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HI-01: Ed Case Drops Out

by: James L.

Sun May 30, 2010 at 5:28 PM EDT


I guess Ed Case doesn't believe the DCCC's polling was handed down on tablets at Mount Sinai either:

Former Rep. Ed Case (D-Hawaii) announced Sunday he won't pursue the Democratic nomination to face Rep. Charles Djou (R-Hawaii), which improves his party's chances of retaking the seat it lost in the recent special election.

"We've taken apart the results and analyzed our options every which way," Case wrote in an email to supporters. "If it all lined up it'd be an easy decision, but it doesn't." ...

"My heart tells me to stay in this fight, but my head says this has become the wrong fight. So today I'm withdrawing my candidacy for the U. S. House of Representatives from Hawaii's great first district," he wrote.

Case thanked his supporters and said he will continue to look for opportunities to serve.

Case's abrupt exit leaves Colleen Hanabusa as the sole Democratic flagbearer against freshly-minted GOP Rep. Charles Djou. At the very least, we'll all be spared his antics in a Democratic primary, but I suppose the possibility remains that another Democrat may seek to enter the race now that Case's exit has cleared up some more oxygen in the room.

UPDATE: Let the Great Healing begin:

Case made the announcement during his remarks at the state Democratic convention at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki. State Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, his main rival in the primary, joined him on stage and presented Case with a lei. ...

"I thought it was the right thing to do, at the right time, for the right reasons," he said. "That's really what it came down to."

U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, (D-Hawaii), who had endorsed Hanabusa and resisted pressure from national Democrats to abandon her in favor of Case, who many in Washington believed was more electable, told delegates that he was deeply moved by Case's gesture.

"He showed that he was a Democrat," Inouye said.
James L. :: HI-01: Ed Case Drops Out
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HI-01: Ed Case Drops Out | 53 comments
Surf's up, dude!
Ed Case probably realized he had a lot more to gain by going on the Harold Ford circuit.
Columnated ruins, domino

[ Parent ]
Wow.
He's be a great addition to the President's Intelligence Advisory Board.
Good deal, now Hanabusa and ALL Dems can focus on Djou......l
No more conflict between the DCCC and the Hawaii party.  And no blowing money for a competitive primary.

I can't imagine anyone else of stature will feel encouraged to jump in.  The Hawaii party establishment has backed Hanabusa all along and will scare off all comers.  And the DCCC now will do the same, they're smart enough to know that with Case out, a full-throated backing of Hanabusa is THE path to victory.

43, male, Indian-American, Democrat, VA-10

It's all about Djou now.


party: Democratic, ideology: moderate, district: CT-01
[ Parent ]
I'd like to see
the DCCC get behind Hanabusa, quick.

Wish he would have done this a few weeks ago but better late than never.

21, dude, RI-01 (registered) IL-01 (college)
please help Japan. click "donate funds" in upper right and then "Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami." http://www.redcross.org/

I never thought I'd say this, but THANK YOU Ed Case!
And here's my message to mainland Democrats, stay out of this race. Thank you.
Oh, disagree, now is when I want the DCCC to get IN it!......
Now it's simply a matter of backing Hanabusa, and they should do that.

To the extent there are concerns that the national Dems don't know Hawaii sufficiently well, they should consult with state party folks.  This is no different than anywhere else, the DCCC folks always have to talk to folks on the ground on what are the best support points for our candidates and best attack points to use against the Republicans.  But the national Dems should very much be involved.

We wouldn't have as many seats as we have if it wasn't for the DCCC.

43, male, Indian-American, Democrat, VA-10

[ Parent ]
Them rooting for Ed Case is like
Republicans nominating a white guy in a majority minority district.  Clearly they don't know what is going on... It just ain't happening.  
[ Parent ]
Well
Case is a former Congressman, meaning he's won before, even though it was in the state's other district.

I can understand the DCCC supporting him considering he's proven before that he can win a Congressional seat in the state.

[ Parent ]
Neil Abercombie is also
a white guy, AFAIK.
[ Parent ]
why would anyone else jump in?
Hannabusa has support from the key local constituencies. If Case with his money and DCCC support couldn't get more votes than she did in the special, why would someone else be able to beat her in the primary?
If for nothing else...
the power of being a Congressman.  It can be enticing.
[ Parent ]
Case 2012 v Akaka
Coming soon to an election near you...

"my head says this has become the wrong fight"


Bingo!
Though I suspect Akaka will retire.
[ Parent ]
If he does,
I would suspect that Hirono would run for the Senate and have the institutional backing to defeat Case.

NY-14, DC-AL (college) Distraught Mets fan
[ Parent ]
Actually, I've heard that Case might run
for Mayor of Honolulu--probably a more interesting job, and without the brutal travel, too.
[ Parent ]
Or
if Hirono does run for Senate Case could run for his old house seat again.  

