The old adage “The camera doesn’t lie” was fully realized last week when United States Congressman Mike Honda (D-California) dozed off on the House floor before CSPAN cameras as his colleagues debated funding for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Lauren Boyer of the U.S. News and World Report caught Honda napping. The San Jose Mercury News‘s Scott Herhold noted that Honda tilted his head to his right and fell into a short slumber as his Democratic colleague from California, Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard addressed a near-empty room. His snooze session was interrupted by the approach of Rep Keith Ellison (D-MN).
Friday’s dozer was not the first time Honda has fallen asleep. During a 2013 town hall meeting in Fremont that Honda himself called in order to discuss ObamaCare, the veteran congressman leaned back, his eyes slowly closed, and he nodded off just as the details of the policy were being discussed.
Honda’s Democratic opponent in 2014, Ro Khanna, 38, highlighted that incident. The latest snooze could help solidify a Khanna decision to run against Honda again come 2016. Khanna lost by a mere 3.6% in November.
In the Mercury News piece, Herhold plays with a few ideas a talented Khanna consultant could use to defeat Honda a second time around. On the positive attack front, he suggests an ad showing Khanna with the words “Vote for Ro: He’ll stay awake for you.” And conversely, a negative campaign ad could show the picture of Honda sleeping with the words “Paid for by Ro Khanna for Congress.”
In the end, a picture is worth a thousand words–and perhaps even thousands of dollars in campaign donations.
Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter @AdelleNaz
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