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Issue 10.13: Cunning Lingle
What Governor Linda Lingle says on her reelection campaign website (www.lindalingle.com) about voting:
September 21, 2006
"I get a thrill out of voting every time. It never loses its excitement for me, and I hope people will feel the same way this election."
What she didn't say:
One of the people Lingle later announced she had voted for was Jerry Coffee, who's running for Democrat Daniel Akaka's U.S. Senate seat. Now Coffee—a rabidly right-wing Midweek columnist and former Vietnam War POW—went through open-heart surgery early in his campaign and dropped out of the race. But he remains on the ballot. By this strategy, Lingle hopes to create a situation whereby Coffee wins and then the Republican Party drafts an 11th hour replacement. Of course, who that person might be is a closely guarded secret? Will it be Mark Beatty, the best known Republican still actually in the race? Will it be Lingle herself, who recently raised an astounding $6 million and still has her hat out? Or could it possibly be Democrat Ed Case in a smashing about-face, should he lose the primary to Akaka? Or will none of this matter because Akaka has a lock on the seat? Will you people hurry up and vote so I can find out?
-Anthony Pignataro