Quote: “The blogger calls Tulsi out as an anti-Muslim bigot because of her connection with Modi among other things. Fair enough. Perhaps this is true. She certainly wore the mantle of bigotry with her, previous, but now disavowed anti-LGBT stance which was directly correlated to her cult affiliation. So while I don't respect this blogger as a reliable source, he brings up a good point that needs investigation." End quote.
Blast from the Past:
Tulsi Gabbard: The Curiously Conservative and Nepotistic Network of a Democratic Candidate
By Xenocrypt
Friday Jan 20, 2012 · 9:48 AM PST
113 Comments (113 New)
Tulsi Gabbard is a candidate for the HI-02 House seat vacated by Congresswoman Hirono to run for Senate. She has previously served in the military, in the Honolulu City Council, and in the Hawaii House of Representatives--her campaign materials seem to emphasize her military service. But behind this impressive political C.V.--like so many--is the product of a political dynasty. Tulsi is the daughter of Mike Gabbard, a Hawaii state Senator, former Republican, and anti-gay activist. Certainly, no one should be assumed to share the political views of their parents. But Tulsi Gabbard's political connections to her father go far beyond the family relationship. Despite her recent claims to socially-progressive views, the identities of her staffers and donors make much more sense as the products of a conservative family network than as the products of conventional ideological organizations.
Mike Gabbard:
As a quick introduction to Tulsi Gabbard's father, here is a 2004 profile from Honolulu magazine:
Many remember Gabbard best as the antagonistic leader of the movement to quash same-sex marriage in Hawai'i. As founder of the Alliance for Traditional Marriage and Values, a political action committee, Gabbard helped wage an expensive media campaign to convince voters that gay marriage would devastate Hawai'i.
An article about Tulsi Gabbard's congressional campaign and "leftward journey" adds additional information about Mike Gabbard's more recent positions:
Mike Gabbard went through a transformation of his own — from being a Republican to a Democrat — in recent years, but his social conservatism doesn't appear to have changed. For example, when Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed legislation legalizing same-sex civil unions last year, the elder Gabbard called it a "sad day" for the people of Hawaii.
That's not all, though, from the Honolulu Magazine piece. I don't know how much to emphasize this--I don't want to judge anyone for their religious beliefs or membership--but it's impossible to ignore once you start reading about the Gabbards. Take it as information about their political and social networks--not as mockery of their religious beliefs.
Gabbard had strong ties to an obscure Hare Krishna splinter group that, in the late 1970s, fielded several political candidates. The splinter group was founded by a Hawai'i homegrown guru named Chris Butler.
...
Butler eventually broke away from ISKCON, criticizing the regimen and centralization of ISKCON life. He formed his own organization, which has had several names: Hare Name Society, Identity Institute and the Science of Identity Foundation. What started as a small religious sect on Maui in the 1970s developed a following that, according to some estimates, includes tens of thousands of people all over the world.
...
Many of Butler's associates made headlines in the 1976 election when they created a party called Independents for Godly Government. As its name implied, the group insisted on rigorous moral standards for its candidates.
...
In the '80s and '90s, Butler appeared in a series of locally filmed shows, titled Jagad Guru Speaks, in which he sermonized on spirituality. In one episode... Mike and Carol Gabbard are shown sitting just a few feet away from the charismatic guru, laughing along with the audience.
Gabbard's wife served as secretary/treasurer of the Science of Identity Foundation until 2000, before she successfully ran for a seat on the state Board of Education. Both Gabbard and his wife were listed as teachers at the Science of Identity Foundation in Polk's City Directory in the early 1990s.
In the late '80s and early '90s, both Gabbards worked as staffers in the office of then Maui state Sen. Rick Reed. A controversial figure himself, Reed has acknowledged Butler as his "spiritual adviser." Reed mounted short-lived campaigns for both Congress and the lieutenant governorship in 1986. He then ran for U.S. Senate against Daniel Inouye in 1992, setting off a scandal when he publicized claims that Inouye had sexually molested a Honolulu hairdresser named Lenore Kwock.
All five of Gabbard's children have Hindu names: Bhakti, Jai, Aryan, Tulsi and Vrindavan (Hinduism is the root of the Hare Krishna religion). The Gabbards' Natural Deli was housed in Down to Earth, which was then owned and managed by Butler followers.
No one questions Gabbard's right to believe as he chooses. Some may even applaud him for his religious beliefs. However, some voters may worry about his former ties to a Krishna sect. Especially when members and associates of that group have mounted repeated attempts at high public office.
Tulsi Gabbard's history on LGBT issues:
Let's start with how many of us at DKE heard about Gabbard recently: She was endorsed by EMILY's List, a progressive organization. This caused a backlash when Gabbard's history of anti-LGBT statements and positions came out.
For example, in the above profile, Tulsi Gabbard had this to say in response to questions about her father's ties to a splinter Hare Krishna sect:
When HONOLULU asked Gabbard in an e-mail to clarify his former relationship with Butler's Krishna group, Gabbard's daughter, state Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Tamayo, sent us an angry e-mail in response. "I smell a skunk," Tamayo wrote. "It's clear to me that you're acting as a conduit for The Honolulu Weekly and other homosexual extremist supporters of Ed Case."
There's more.
State Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Tamayo, D-42nd (Waipahu, Honouliuli, 'Ewa), Gabbard's daughter, said the figures released by her mother contradict a claim in the House resolution that gay and lesbian students are three times as likely as other students to face harassment.
Tamayo said a study that asks students questions about their sexuality would be a violation of student privacy. She also said many parents would see the study as an indirect attempt by government to encourage young people to question their sexual orientation.
Gabbard Tamayo said the harassment figures "show that our schools are not rampant with anti-gay harassment."
Here's Tulsi Gabbard in an article about a civil unions bill (h/t: DCPatriot):
A bill that would give gay couples the opportunity to receive the same rights and privileges as married couples through civil unions appears to be dead at the Legislature this year, despite more than three hours of impassioned testimony last night from both sides of the debate.
...
Opponents , led by Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Tamayo, D-42nd (Waipahu, Honouliuli, 'Ewa), also held signs in protest outside the third-floor committee room.
And here she is--quoted in the "leftward journey" article--"n testimony opposing civil unions legislation" in 2004:
"To try to act as if there is a difference between 'civil unions' and same-sex marriage is dishonest, cowardly and extremely disrespectful to the people of Hawaii who have already made overwhelmingly clear our position on this issue... As Democrats we should be representing the views of the people, not a small number of homosexual extremists."
So there was a backlash, as I said, when EMILY's List endorsed her.
After Civil Beat posted the item (scroll down, please) about an online petition circulating to urge EMILY’s List to reconsider its support for Tulsi Gabbard, her campaign manager, Devin Bull, emailed “information regarding Tulsi’s stance on progressive issues.”
