LOCAL DEMOCRAT BLUNDER BOOSTS LEMANU OPPONENTS

 LOCAL DEMOCRAT BLUNDER BOOSTS LEMANU OPPONENTS

 

It has been three-and-a half years since we last published, but yesterday's "Super Tuesday" elections, which once again drew disproportionate and unwanted attention to American Samoa, begs for commentary.  Readers will recall that the American Samoa Democrat Party presidential caucus in 2020 awarded to ex-New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg four delegates to the party's national convention and two to native daughter Rep.Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI).  Support for the eventual nominee, Joe Biden, was nowhere to be seen.  Bloomberg pulled out of that race the next day after having spent $2 million dollars to gain the only delegates he received that year.  Gabbard also eventually pulled out of the race, left Congress, eventually also pulled out of the Democrat Party and currently is on the short list for running mate for Donald Trump.

 

Then-party chairman Tama Sotoa, who presided over the caucus, was relieved of his post and replaced by Ti'a Reid, whose credentials for the chairmanship were being the mastermind of his Uncle Eni Faleomavaega's defeat for re-election six years earlier after 26 years in office as the territory's lone delegate to Congress.  Reid then went on two years later to manage the campaign of his mother, Salu Hunkin Finau, to unseat the woman who defeated her brother Eni.  Despite having a territory-wide network of supporters from her service as the government's director of education and an emotional radio appeal from her brother, Hunkin Finau went on to massive defeat.  Undaunted, Reid's next job was to run the Bloomberg campaign, which earned him the nickname Ti'a "My Vote Is For Sale" Reid.

Despite the national backlash from ignoring the Biden candidacy, Reid, unlike Sotoa, nevertheless remained as chairman and was in place supervising this year's caucus held yesterday.  So, what did he learn from the mistakes of 2020?  Apparently nothing.  Once again, American Samoa post-Super Tuesday is the laughingstock of the country for once again ignoring Biden, only this time Biden is the sitting president seeking renomination.  Indeed, Biden went on last night to sweep the primaries and caucuses in 15 states, but it is American Samoa that stands out.  To make matters worse, one national media outlet today in a screaming headline noted that Biden was the first incumbent president in 44 years to lose a primary contest.

 

So why has the caucus given a lift to Governor Lemanu's two announced opponents for governor this November? Because not only is the hapless Reid chairman of the American Samoa Democrat Party, he also is the senior policy adviser to the governor.  It can be expected that any help Lemanu might seek from the Biden White House to aid his own campaign from now on is going to be slow-walked.  Whether or not Lemanu, also a Democrat, was behind Biden's caucus defeat at the hands of the unknown Jason Palmer, it is bound to be perceived that way in Biden's Washington.  Political appointees at the Department of the Interior, which oversees American Samoa, also are likely to feel some heat for letting the situation get out of hand.

To make matters worse, Reid held the caucus in a government building during working hours which, if not a violation of federal rules that govern presidential contests, is at best ethically suspect.  Assuming the party did not pay the government for the use of the facility, at a minimum the ethics of holding the balloting there are questionable.  There is so much other national news to report today, Reid should consider himself lucky if no national media outlet picks up on his ineptitude.  He will be lucky if it doesn't cost him his job with the governor, who already has two credible opponents, with more possibly to come.  

 

Give credit to Samoa News, which ran a story prior to the caucus, noting that the local Republican Party declined an invitation to come to the gathering, which was labeled a "civic event" that brought school children out of their classrooms to witness, on the grounds that the location in a government building might be a violation of federal rules that could subject Republicans to a fine if not worse.  No indication this early if someone intends to file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, but one of Lemanu's opponents very well could, especially the one who had a thirty-year federal government career before returning home to run for governor.  He knows the rules.

American Samoa will survive this episode, as it did four years ago, and whatever else went wrong for Reid, at least the expenses of the Palmer delegates to the August national convention in Chicago are probably being paid by the Palmer campaign.  And so it goes.

