(Note: This is actually an Editorial/Commentary- rjm, it’s filed as such, but I didn’t label the title.)
Hanabusa makes remarks on the hill.
Former Rep. Ed Case’s (D-Hawaii) primary opponent doesn’t believe Democrats have forgiven him for challenging Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii).
“I think that Ed should bow out,” said state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa (D). “And the main reason why is that contrary to what he told you, I don’t believe that Democrats have forgiven him for the race against Senator Akaka.”
She doesn’t stop there.
Moreover, his Senate run, which came after winning only one full term in the House, showed that he’s not a team player, Hanabusa said. “Ed has never been viewed as team player by the congressional delegation or by others in the state. He’s not a consensus builder.”
Hanabusa pointed to recent remarks from Abercrombie that she said hinted he wasn’t looking for Case to succeed him.
“My thought, and I’ve said it to other people, is if you don’t want to be a team player in the Hawaii congressional delegation, don’t run, because there are only four of us,” Abercrombie told the Honolulu Advertiser this week.
Hanabusa labeled Case a “maverick,” and implied he would operate independently of the rest of the state’s members.
“I don’t believe when we only have four in our congressional delegation that you can have somebody who runs maverick on ya,” she said. “It’s not that time.”
Or there.
Hanabusa is confident she’ll beat Case and Djou.
She pointed out Case is considered a Blue Dog Democrat while Djou is pitching himself as a pro-business, fiscal conservative. “I think they will pull more from the same vote base than I will,” Hanabusa said. “Ed and Djou in the race are going to cancel each other out.”
Or there.
“I think we will probably out raise Ed,” she said. “Realistically we should exceed two-hundred-something thousand [by the end of the quarter].”
The campaign has a goal of $300,000, which would match Djou’s expected fundraising haul. “We have commitments to that amount already. It’s just a matter of when we would report it,” Hanabusa said. “I don’t think that Charles would have an advantage over me in terms of ability to raise money.”
What Colleen Hanabusa should consider is that she is running to represent a district that she does not reside in. Despite her apparent funding, it won’t do anything if the residents of CD-1 realize that, and decide to vote for the candidate that does live in their district.
And obviously, there must be some sort of unspoken rules in the Hawaii Parties that no person should challenge the incumbent from the same party. This in itself will foster career politicians who, once win the seat will only have to squash opposition from the other party.
Although Hawaii has been an overwhelmingly Democratic State, the Democratic Party should not get too confident that can secure the seats in both Federal and State offices. The Legislature’s overrides of the Governor’s vetoes and the recent fiascos with the Superferry, Civil Unions Bill, Furlough Fridays, are all on the Democrat’s watch and dime.
A rebuttal from a commenter followed that article:
Colleen once again only thinking of herself… she wants to keep her senate seat AND run for congress… Shows she cannot focus! do we really want a self serving double minded career politician?
BY CASE FOR CONGRESS on 12/29/2009 at 04:58
Also, the three candidates all have their websites up. Go google them and you’ll find the sites. (Note: I am not linking to any campaign site unless there is a newsworthy reason.)
Special election? Game on!
Date: Not sure yet. And if Congressman Abercrombie doesn’t make one official within the next day or so, there’s no telling how this special election will work out.
Everyone is going to play tough in the special election, but it seems like CH is playing hardball right from the start. That probably means that she needs to run a negative campaign to take votes away from Ed. I wonder if running negative is going to backfire and how long before Ed decides to hit back.
She’ll have to do it twice, because even if Case doesn’t get the special election he probably won’t shy away from the primary. And that would be the one to really watch out for. – rjm