More on this Devin Bull character in a bit. Let's talk about:
Tulsi Gabbard's Non-Profit:
This is from Tulsi Gabbard's campaign for City Council in 2010.
A tax-exempt charitable organization co-founded by Tulsi Gabbard Tamayo has been promoting her campaign for City Council on its website, prompting other candidates in the race to cry foul.
...
The nonprofit Stand Up for America was founded by Tamayo and her father, state Sen. Mike Gabbard, after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to promote patriotism and America's unity as "one nation under God." It is exempt from paying income taxes and may receive tax-deductible contributions as a charitable organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service code.
Such nonprofits may not endorse political candidates. Since mid-July, Stand Up For America's website has featured a news release from the Tamayo campaign announcing her candidacy, highlighting her "record of proven leadership," and including quotations from Tamayo and a link to VoteTulsi.com, her campaign website.
Tamayo is vice president of the nonprofit and her father is its president. Contacted Friday, Tamayo said she didn't realize the news release and campaign link were on the nonprofit's website.
"It was an honest mistake from a volunteer," Tamayo said. "I'm very, very sensitive to the perception of impropriety. I wasn't aware that the press release was posted on there. I need to talk to the volunteer who helped with the website and we'll get that corrected immediately.
"I hadn't been to our Stand Up for America website recently so I didn't know that that was up there," added Tamayo, a former state legislator who represented Waipahu and Ewa.
As of yesterday the site no longer included the news release and link.
...
In its latest IRS tax filing, a short form, Stand Up for America reported receiving less than $25,000 in 2009. The most recent event held by the organization, according to its website, was a parenting seminar by John Rosemond in 2007.
Even leaving aside the campaign violation--why did they maintain the non-profit as a shell?
Tulsi Gabbard's defense did not satisfy their nemeses at Hawaii Citizens for the Separation of State and Church:
Ali Riggs (“Riggs”) is the secretary/treasurer of SUFA and her comment above is a clear admission of wrongdoing by an officer of SUFA. Hardly a "mistake from a volunteer," as Tulsi Gabbard Tamayo (“Tamayo”) claimed in the article.
...
There is virtually no separation between Senator Mike Gabbard and candidate Tamayo's political activities and SUFA. In fact, both the "Stand Up for America" and the "Mike Gabbard for Senate" CONTRIBUTION FORMS share the same telephone number and email address (compare below).
This story also earned the non-profit a mention on the website of "The Nonprofit Quarterly" (via a comment to this blog post):
But does Stand Up have a purpose other than promoting Tamayo? The organization exists, formally, to promote patriotism and "America's unity as 'one nation under God.'" But it hasn't done anything since a 2007 lecture series it sponsored and a 2005 "Raise a Purple Finger for Freedom" campaign in solidarity with Iraq's first national democratic elections. It took in less than the required minimum in 2009 to necessitate a full Form 990 filing. It may be virtually nonexistent, but the SUFA website contains a long, effusive paean to Tulsi Tamayo that does a great job in describing her many wonderful qualities, but seems to have little connection to any charitable purpose of the organization. Sorry, but the Tamayo explanation doesn't ring true. The organization appears to be little more than a vehicle for whatever Gabbard and Tamayo want to say and do, which appears at the moment mostly to be concerned with Tamayo's political future. And that's not a convincingly 501(c)(3) purpose.
Tulsi Gabbard's Staff:
Who is Devin Bull, aside from being Tulsi Gabbard's campaign manager? According to the Gabbards' nemeses at Hawaii Citizens for the Separation of State and Church,
Devon [sic] Bull was a hard-core "Gabbardite", who worked for Stop Promoting Homosexuality Hawaii, the Alliance for Traditional Marriage and Values, and Hawaii's Future Today, which were among Hawaii's most bigoted and hate-spewing organizations over the last 20 years.
According to another forum, Bull "was Mike Gabbard's campaign manager when he ran for the same U.S. Congressional seat that Tulsi Gabbard is currently running for, the 2nd Hawaii Congressional District, against Ed Case in 2004. "
Yes, I'm quoting comments and forums--but they seem to check out. Bull really did work for Gabbard's campaign, although possibly as a campaign spokesperson, not a manager.
And as for Bull's history on LGBT issues? Here he is, admittedly back in 2001, in an article about a "committee appointed to recommend how the Department of Education could protect gay students from harassment":
But Devin Bull, a committee member, called the recommendation a fake report because the full committee has never reached consensus.
"Their agenda is to teach homosexuality in the schools," Bull said.
So the guy that Tulsi Gabbard has e-mailing reporters information about her socially progressive views worked for her father's Republican campaign for Congress and accused a Board of Education committee of trying to teach gayness in the schools. That is, to quote my own headline, pretty curious.
So is this odd little report from a campaign spending hearing back in 2002, when Tulsi Gabbard was running for the state house:
Complaint alleges that candidate Mike Gabbard failed to accurately report expenditures for automobile decals, failed to disclose information for two campaign loans, failed to disclose the payee or recipient of campaign funds for providing services or goods, failed to disclose accurate expenditures for banners and signs and failed to sufficiently describe expenditures made by the candidate. Mr. Randal Yoshida, counsel for candidate Gabbard filed a written response explaining the allegations in detail.
Mr. Devin Bull, explained and demonstrated how the campaigns, Mike and Tulsi Gabbard's, were able to create signs and banners at a low cost to the committees.
"The campaigns, Mike and Tulsi Gabbard's"--same thing, I guess. Randal Yoshida is referred to in that article as both "counsel for candidate [Mike] Gabbard" and as "counsel for Tulsi Gabbard Tamayo".
What about the rest of Tulsi Gabbard's staff? Tulsi's campaign finance director is one Erika Tsuji. And who is Erika Tsuji? She used to be Mike Gabbard's Community Liason. Back when she was Erika Moon, she was also Tulsi Gabbard's campaign manager in the City Council race, according to the HCSSC article about that story.
Can we consider Tulsi Gabbard an independent political force from her father when two of her most important campaign staffers came from her father's organization?
Tulsi Gabbard's fundraising:
Let's look at Tulsi Gabbard's fundraising. As of this writing, Tulsi has received 9 donations for $2,500--the largest amount. (She's announced her donation totals for a more recent quarter, but I don't think the FEC has that information yet--everything below is in reference to the information currently with the FEC.) Of these 9 donations, two have come from Nancy and Walt Cardinet. Who are they? The brother-in-law and sister of Carol Gabbard--that's Mike Gabbard's wife and the former member of the state Board of Education. Both also donated to Mike Gabbard back when he was a Republican.
That wouldn't be so weird--except that Walter mostly donates to Republicans. He's donated to Kevin McCarthy, Scott Garrett, John Thune, Pat Tiberi, etc. (And, oddly, to a few Democrats as well.)