 

 

Democrat Endorsement Propels Ex-chairman Past Outer Island Rival

 The American Samoa Democratic Party's (ASDP) weekend endorsement of Oreta Crichton (D) for the congressional seat currently held by Aumua Amata (R) was enough to propel Chrichton, a former ASDP chairman, past her Democrat rival Meleagi Chapman (D) in Chapman's Manu'a home base.  With all the votes counted, Crichton won 15.5% of the vote to Chapman's 6.0%. To no one's surprise, Aumua Amata carried the outer islands with 88.5%. She has always won in Manu'a, going back to the days of her many unsuccessful races against the highly popular (in the populous western districts of the main island) then-Congressman Eni Faleomavaega.

The ASDP held elections last weekend, which was curious since they just elected offcers earlier this year. There was some thought that the party wanted to clean the slate after two embarrassing episodes this year that brought negative national attention to the territory and made the party a laughing stock. At their presidential nominating caucus, they turned their backs on native daughter Tulsi Gabbard and awarded four of their six convention votes to New York City ex-mayor Mike Bloomberg, whose votes from American Samoa were the only ones he won, despite spending a billion dollars.  To make matters worse, he dropped out of the race the next day. Many people believed that he bought the votes with promises of underwriting delegation travel to the national convention and putting local people on his campaign payroll.

Critics of then party chairman Tama Sotoa blamed him for not being able to control the caucus, particularly since it already was apparent that Bloomberg had no chance of being nominated.  Sotoa then compounded his problems by featuring in the background in his national convention vote-casting video two members of the local U.S. Army Reserve unit in violation of Pentagon policy. Once again American Samoa drew negative national attention.

Some thought these two episodes were enough to force Sotoa out and indeed he was not a candidate for re-election last Saturday.  Why the party waited so long formally to back Crichton for Congress is a mystery since Chapman, the other Democrat on the congressional ballot, was a fringe candidate running for the third time.  But given the problems with Sotoa, the real surprise is that he was replaced by Ti'a Reid, the architect of the Bloomberg victory.  Judging from the Manu'a results for Crichton, Reid is continuing with a losing streak, which includes the overwhelming defeat of his mother, Salu Hunkin Finau, for Congress and before that the defeat of his uncle, Eni Hunkin Faleomavaega, for re-election to the House after having served 13 terms in the U.S. House.

If Reid orchestrated the late endorsement of Crichton, herself once the party chairman, in hopes of generating surprise, late, pre-election momentum for her, he failed miserably as Crichton fell to rhe incumbent congresswoman 83% to 14% with the rest going to Chapman.  

At ths same time, there were four teams running for governor-lt. governor and all identified as Democrats.  Perhaps Sotoa decided wisely to stay out of that contest and wait for the runoff for the top two tickets.  Perhaps mercifully for Reid, the top ticket won outright, thus sparing yet another potential embarrassment for Reid.

This blog was created to be dedicated to the defeat of the late Faleomavaega for Congress and after that was accomplished remained active to make sure he did make a comeback through his sister by proxy. Now it looks like we will have to keep our eye on his nephew, the hapless Reid, for the foreseeable future and be prepared to stifle any political ambitions he might have on his own.

AS GOP Party Chief Blasts Agency headed by Faleomavaega Sister

In the Page One lead story, indeed the only page one story, in the December 21 edition of Samoa News, American Samoa Republican Party Chairman Utu Abe Malae was quoted as saying “We are not doing enough” to educate Samoan students in math and science disciplines.  Speaking in his capacity as director of the territory's power authority, Malae said that “the entire American Samoa school system must be revamped and follow the example of Manumalo Baptist School.”

Careful to note that Department of Education Director Vaitinasa Salu Hunkin-Finau had made a similar proposal, Malae said he would overhaul the department by creating a semi-autonomous agency like that in the Northern Marianas, where Malae once served a tour as head of that government's utility agency. While not further mentioning Hunkin-Finau by name, his implication was clear when he continued that “This is just an edifice but the success depends on those who hold the top positions and the board of directors; i.e., those who stand on this edifice."

