U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie made a fiery plea yesterday for Democrats to unite and recapture the values of equality and compassion that have kept the party in power in the Islands for more than a generation.

In his closing speech to the party's state convention at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki, Abercrombie also took aim at moderates and others who insist that Democrats must change to compete politically with Republicans like Gov. Linda Lingle and President Bush. The congressman did not say so directly but he has been critical of U.S. Rep. Ed Case, a moderate who has shaken the party with his challenge to the more liberal U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka in the Senate primary.

"We've got one problem and one problem only. Some people have forgotten what it is to be a Democrat," Abercrombie said. "Some people of this party and some people across the country are trying to say to us that we have to change our values in order to appeal to the people of this country. And what I say is, 'No, we have to get back to our values to bring the people back in this country and where they want to be.' "

Abercrombie, like other convention speakers over the past few days, also used the unpopular war in Iraq and what some see as surveillance excesses symbolized by the USA Patriot Act as contrasts between Democrats and Republicans and, more indirectly, between Akaka and Case. Democrats are attempting to channel the public's anger with the direction of the war as an issue against Republicans across the country.

But the debates nationally on the war and the Patriot Act have not always been neatly partisan. While Abercrombie, Akaka and U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye voted against giving Bush the authority to go to war with Iraq, many Democrats — including a majority in the Senate — favored giving the president the option, as Case likely would have if he had been in Congress at the time.

Abercrombie and Akaka voted against extending the Patriot Act when it came up for reauthorization, but most Democrats in the Senate, like Case in the House, voted for the extension after the law was amended to better protect civil liberties.

State Democrats are trying to connect Lingle to Bush, given the president's disappointing job approval ratings. Lingle, in her speech on Saturday to Republicans at their state convention at the Sheraton Waikiki, said she was loyal to the GOP but would never put the party's interests over the public's interest.

Democrats are somewhat limited in attacking Lingle for a lack of action on state issues, since Democrats have control over the state Legislature and can set the policy agenda. But the two Democrats running in the primary for governor, former state Sen. Randall Iwase and Wai'anae harbormaster William Aila Jr., both suggested in speeches yesterday that the popular Lingle has put public relations over policy.

Aila, in humble remarks that were warmly received by delegates, apologized for appearing in a Lingle campaign advertisement as a disillusioned Democrat four years ago. "What I found out was there is no 'New Beginning,' " he said of the governor's 2002 campaign theme.

Iwase reminded delegates that Lingle appeared for Bush on the Mainland during his 2004 re-election campaign. "Let us not forget — ever — that she is a Bush Republican," he said.

Delegates elected Hawai'i PBS executive Mike McCartney party chairman yesterday over former O'ahu party leader Jimmy Toyama. McCartney, who replaces Brickwood Galuteria, will have to hold the party together during the Senate primary and a wide-open 2nd Congressional District contest where several top Democrats are vying for the seat Case is vacating.

The convention showed the party's establishment is behind Akaka. But many Democrats also sense that the primary is much closer than the outpouring of support for Akaka this weekend might suggest.

Some Democrats who are close to Akaka's camp are concerned that the senator's Native Hawaiian federal recognition bill, which could come up for a Senate vote in early June, might present some political problems. A Senate vote against the bill could weaken Akaka's argument that his seniority and experience translates into effectiveness, while a vote for the bill might worry some older Japanese-Americans in the Islands who have been suspicious about federal recognition.

The bill, which has been stalled in the Senate since 2000, would create a process for Hawaiians to form their own sovereign government similar to Indian tribes and Native Alaskans.

Akaka's allies, knowing how critical Japanese-American voters are in state campaigns, have tried to reassure them. Inouye, in his speech on Saturday, addressed people who are concerned the bill might give Hawaiians greater rights over land use. "May I simply tell you that we would never do anything that would take away anything from any one of you," he said. "All we want is justice for the Hawaiians."

Roger Takabayashi, the president of the Hawai'i State Teachers Association, which has endorsed Akaka, said he believes the senator can hold on to Japanese-American voters. "I haven't sensed that at all. Zero," he said of any specific concerns about the bill. "I think Akaka has their strong support."

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com.