Two more of Tulsi Gabbard's largest donations came from a family member--Vrindavan Gabbard. And one more came from Elsie Porter--another old Mike Gabbard donor.
So of Tulsi Gabbard's nine largest donations, five--a majority--came from family members or people who donated to her father when he was a Republican.
Tulsi Gabbard's also received five donations of $2000. One is another one from Walt Cardinet. Another is from yet another Gabbard--Gerald Gabbard. (Actually, that's Mike Gabbard--Mike's real first name is Gerald. My bad.) A third is from Leparis Young--yet another donor to Mike Gabbard's old Congressional campaigns. This one's even weirder: Leparis Young also donated to Tom Tancredo for President, to the "TEAM AMERICA PAC", and to something called "Black America's Political Action Committee"--that one's "founded and chaired by Alan Keyes ".
Like I said--curious. What is a guy like that doing donating a lot of money to a supposedly-liberal Democrat?
Of Gabbard's 14 largest donations so far, 8 have come from family members or from people who donated to her father's campaign. Make it the 18 largest donations, and you can throw in Carol Gabbard--Tulsi's mother--and Franklin Tsuji, Erika Tsuji's husband. More donors overlap as you go down the list. Remember Down to Earth--where the Gabbards' deli was housed, and which was allegedly once owned by followers of Butler? Employees there threw in another $800. Donna Lay, who replaced Erika Tsuji at Mike Gabbard's office? Another $700 from her.
Tim Anthony? $1200 to Mike Gabbard in 2004, and $1100 to Tulsi Gabbard now. Phineas Casady? $600 to Tulsi Gabbard in 2011, and lots more to Mike Gabbard in 2004 and 2006. Patricia Compton? $1000 to Tulsi Gabbard in 2011, and $2000 for Rick Reed's Senate campaign back in 1992--remember that one? Scroll up. Oh yeah--and a Mike Gabbard donor.
Let's add up the total donations. I looked up Mike Gabbard's donors in Opensecrets.org. Mostly, they're for his 2004 campaign, although a few date from after that election--I'm not sure why. They're all to him as a Republican, though.
Keep in mind that some of this might be coincidence--but I tried to be cautious, but I am fallible. When first and last names matched between Tulsi Gabbard's 2011/2012 campaign and Mike Gabbard's campaign, I included them even if the names are common.
I also included a Robert Riggs who donated to Tulsi Gabbard when a Robert Riggs Jr. donated to Mike Gabbard's 2004 campaign--both of Honolulu, albeit with slightly different zip codes, but then again, this is an eight-year gap. Hey, Riggs, that sounds familiar--Ali Riggs was the one who posted the campaign stuff to Stand Up For America! As it turns out, Alison Riggs donated to Mike Gabbard's campaign in 2004 as well--same link--and Robert and Alison Riggs were two of Mike Gabbard's biggest donors in 2006. I also think that the Robert Riggs who donated to Tulsi Gabbard is actually Rock Riggs, Mike Gabbard's office manager--he lists his occupation as "office manager" for the "State of Hawaii" with the FEC. So, that's probably not a coincidence.
Right--we were adding things up.
Gabbard has received $112,718 (or $112,717? My spreadsheet disagrees with the FEC--maybe just a rounding error) in itemized individual donations to date, and $148,105 in all.
Of that, $42,403 seems to have come from the intersecting groups of Gabbards, Tsujis, Down to Earth employees, and Mike Gabbard's old donors and staffers. That's just based on my Googling--but that's still about 28.6% of her total fundraising--and about 37.6% of her fundraising from itemized individual donations. I'm not a fundraising analyst, but that seems like a lot. Remember, Mike Gabbard ran as a Republican.
Tulsi Gabbard has definitely received large donations from more conventional donors--but it's hard not to think, especially considering who her finance director is, that Tulsi Gabbard isn't using her father's financial network as well as his personal network.
Tulsi Gabbard's Record and Issue Positions:
This would normally be the most interesting thing about a candidate--but Tulsi Gabbard doesn't give us a lot of information.
Her website mentions very few issue positions--she seems to be running mostly on her biography. There's something about an "updated Vista program with China", and she's for an end to the War in Afghanistan. In response to the EMILY's List controversy, Devin Bull said that Gabbard
believes that same-sex couples should have adoption rights and that LGBTQ — lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning folks should be protected by federal anti-discrimination laws.
That same story quotes Gabbard as saying government
has no business in our bedrooms, and should ideally get out of the marriage business altogether...This, I believe, is the ideal solution to assure that everyone can enjoy equal rights. However, until this ideal solution is achieved, I would work for the repeal of DOMA at the federal level and would support civil unions at the state level as interim measures.
Here is the total description of her record in public office from her campaign biography:
She was an effective, admired, and hard-working legislator who served on the Education, Higher Education, Tourism, and Economic Development committees.
...
Tulsi currently serves as Chair of the Safety, Economic Development, and Government Affairs committee, as Vice Chair of the Budget committee and is a member of the Zoning and Public Works committee. In her capacity as committee chair, Tulsi has taken the lead on many important issues such as medical waste, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), dengue fever, and creating new economic opportunities through Honolulu’s first Sister City Summit.
I can't speak to too much more about her time in the Hawaii House beyond what I've mentioned. But I can speak to her voting record on the Honolulu City Council--she was only there a year.
Her voting record is basically distinctive in its lack of distinction. As far as I can tell, she has always voted with a majority of the City Council--or at least, when she's voted "No", it was always with a majority of the City Council. Also as far as I can tell, she is the only member this is true for, even if some of her colleagues have had only one "dissenting" vote. Perhaps this isn't surprising for a newly-elected Council member, but it does mean that there isn't much we can tell about Gabbard's ideology from her Council voting record, beyond that she found its policies acceptable. There was one pair of votes where the nine-member Council split evenly thanks to an absence--both regarding a bond issuance--and there, Gabbard voted "Aye" along with what seems to be both the Council's liberal and establishment members (Chang, Harimoto, and Martin also voted "Aye", while Anderson, Berg, Cachola, and Kobayashi, who seem to cast most of the "dissenting" votes on the Council, voted "Nay".)
Conclusion:
Running for an extremely Democratic House seat currently held by the liberal Hirono, Tulsi Gabbard would presumably like to be seen as an independent political entity from her father, given his notoriously social conservative views and history. This is from that article about her "leftward journey":
Tulsi said that her departure from the "very conservative value set" with which she was raised has meant that recent conversations with her parents about social issues haven't always been "easy." But she also said she has discussed her views "in detail" with her mother and father, who couldn't be reached for comment before publication of this article.
"While my parents and I have a very close relationship, and we love each other and respect each other very much, we don't agree on everything," she said. "They respect my position and they understand where I am coming from. Most of all, they support me."
