii political history.
Today's actions by Schatz and Winer served to deflect attention away from Brian's lack of depth in the foreign policy arena and his blind loyalty to failed White House policies on Syria and Iraq. In both cases Brian has delayed, waffled, and then followed the crowd.
By contrast, on Syria and Iraq, Colleen immediately and firmly opposed risking American lives through any military action.
Schatz and Winer's use of negative messaging and fundraising tactics is an insult to Hawaii voters and far from Brian's self-proclaimed 'Happy Warrior' ethos.
We urge voters to take a cold hard look at Schatz’s record on foreign affairs – or lack thereof – and reject Schatz and Winer's plans to disregard the respectful political discourse that Hawaii people expect and deserve.
Aloha,
Peter Boylan
Communications Director
Team Hanabusa
Links:
Make or Break Primary Race: Hanabusa vs Schatz for U.S. Senate [Hawaii Political Info] Jul 1, 2014
Union-Affiliated PRP Played Dirty Politics in 2012 Cayetano Smear Campaign [Hawaii Political Info] Jun 25, 2014
HPI exclusive: Senator Daniel Inouye on why he's against war & has voted against it. Says that Colleen Hanabusa feels the same way. [YouTube] Oct 27, 2012 (a month before he passed away)
