Some islanders dismayed at outspoken Trump’s win
The results of the presidential race left many Democrats in this deep-blue state shaking their heads.
Although no one knew what to expect in this one-of-kind election, the prospects of Donald Trump winning the presidency felt remote to many voters in this isolated island state.
“What he was saying was resonating to a part of the population that we, especially in Hawaii, don’t really understand,” said Colleen Hanabusa, who will be dealing with the new president as a newly elected congresswoman.
“I am devastated by the result,” she said. “I was hoping to be able to say tonight to all the young girls and women across the state that we finally cracked the glass ceiling.”
“I just can’t imagine how people, how women voted for him, and minorities … even with all the comments about women, about Muslims, about Hispanics, building the wall. I think maybe it’s not Donald Trump, it’s a movement that we have to be concerned about.”
Hawaii’s four electoral votes will go to Clinton, who had 61.5 percent of the Hawaii vote versus Trump’s 29 percent, with most of the state’s precincts counted late Tuesday night.
Lifelong Democrat Dwight Takamine, a former state senator and also former director of the state Department of Labor, expressed shock as well, but was starting to grapple with the results as the night wore on.
“I guess tonight really demonstrates how uncertain politics can be,” he said. “In the end we have to live with the results and honor the voice of the people.”
Some local residents joked that the Hawaiian independence movement would soon begin picking up steam given the presidential outcome.
But others were happy with the election’s outcome.
Hawaii Kai resident David Livingston, 65, said Trump’s experience as a businessman will bring change to a country fed up with “politics as usual.”
“He’s a businessman,” Livingston said. “He’s anti-regulations. He wants a fair tax system. He wants to bring the overseas money back, and these were things we have been talking about for years and couldn’t get the job done.”
Mario Higa, a port agent for the Marine Firemen’s Union, was dismayed by the verdict.
“This was a very different type of race,” Higa said, as he stood watching the returns at Hanabusa’s victory party. “I’ve never seen this before. I thought she was likely to pull it off. Trump didn’t sound too presidential.”
65 responses to “Some islanders dismayed at outspoken Trump’s win”
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America has spoken and selected an egotistical, vindictive, bullying, bigoted, racist, misogynistic, chauvinist. He is not my president. He will be considered a squatter in the White House for the next four years. God help us all.
That’s cool.
NO-Bama was never MY president either.
Shoes on the other feet now.
““What he was saying was resonating to a part of the population that we, especially in Hawaii, don’t really understand,” said Colleen Hanabusa, who will be dealing with the new president as a newly elected congresswoman.”
With that attitude, don’t expect any favors for Hawaii’s interest by the POTUS.
Trump wants to rebuild the Military, like the Military ain’t a big time employer in Hawaii. Get Real!
Hanabusa is part of the “Swamp” that doesn’t understand.
Too many people and Hanabusa included are out of touch with reality. Time to clean up the mess Obama has created. The choice was obviously a simple one unless you have been downing the kool-aid for the past eight years.
IRT Marauders_1959: Realistically, Trump isn’t going to do anything for Hawaii because we’re overwhelmingly Democratic and minority (ethnically/racially), and because of his vindictive nature. Frankly, the choices in this election was that of the lesser of two evils. Unfortunately, America has chosen the worst of the two evils, IMHO.
Trump can do all Hawaii a favor by auditing the Oahu rail project since they used Federal funds and when they find waste, graft, corruption and incompetence, Trump’s FTA can demand Hawaii pay back all federal funds used for the rail project and force Kirk see if he will try to squeeze an extra $5 BILLION from Oahu taxpayers, including all those that voted for his re-election. Doubt he would be successful and the Oahu rail project would be SHUT DOWN. Maybe Trump becoming President of the US is a good thing for Hawaii? Also Hawaii might benefit if Trump repeals Obama care with an executive order, setting up a federal health plan ONLY for those who cannot get their own insurance, and allow Hawaii and all other Americans to shop for reputable and established private insurance plans across State lines, ending the monoploy of HMSA in Hawaii
opala squatted in the wh for eight years. he spent 4 million dollars for a golf trip with tiger woods
everything he accomplished will be repealed by trump along with thousands of executive orders. let the trashing begin
Time for a diaper change you whining little baby!!!
Is that the best rejoinder you can come up with? Sad.
Whatever Trump’s personality is in the future, I’m glad Crooked Lying Hillary is not leading out country.
right on, brother…
Take your sour grapes and go crawl back to the hole you came from.
