After DC808 reported that former Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle‘s campaign for U.S. Senate called the so-called Buffett Rule a gimmick, national Democrats say it shows Lingle is not as committed to bipartisanship as she claims.

“Linda Lingle claims she is bipartisan on the campaign trail, but when push comes to shove, she proves time and again that she’ll gladly join Republicans to make middle-class Americans bear the burden for deficit reduction and protect tax breaks for the Mitt Romneys of the world,” Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Matt Canter said in a statement. 

National Democrats rarely miss an opportunity to criticize Lingle, a well-known Republican candidate who has consistently pulled in more money than any other Hawaii candidate for federal office since she entered the race for Senate.

Lingle has expressed concern about raising taxes on people who earn more than $1 million in annual income, and says doing so would hurt Hawaii’s small businesses. 

She also objected to the way that Congress handled the ultimately unsuccessful vote to advance the Buffett rule, saying that proceeding with a vote that members of Congress knew would fail was time wasted in order to make a political point.