...
Tulsi puts it more simply: "The point here is I'm not my dad," she said. "I'm me."
You can read and click through that article for more information about Tulsi Gabbard's supposedly evolving views on social issues. (Of course, even there Tulsi "stops short of saying that the Defense of Marriage Act — which defines marriage as between one man and one woman — amounts to oppression against those who identify as gay or lesbian. Asked twice whether she believes gays and lesbians are oppressed in the United States, she declined to say. Instead, Gabbard says she looks at the law 'with the goal being government getting out of our personal lives.'")
But the following facts make that distinction--the one between Tulsi Gabbard and Mike Gabbard--difficult:
-Tulsi Gabbard's campaign for the State House was apparently tied to her father's, and she defended him and his anti-gay positions in that office.
-Her campaign for City Council was promoted using a seemingly-thin non-profit run by her with her father.
-Her campaign manager for City Council was or became her father's community liason.
-Her campaign for Congress is managed by her father's old campaign spokesman, who allegedly also worked in her father's anti-gay organizations, and at least seems to have shared their views.
-Her campaign's fundraising is run by her father's old community liason.
-Her campaign has received many of its largest donations from family members and other donors to her father's old campaign as a Republican--including some with notably (although not exclusively) conservative donation patterns--and has received other substantial donations from other people connected to her father. Apparently, a substantial percentage of her fundraising comes from her father's network.
-She does not emphasize significant political accomplishments--which might give her a political identity beyond her father's network--beyond the fact that she has held these offices. Nor does she emphasize detailed or distinctive political views.
Once you start reading about the Gabbards, it's easy to find insinuations and rumors. But the above claims seem pretty hard to dispute.
Believe me, I am hesitant to imply that an accomplished young woman running for public office is merely an extension of her father. And I don't intend this diary to be a comprehensive analysis of Gabbard's whole career--again, I don't know much about her time in the Hawaii House, and she might well have some significant legislative accomplishments there, or in the Honolulu City Council, that she didn't mention in her biography. There are blog posts I read that I haven't included here (believe it or not). What I intend this diary to be is a look at the connections between Tulsi and Mike Gabbard's organizations--which seem pretty strong.
I think it's reasonable to ask:
If two of Tulsi Gabbard's highest campaign officials come from her father's organization, who'll be her Chief of Staff if she wins? Her district manager? (She does have a staffer in the Honolulu City Council with no apparent connections to Mike Gabbard, but Congressional staffers can often start as campaign workers.) Is there a distinction between her campaign organization and her father's organization--or is her campaign for Congress, like her past campaigns seem to have been, something of a family operation? Has she been soliciting her father's old donors--and on what basis, if her views have changed from what his were and apparently still are? What are her views on the many wildly-diverse issues she'd face as a Member of Congress? What has she accomplished with the (theoretically) high-profile offices she's already held?
Still, I'll close with a video from the candidate herself--meant to allay concerns about her views on LGBT and social issues:
Reassuring, huh? (h/t ndrwmls10)
Update: I realized that, while I don't think I've seen the full donor comparison that I attempted elsewhere, there were a couple of articles that discussed donors. This Honolulu Civil Beat article (via this more-derisively-headlined Hawaii Free Press article) adds some detail, as well as comparisons to Hannemann's donors:
Former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann's campaign donation ledger is a litany of names that — like Hannemann — are familiar in Hawaii business and politics.
And though Hannemann far outpaced fellow Democratic candidate and Honolulu City Council member Tulsi Gabbard in the campaign finance reporting period that ended Sept. 30, Gabbard reeled in her own group of supporters — many of them in the construction and development industries — last quarter.
...
In the most recent quarter of fundraising, donors gave Hannemann $294,745. He loaned himself an additional $12,000, bringing his total in the one month since he announced his candidacy to $306,745.
Gabbard pulled in less than half that amount: $125,398, including a $14,858 donation she made to herself, some of which was used to pay for airline tickets.
...
Though Gabbard is running as a Democrat, she has garnered the support of some regular Republican donors. There's no question she has strong Republican connections.
One example of such a donor is Leparis Young, a retired Waianae resident who donated $2,000 to Tulsi Gabbard. FEC records show that Young has supported the elder Gabbard in past elections, and has given money to Republican PACs and presidential candidates in the past.
I think that saying that Leparis Young "has given money to Republican PACs and presidential candidates" slightly undersells it--that was the guy who gave money to Tom Tancredo's Presidential campaign and Alan Keyes' PAC.
And, if you factor in Tulsi Gabbards' self-donation, that comes to $57,261 in apparent fundraising from the Gabbard family network and Gabbard herself, out of $148,105 in total fundraising.
This FDL post from back when Tulsi Gabbard was running for City Council also may have given me the idea of doing a donor comparison.
Note: The Hawaii Free Press blog is conservative, partisan, and insinuating in its tone. The FDL post is mostly allegations about Butler's group. I do not mean to necessarily endorse either of these points of view by linking to them--I am just trying to "show my work".
Second Update: Tulsi Gabbard's campaign has some additional donations from a few unions recorded on the FEC site that don't appear to be in the main summary I used above--even though I would think at least the Brotherhood of Electrical Workers donation should be, since it's dated 9/30/11.
Also, I don't know how I missed this, but Tulsi Gabbard's campaign treasurer is Carol Gabbard--Tulsi's mother.
Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 10:33 AM PT: I wasn't sure whether these sorts of things merited a mention, but Gabbard does mention a few more issue positions in her campaign FB and Twitter than on her main campaign site--including linking to an anti-SOPA/PIPA site and re-Tweeting Keith Ellison that "Government should work to ensure a strong middle class, not greater concentration of wealth for Wall Street CEOs".
Her campaign also claims that it removed the "equal rights" video I linked to in the original diary because they "are working on a re-launch of my website within the next few days and will be rolling out content on many different issues, including equal rights, economy, foreign policy, and others."
However,
Gabbard hasn’t yet responded to a follow-up question about whether the original equal rights video will be reposted, or whether it will be replaced with new content.
Other videos — including Gabbard’s call for an end to the war in Afghanistan and the announcement of her candidacy — remain on the site.
(h/t to tietack for the latter part.)
Mon Jan 30, 2012 at 7:07 PM PT: One more "wasn't sure whether or not to include this or not": Nancy Cardinet also donated to Hillary Clinton. However, she only donated $250 to Clinton, and that seems to be her sole non-Gabbard donation. Walter Cardinet, on the other hand, is a big donor. Interestingly--and this really might be a reach--he is a member of the Association of Advanced Life Underwriters, and donates to their PAC. Which also happens to be the only PAC that donated to Tulsi Gabbard's campaign in the fundraising period discussed above (see the Civil Beat fundraising story). That PAC is, of course, a big (and bipartisan) donor, and I doubt that Cardinet could compel them to endorse Tulsi Gabbard, but it's one more connection, albeit a tenuous and potentially coincidental one.
