The power of Hawaii's evangelical rightwing churches has been growing for decades and, through smart and typically deceptive electoral politics, the movement has been able to achieve a startling level of control in Hawaiian government (for general background, see this story on my 2010 May 2nd radio show appearance on Hawaii's 1080 AM, and also this story from Hawaiian environmental activist and AM radio show host Carroll Cox).

Although she is Jewish, Hawaii's current governor Lind Lingle has shown a disturbing and possibly unethical level of support for Hawaii's Christian right and in Fall 2008 Lingle likened herself, as a politician, to Sarah Palin. But if Mufi Hannemann wins the Democratic Party primary, the Aiona/Hannemann bipartisan slate could place a "true believer" in the governor's office.

As I describe in my two-part April report, both Aiona and Hannemann have attended multiple events held by the International Transformation Network and in May 2010 ITN's CEO Ed Silvoso told top leaders of his theocratic Christian tendency at a Texas conference, "It doesn't matter if the Republican or the Democratic candidate wins the governorship [of Hawaii]. Either one is already in the kingdom."

But Silvoso may have spoken too soon.

Last week, the head of the Hawaii state Republican Party chairman Jonah Kaauwai made waves when he sent out an email to pastors in Hawaii encouraging them to bar Democratic Party gubernatorial candidate Mufi Hannemann from speaking in churches. When the email leaked to the press, there was national media notice and Kaauwai even won a mention on Keith Olbermann's MSNBC show as the "worst person in the world" of the day.

Kaauwai's letter, which was reprinted on the web site of the Hawaii Christian Coalition with an endorsement from Hawaii Christian Coalition President Garret Hashimoto, made strong allegations against the Hannemann campaign:

It has come to my attention that Christians are being courted by Ken Wong of the Mufi Hannemann Campaign for Governor into thinking that Christians should vote in September 18th's Primary Election on the Democrat ballot for Mufi Hannemann to retard the chances of a Neil Abercrombie win rather than supporting Duke Aiona through both the primary and general elections. I have been anguishing over those who believe that there is PURITY OF INTENT behind this strategy since hearing about it 3-4 weeks ago from a close pastor friend. I have delved in the Word and consulted many of my Christian mentors and counselors. I cannot find righteousness in this approach and certainly it is coming from a campaign that has conducted itself unethically, immorally, and far below reproach

The letter also provided clear indication of the electoral potential of Hawaii's churches:

Politics is a game of perception, BE NOT DECIEVED! Mufi appearing and speaking at your church is and will be used as an endorsement for Mufi in the primary election. "Wow Jonah, Mufi spoke at my church this weekend. My Pastor must be okay with supporting Mufi."

Keith Olbermann and national media picked up on an obviously offensive part of Kaauwai's letter in which the Hawaii GOP head evinced the nakedly Christian supremacist sentiment that,

Duke will win because the Church has been behind him the entire time operating in the POWER and the AUTHORITY of the NAME OF JESUS! We are the HEAD and not the tail; we are the VICTORS not the victims! ...Neither Mufi Hannemann nor Neil Abercrombie is righteous and a vote for either in the primary or general election is succumbing to fear and advancing unrighteousness! [...] The Primary Election is the first step to bringing back a righteous leader to the highest office in this State which has not been seen since Queen Lili'uokalani. Over 100 years ago! With more than 400,000 Christians in the State of Hawaii, WE are responsible no matter what the outcome of Duke's race because we have been given the POWER and the AUTHORITY in the NAME OF JESUS!!!!

But much of the mainstream media coverage of Kaauwai's letter missed his allegations that Mufi Hannemann, while mayor of Honolulu, has built up a corrupt political machine and abused his mayoral powers. As Jonah Kaauwai wrote,

I deal daily with local businessmen who are scared to give the Republican Party donations because of fear of retribution from the Democrats and their friends. These men and women fear that their businesses will be destroyed by crooked politicians withholding contracts and permits. Mayor Mufi Hannemann's name and the names of his political cronies often come up when these guys are probed.

Kaauwai's email was also striking for his claim that Mufi Hannemann was in fact a worse (less moral) candidate than his rival for the Democratic Party gubernatorial nomination, former US Hawaii Congressman Neal Abercrombie.

But a July 28th ethics violation charge filed by liberal Hawaiian environmental activist and radio show host Carroll Cox suggests Kaauwai's accusations may have merit. Cox's filing charged that Hannemann's campaign was using city employees:

I have reliable and confirmed information that former Mayor Mufi Hannemann and former City Managing Director Kirk Caldwell knowingly used non-civil service secretaries ("exempt positions") from various City and County of Honolulu Departments to work on Hannemann's 2010 campaign at Hannemann's Beretania Street headquarters. These City employees were routinely assigned and rotated by their Directors and Deputy Directors to conduct campaign work for the Hannemann campaign.

Hannemann and Aiona: Theocratic Peas in a Pod?

As I detailed in my extended report Transforming Hawaii (part 1, part 2), the leading Republican gubernatorial candidate James "Duke" Aiona, currently Hawaii's Lt. Governor, has extensive ties to a global ministry called the International Transformation Network that touts Hawaii as a prototype for "Transformation" (see 1, 2) but Former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann has many ties to the International Transformation Network as well and, as ITN's CEO Ed Silvoso told leaders in his religious movement at a May 2010 religious conference in Texas, "It doesn't matter if the Republican or the Democratic candidate wins the governorship [of Hawaii]. Either one is already in the kingdom."

Silvoso appeared to anticipate a Hannemann win in the Democratic Primary, a dismal possibility for Hawaiian voters who value the separation of church and state, because over the course of the last 1/2 decade Mufi Hannemann and Duke Aiona could be found together at numerous major events of the International Transformation Network.

For example, in the image below, from Ed Silvoso's February 2005 ministry newsletter, Silvoso exulted over a controversial ceremony Duke Aiona led in December 2004, in which Aiona publicly dedicated Hawaii and its public schools to Jesus (Sarah Palin made a similar dedication, of her state to Jesus in June 2008) and announced an upcoming 2005 ITN conference in Hawaii. Duke Aiona attended that conference but according to a June 27th, 2005 column from Richard Borreca of the Honolulu Star Bulletin, Mufi Hammenann attended the conference too, during which Ed Silvoso commissioned those present to be "ministers in the marketplace" meaning, to unpack Silvoso's jaunty jargon, that they would aggressively promote evangelical Christianity in their places of work.

But that was not the only International Transformation Network Mufi Hannemann has attended - as shown in the second image below, a screen shot of the program from a several day ITN conference in Hawaii held in 2008, Duke Aiona and Mufi Hannemann

Below is an extended excerpt from my April 22 story, "

Christian Right Claims Both 2010 Hawaii Gubernatorial Candidates":