Hawaii face-off - Senate

Off of Racism Week, and onto more substantive political analysis. For those of us in the mainland, Hawaiian politics never come to mind. However, Hawaii is the only US state where Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are the majority minority. This is what makes the Senate and 2nd Congressional District races particularly interesting, as Ed Case, the 2nd District's Congressman, is challening incumbent Senator Daniel Akaka (Democrat). This has created the standard musical chairs routine, and now there are a number of candidates for the open Congressional seat (I'll cover this in another post.)

What makes this state politically interesting is that it is the reddest "blue state" -- in 2004 , the national GOP in the form of Dick Cheney, made a few passes there, causing Democrats to invest some money in the state. Although the state's Congressional delegation is all Democratic, the governor, Linda Lingle, is a Republican.

Senators :	Daniel Inouye (D), Daniel Akaka (D)
Representative(s) :	Neil Abercrombie (D), Ed Case (D)

The 2004 Census figures show a very diverse state:

Column 1 = Hawaii pop. Col 2= US pop.

White persons, percent, 2004 (a) 26.5% 80.4%
Black persons, percent, 2004 (a) 2.2% 12.8%
American Indian and Alaska Native persons, percent, 2004 (a) 0.3% 1.0%
Asian persons, percent, 2004 (a) 41.8% 4.2%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, percent, 2004 (a) 9.1% 0.2%
Persons reporting two or more races, percent, 2004 20.1% 1.5%
Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin, percent, 2004 (b) 7.9% 14.1%

(Sorry, one of these days I will figure out how to format in tables properly.)

I. The Senate race: Akaka v. Case

Senator Daniel Akaka is the only Chinese American member of the Senate (and one of two Asian American senators, both from Hawaii) as well as the only Native Hawaiian in the Senate, and the chief sponsor of a bill for federal recognition for Native Hawaiians. Akaka has been a leader for Asian Pacific Americans as part of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. During WWII, he served in the US Army of Engineers. His campaign site describes his childhood:

Danny Akaka was born in 1924, the last of eight children. His grandfather emigrated from China in the late 1880s and married a Native Hawaiian. His father worked as a molder for the old Honolulu Iron Works Company while his mother cared for four sons and four daughters. The Akaka children grew up in a poor but close-knit family. They all lived in a tiny, two-bedroom house in Pauoa Valley. “We didn’t have much,” recalls Akaka, “but we were raised in a very spiritual manner with a great love of family, which our parents passed on to us. Looking back, I’m amazed at how they were able to give us so much of the things that really mattered when they had so little.”

He sits on the following Senate committees:

• Armed Services,
• Energy and Natural Resources,
• Governmental Affairs (GAC), Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
• Veterans' Affairs,
• Indian Affairs.

He previously also served on the Select Committee on Ethics. Akaka might become the ranking Senator of the Homeland Security committee if Dems take back the Senate and kick Joe Lieberman out, a scenario that is growing increasingly likely as Lieberman alienates rising numbers of Senate colleagues.

Congressman Ed Case is a lawyer by training who replaced the esteemed late Congresswoman Patsy Mink in a special election. Case had previously run unsuccessfully for Governor.

Rep. Mink was the first non-white woman to serve in Congress, as well as author of the historic Title IX Amendment of the Higher Education Act that legislated gender parity in higher education, most notably in sports. Mink was a major civil rights figure, and was one of the 13 Representatives who protested the awarding of Florida's electoral votes during the debacle of the 2000 elections because of voter disenfranchisement (in a clip shown during Farenheit 9/11.)

Case is a cousin of the fabulously wealthy Steve Case, founder of AOL.

A recent Honolulu Advertiser article highlights the main differences between the candidates:

Akaka, 81, squarely addressed the issue of his age, saying the elderly should not be cynically dismissed as frail and disposable but valued as kupuna who have wisdom and experience.

The senator also embraced his role as a liberal who has challenged President Bush on the war in Iraq, the USA Patriot Act and tax breaks for the wealthy, suggesting that the moderate Case would not stand up to the administration.

"Who is going to do that for us in Washington, D.C.? Who will be the alternative voice, that persistent conscience?" Akaka asked. "Will it be Republicans? Or even individuals who claim to be Democrats but vote to the contrary?

"Or will they just rubber-stamp the administration's decisions?"

Case, 53, acknowledged that the primary is a difficult and emotional choice for many but asked people to look honestly at the need for leadership transition. He said planning for transition is routine in business, the military and in many families and warned that it would be a mistake for Hawai'i to fail to recognize its importance in the Senate.

Case's argument for "leadership transition" is specious - as Akaka pointed out during the debates, Congressman Neli Abercrombie would be a natural fit for the next Senator from Hawaii. Furthermore, rubberstamping Bush's agenda does not equate to "leadership" for Case. Case fails here to make a sound argument FOR himself, rather he is just engaged in trying to bring down Akaka. A major policy difference here: Akaka voted against the Iraq war, as someone who has seen firsthand the ravages of war, whereas Case remains in support of his vote for the Iraq war.

Akaka portrayed himself as someone who has been able to be "that alternative voice, that nagging conscience."

"Will it be Republicans or even individuals who claim to be Democrats, but vote to the contrary?" Akaka asked. "Or will they just rubber stamp this administration's decisions?"

Case said, however, that Akaka has been named the "most liberal member of the Senate" and is backed by the "far-left one percent."

Turning his attention to the war in Iraq, Akaka said he sees himself as someone who will "demand of this (Bush) administration a strategy and timetable for peace and how we intend to ensure a stable and democratic government in Iraq."

But Case said Akaka was one of only 13 senators who voted to demand that American troops pull out of Iraq in one year.

Akaka has been endorsed by progressive Democrats including Dennis Kucinich and Barack Obama (who grew up in Hawaii) and the Progressive Democrats of Hawaii, a spinoff of the Progressive Democrats of America.

MyDD has a good analysis of how conservative Ed Case is, and finds him very far to the right:

The National Journal on Feb 24th published an ideological ranking of all members of Congress. Overall, Ed Case was the 25th most conservative Democrat in the House. 22 of the more conservative Democrats came from the South, so I guess you can say they don't have much freedom on how to vote. Of the two non-Southern Dems, both came from conservative districts that voted for Bush. After looking at the scoring, I can comfortably say that Ed Case is the most conservative Democrat in the House who has a choice on how to vote! The others HAVE to support Bush-- Ed CHOOSES to do so.

Progressive Democrats are working to kick Joe Lieberman out of the Senate on the mainland, and should be rightfully worried about getting a conservative Dem like Case in exchange.