[www.dailykos.com]#
Blast from the Past:
Tulsi Gabbard: The Curiously Conservative and Nepotistic Network of a Democratic Candidate
By Xenocrypt
Friday Jan 20, 2012 · 9:48 AM PST
113 Comments (113 New)
Tulsi Gabbard is a candidate for the HI-02 House seat vacated by Congresswoman Hirono to run for Senate. She has previously served in the military, in the Honolulu City Council, and in the Hawaii House of Representatives--her campaign materials seem to emphasize her military service. But behind this impressive political C.V.--like so many--is the product of a political dynasty. Tulsi is the daughter of Mike Gabbard, a Hawaii state Senator, former Republican, and anti-gay activist. Certainly, no one should be assumed to share the political views of their parents. But Tulsi Gabbard's political connections to her father go far beyond the family relationship. Despite her recent claims to socially-progressive views, the identities of her staffers and donors make much more sense as the products of a conservative family network than as the products of conventional ideological organizations.
Mike Gabbard:
As a quick introduction to Tulsi Gabbard's father, here is a 2004 profile from Honolulu magazine:
Many remember Gabbard best as the antagonistic leader of the movement to quash same-sex marriage in Hawai'i. As founder of the Alliance for Traditional Marriage and Values, a political action committee, Gabbard helped wage an expensive media campaign to convince voters that gay marriage would devastate Hawai'i.
An article about Tulsi Gabbard's congressional campaign and "leftward journey" adds additional information about Mike Gabbard's more recent positions:
Mike Gabbard went through a transformation of his own — from being a Republican to a Democrat — in recent years, but his social conservatism doesn't appear to have changed. For example, when Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed legislation legalizing same-sex civil unions last year, the elder Gabbard called it a "sad day" for the people of Hawaii.
That's not all, though, from the Honolulu Magazine piece. I don't know how much to emphasize this--I don't want to judge anyone for their religious beliefs or membership--but it's impossible to ignore once you start reading about the Gabbards. Take it as information about their political and social networks--not as mockery of their religious beliefs.
Gabbard had strong ties to an obscure Hare Krishna splinter group that, in the late 1970s, fielded several political candidates. The splinter group was founded by a Hawai'i homegrown guru named Chris Butler.
...
Butler eventually broke away from ISKCON, criticizing the regimen and centralization of ISKCON life. He formed his own organization, which has had several names: Hare Name Society, Identity Institute and the Science of Identity Foundation. What started as a small religious sect on Maui in the 1970s developed a following that, according to some estimates, includes tens of thousands of people all over the world.
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Many of Butler's associates made headlines in the 1976 election when they created a party called Independents for Godly Government. As its name implied, the group insisted on rigorous moral standards for its candidates.
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In the '80s and '90s, Butler appeared in a series of locally filmed shows, titled Jagad Guru Speaks, in which he sermonized on spirituality. In one episode... Mike and Carol Gabbard are shown sitting just a few feet away from the charismatic guru, laughing along with the audience.
Gabbard's wife served as secretary/treasurer of the Science of Identity Foundation until 2000, before she successfully ran for a seat on the state Board of Education. Both Gabbard and his wife were listed as teachers at the Science of Identity Foundation in Polk's City Directory in the early 1990s.
In the late '80s and early '90s, both Gabbards worked as staffers in the office of then Maui state Sen. Rick Reed. A controversial figure himself, Reed has acknowledged Butler as his "spiritual adviser." Reed mounted short-lived campaigns for both Congress and the lieutenant governorship in 1986. He then ran for U.S. Senate against Daniel Inouye in 1992, setting off a scandal when he publicized claims that Inouye had sexually molested a Honolulu hairdresser named Lenore Kwock.
All five of Gabbard's children have Hindu names: Bhakti, Jai, Aryan, Tulsi and Vrindavan (Hinduism is the root of the Hare Krishna religion). The Gabbards' Natural Deli was housed in Down to Earth, which was then owned and managed by Butler followers.
No one questions Gabbard's right to believe as he chooses. Some may even applaud him for his religious beliefs. However, some voters may worry about his former ties to a Krishna sect. Especially when members and associates of that group have mounted repeated attempts at high public office.
Tulsi Gabbard's history on LGBT issues:
Let's start with how many of us at DKE heard about Gabbard recently: She was endorsed by EMILY's List, a progressive organization. This caused a backlash when Gabbard's history of anti-LGBT statements and positions came out.
For example, in the above profile, Tulsi Gabbard had this to say in response to questions about her father's ties to a splinter Hare Krishna sect:
When HONOLULU asked Gabbard in an e-mail to clarify his former relationship with Butler's Krishna group, Gabbard's daughter, state Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Tamayo, sent us an angry e-mail in response. "I smell a skunk," Tamayo wrote. "It's clear to me that you're acting as a conduit for The Honolulu Weekly and other homosexual extremist supporters of Ed Case."
There's more.
State Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Tamayo, D-42nd (Waipahu, Honouliuli, 'Ewa), Gabbard's daughter, said the figures released by her mother contradict a claim in the House resolution that gay and lesbian students are three times as likely as other students to face harassment.
Tamayo said a study that asks students questions about their sexuality would be a violation of student privacy. She also said many parents would see the study as an indirect attempt by government to encourage young people to question their sexual orientation.
Gabbard Tamayo said the harassment figures "show that our schools are not rampant with anti-gay harassment."
Here's Tulsi Gabbard in an article about a civil unions bill (h/t: DCPatriot):
A bill that would give gay couples the opportunity to receive the same rights and privileges as married couples through civil unions appears to be dead at the Legislature this year, despite more than three hours of impassioned testimony last night from both sides of the debate.
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Opponents , led by Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Tamayo, D-42nd (Waipahu, Honouliuli, 'Ewa), also held signs in protest outside the third-floor committee room.
And here she is--quoted in the "leftward journey" article--"n testimony opposing civil unions legislation" in 2004:
"To try to act as if there is a difference between 'civil unions' and same-sex marriage is dishonest, cowardly and extremely disrespectful to the people of Hawaii who have already made overwhelmingly clear our position on this issue... As Democrats we should be representing the views of the people, not a small number of homosexual extremists."
So there was a backlash, as I said, when EMILY's List endorsed her.
After Civil Beat posted the item (scroll down, please) about an online petition circulating to urge EMILY’s List to reconsider its support for Tulsi Gabbard, her campaign manager, Devin Bull, emailed “information regarding Tulsi’s stance on progressive issues.”
More on this Devin Bull character in a bit. Let's talk about:
Tulsi Gabbard's Non-Profit:
This is from Tulsi Gabbard's campaign for City Council in 2010.