In other words, if the system needs to be overhauled, it means it is not succeeding as is and if success depends on who holds the top positions, the current leaders need to be replaced as part of the overhaul. He went on to point out that competent administrators are not just top-notch educators, but proven managers. Hunkin-Finau has a doctorate in education from the University of Hawaii while Malae, who has built a career around specializing in overhauling and successfully turning around government entities, has a master's in public administration as well as an engineering master's degree—hence his particular interest in management as well as math and science.

The twice-married Hunkin-Finau ran for governor in 2012 but even though she was on a ticket that included her brother Eni Faleomavaega, she finished poorly while he sailed home to a 13^th term in Congress despite rumors about his health late in the campaign.  Hunkin-Finau previously was fired from her position as president of the community college.

Malae may well have had in mind the departure of an alarming number of teachers dissatisfied with Hunkin-Finau's leadership when he said the “next step would be to improve the lot of the teaching profession — better compensation; empower them to make decisions; administration is to support them not to rule them.” [emphasis added] When he said the revamp also would “need excellent financial and other support staff who take care of the nuts and bolts — so that teachers can do their work well,” he likely did not mean cleaning toilets as part of the “nuts and bolts,” however. DOE office staff reportedly are unhappy with a recent memo from the director reminding them that their duties included cleaning the department bathrooms on a rotating basis.

Although there has been no coverage in the local media, it has been widely rumored that the local Democratic Party already has voted for Hunkin-Finau to be its nominee for congress this year to avenge the defeat of her brother Faleomavaega, who lost a bid for a 14^th term in the 2014 election when rumors about his health proved true.  Although after his defeat Faleomavaega vowed to continue to be involved in Samoan politics, he never built his own home in the territory and does not live here.  He lives on the Mainland now and other than a brief trip home for Flag Day this year, has not been head from locally. It is not known if he discussed his sister's attempt to return the seat to the family's control while he was on island it would come as no surprise if he encouraged her to do it since his health continues to be poor and there is no chance he could be elected if he even ran again.

Perhaps Hunkin-Finau has made no public announcement of her intentions because local law would require her to take leave from her government job while she is a candidate. Since she is widely known, there is no rush and the filing period does not open until July in any event.  It is not clear if news of the party endorsement has been suppressed by Samoa News at the request of one of the paper's editors, Teri Hunkin, who is Hunkin Finau's sister-in-law and also is the territory's Democratic National Committeewoman.

Meanwhile, the power agency director taking the unusual step of criticizing the performance of another government agency surely can be seen as obliquely taking a shot across the bow of Hunkin-Finau's looming candidacy for Congress when seen in the context of Malae's other position: chairman of the Republican Party of American Samoa. Samoa News makes no mention of Malae's political position nor Hunkin-Finau's political aspirations but because of the story's prominent placement in the paper, the implications are clear on an island well tuned in to politics.  Election year has just begun.  Stay tuned.

New Embarrassments for Faleomavaega sister

Memo to candidates for Congress next year:  If you are seeking signatures for your nominating petition, you might start in the DOE director's office. There should be plenty of people eager to sign up even if they might be happy to see the boss, Vaitinasa Salu Hunkin-Finau move on.  They likely know Salu, the sister of defeated delegate Faleomavaega Eni Hunkin, has no prayer of being elected to Congress, for which she is said already to be campaigning hard.  Her staff hopes that after the leave she will be required to take that she will move on to some other job.

Why won't they back her?  Lots of reasons but the latest is a memo she wrote to all staff reminding them that in addition to their professional duties, they need to take turns cleaning the department's bathrooms and answering general telephone calls.

Meantime, in the page one lead Samoa News story, the director of human resources embarassed her in demanding she "cease and desist" in the hiring of a deputy director. Another DOE professional lodged a complaint with HR that she hired someone without even interviewing the complainant, who also had applied for the job. She has been upbraided publically by the governor before so this is nothing new for her.

Faleomavaega May Try Congress By Proxy

This blog has had one purpose over the years: to expose the truth about Faleomavaega Eni Hunkin in an effort to drive him from office. With his defeat last year in an attempt to win a 14^th term, we put this blog into mothballs. Living in Utah in retirement, when he took down his Facebook Page earlier this year we were more confident than ever that he would not attempt a comeback and this conclusion was reinforced by his special trip here for Flag Day, at which it was obvious that his health had not improved since election day 2014. How could it? He has diabetes, heart disease and kidney failure. All are chronic illnesses from which recovery is not expected and he is too old to risk a kidney or heart transplant.

