ELECTION 2014 | CONGRESS | 17TH DISTRICT | Looks like Rep. Mike Honda’s campaign team has be mining the Internet for gold and found it. A few days after the campaign struggled to defend against an aggressive pair of offensives moves by Khanna, a new video has surfaced showing Khanna doing the worst thing possible. He said something nice about his future opponent!
Honda’s campaign released a minute-long YouTube video from March 2012 of Khanna praising Honda. Khanna says, “Mike Honda is an outstanding congressman for our area” and goes on to describe him as Washington’s go-to-guy for Asian American-related issues. The video ends with the tagline : “Mike hasn’t changed.”
At the time of the remarks, Khanna was contemplating a run for Pete Stark’s seat in the 15th District. Despite impressive fundraising totals, he relented. Last year, he announced his candidacy for Honda’s Fremont and South Bay 17th District seat.
Despite the excellent framing of the video to portray Khanna’s current criticisms of Honda as disingenuous, its may not be clear what type of voters it might attract. Surely, the rank-and-file Honda supporters will eat it up. There is already a bit of crowing on social media today following the video’s release. And then there are the realists. What was Khanna suppose to say that fateful night almost two years ago? Look at that guy over there, doesn’t he looks like a white-haired Care Bear? I should probably run against him next year. No. The cynical among us will undoubtedly add, never believe anything a politician says, but those people probably don’t even bother to vote.
Khanna’s problem is this: how do you explain away what you said about your current opponent within the narrative framed by Honda? It’s though and frankly, if you can’t neutralize it in a sentence, it just sounds like stammering and may linger for much of the election.
UPDATE: Tyler Law, the press secretary for Khanna’s campaign, responded Thursday afternoon: “His campaign touts that ‘Mike hasn’t changed.’ That’s exactly the problem, and it’s clear with this kind of silly attack. What the people of the 17th district don’t need is more stale, tired political games. They need, and deserve, a real debate about ideas for the future. That’s a debate Ro is ready to have. We hope Congressman Honda can ‘change’ enough to allow for that.”
Ro must be repenting to have missed the opportunity to run for the open seats of Miller and Waxman. But he was very busy looking for a “supposed weak” candidate. And he picked up Honda as his opponent within 3 months of the 2012 election. Ro needs to run for a local elected office first, serve the local community like Honda, Swalwell and Ellen Corbett has done. If he thinks people will go for his campaign theme that money is all that matters, then he will be in for a rude shock.
Well Tavares can tell us when was it the first time that Ro contacted him to express his intent to run against Honda. I would bet that it was within 3 to 4 months of that statement.
LikeLike
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz is right Khanna campaign? is that all you got?
LikeLike
A classic gotcha moment. I would be careful if I were Honda's campaign, because these two gotcha moments are much worse. http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2013/11/07/democratic-ca-south-bay-rep-mike-honda-caught-sleeping-on-the-job-again-video/
LikeLike
Ro Khanna the Dem who moves (figueratively & literally) to what is most politically salient to his needs.
Ty Law the spokesman who only speaks when it's convenient.
LikeLike
This shall pass.
LikeLike
Ro duh HO Khan-job!
LikeLike
Ooops! Does this mean we can't trust any praise that politicians give to each other?
I'm shocked, simply shocked.
Lets see though, Miller retires at 68. Waxman retires at age 74.
As I compare those men I see them quite a bit more energetic than Mike Honda who will be 75 if elected.
How come they know when to retire with dignity while others like Pete Stark, just keep hanging on?
LikeLike