A tax-exempt charitable organization co-founded by Tulsi Gabbard Tamayo has been promoting her campaign for City Council on its website, prompting other candidates in the race to cry foul.
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The nonprofit Stand Up for America was founded by Tamayo and her father, state Sen. Mike Gabbard, after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to promote patriotism and America's unity as "one nation under God." It is exempt from paying income taxes and may receive tax-deductible contributions as a charitable organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service code.
Such nonprofits may not endorse political candidates. Since mid-July, Stand Up For America's website has featured a news release from the Tamayo campaign announcing her candidacy, highlighting her "record of proven leadership," and including quotations from Tamayo and a link to VoteTulsi.com, her campaign website.
Tamayo is vice president of the nonprofit and her father is its president. Contacted Friday, Tamayo said she didn't realize the news release and campaign link were on the nonprofit's website.
"It was an honest mistake from a volunteer," Tamayo said. "I'm very, very sensitive to the perception of impropriety. I wasn't aware that the press release was posted on there. I need to talk to the volunteer who helped with the website and we'll get that corrected immediately.
"I hadn't been to our Stand Up for America website recently so I didn't know that that was up there," added Tamayo, a former state legislator who represented Waipahu and Ewa.
As of yesterday the site no longer included the news release and link.
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In its latest IRS tax filing, a short form, Stand Up for America reported receiving less than $25,000 in 2009. The most recent event held by the organization, according to its website, was a parenting seminar by John Rosemond in 2007.
Even leaving aside the campaign violation--why did they maintain the non-profit as a shell?
Tulsi Gabbard's defense did not satisfy their nemeses at Hawaii Citizens for the Separation of State and Church:
Ali Riggs (“Riggs”) is the secretary/treasurer of SUFA and her comment above is a clear admission of wrongdoing by an officer of SUFA. Hardly a "mistake from a volunteer," as Tulsi Gabbard Tamayo (“Tamayo”) claimed in the article.
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There is virtually no separation between Senator Mike Gabbard and candidate Tamayo's political activities and SUFA. In fact, both the "Stand Up for America" and the "Mike Gabbard for Senate" CONTRIBUTION FORMS share the same telephone number and email address (compare below).
This story also earned the non-profit a mention on the website of "The Nonprofit Quarterly" (via a comment to this blog post):
But does Stand Up have a purpose other than promoting Tamayo? The organization exists, formally, to promote patriotism and "America's unity as 'one nation under God.'" But it hasn't done anything since a 2007 lecture series it sponsored and a 2005 "Raise a Purple Finger for Freedom" campaign in solidarity with Iraq's first national democratic elections. It took in less than the required minimum in 2009 to necessitate a full Form 990 filing. It may be virtually nonexistent, but the SUFA website contains a long, effusive paean to Tulsi Tamayo that does a great job in describing her many wonderful qualities, but seems to have little connection to any charitable purpose of the organization. Sorry, but the Tamayo explanation doesn't ring true. The organization appears to be little more than a vehicle for whatever Gabbard and Tamayo want to say and do, which appears at the moment mostly to be concerned with Tamayo's political future. And that's not a convincingly 501(c)(3) purpose.
Tulsi Gabbard's Staff:
Who is Devin Bull, aside from being Tulsi Gabbard's campaign manager? According to the Gabbards' nemeses at Hawaii Citizens for the Separation of State and Church,
Devon [sic] Bull was a hard-core "Gabbardite", who worked for Stop Promoting Homosexuality Hawaii, the Alliance for Traditional Marriage and Values, and Hawaii's Future Today, which were among Hawaii's most bigoted and hate-spewing organizations over the last 20 years.
According to another forum, Bull "was Mike Gabbard's campaign manager when he ran for the same U.S. Congressional seat that Tulsi Gabbard is currently running for, the 2nd Hawaii Congressional District, against Ed Case in 2004. "
Yes, I'm quoting comments and forums--but they seem to check out. Bull really did work for Gabbard's campaign, although possibly as a campaign spokesperson, not a manager.
And as for Bull's history on LGBT issues? Here he is, admittedly back in 2001, in an article about a "committee appointed to recommend how the Department of Education could protect gay students from harassment":
But Devin Bull, a committee member, called the recommendation a fake report because the full committee has never reached consensus.
"Their agenda is to teach homosexuality in the schools," Bull said.
So the guy that Tulsi Gabbard has e-mailing reporters information about her socially progressive views worked for her father's Republican campaign for Congress and accused a Board of Education committee of trying to teach gayness in the schools. That is, to quote my own headline, pretty curious.
So is this odd little report from a campaign spending hearing back in 2002, when Tulsi Gabbard was running for the state house:
Complaint alleges that candidate Mike Gabbard failed to accurately report expenditures for automobile decals, failed to disclose information for two campaign loans, failed to disclose the payee or recipient of campaign funds for providing services or goods, failed to disclose accurate expenditures for banners and signs and failed to sufficiently describe expenditures made by the candidate. Mr. Randal Yoshida, counsel for candidate Gabbard filed a written response explaining the allegations in detail.
Mr. Devin Bull, explained and demonstrated how the campaigns, Mike and Tulsi Gabbard's, were able to create signs and banners at a low cost to the committees.
"The campaigns, Mike and Tulsi Gabbard's"--same thing, I guess. Randal Yoshida is referred to in that article as both "counsel for candidate [Mike] Gabbard" and as "counsel for Tulsi Gabbard Tamayo".
What about the rest of Tulsi Gabbard's staff? Tulsi's campaign finance director is one Erika Tsuji. And who is Erika Tsuji? She used to be Mike Gabbard's Community Liason. Back when she was Erika Moon, she was also Tulsi Gabbard's campaign manager in the City Council race, according to the HCSSC article about that story.
Can we consider Tulsi Gabbard an independent political force from her father when two of her most important campaign staffers came from her father's organization?
Tulsi Gabbard's fundraising:
Let's look at Tulsi Gabbard's fundraising. As of this writing, Tulsi has received 9 donations for $2,500--the largest amount. (She's announced her donation totals for a more recent quarter, but I don't think the FEC has that information yet--everything below is in reference to the information currently with the FEC.) Of these 9 donations, two have come from Nancy and Walt Cardinet. Who are they? The brother-in-law and sister of Carol Gabbard--that's Mike Gabbard's wife and the former member of the state Board of Education. Both also donated to Mike Gabbard back when he was a Republican.
That wouldn't be so weird--except that Walter mostly donates to Republicans. He's donated to Kevin McCarthy, Scott Garrett, John Thune, Pat Tiberi, etc. (And, oddly, to a few Democrats as well.)
Two more of Tulsi Gabbard's largest donations came from a family member--Vrindavan Gabbard. And one more came from Elsie Porter--another old Mike Gabbard donor.