Hey, I’m just taking a page out of Trump’s playbook if the results had gone the other way. Sauce for the goose. How does that feel?
I concur. When Trump reduces your taxes, refuse to take the benefit and donate it to the rail project.
By your words “God help us” I believe he did and will.
I hope you’re right. Time will tell.
It’s a real pity that you fell for the narrative that the Clinton News Network was trying to spread, so hopefully your tune will change when things start getting done in DC for the people instead of special interests. I’m all for having a female POTUS but the Clinton’s are the most corrupt political machine in America that I’ve seen in my lifetime.
Well, I didn’t “fall” for anything. I came to my conclusion based on what Trump himself has said over the course of the campaign. All that being said, I do hope you’re right about things getting done in DC for the good of the country and the people. If that indeed does happen, then and only then will I “change my tune”. Talk and bluster are cheap, actions and results are what really matter/count.
…8 years you mean…
kauai aka klastri has spoken and still loves his/her name calling. Grow up.
Yeah, and you’ve just made a foolish assumption. Klastri is Klastri, not me or my handle. Think before you post.
In 2008, the Hawaii State Legislature sent SB2898 to Governor Lingle. Under this bill, Hawaii’s four electoral votes, as part of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC), would be awarded to the presidential slate that receives the most votes as determined by the national popular vote regardless of which candidates won the popular vote in Hawaii.
Governor Lingle vetoed the bill, reasoning that “given the potential under the interstate compact that Hawaii’s electoral votes would be awarded in a manner that may not reflect the will of the majority of the voters in Hawaii, I believe that this bill is not in the best interest of the citizens of the State of Hawaii.”
Democrats in the Hawaii Legislature overwhelming overrode Lingle’s veto, enacting the law as Act 62 (2008). Those voting to override the veto and enroll Hawaii in the NPVIC included Colleen Hanabusa and David Ige.
To date, the NPVIC has been enacted into law in 11 states (including Hawaii) with 165 electoral votes, and will take effect when enacted by states with 105 more.
Could someone ask Hanabusa or Ige if they support giving Hawaii’s four electoral votes to Donald Trump since he won the national popular vote?
An excellent point, the npv has to be repealed, there is a process to change the Constitution and this is a run around to that process. We lose our ability to vote who we, Hawaii, winner take all here, have chosen.
Dems shouldn’t feel too bad, c’mon you nominated Clinton, why do you think 8 years ago Repub’s were pulling for her to win the nomination b/c she would have gotten beat then as she got beat now. Didn’t matter who they nominated, dems pick Clinton, they were destined to lose. Such arrogance.
I voted for Trump but he lost the popular vote as of right now by about 150,000 votes national.
Main thing Trump won. Let’s see if he does what he says he’d do. A lot of Americans chose him despite his personality shortcomings in public. Did Trump speck LIES like all previous Politicians or is he gonna do what he says he’d do?
The popular vote is meaningless because Hillary was virtually uncontested in CA, OR, WA and NY where she was free to run up the popular vote score. All that counts is the Electoral College votes. Trump wasted no time or money in the coastal states and instead went for the states that could get him an Electoral College win. It was a brilliant strategy and now he’s our next President!
And you wonder why people are protesting as we text complaining that their votes doesn’t matter. The presidential election was decided before it got to the west coast. I don’t know of any other nation in the world that has such a outdated system of electing their president. For those of you Chump supporters who are gloating word of precaution this is just the calm before the storm. The Chumps personal history has to have been to walk away from problems rather to have solved them,
hawaiians living isolated on little islands have little minds. they grew up living on the plantations run by the democrats who feed them bits.
still, like obedient sheep they keep on putting the democrats into office
they will never get out of their cozy shell
auwe! as wy hod!
Moving away from Hawaii just out of high school to pursue further education on the mainland opened my eyes to the reality of which you are referring to deepdiver311.
A liberal professor told my ex and people like me (plantation) grew up a certain way so they vote a certain way. Hmmm, I grew up democratic and since 1985’s have changed to voting Christian, which most of the time was non-democratic. That professor should look at herself in the mirror
The same can be said for a lot of people. Many voters of both Trump and Clinton voted for their candidate based on biased, very limited information fed to them by the propaganda machines of the different political parties. Ex. do you really think it will help American businesses if Trump labels China a currency manipulator? How realistic is building a wall or deporting millions of undocumented immigrants? Uneducated minds buy right into this bollocks. Why are places like Wyoming, Utah and Texas consistently red, while California and New York are consistently blue? Wouldn’t they be considered having “little minds” too? Your broad stroke of all Hawaii voters shows how little and sheltered YOUR mind is.
