Representatives from the Progressive Change Campaign Committee were in Honolulu this week to announce the group’s endorsement of Brian Schatz in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, and to put on a workshop to train progressive activists in campaign skills.

When we asked our 4,285 Hawaii members who they support, the answer was overwhelming: By 4 to 1 they support bold progressive Brian Schatz.

PCCC calls Schatz a “Social Security hero” for opposing cuts in benefits, and points to his leading role in Senate consideration of climate change.

It seemed like a routine endorsement announcement from an influential group within the Democratic Party.

According to OpenSecrets.org, PCCC has already raised $2,191,225 for progressive candidates during the 2014 election cycle. Schatz is now one of the candidates who will benefit from the group’s endorsements.

PCCC is credited with playing a key role in Elizabeth Warren’s Senate campaign.

According to Wikipedia:

In July 2011, the PCCC launched the grassroots effort to draft Elizabeth Warren to run for Senate in Massachusetts. Over 60,000 members joined the draft as potential volunteers or donors. The group organized several Draft Elizabeth Warren house parties across Massachusetts. Supporters met to discuss the best way to support her candidacy and campaign were she to announce that she was going to run. In September 2011, after the demonstration of grassroots support, Warren announced she would run in 2012 against Republican Scott Brown. The campaign to draft Elizabeth Warren was declared “The Most Valuable Campaign of 2011” by The Nation magazine. With almost 50,000 individual contributions, the PCCC raised more than $800,000 for Warren’s campaign.

The Hanabusa campaign seems “over the top” in their response to the PCCC announcement, using the occasion to denounce those from the mainland who are contacting local voters and “telling them who should represent our state in the U.S. Senate.”

A campaign email from Hanabusa campaign rep Peter Boylan blasted “Mainland special interests trying to appoint our leaders and change our Hawaii.”

It then highlighted this ominous warning:

“Now they are preparing to send their operatives into our communities to push their message and shape Hawaii’s future.”

Operatives? That almost smacks of good old fashioned “Red baiting” of progressives. As if Rep. Hanabusa isn’t familiar with the process of seeking endorsements and welcoming campaign assistance from out of state groups.

What about Emily’s List, which gave an early endorsement to Hanabusa and which has been actively soliciting funds for her campaign? Should their “operatives” be trying to interfere in Hawaii’s election choices?

Here’s one view from the progressive side of the aisle:

When Hawai`i Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa rails against the “D.C. insiders” backing Brian Schatz, she’s talking about Barbara Boxer, Sherrod Brown, Jeff Merkley, Elizabeth Warren, public employees, environmentalists and other progressives.

She doesn’t mention the D.C. insiders bankrolling her campaign to oust Schatz from the U.S. Senate in the Aug. 9 Democratic primary. That’s because the military-industry complex isn’t popular with voters.

For the first time since its founding in 1991, the Congressional Progressive Caucus lacks a Hawai`i member in the House of Representatives. Hanabusa has decided to not follow the example of Hawai`i Representatives Patsy Mink, Neil Abercrombie and Mazie Hirono and instead has joined the corrupt, Wall Street-financed New Democrat Coalition, which was founded in 1997 as a conservative counterweight to the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

The New Dems’ self-described mission is “ensuring that the voices of our tech and business communities are heard in Washington.” Hanabusa chairs the group’s National Security Task Force. With her focus on helping defense contractors, she’s a natural for the role.