Case right at home in Congress
By Jerry Burris
Advertiser Editorial Editor
It's a fairly exclusive club. Since statehood, only 11 people from Hawai'i have joined it — nine men and two women. (See box.)
The club in question is Congress, and the latest Hawai'i person to join this rarified organization, Ed Case, says he would like to remain in it for a long time to come.
Case, who won a special election to take over the office left vacant by the death of Patsy Mink, has reason to hope that he might hang on to his congressional job for just about as long as he wants to.
No member of Congress from Hawai'i has ever been defeated at the polls. We get a changeover only when a member chooses to retire or try for another office — or dies.
The 11 people who have served in Congress from Hawai'i since statehood are: Inouye, Matsunaga and Akaka, all Democrats, served in both the House and the Senate.
But while history might be on the side of his long-term ambitions, Case is not leaving things to chance.
Hawai'i people in Congress
On a recent barnstorming tour of the Islands, Case stopped by for a chat with Advertiser editors and reporters. It was pretty much a version of what he has been doing and saying in "talk story" sessions with constituents from Hana, Maui, to Kailua.
This much is obvious: Case is clearly enjoying himself. The work is surely difficult, and the strain of traveling back and forth between D.C. and Hawai'i (where his family remains) is only going to grow with time.
But the former Democratic state legislator and gubernatorial candidate is a true policy wonk. He likes to dive into issues, understand them and put them in a context that he believes makes sense to his constituents. What better place to do that than in Congress?
At the Legislature and in his campaign, Case portrayed himself as a centrist, and that is the role he is attempting to play in Washington. It isn't an easy task.
Congress, Case says with a shake of his head, is stubbornly and bitterly polarized. The House, particularly, is led by partisan, conservative Republicans. Their politics, in turn, "drive the Democrats to extremes," Case said.
That leaves relatively little maneuvering room in the middle, where he chooses to stand.
He has joined several caucuses and study groups of like-minded moderates (such as the New Democrats) and hopes to find a political home there.
"I'm looking for my fellow travelers," he says with a smile, "because I hope to be there for a while."
While being a moderate Democrat fits Case politically, it also makes good electoral sense, he says.
A strong, liberal Democrat can win his or her party's primary, but will have trouble against a moderate Republican in a general election, he argues.
While Case says he believes Washington (and the voters) should be paying greater attention to the budget and mounting deficits, he acknowledges that Issue No. 1 at the moment is the looming war in Iraq. While he wants the United States to go into Iraq under United Nations auspices — not unilaterally — he has become convinced that something must be done.
"The status quo in Iraq is not acceptable," he says bluntly. "I think it is a threat to world peace today."
Reach Jerry Burris through letters@honoluluadvertiser.com.