Beg pardon, the plantations were not run by Democrats. The Democratic revolution of the 1950s was a response to the entrenched Republican power structure.
Well, deepdiver never lets the facts get in the way of a good story. We should all strive to be like him.
I can understand being dismayed because of Trumps comments and controversial proposals. But to be disappointed because a woman was not elected, c’mon Colleen, isn’t that just as bigoted as you claim he is?
Colleen Hanabusa being devastated with her lost hopes of what she wanted to say to young girls and women across the state? Too late now. You should have listened to Tulsi and supported Bernie. Blues blindly following their party instead of considering other candidates, lose money. Hanabusa and other old timers should consider themselves lucky to have Tulsi and should do more to support her.
And to think we here voted for Hanabusa who I had respect as a smart person! She playing this outcome like a True Democrat, the Old Boys Network that is corrupted. Trump: DRAIN DA SWAMP!
Colleen what’s your opine on Crooked Lying Hillary/Bill raking in the Millions from Foriegn Countries from the MidEast that treats women like 2nd Class citizens? If anything you should be thinking of how to Christianize the MidEast
The fact that so many in Hawaii are shocked at Trump’s victory shows just how much Hawaii is out of touch and disconnected with their fellow Americans elsewhere! Just look at all the red covered areas on the electoral map and it’s obvious. America has had it with the Clintons and the Bushes, etc. Trump won because voters were fed up with all the corrupt insider elitists in government constantly lying to us. Voters were tired of the mainstream media’s propaganda as they acted like an extension of Hillary’s campaign. Trump became the voter’s hero and champion because he had the guts to fearlessly expose Washington’s rigged and corrupt system. Trump is a brilliant political revolutionary. Hawaii needs a similar political revolution.
you figure the Bush’s like so many others are afraid of being exposed? All politicians are in for their personal gain, I bet even Trump will follow suit but I wait and see. I envision political enemies keeping a close eye on Trump because of his family business. He’s gonna get burned playing with Fire that he ran his campaign on as to the Clinton Foundation.
@Pocho: I can almost guarantee you that Trump will follow suit. He owes his political victory to Putin and the Russians who hacked the Dems email accounts and sowed the seeds of mistrust. Why do you think Putin wanted Trump in office? Now Putin can continue his invasions into Eastern Europe with no opposition and restore the old Soviet Republic because Trump will do nothing to stop him as President.
I graduated from the UH and dropped out of UH Grad School. I had to pay for 5 student loans. I wasn’t going to be a bouncer and head dishwasher, in Waikiki, for the rest of my life.
I moved to NY to work for 30 years & indirectly knew both Clintons & Trump for about 25 years.
Trump was talking, the classical “NYC Trash Talk”, and he didn’t really mean half of the trash, he was talking about. He spoke, like all of the other successful rich businessmen in NYC talk like. It is a NYC bravado, that most non-NYC people are not exposed too. To survive in NY, you just can’t be silent. You must display a certain level of aggression, that most non-NYC people don’t tolerate.
He is here now. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. It is better to be perceived as a friend, than an open enemy. As an open enemy, you may suffer from his wrath.
Unless of course, you don’t mind suffering misery. Misery does like company.
A flexible attitude towards Democracy is needed right now.
It’s not over until it is??? Wondering if the Millennials turned-out or were turned-off?? Also, be interesting as to how the “Baby Boomers” voted considering their flower child mentality if the older generation voted and younger did not turn-out in droves. Sanders was supported as whim or because of Hillary’s reputation?? Character of the American voters may be evident if Trump is the POTUS? The Clinton and their supporters may have misread the truthfulness issue. Comey by his waffling may have turned the tide as too dirty politics tactics? Could be sexual behavior is not as important or truthfulness(e-mail)issues are regarded more highly by the voters? Character of an individual may perhaps been overlooked??? Dun no!
I am a baby-boomer and I am not a flower child.
I am a Vietnam War Veteran who spent 2 years in Southeast Asia.
I saw the destruction of our military and law enforcement.
The world is not perfect, people are not perfect, and there are criminals in every profession, as well as leadership.
A-B-C . . . . . includes “Anybody But Clinton”. Trumps victory is an indictment against The Obama Machine, as well as a thumbs down on Hillary. Locals just don’t get it! I voted for Obama . . . . . bad move on my part.