So when he quickly departed after Flag Day, we were ready to consign this blog to the dust bin of history until we started to hear talk around the island that Faleomavaega's sister, Vaitunasa Salu Hunkin-Finau is prepared to make a bid to return the office to family hands. We have no indication of what the two siblings discussed while Eni was on island but have no doubt it would have included the next congressional race. Our own belief is that at some point Eni would have told her he would not be a candidate and encouraged her to take on the woman who beat him.

We make no judgment on the performance of Eni's successor but it is unlikely that he could transfer to Vaitunasa his western district power base, which completely collapsed on him last year. For years he had done poorly in the east and never has won Manu'a but always made up for it with massive margins in the vote rich districts of Fofo and the Tualauta, home to many of the members of the territory's Mormon Church to which church he belongs and, of course, the home of the vast Hunkin family clan, regardless of faith.

Matthew Hunkin, a young Englishman born in Cornwall in 1815, came to Tutuila in 1836 at age 21 and settled in the village of Leone, where two years later he married a member of the Malala family and lived for 43 years until he died in 1879. The Hunkins had seven children but only one emigrated elsewhere. All of the many Samoans who carry the Hunkin surname are descended from one of Matthew's three remaining sons and there are many more descended from the three Hunkin daughters who carry the blood if not the name.  So it is a huge vote base on an island where family ties are still important in voting habits.

However, when Faleomavaega won his final victory in 2012 with his usual large margins, that voter base at the same time did not transfer to his sister, who was on the ballot running for governor. Indeed, she finished a poor fourth or fifth in the traditional Hunkin strongholds and wound up with only 6.8 percent of the total vote territory-wide. So the first question that has to be asked is where is her base?  There may have been resistance to voting for two close members of the same family for territory wide office but her votes totals were so much lower than his in the family districts that it could not be a major reason for her dismal showing.

In the absence of a reliable base, perhaps she is banking on her personal qualities or professional performance. If so, she is delusional. She has none of her brother's easy going personality, which carried him far with the voters during his career. Moreover, she has no track record on which to build. In the 2012 gubernatorial election voters undoubtedly recalled that she had been fired as president of the community college. Nonetheless, after the election Governor Lolo made her his director of education (which does not oversee the college) perhaps in hopes she would not run against him again in 2016. 

But her tenure at DOE has been less than spectacular, marked by school buildings not ready for students at the beginning of the school year, book shortages, teacher shortages caused by low salaries for some and others who just did not want to work for her any more and troubles with federal grant management. School buses have been idled for lack of fuel and her disastrous decision to combine all the high school graduating classes for one ceremony was so unpopular that it had to be reversed by the governor, publicly humiliating her in the process.

So, we see no rationale for her candidacy, but then again there have been other perennial candidates like Tuika Tuika and Rosie Lancaster who have had little or no support at the ballot box yet run again and again, so who knows?

While this blog is devoted to making sure Faleomavaega does not occupy the congressional seat ever again, we are expanding our scope to include his sister to make sure he does not occupy it by proxy, either. We have plenty to say about Vaitunasa and more to dig up but will hold our fire until we see if a candidacy really develops. For now, Salu, let us just say that your don't want to run for office again, you really don't. Trust us.

The Rise of the Phoenix

The March 10 blog essay in The Hill, a Washington-based newspaper focusing on Congress, written by former nonvoting delegate Eni Faleomavaega (D-AS) requesting Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe apologize for his country’s use of “comfort women” in World War II is reminiscent of the famous bathtub scene in the movie Fatal Attraction, in which Glenn Close’s character simply will not stay dead after Michael Douglas’s character presumably has drowned her.