So of Tulsi Gabbard's nine largest donations, five--a majority--came from family members or people who donated to her father when he was a Republican.
Tulsi Gabbard's also received five donations of $2000. One is another one from Walt Cardinet. Another is from yet another Gabbard--Gerald Gabbard. (Actually, that's Mike Gabbard--Mike's real first name is Gerald. My bad.) A third is from Leparis Young--yet another donor to Mike Gabbard's old Congressional campaigns. This one's even weirder: Leparis Young also donated to Tom Tancredo for President, to the "TEAM AMERICA PAC", and to something called "Black America's Political Action Committee"--that one's "founded and chaired by Alan Keyes ".
Like I said--curious. What is a guy like that doing donating a lot of money to a supposedly-liberal Democrat?
Of Gabbard's 14 largest donations so far, 8 have come from family members or from people who donated to her father's campaign. Make it the 18 largest donations, and you can throw in Carol Gabbard--Tulsi's mother--and Franklin Tsuji, Erika Tsuji's husband. More donors overlap as you go down the list. Remember Down to Earth--where the Gabbards' deli was housed, and which was allegedly once owned by followers of Butler? Employees there threw in another $800. Donna Lay, who replaced Erika Tsuji at Mike Gabbard's office? Another $700 from her.
Tim Anthony? $1200 to Mike Gabbard in 2004, and $1100 to Tulsi Gabbard now. Phineas Casady? $600 to Tulsi Gabbard in 2011, and lots more to Mike Gabbard in 2004 and 2006. Patricia Compton? $1000 to Tulsi Gabbard in 2011, and $2000 for Rick Reed's Senate campaign back in 1992--remember that one? Scroll up. Oh yeah--and a Mike Gabbard donor.
Let's add up the total donations. I looked up Mike Gabbard's donors in Opensecrets.org. Mostly, they're for his 2004 campaign, although a few date from after that election--I'm not sure why. They're all to him as a Republican, though.
Keep in mind that some of this might be coincidence--but I tried to be cautious, but I am fallible. When first and last names matched between Tulsi Gabbard's 2011/2012 campaign and Mike Gabbard's campaign, I included them even if the names are common.
I also included a Robert Riggs who donated to Tulsi Gabbard when a Robert Riggs Jr. donated to Mike Gabbard's 2004 campaign--both of Honolulu, albeit with slightly different zip codes, but then again, this is an eight-year gap. Hey, Riggs, that sounds familiar--Ali Riggs was the one who posted the campaign stuff to Stand Up For America! As it turns out, Alison Riggs donated to Mike Gabbard's campaign in 2004 as well--same link--and Robert and Alison Riggs were two of Mike Gabbard's biggest donors in 2006. I also think that the Robert Riggs who donated to Tulsi Gabbard is actually Rock Riggs, Mike Gabbard's office manager--he lists his occupation as "office manager" for the "State of Hawaii" with the FEC. So, that's probably not a coincidence.
Right--we were adding things up.
Gabbard has received $112,718 (or $112,717? My spreadsheet disagrees with the FEC--maybe just a rounding error) in itemized individual donations to date, and $148,105 in all.
Of that, $42,403 seems to have come from the intersecting groups of Gabbards, Tsujis, Down to Earth employees, and Mike Gabbard's old donors and staffers. That's just based on my Googling--but that's still about 28.6% of her total fundraising--and about 37.6% of her fundraising from itemized individual donations. I'm not a fundraising analyst, but that seems like a lot. Remember, Mike Gabbard ran as a Republican.
Tulsi Gabbard has definitely received large donations from more conventional donors--but it's hard not to think, especially considering who her finance director is, that Tulsi Gabbard isn't using her father's financial network as well as his personal network.
Tulsi Gabbard's Record and Issue Positions:
This would normally be the most interesting thing about a candidate--but Tulsi Gabbard doesn't give us a lot of information.
Her website mentions very few issue positions--she seems to be running mostly on her biography. There's something about an "updated Vista program with China", and she's for an end to the War in Afghanistan. In response to the EMILY's List controversy, Devin Bull said that Gabbard
believes that same-sex couples should have adoption rights and that LGBTQ — lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning folks should be protected by federal anti-discrimination laws.
That same story quotes Gabbard as saying government
has no business in our bedrooms, and should ideally get out of the marriage business altogether...This, I believe, is the ideal solution to assure that everyone can enjoy equal rights. However, until this ideal solution is achieved, I would work for the repeal of DOMA at the federal level and would support civil unions at the state level as interim measures.
Here is the total description of her record in public office from her campaign biography:
She was an effective, admired, and hard-working legislator who served on the Education, Higher Education, Tourism, and Economic Development committees.
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Tulsi currently serves as Chair of the Safety, Economic Development, and Government Affairs committee, as Vice Chair of the Budget committee and is a member of the Zoning and Public Works committee. In her capacity as committee chair, Tulsi has taken the lead on many important issues such as medical waste, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), dengue fever, and creating new economic opportunities through Honolulu’s first Sister City Summit.
I can't speak to too much more about her time in the Hawaii House beyond what I've mentioned. But I can speak to her voting record on the Honolulu City Council--she was only there a year.
Her voting record is basically distinctive in its lack of distinction. As far as I can tell, she has always voted with a majority of the City Council--or at least, when she's voted "No", it was always with a majority of the City Council. Also as far as I can tell, she is the only member this is true for, even if some of her colleagues have had only one "dissenting" vote. Perhaps this isn't surprising for a newly-elected Council member, but it does mean that there isn't much we can tell about Gabbard's ideology from her Council voting record, beyond that she found its policies acceptable. There was one pair of votes where the nine-member Council split evenly thanks to an absence--both regarding a bond issuance--and there, Gabbard voted "Aye" along with what seems to be both the Council's liberal and establishment members (Chang, Harimoto, and Martin also voted "Aye", while Anderson, Berg, Cachola, and Kobayashi, who seem to cast most of the "dissenting" votes on the Council, voted "Nay".)
Conclusion:
Running for an extremely Democratic House seat currently held by the liberal Hirono, Tulsi Gabbard would presumably like to be seen as an independent political entity from her father, given his notoriously social conservative views and history. This is from that article about her "leftward journey":
Tulsi said that her departure from the "very conservative value set" with which she was raised has meant that recent conversations with her parents about social issues haven't always been "easy." But she also said she has discussed her views "in detail" with her mother and father, who couldn't be reached for comment before publication of this article.
"While my parents and I have a very close relationship, and we love each other and respect each other very much, we don't agree on everything," she said. "They respect my position and they understand where I am coming from. Most of all, they support me."
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Tulsi puts it more simply: "The point here is I'm not my dad," she said. "I'm me."