He and Mrs Clinton will never live-down Benghazi (doing nothing, while Americans were being slaughtered). OBAMA. . . . .”NOT MY PRESIDENT”
Deepdiver311 had an excellent post
The Clinton Mafia has been stopped in its tracks. The time had come to rid our Federal Government of the cronyism and corruption. The scheming Washington political insiders both Democratic and Republican have until mid January 2017 to cover their tracks. Hillary tried but she couln’t stop Wiki Leaks and Drudge.
“Hope and Change” 🙂
It took 8 years but better late than never.
Yes there is hope and change but I have a feeling Trump will be just as divisive as Obama so in that way it’ll be 4 more years of the same. I don’t like Trump but we all have no choice to see what changes he brings.
cannot believe it!!!! anyway, parents do not have your daughters be interns in the white house. trump is another bill clinton!!!!
Prove it? Quickly to judge right?
Lying Cheating Bill was caught and deemed guilty, he has a record! TheDonald, idk? Keep on dreaming up stuff
I could imagine Bill was already dreaming being back in the Oral Office. Memories Yikes!
Aloha Colleen and Dwight, I believed that the voters in America would see that the Liberal Democrats were taking our Country in the wrong direction. I never waivered. Now, we have the opportunity to change that wrong direction with the first decision of President Trump nominating a Conservative Originalist to the Supreme Court with approval by a Republican controlled Senate. A side note, there are 9 Democrat Senators up for re-election in 2018 in President Trump won States. Colleen and Dwight, America will be safe and great again.
Well – now the Republicans must deliver on their promises. They can’t blame the Democrats since the Republicans control the executive and the legislative branches. Let’s get together four years from now and see how much Trump has changed the country or not. Some of his economic promises – such as bringing jobs back from overseas to America will not be greeted with enthusiasm by the business community. Clinton and Trump – what a horrible choice. The rest of the world, except Russia and North Korea, are aghast. YMMV
The real emperor with no clothes has been revealed to be the leftist media. If they don’t realize they have been blowing smoke up their own okole advertisers may snap them back to reality.
Don’t be dismayed, realize that Hawaii is the outlier…The real sad story is despite one party control for decades, essentially none of this States great problems ever get solved. Education, Traffic, homelessness, affordability, doctor shortages etc along with below average performance of all our state agencies still happens. Voter turnout is the poor in part due to lack of choices. Hawaii is becoming more and more third world and bucking trends of the rest of the nation.
yeah-but we’re getting a train for Christmas!
Too bad Hawaii can’t learn from the rest of the nation. Dems been in power for decades and what do we have for it? A rail project grossly overbudget, highest cost of living in the nation, untouchable politicians who shift from seat to seat to keep their benefits and avoid prosecution. Time to drain the swamp in HI too.
At least America stood up to a corrupt career politician and showed the rest of us that our vote counted this time. I’m an American, not a Republican or Democrat. The best the Ds could come up with was an old entitled rich white woman who got caught cheating and couldn’t stand up to someone who spoke his mind and connected with the people as awkward and painful as it was sometimes.
It’s not so much Trump but America’s growing anger with Washington’s do nothing establishment. For at least a decade, there has been a huge disconnect between the Washington elite and the common clave of America and it reached a crescendo on Tuesday. The election was basically a split between the establishment and the outsiders as Trump won the electoral and Clinton won the popular. I’m not sure if Trump is the guy to effect real change as I’m not convinced whether he’s a doer or a used car salesman but on Tuesday, a clear half of Americans stuck their heads out of their windows and collectively shouted Howard Beal’s famous line from the movie Network…”We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore”. Onus is now on Trump to make things happen in a good way and Americans must keep the pedal to the metal on Washington.
Time for that no-talent a$s clown Hanabusa to get a real job in the private sector and quit trying to micro-manage the lives of others.
Her comments display a most amazing ignorance.
Soviet Union wins, I mean America wins!
Stop your whining Hanacusa. We all know you liberals are just not used to NOT getting things your way. Especially here in Hawaii where you clowns use and abuse taxpayer money, get in bed with unions, and rarely take any accountability. You guys are only good at palm greasing and taking care of the good ole boys and friends…against the best interest of We the People.
So I say….Booya!
“What he was saying was resonating to a part of the population that we, especially in Hawaii, don’t really understand,” said Colleen Hanabusa, who will be dealing with the new president as a newly elected congresswoman.”
With that kind of out of touch representation, our Hawaii all-Democrat Congressional delegation in Washington will continue to be marginalized, ineffective, do-nothing bench warmers and the losers will continue to be all of the people of Hawaii.