Faleomavaega was soundly beaten in last November’s election, he has health problems (diabetes, heart and kidney disease) from which he simply will not recover, he reportedly has moved from his Washington area residence to Utah, where his wife has lived apart from him for many years and he has not returned to American Samoa—at least not that we have seen—since his departure shortly after the election.   So one might have been forgiven to have been surprised to have seen him reinsert himself into the national scene on one of his pet issues.  While the essay might have been buried domestically in the avalanche of news emanating from Washington, it did not go unnoticed by the Communist Chinese, who quickly picked it up and ran it in the Global Times, the English-language version of Xinhua.

Giving further credence to speculation that he plans also to reinsert himself into the American Samoa political scene, also this week there was a full-page ad in Samoa News quoting passages from his 1995 memoir, Navigating the Future.   There was no tag line indicating who paid for the ad but who else could it have been but Eni or his campaign committee?  Checking Federal Election Commission records, there are three active campaign committees for 2016, including one for Faleomavaega.  If his committee paid for it, the expenditure will not be reflected until the filing of the next required quarterly report next month.

His defeat was so decisive, the ABCDEF Group was prepared to close down this blog the day after the election and disband.  But we held off when we saw photos and news stories about how he joined the winning candidate in the traditional, day-after-election, roadside thank-you wave.  Public comments on the gesture were uniformly positive with people expressing pleasure at how these two long time rivals had so quickly healed any lingering wounds.

However, we were not so positive.  Knowing Faleomavaega and his need for the spotlight, he surmised that he realized the spotlight now was no longer on him so he moved across the street to join her so he could be under it again.  It worked because it was published widely in the media and in on-line social networks.  Frankly, we thought it was magnanimous of the winner to let him share her stage since she had run against him repeatedly over the past 20 years while he had repeatedly denigrated her.  However, once the post-election spotlight was turned off, with Faleomavaega wishing the victor well and promising to help her as much as possible in the transition, the ABCDEF Group was ready to fold our tent.

Not so fast.  Before boarding his plane Friday after the election he already was qualifying his support for his successor, saying it would depend on where she stood on the issues since there were major philosophical differences between the parties to which they belong. Without specifying how we would get involved in the future, he also told the media that he was not finished with Samoan politics.  But that was the last noise he made until his op-ed blog essay this week in The Hill and his full page ad in both English and Samoan which concluded “to be continued.”  For our part, we decided to let it go and assume a "wait and watch" posture.

 However, if his reentry onto the public stage so far were any indication, he does not seem to have learned any lessons by his defeat other than his belief that questions about his health played a major role in his demise.  Despite all the problems American Samoa faces that need federal attention, his energies still are focused on foreign affairs.  His final substantive appearance on the House Floor dealt with a resolution not on American Samoa but on the peaceful settlement of disputes in the South China Sea.  His essay in The Hill dealt with Japan.  His full page ad had to do with Micronesia.   All worthy issues, no doubt, but not very high on the list of priorities of the voters in this territory.  

Saddest of all for him and for American Samoa, with all his frenetic energy he really did not make a difference.   Lots of great photos on his ego walls in his office that can be seen from pictures of his farewell party posted on his Facebook page but that is about it.  No signal achievements for American Samoa or anywhere else in his 26 years of trying.  Even in his latest pet project: the election of the new prime minister of India, he has been eclipsed by the other Samoan in the House, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) whose Hindu faith already has made her a favorite in New Delhi.  Pitiful, just pitiful.

 Moreover, his final House Floor appearance was punctuated with the traditional Hawaiian farewell “aloha” rather than the Samoan “tofa,” reflecting the fact that he spent his formative years growing up in Hawaii, not American Samoa, and underscoring yet another of his pet issues: social justice for Native Hawaiians.   He has not made a difference there, either.

So, unlike Michael Douglas, who turned his back when he was certain Glenn Close was dead, the ABCDEFG blog will remain online albeit dormant just in case, like Douglas's movie wife, we need to put a final bullet in the political corpse by reminding voters of all the reasons why this man needs to remain out of public office. 

That having been said, we are under no illusions that the many blog entries we have posted here over the years turned a single voter against him (although it should have) or in any way cost him the election.  Our disagreement with him always has been about his priorities.   Although we have expressed no opinion, he may well be right about Japanese comfort women, Cambodian debt relief,  the name of the Washington Redskins, nuclear clean up in Central Asia, French nuclear testing, land disputes in Rapanui, Hawaiian and West Papuan sovereignty and all the other issues to which he has devoted his time over the years—excessively we believe. 

