Kaaawa is firmly in the 2nd Congressional District, so I can only vicariously feel the pain of progressive Democrats trying to decide how to cast their special election ballots.
My feeling is that Colleen Hanabusa has the best record and the best chance for success in Congress, but…and a big but…I’ve also been watching for months, expecting to see some evidence that her campaign has increased its traction among voters. She’s doing fine among Dem leaders, but for whatever reasons, her campaign has just lacked any spark, and her poll results have sagged when they needed to surge.
The Case campaign sent out an email blast yesterday citing the most recent poll results.
Hanabusa’s camp responded by again describing her as the best candidate. I agree that she is. But despite the positive tone from Hanabusa’s campaign (the votes cast are the only poll that counts, etc), I haven’t seen any evidence that the recent polls are masking a dramatic turnaround in voter opinion.
So despite the fact that I haven’t been an Ed Case booster, if I lived in the district he would be getting my vote. I wouldn’t have said that earlier in this campaign. But I’m not one of those Democrats who would rather see the Republican candidate win than a Democratic candidate they don’t like (and don’t control). And I don’t think it would make a lot of political sense, under the circumstances, to save my vote for my preferred candidate while knowing that she won’t win.
If you’re a Democrat in the 1st District, what’s your position at this point?
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I voted for Hanabusa. The “lesser of two evils” strategy may appeal to some but to me, you vote for the best candidate.
In any event, I just can’t see Djou pulling it off in November.
Hanabusa is the only actual Democrat in this election and got my vote.
The local party needs to grow a pair and kick Case out. He doesn’t share Democratic values, and does not deserve the perks that go with being a Democrat in Hawaii.
Agreed. Case is only in the Democratic Party for himself – because it’s the way to get ahead politically here.
Wish I could vote in this one, if I could it would be for Case.
And yes I AM a Democrat who would rather Djou win than Hanabusa if it came down to it. At least Djou sort of knows the meaning of good government. Hanabusa’s sold out so many times I doubt even SHE knows who owns her anymore. Anybody remember that debacle where she let Clayton Hee run the Senate Judiciary cmte for a year?
If Hanabusa wins she’ll become the invincible tick, impossible to dislodge. Sorry no more “Old Boys” for me in Congress. If Djou wins he’ll last till the main event after the rest of Abercrombie’s term runs out, then we get to do the whole dance again, hopefully w/ Case winning the primary.
Sorry I still feel really burned over how the old-guard has dealt with Case and those Democrats that side with him, maybe he tried to jump in line, but that’s no reason to send someone with such a proclivity for selling out to Congress like Hanabusa.
Ian,
Thanks for writing this. It speaks directly to my dilemma as a very active Democrat and a progressive living in the First District.
Had I voted on Saturday, the day I got my ballot, I would have voted for Hanabusa. The only temptation I had was whether to vote for Rafael del Castillo, a decent, intelligent guy with whom I MAY be in closer agreement.
But with the “leak” of the DNC poll showing Hanabusa so far behind, I am in a quandary. While I can construct an argument that a Djou victory would be temporary and how our vote should not be guided by fear of a Djou victory, such arguments strike me as unrealistic, given the conditions facing us. In this case, it appears the voters are making up their minds and abandoning Hanabusa for Case, probably sensing he is the best chance for defeating Djou.
At this point, I do not know how I will vote. I am not eager to help Ed Case advance another step towards his goal of becoming the next US Senator from Hawaii. And, if he wins the special election, he will probably win the primary in the fall. It is at this point the argument that a temporary Djou victory is not such a bad thing. But I have to push down such arguments, as a Djou victory would undoubtedly give a boost of enthusiasm to the GOP and Teabaggers all across the country. Turning a SUBJECTIVE victory into an OBJECTIVE force for further electoral gains.
Wobble, wobble. “Does not compute, does not compute.”
You’ve put it in a nutshell. Meanwhile my ballot sits waiting.
The newspapers and tv coverage of this race that ignored all but the top three candidates until yesterday did Hawaii a big disservice. By telling us there were only three serious candidates, they decided for us, and in doing so they failed us in a big way.
The media should not be deciding who the real candidates are. That is the people’s decision. As in failing to cover the millions protesting in the streets against the Iraq war and minimizing the protests when they were covered, as in covering the tea party protests disproportionally, as in too many instances to count over the last decade, corporate media has completely let us down.
I haven’t missed a vote in my life, but until I learned about Del Castillo I was leaning towards sitting this one out.
Djou is a carefully rehearsed one dimensional lightweight. He is not even an option, party aside.
I wish I trusted Ed Case but that trust was destroyed a long time ago. I don’t trust that he will put the interests of Hawaii’s people first.
I’m glad there’s another couple of weeks to work this out.
