HI 2014 Congressional Elections

[NHLiberal]

Not a fan of DINO Mercado Kim. Hopefully Takai can catch up to her.

Same. Anti-gay, anti-public education, pro-Monsanto.

If it looks like a Republican, talks like a Republican, and acts like a Republican, then it's probably a Republican pretending to be a Democrat.

If Djou supports gay marriage he has my endorsement, bar a Green run.

Djou does support gay marriage.

Actually, he does not. He only was pro-DADT, but he was also pro-DOMA.

Looking at his other isssues, I'll probably refuse to endorse him too. It's a shame that one of the most liberal states might have to decide between two Republicans.

Well that's just the thing. It's not one of the most liberal states. It's just one of the most Democratic states. Obviously there's a lot of overlap between liberal/conservative and Democratic/Republican. But states like MA, CT, VT, and RI are very liberal without always necessarily being very Democratic. Alaska is one of the most Republican states, but not necessarily one of the most conservative; West Virginia being the opposite.

[NHLiberal]

I feel like Hanabusa is running because she sees a good shot at winning due to Abercrombie being unpopular, and as she can take advantage of being a Native Hawian Islander. There is no reasonable ideological difference to motivate her to run.

Hanabusa is running a campaign based around race baiting, it's shameful

There's also the gender baiting. The insinuation by Emily's List that only a women can win as a Democrat in Hawaii is ridiculous.  Emily's List should pull out of Hawaii, and focus on Louisiana, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Georgia.

It's not even insinuation - it's blatantly misleading women. Twice, they have put Brian Schatz alongside Mr. Motorcycle Abortion Thom Tillis, failed abstinence advocate Bill Cassidy, and Scott Brown, who's currently hiding in a bathroom from any sort of stance on women's issues. Looking through the other e-mails my mom got, they've also compared Schatz to Scott Walker and the Texas and Ohio GOP, who both passed bills assaulting a woman's right to choose. Instead of being honest, or even running wholly on Inouye's endorsement or her gender, they've decided to paint Brian Schatz as the Republican opponent, and that's despicable.

I really hate to sound like a neckbeard, but if Brian Schatz's name was Brianna Schatz, then Hanabusa would be demonized by the abortion lobby.

It's gonna be okay. I'm frustrated too. This is all very frustrating. But when Schatz wins anyway and Hanabusa/Emily's List look like idiots, it will all be okay.

[NHLiberal]

Curious…

Is Hanabusa's relatively high chance (at least for a challenger to an incumbent) of winning the seat more related to legacy, ethnicity, or ties to Abercrombie?

I know very little about Hawaiian politics, but I do know that Hawaii has a very large native Hawaiian and Asian population. Is Hanabusa's candidacy buoyed by these demographics? I also wonder if Schatz's ties with Abercrombie could haunt him on Election Day.

Ethnicity and Legacy don't hurt her, but I'm not sure if they alone would carry her to victory. Given how unpopular Abercrombie is, maybe that sways a few voters to her side.

Interestingly, Abercrombie is paying more for appointing Schatz than Schatz is for being appointed by Abercrombie.

While I agree that it's surprising, logically that's how it should be. As someone said yesterday, it's not like Schatz was going to turn down the appointment.