You can read and click through that article for more information about Tulsi Gabbard's supposedly evolving views on social issues. (Of course, even there Tulsi "stops short of saying that the Defense of Marriage Act — which defines marriage as between one man and one woman — amounts to oppression against those who identify as gay or lesbian. Asked twice whether she believes gays and lesbians are oppressed in the United States, she declined to say. Instead, Gabbard says she looks at the law 'with the goal being government getting out of our personal lives.'")
But the following facts make that distinction--the one between Tulsi Gabbard and Mike Gabbard--difficult:
-Tulsi Gabbard's campaign for the State House was apparently tied to her father's, and she defended him and his anti-gay positions in that office.
-Her campaign for City Council was promoted using a seemingly-thin non-profit run by her with her father.
-Her campaign manager for City Council was or became her father's community liason.
-Her campaign for Congress is managed by her father's old campaign spokesman, who allegedly also worked in her father's anti-gay organizations, and at least seems to have shared their views.
-Her campaign's fundraising is run by her father's old community liason.
-Her campaign has received many of its largest donations from family members and other donors to her father's old campaign as a Republican--including some with notably (although not exclusively) conservative donation patterns--and has received other substantial donations from other people connected to her father. Apparently, a substantial percentage of her fundraising comes from her father's network.
-She does not emphasize significant political accomplishments--which might give her a political identity beyond her father's network--beyond the fact that she has held these offices. Nor does she emphasize detailed or distinctive political views.
Once you start reading about the Gabbards, it's easy to find insinuations and rumors. But the above claims seem pretty hard to dispute.
Believe me, I am hesitant to imply that an accomplished young woman running for public office is merely an extension of her father. And I don't intend this diary to be a comprehensive analysis of Gabbard's whole career--again, I don't know much about her time in the Hawaii House, and she might well have some significant legislative accomplishments there, or in the Honolulu City Council, that she didn't mention in her biography. There are blog posts I read that I haven't included here (believe it or not). What I intend this diary to be is a look at the connections between Tulsi and Mike Gabbard's organizations--which seem pretty strong.
I think it's reasonable to ask:
If two of Tulsi Gabbard's highest campaign officials come from her father's organization, who'll be her Chief of Staff if she wins? Her district manager? (She does have a staffer in the Honolulu City Council with no apparent connections to Mike Gabbard, but Congressional staffers can often start as campaign workers.) Is there a distinction between her campaign organization and her father's organization--or is her campaign for Congress, like her past campaigns seem to have been, something of a family operation? Has she been soliciting her father's old donors--and on what basis, if her views have changed from what his were and apparently still are? What are her views on the many wildly-diverse issues she'd face as a Member of Congress? What has she accomplished with the (theoretically) high-profile offices she's already held?
Still, I'll close with a video from the candidate herself--meant to allay concerns about her views on LGBT and social issues:
Reassuring, huh? (h/t ndrwmls10)
Update: I realized that, while I don't think I've seen the full donor comparison that I attempted elsewhere, there were a couple of articles that discussed donors. This Honolulu Civil Beat article (via this more-derisively-headlined Hawaii Free Press article) adds some detail, as well as comparisons to Hannemann's donors:
Former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann's campaign donation ledger is a litany of names that — like Hannemann — are familiar in Hawaii business and politics.
And though Hannemann far outpaced fellow Democratic candidate and Honolulu City Council member Tulsi Gabbard in the campaign finance reporting period that ended Sept. 30, Gabbard reeled in her own group of supporters — many of them in the construction and development industries — last quarter.
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In the most recent quarter of fundraising, donors gave Hannemann $294,745. He loaned himself an additional $12,000, bringing his total in the one month since he announced his candidacy to $306,745.
Gabbard pulled in less than half that amount: $125,398, including a $14,858 donation she made to herself, some of which was used to pay for airline tickets.
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Though Gabbard is running as a Democrat, she has garnered the support of some regular Republican donors. There's no question she has strong Republican connections.
One example of such a donor is Leparis Young, a retired Waianae resident who donated $2,000 to Tulsi Gabbard. FEC records show that Young has supported the elder Gabbard in past elections, and has given money to Republican PACs and presidential candidates in the past.
I think that saying that Leparis Young "has given money to Republican PACs and presidential candidates" slightly undersells it--that was the guy who gave money to Tom Tancredo's Presidential campaign and Alan Keyes' PAC.
And, if you factor in Tulsi Gabbards' self-donation, that comes to $57,261 in apparent fundraising from the Gabbard family network and Gabbard herself, out of $148,105 in total fundraising.
This FDL post from back when Tulsi Gabbard was running for City Council also may have given me the idea of doing a donor comparison.
Note: The Hawaii Free Press blog is conservative, partisan, and insinuating in its tone. The FDL post is mostly allegations about Butler's group. I do not mean to necessarily endorse either of these points of view by linking to them--I am just trying to "show my work".
Second Update: Tulsi Gabbard's campaign has some additional donations from a few unions recorded on the FEC site that don't appear to be in the main summary I used above--even though I would think at least the Brotherhood of Electrical Workers donation should be, since it's dated 9/30/11.
Also, I don't know how I missed this, but Tulsi Gabbard's campaign treasurer is Carol Gabbard--Tulsi's mother.
Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 10:33 AM PT: I wasn't sure whether these sorts of things merited a mention, but Gabbard does mention a few more issue positions in her campaign FB and Twitter than on her main campaign site--including linking to an anti-SOPA/PIPA site and re-Tweeting Keith Ellison that "Government should work to ensure a strong middle class, not greater concentration of wealth for Wall Street CEOs".
Her campaign also claims that it removed the "equal rights" video I linked to in the original diary because they "are working on a re-launch of my website within the next few days and will be rolling out content on many different issues, including equal rights, economy, foreign policy, and others."
However,
Gabbard hasn’t yet responded to a follow-up question about whether the original equal rights video will be reposted, or whether it will be replaced with new content.
Other videos — including Gabbard’s call for an end to the war in Afghanistan and the announcement of her candidacy — remain on the site.
(h/t to tietack for the latter part.)
Mon Jan 30, 2012 at 7:07 PM PT: One more "wasn't sure whether or not to include this or not": Nancy Cardinet also donated to Hillary Clinton. However, she only donated $250 to Clinton, and that seems to be her sole non-Gabbard donation. Walter Cardinet, on the other hand, is a big donor. Interestingly--and this really might be a reach--he is a member of the Association of Advanced Life Underwriters, and donates to their PAC. Which also happens to be the only PAC that donated to Tulsi Gabbard's campaign in the fundraising period discussed above (see the Civil Beat fundraising story). That PAC is, of course, a big (and bipartisan) donor, and I doubt that Cardinet could compel them to endorse Tulsi Gabbard, but it's one more connection, albeit a tenuous and potentially coincidental one.
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