He never hid from the voters his passion for foreign affairs and he should be commended for that.  They renewed his mandate every two years for a quarter century.  We do agree with him that his health cost him the election or he would have won again.  In our final pre-election blog, we stated that he would have to be considered the odds on favorite to be reelected, so his defeat came as much of a surprise to us as it did to him.  He also lost because he took the voters for granted by not telling them what his health situation was for nearly a year, not returning home to campaign until three weeks before the election (with no valid reason for staying away) then skipping the big candidate debate.  Health and arrogance cost him his seat and there is no indication in his reemergence that he has learned anything from it.

He won repeatedly not because of his positions on foreign affairs issues. He won because he had a large family base in the Leone area, where the original Englishman Matthew Hunkin settled, married a Samoan girl 177 years ago and over the ensuing 43 years raised four sons (John, Alfred, George and William) and three daughters (Ann, Mary and Jane). Faleomavaega, whose birth name was Eni F. Hunkin, Jr. is one of Matthew’s countless descendents still in the area who for years provided him with a rock solid family voter base.  Coupled with the unwavering support of the large population of his fellow Mormon co-religionists, he was unbeatable at the polls.

He also won through fear: fear that his defeat would reduce sharply the federal funds that flow to the territory.  He played heavily on the belief that his party was the party that was better able to ensure federal grants and that his friendship with the powerful Hawaii senators, Daniel Akaka (D) and especially Daniel Inouye (D) as well as being, along with the powerful California Reps. Nancy Pelosi (D) and George Miller (D), the protégés of the late Rep. Phillip Burton (D)  (who features prominently in the Samoa News ad), were essential to keeping the grants coming.

He actually might have won because of all these factors if he had not been too clever a decade ago in getting the federal law changed to do away with the majority vote for his office.  Since 2004, he has needed only a plurality to win re-election, eliminating the need for runoffs between the two candidates receiving the most votes.  The change was made without any local input from local political leaders and thereafter was derisively labeled the “Eni Hunkin Perpetual Reelection Act.”  The change served him well until last November. 

Had the runoff rule remained in effect, he very well might have beaten his main opponent once the former governor and seven minor candidates were swept away in a first round of voting.  But in the final analysis he was hoist with his own petard and it served him right.  Revenge is a dish best served cold. 

***

End note:  If this man were to try to make a comeback, we would be reminding voters all the reasons he should not be permitted but if he does not, this blog will remain dormant.  So, just in case we do not come back, we would be remiss by not commenting on coverage of Faleomavaega by Samoa News and Radio 93KHJ-FM, the major news outlets for the territory.   We felt that they showed bias toward Faleomavaega over the years by not adequately exposing his excessive travel, inattention to local issues, long absences from the territory, lack of information from his office and in the final year, inadequate coverage of his deteriorating health, especially with the use of misleading photos showing him in excellent health. 

In the final analysis we now believe more than anything else it was a question of lack of resources to get at the truth that hampered local news coverage.  When Eni did return, Samoa News had a photographer at the airport and published a photo the next day showing the gaunt delegate hobbling through the terminal with a cast on his foot and a portable dialysis bag hanging from his shoulder.  That picture was worth a thousand words and KHJ-FM also used contemporary, unflattering photos on its companion talanei.com website.  The photos more than made up for the previous poor coverage.  KHJ also took the extra step of engaging a Washington correspondent to keep better tabs on Eni.

We do not know much about the abilities of the woman who is replacing him in the House but through the local media she does appear at least to be keeping the public better informed than he did of her activities in Washington.  If Eni does attempt a comeback, he probably will be forced to change his approach to public information.   If he does not, we will be here to fill in the gaps.