Proud member of the Indiana Democratic Party from IN-9.  
[ Parent ]
Case not allowed to be senator
Reason given is: First name mismatch.

party: Democratic, ideology: moderate, district: CT-01
[ Parent ]
Gosh, Ed, you could've done this a month ago and saved everyone a big headache.
I guess this is better than him staying in, but geez.
They don't see it like that
They only do what is best for them. In this "case" he thinks he will lose the primary so the best bet for a future run is to skip this one and wait. Neither of them were ever gonna drop out when the polling was so close between them.
[ Parent ]
Why?
He had every right to run and to be honest it did look like he was the frontrunner. All polling showed it a close election even if you take out that crappy DCCC one. While it would be nice to pick on him because he was an ass during his Congressional tenure the plain and simple fact is there was no way to know who the frontrunner was and he had every right to stay in the race. If you were in his shoes would you have dropped out? No, no one would, every sign pointed to a Case in second place. I would say that the majority of those who made predictions put him in second, myself included. All of that being said I did not support him nor do I want him in Washington and am thrilled at this news. I do in fact support Hannabusa. I thank him for dropping out. I wonder if Hannabusa would have done the same had the results been reversed.  

Proud member of the Indiana Democratic Party from IN-9.  
[ Parent ]
Agree

[ Parent ]
Thank you, Mr. Case.
As for other potential Democrats getting involved, I'd be somewhat skeptical.  Hanabusa is clearly the candidate of Inouye and Akaka, the bosses of the Hawaii Democratic landscape; Case was already a heretic in their eyes, with significant Washington connections.  I don't think you're going to see some semi-anonymous state legislator pick a fight with them.

All the same, the DCCC should get behind Hanabusa quickly to lock this up.

Particularly now that the emphasis
is on winning the seat back from the Republicans.
[ Parent ]
Sortable tables
I asked this question in the open thread but am reposting it as the discussion appears to have moved off of that thread. I was wondering if there was any way I could make a sortable table for a diary, does anyone have a link with a good explanation of how to do this with HTML?
if the front pagers can
Im sure we can.  No idea how...  I personally think this site is cursed because I cant even get my own tables to work half the time, and that's pretty basic html.
[ Parent ]
Here's what I do:
A sample blank sortable table:

<*table class="sortable" border=1 cellpadding=3 cellspacing=0><*tbody><*tr><*th>a<*/th><*th>b<*/th><*/tr><*tr><*th>1<*/th><*th>4<*/th><*/tr><*tr><*th>2<*/th><*th>3<*/th><*/tr><*/tbody><*/table>

Removing the asterisks, you get this:

ab
14
23


My blog
Twitter
Scribd
28, New Democrat, Female, TX-03 (hometown CA-26)

[ Parent ]
Yep, that's all you have to do
Just put "class=sortable" (no quotes) inside the opening table tag. Everything else happens automagically!

(For the more technically inclined, we deployed this bit of Javascript on our site, and we also added the suggested style to our stylesheet. Anyone with their own blog can do the same.)

[ Parent ]
Thanks everyone!
The code's working great and these tables are looking really good. Can't wait to post the next diary showing the shifts from the 1990s Texas redistricting plan into today, it's really fascinating stuff (at least to us lol). Haha, I wish the world was more like the Swing State Project.
[ Parent ]
I wonder if this was all him
Or if Akaka said he'd retire if Case got out the race.
That rhymes!  
Can't imagine Akaka ever promising
to essentially cede his Senate seat to Case.  He really doesn't like him.
[ Parent ]
Yeah, that's really far-fetched
There is some serious bad blood between Inouye/Akaka and Case.
[ Parent ]
If/when Akaka or Inouye
steps down or dies (another reason it's good to have Abercrombie taking the governor's office for us), who's the heir apparent?  Hirono?
[ Parent ]
Good question
Whoa, I didn't realize that both Inouye & Akaka are 85. Mazie Hirono's 62. Hanabusa's 59. Case is 57. Abercrombie is 71. Mufi Hanneman is 55. Meanwhile, Djou is a veritable youngster at 39.

I would suspect that whichever one between Abercrombie & Hanneman loses the governor's race would have the inside track for the Senate seat... if it wasn't Hirono.

Kansan by birth, Californian by choice, and Gay by the grace of God.

[ Parent ]
Not Abercrombie
By the time one of them leaves office or dies, he'll be in his late 70's or 80's.  
[ Parent ]
Don't forget
about Linda Lingle; she's only 56.

Though, she did trail Inouye pretty badly in polling, so I don't know how much traction she'd get in the future. (I understand Inouye is a real ficture in Hawaii politics, but I just don't know much support she could get...)

