Tag: HI-Sen

I guess he’s learned how to quit Ted Stevens:

Hawaii Democrat Daniel K. Inouye , the third longest-serving U.S. Senate incumbent, has affirmed his plans to run for re-election in 2010, rebuffing speculation that he might not choose to run for a ninth term at age 86.

“Make no mistake, I am a candidate for re-election in 2010. I am calling upon my friends and supporters to once again stand with me,” Inouye said in a statement provided to CQ Politics. “I am taking nothing for granted in what I expect for be an exciting and vigorous campaign. I am looking forward to it.”

Even though I’m not personally too fond of Inouye,  this is probably for the best, since I’m a lot less fond of one of his would-be successors, former Rep. Ed Case. Case said he backs Inouye’s re-election, so we won’t be seeing him in the Senate any time soon.

Meanwhile, Gov. Linda Lingle (R) is term-limited, and it’s possible she’ll try running against Inouye. The coming vacancy in the statehouse might also prompt a round of musical chairs. In the simplest scenario, Case could run for governor himself. Alternately, if Reps. Mazie Hirono (HI-02) and/or Neil Abercrombie run for governor, Case might run for either of those two House seats. No matter what, decisions will have to be made soon.

So let me ask this: If Hirono or Abercrombie decide to try moving up, who do you like as replacements? I’d want to see State Sen. Colleen Hanabusa (who very narrowly lost the primary to Hirono in 2006) give it another shot if Hirono goes for HI-Gov. Your thoughts?

With Republican Gov. Linda Lingle of Hawaii term-limited in 2010, Democrats have a good shot at picking up the Governor’s office next cycle. Who should run for the big job? And who will the Republicans nominate to defend the seat?

Democratic Sen. Dan Inouye will also be up for re-election in 2010, and would be unbeatable if he wanted another term. But Inouye will be 86 that year, and is unsurprisingly the subject of retirement rumors. If he calls it quits, Lingle is obviously the GOP’s best bet to make this a race, but there are several Democrats on the bench who could make strong candidates. Who should run?

There will be 16 democratic held seats up in 2010. I’ll take a look at which of these seats I consider to have the potential to be competitive.

Before I start, I’ll just add that I’m going to be small c, conservative with this analysis. Many of the races that I put in the competitive category will probably not be competitive on election day, but that looking 2 years ahead I have absolutely no idea what will happen.

Not competitive races: Even 2 years ahead of time, I think I can safely predict that barring something unusual I don’t expect a race in these states.

1. Arkansas(Blanche Lincoln)-Huckabee is not running.

2. California(Barbara Boxer)-You think Arnold’s ego will allow him to be one of 100, and a powerless backbencher at that? PLEASE.

3. Indiana(Evan Bayh)

4. Maryland(Barbara Mikulski)

5. New York(Charles Schumer)

6. North Dakota(Byron Dorgan)-Hoeven’s passed on a race twice, no reason to believe it won’t be a third.

7. Oregon(Ron Wyden)

8. Vermont(Patrick Leahy)

9. Washington(Patty Murray)-I think 2-time loser Dino Rossi is probably too tainted by now.

Now, I’ll look at the 7 states I think could be competitive.

1. Colorado(Ken Salazar)-Things are looking real good for Salazar, but if former Gov. Bill Owens decides to return to politics, who knows.

2. Connecticut(Chris Dodd)-I don’t expect this race to be competitive. But, Dodd does have pretty mediocre approval ratings and if Chris Shays decided to run Dodd could be in for a race.

3. Hawaii(Daniel Inouye)-He runs again, he wins. But, he’ll be 86 on election day. And if he chooses to retire, the Dem will be a favorite but Gov. Lingle could give us some heartburn.

4. Illinois(TBD)-Whomever is appointed will be a heavy favorite but until we know exactly who that is, its impossible to know how this will play out.

5. Delware(TBD)-This is even more complicated than Illinois since there’s the possiblity of a place holder so Beau can run in the 2010 election. But judging by the DE GOP’s inability to field a credible candidate for the 08 Governor’s race doesn’t bode well for them here.

6. Nevada(Harry Reid)-I know a lot of people have looked at this race as potentially very competitive, but I just don’t see it. But, I have little doubt that whomever is running the NRSC will be trying hard to recruit a top-tier candidate here.

7. Wisconsin-I don’t expect this race to be competitive either. But if Scott Walker or Paul Ryan decide to run, this could turn into a very tight race.

This is just rich:

Putting their friendship above party, Democratic Sen. Daniel Inouye (Hawaii) will headline a fundraiser today for one of the Democrats’ top targets this cycle, Republican Sen. Ted Stevens (Alaska).

Inouye, who chairs the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, on which Stevens is the ranking member, is the “special guest” at the noon event at 101 Constitution Ave. NW. According to the invitation, the lunch is organized by a several high-profile lobbyists, including Stevens’ former top aide, Lisa Sutherland. The fundraiser seeks $1,000 in contributions from individuals and $5,000 from political action committees to aid Stevens’ bid for an eighth term this fall.

Stevens, of course, is facing the toughest re-election battle of his career against Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, so this kind of betrayal is all the more harmful.  

But this isn’t the first time that such behavior has landed Inouye in hot water.  Remember his endorsement of Joe Lieberman’s independent candidacy in 2006?

U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye has backed away from his support of Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman in his controversial run for re-election as an independent.

Inouye drew criticism in the local Democratic Party when he said he would continue backing Lieberman even after he lost the Aug. 15 Democratic primary in Connecticut to Ned Lamont.

Party rules require loyalty to the Democratic nominee, and several Hawai’i Democrats have faced disciplinary action in the past for backing third-party candidates over the party’s choice.

Is it time to make Sen. Inouye re-take his Democratic loyalty oath?

(Update: On reflection, I softened the title of this post a bit.  Like Trapper John, I have a lot of respect for Inouye’s service to his country, but I’m enormously disappointed and frustrated with his decision to interfere with one of the Democratic Party’s hottest Senate pick-up opportunities this cycle.)

(H/T: TPM)