HI 2014 Congressional Elections

[Antonio the Sixth]

*facepalm*

Hopefully she loses.

[Antonio the Sixth]

*facepalm*

Hopefully she bites the dust.

Uh...

Wait, isn't that a synonym for "being soundly defeated"? That's what the phrase means in French.

[Antonio the Sixth]

^Many would interpret it as "hopefully she dies"

Oh sh*t, really? Ughhhhh...... That's definitely not what I meant.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Good to see I still have things to learn about the English language.

(and I'd rather have an incident like this happen here than in a RL conversation!)

[Antonio the Sixth]

What's wrong with Hanabusa going for this seat? Does Shatz have some sort of god given right to that seat just because he was appointed by the governor? I wonder why there is all this outrage....hmm.

I just think that, at this point, Schatz is the better person for the job in the interest of both Hawaii and the Democratic Party. I certainly agree that Abercrombie proved tasteless (or, if you prefer, a real dick) in appointing Schatz against Inouye's will. But now this is done, and primarying him will only add drama to the drama. Also, if you're so pissed off at Abercrombie, why not go after him instead?

[Antonio the Sixth]

She could lose, but her chances of winning look pretty good at this early stage.  Really, either of them would be fine.  It's not like there is some big ideological divide here (whereas in the Hirono vs. Case primary I would argue there was).

Officially, the DSCC is backing Schatz.  But given that he was recently appointed (not elected) and either he or Hanabusa will cakewalk in the general election, I doubt much resources will be spent.  The DSCC has much bigger issues to deal with.

He still has 4 years to go, though.

[Antonio the Sixth]

What's wrong with Hanabusa going for this seat? Does Shatz have some sort of god given right to that seat just because he was appointed by the governor? I wonder why there is all this outrage....hmm.

I just think that, at this point, Schatz is the better person for the job in the interest of both Hawaii and the Democratic Party. I certainly agree that Abercrombie proved tasteless (or, if you prefer, a real dick) in appointing Schatz against Inouye's will. But now this is done, and primarying him will only add drama to the drama. Also, if you're so pissed off at Abercrombie, why not go after him instead?

Yeah, and if her final goal is to become governor, she should just go for that first and get rid of Abercrombie at the same time. Then she can become Senator for life is that is what she wishes. Or maybe she just isn't interested in being governor, who knows.

Why should I give a sh*t about what Hanabusa's political ambitions are? Political and tactical considerations are the only thing that matter.

[Antonio the Sixth]

What's wrong with Hanabusa going for this seat? Does Shatz have some sort of god given right to that seat just because he was appointed by the governor? I wonder why there is all this outrage....hmm.

I just think that, at this point, Schatz is the better person for the job in the interest of both Hawaii and the Democratic Party. I certainly agree that Abercrombie proved tasteless (or, if you prefer, a real dick) in appointing Schatz against Inouye's will. But now this is done, and primarying him will only add drama to the drama. Also, if you're so pissed off at Abercrombie, why not go after him instead?

Yeah, and if her final goal is to become governor, she should just go for that first and get rid of Abercrombie at the same time. Then she can become Senator for life is that is what she wishes. Or maybe she just isn't interested in being governor, who knows.

Why should I give a sh*t about what Hanabusa's political ambitions are? Political and tactical considerations are the only thing that matter.

So why is he the better person for the job? Except for age, why is he better?

Age is a pretty big thing, in this context. Also, Schatz is one of the most left-wing Hawaii politicians and it's always a good thing to move the Senate spectrum to the left. And I think avoiding the drama of an internal strife is more important here than for the Governor's race (since everyone hates Abercrombie anyway, it's not like that would change much in that case).

[Antonio the Sixth]

My question is, if Schatz hasn't had any problematic votes, if he hasn't had any questionable personal behavior, if he hasn't embarrassed the party, if he's on the right track to seniority and a chairmanship (probably) if he hasn't said anything bad, if he hasn't been a part of any controversy (besides his appointment), then why primary him? I just don't see any real justification for Hanabusa to primary Schatz. Yes, she can do it if she wants, but why?

EDIT: Yeah, there's the "we need more women/people of minority descent in the Senate" argument, but beyond that, nothing.

Because she wants to be Senator! It doesn't get any simpler than that.

And we should give a sh*t about what Hanabusa wants, because... ?

[Antonio the Sixth]

The point is why should we believe she would make a better Senator? I haven't read a single thing in this entire thread that would lead me to believe she would (whereas there are a few ones about Schatz).

[Antonio the Sixth]

The point is why should we believe she would make a better Senator? I haven't read a single thing in this entire thread that would lead me to believe she would (whereas there are a few ones about Schatz).

Eh. They both have records (that I'm not familiar with). Seems perfectly reasonable for someone to prefer one over the other on the basis of that. Primaries happen. If not, why do we even bother with nonpartisan elections? (in fairness, a lot of people don't)

But again, no one even seems to have made a case for Hanabusa, except for the usual "that's what Inouye wanted!" crap. Since Schatz is the one who has the seat now, the onus of the proof is on the Hanabusa side to establish that she is better than him. And there seems to be no single valid reason to think she is.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Haha, I look forward to Hanabusa being crushed.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Congratulations Senator Schatz.

I'll only celebrate after those two goddamn precincts cast their votes.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Hahaha, this makes victory even sweeter.