NY-14, DC-AL (college) Distraught Mets fan

[ Parent ]
You are right

L Lingle is not in her best moment but she beat M Hirono in the 2002 gubernatorial election. I think this would be the complete list of candidates for senate.

E Shinseki (1942)
J Waihee (1946)
M Hirono (1947)
M Hannemann (1954)
C Hanabusa (1951)
E Case (1952)

And in republican side:

L Lingle (1953)
C Djou (1970)
J Aiona (1955)

Until now, we know Hirono and Case loses for governor against Lingle in 2002, and Hanabusa and Case loses for the house against Djou in 2010. We are now waiting the general elections for governor between Abercrombie, Hannemann and Aiona and for the house between Hanabusa and Djou.

[ Parent ]
Why are all our people
so old?

party: Democratic, ideology: moderate, district: CT-01
[ Parent ]
We
have a state legislator full of younger people but it seems like we keep putting up the same people.  

Proud member of the Indiana Democratic Party from IN-9.  
[ Parent ]
Few opportunities for advancement
There are no statewide offices aside from Governor/Lt. Governor and Senator. Inouye has been in the Senate almost since statehood, while Akaka has been in for 20. The only time a member of the House leaves is through death or running for higher office -- seriously, the only House member from Hawaii who didn't do one of the two was Abercrombie in his concurrent special win/primary loss. So there is a huge backlog of state legislators who have never had a chance to move up in the political food chain.
[ Parent ]
I don't know how politically important shark fin is
but I guess we'll find out if Lingle eventually runs:

http://news.mongabay.com/2010/...

NY-14, DC-AL (college) Distraught Mets fan

[ Parent ]
I think L Lingle is defeatable but by very few candidates
Assuming N Abercrombie can be the next governor and he would not run, they are few candidates what can defeat L Lingle.

E Shinseki can be one. I think would not be very difficult for E Shinseki win high support in Hawaii. He would come from higher political level than L Lingle. I think would be the strongest "new" candidate. He is japanese american like D Inouye.

The former governor J Waihee can be other. I would not forget J Waihee, what can remain so popular between former governors and is enough young for bid seriosly, and more for Hawaii standards. He appoint D Akaka as senator in 1990, and he has native islander ancestries like D Akaka. These are big points for take in consideration J Waihee for the seat of D Akaka. I think J Waihee can be the first in the mind of D Akaka.

And M Hirono can be the third. I think M Hirono can defeat L Lingle now, but after hard work. If M Hirono would be appointed for senate she should leave her house seat open. She can not see herself as the first frontrunner for the senate, but she can see herself as the first frontrunner for governor in 2018.

I think M Hannemann can defeat C Djou and J Aiona but L Lingle is stronger, and if he fight hard N Abercrombie and lose he will not be in the chart of candidates for an appointment. I think he should run for Lieutenant Governor this year. N Abercrombie is a man with advanced age too and the next Lieutenant Governor can become governor before end the eight years of term limits.

[ Parent ]
It was a smart move for Obama to leave Hawaii
to start his political career; a youngster like him wouldn't have had a chance.
[ Parent ]
Hawaii like Wyoming
requires appointed Senators to be of the same party as the deceased senator. So whoever replaced either Daniel would have to be a Democrat even if Aiona somehow won the governorship.

My blog
Twitter
Scribd
28, New Democrat, Female, TX-03 (hometown CA-26)
[ Parent ]
If Im not wrong

If Im not wrong few months later the appointment would be a special election for senate. Without the right appointment that can not be enough for assure the seat.

[ Parent ]
Was Case in the race before there was going to be a special?
Just wondering as a part of me thinks he never intended to run in a Democratic Primary in the first place, he had his shot in the special and that was that.  But now that I think about it, I bet he announced long before Abercrombie announced he'd resign, and Im sure Abercrombie dislikes him, too.
Yes
He was in way before Hannabusa.  
[ Parent ]
Glory, Halleluyah!
For once, at least, Democrats have done something that belies my sig.

"I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"
--  Will Rogers  
I glad, and I think is the right movement

I think Case should not run for senate, because I think he would not win, but he can have a decent level appointment for the administration.
Why do you think he'd get an appointment
and to what?

"I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"
--  Will Rogers  
[ Parent ]
I think E Case do right now

And I think Washington can be happy with this.

To what? I think E Case can be appointed as ambassador or something near to this level.

[ Parent ]
Perhaps
It might be good to get him out of the way that way, except that Ambassadors don't usually serve all that long, so I am by no means certain that would take him out of the running for a statewide race in 2012.

"I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"
--  Will Rogers  
[ Parent ]
HI-01: Ed Case Drops Out | 53 comments

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