Need to add that I have no doubt about Ed Case as a fine person; my hesitation is just that we don’t see things the same way.
Love or hate him, Djou was absolutely correct on his opposition to Mufi’s rail. He will get my vote for standing up to Mufi on the rail fiasco. He certainly didn’t cave in like some of his fellow council members.
Hanabusa is too similar to Mazie Hirono.
Djou, like a few others, has just used the rail project as a combination soap box/whipping boy. Since he’s against virtually everything that requires spending tax money (except a few nasty little wars and welfare for Wall Street pirates), that’s pretty predictable. But it’s unfortunate that he is able to sway anyone based on a single issue, especially since he’s so simplistic about it and offers no alternatives whatsoever.
By the way, a pretty solid case can be made that our expensive, ugly, clogged, environmentally destructive freeway system and addiction to oil (and war) are the real fiasco. Aloha
I wish I could still vote in the 1st District but moved to the mainland too long ago. I find it bizarre that anyone suggests that one politician’s ego is bigger than another – you cannot not think a lot of yourself and run for Congress. From everything that I saw while Ed Case was in Hawaii, he was a deeply involved Congressman who worked really hard for Hawaii and for national Democratic principles. He brought substance and ideas to the two issues that I worked with him on – endangered species and agriculture policy – and I wish there were more Members of Congress like him – men and women who get personally involved in their legislative jobs instead of having 24-30 year old aides do all the work. I hope Hawaii sends him back to Washington – the country could use him and he would continue to represent Hawaii well.
Not impressed by any of them — we need to start working on the next generation of kids to elevate them beyond partisan nonsense and sound bites.
It is not impossible. And despite being the system we got, the two party system is not written in stone. It will take some hard work but the next generation could make us look like a bunch of silly fools if we can get them on the right path away from this dysfunctional paradigm.
Ian,
you’re right on the mark. It comes down to voting for Hanabusa equaling voting for Djou.
The progressives are taking a real chance in thinking Djou can be taken in November (if he wins). The downside needs to be considered now. If Djou cannot be unseated in November then this lays the groundwork for a senatorial run in 2012. As Democrats, let’s get a Democrat in now, and deal with the moderate versus progressive rift in September, but certainly not have to worry about an incumbent Republican who could ride this wave to the senate.
oh geez. let’s say i’m a liberal and either a conservative or a moderate will win an election. the polls make it clear Hanabusa is not going to win now or in November. even PRESIDENT OBAMA is NOT TAKING HER SIDE over CASE. GEEZ I WONDER whom I SHOULD VOTE FOR??? a wise decision takes a nanosecond. it only makes sense for Case to beat the Republican Djou. get off your rockers and stop freaking out about a liberal not winning one election in Hawaii. the sun will continue to rise the next day i promise. not voting would be like sitting out of the McCain-Obama race because poor poor poor Hillary didn’t win the freakin’ primary!!!!! open your minds people!!! by design politics never give everyone what they want!!!!!! (thank our lucky stars)
All I can say is this: Don’t let a poll influence your vote.
Vote for the person you think is best suited to the job. Not because you think that person has a better chance of winning.
To let a poll sway your decision defeats the fundamental nature of the process. It’s the worst reason for casting any ballot. Almost as bad as not voting at all.
Hanabusa doesn’t have traction among local Democrats because local Democrats are changing. She would just do whatever the Dans told her without really thinking for herself, because politicians’ first line of thinking is self-preservation.
That’s one thing I like about Case. He told the old boys to stick it, he’s not sitting out and waiting his turn for anything. This isn’t grammar school. He doesn’t have to take turns or ask permission to run for office (or, presumably, use the restroom, but in the Hawaii Democratic Party one never can tell).
I live in the first district and cast my vote for Djou. I don’t consider myself aligned with any party and am neither conservative nor liberal in the traditional ways. I basically vote for whomever I trust most.
Hanabusa seems like she’s a rubber stamp. And Case seems like he’s just a rich kid who needs to get a real job somewhere along the line.
Djou seems somewhat normal, is in the National Guard and would provide an alternative voice in Hawaii’s delegation.
The electorate is tired of being told what to do, wait our turn and stop being the nail that sticks up. We will not be hammered down any longer. We’re smart enough to think for ourselves.
@joeeddie, well, the truth of the matter is that the vast majority of voters get their perception of candidates from commercials, brochures and to a lesser extent, debates, polls, word-of-mouth, signwavers, yardsigns, etc.
I would say that 99.9% of voters have never had a lengthy discussion with all the candidates in a given race before making up their minds.
If that’s smart enough to think for themselves, personally, I wonder.
We would not have to have this discussion if Hawaii had instant runoff voting. Let’s push our legislature to adopt this in future elections.