FALEOMAVAEGA BEING SUED

With only five days to go before elections, a former member of Faleomavaega's staff is suing the delegate for a variety of human rights abuses, including racial and religious discrimination. The main target of the suit is Lisa Williams, Faleomavaega's Washington chief of staff. She has been with him may years and has a reputation of being a no-nonsense throat cutter who takes no prisoners. We understand there is no shortage of glee over any hot water in which she may find herself. Needless to say, the delegate's local office director, Fai'ivae Alex Godinet, the following day quickly dismissed the suit as baseless.

It is hard to say what effect, if any, this late publicity might have on the election but at least some voters are likely to wonder if the territory can afford to have its delegate preoccupied with yet another distraction along with his failing health and pet issues unrelated to American Samoa. Since he has been home, he largely has remained out of sight, missing a number of joint public appearances with his challengers. Other than his thrice weekly visits to the hospital's dialysis clinic, he hasn't been seen by the public except for his road side sign waving, a traditional ritual of Samoan campaigns.

The man is either extremely arrogant, supremely confident or has lost his mind in this campaign. Other than some well worn newspaper ads, a few heart tugging radio ads, which emphasize his health problems, and the ubiquitous sign-waving, sometimes in a wheel chair, complete with him sporting a cast on one foot and carrying what looks like some sort of an IV device, he has done very little campaigning at all.

If he is supremely confident of reelection, it is because he has played a brilliant game of delaying announcement of his reelection plans so as to draw into the race a large field of challengers so his opposition would be fragmented. In that way, he could retreat into his stronghold on the western side of the island, knowing that as long as he held his hardcore supporters he could withstand a fragmented challenge and win with only the plurality that is required thanks to a change in the law he rammed through Congress almost 10 years ago.

He is also arrogant, taking a huge gamble that more people will react in sympathy to his physical infirmities and reward with with “one last term” than will conclude after seeing him that he simply no longer has the capacity to do the job. We can think of nine reasons right off the bat why he should be rewarded with another term:

1. double bypass heart surgery
2. cataract surgery
3. appendectomy
4. type II diabetes
5. high blood pressure
6. chronic heart disease
7. kidney failure
8. gout
9. knee surgery

Perhaps no single one of these conditions is disqualifying but taken together they do not bode well for the future health of a 71-year-old man. As a matter of fact, we question whether, if reelected, he could make it through another two-year term.

Even if he has no further setbacks, his schedule likely would be cut back. His heart and kidney disease, which he says is caused by his exposure to Agent Orange 40 years ago during his military service, are chronic conditions that will only worsen, not improve. Needing to be tethered to a dialysis machine three times a week, his travel to exotic places would be severely reduced if not eliminated and if travel were an important part of being the Ranking Minority Member of a foreign affairs subcommittee, then his position would likely be in jeopardy and he probably would face a challenge.

Last year he missed a committee trip to East Asia, which is in his geographical area of jurisdiction; he missed a Natural Resources Committee trip to the Pacific, including a stop in American Samoa; he missed an international small island states conference that takes place only once every 10 years and was of importance to both the territories and the independent Pacific; he missed months of committee hearings; and he missed a UN summit on climate change.

If he were reelected tomorrow—and it is a distinct possibility—it would represent the height of selfishness. He already is eligible for a full pension, topped off by VA disability benefits, full congressional health and insurance benefits and no real clout in a Congress that will be run again by Republicans for at least the next two years. Nor does he show any interest in American Samoa issues. He is more concerned with such issues as forcing the Washington Redskins to relinquish the team nickname, pushing for Cambodian debt relief and lobbying for nuclear clean up of Kazakhstan.

Faleomavaega has done his constituents a great disservice by insisting they decide his political future when it is clear he should have made the decision to retire on his own. He will be doing us an even greater disservice by continuing to serve as long as he is able to do so into another term, largely doing little more than occupying a seat while his staff props him up. All the while, he will be denying some other worthy public servant the opportunity to accrue seniority that will benefit the territory down the line. At his age even in the best of health his productive years would have been behind him.

Since he will not go gently into the night, we can only hope that the voters are fed up to the point they are ready to say enough is enough and end his career tomorrow.

If not, we will be right back in this space come Wednesday to continue to keep a watchful eye on him and perform the public responsibility our local media has abrogated.