Akaka full of kaka?
There's a power play for ya.
A Democrat primarying Akaka?
If there is blood in the water I hope the GOP has someone to jump in the pool.
I've been wondering if General Shinseki will seek a senate seat to replace Inouye if he retires.
Ed Case is related to AOL founder Steve Case, so he'll have plenty of money if he chooses to run. And also, he's never been an ally of Dan Inouye & his machine, but that never stopped him from winning in the past.
Also remember, Daniel Akaka turns 83 y/o this year.
Case is an ambitious white Democrat Congressman who finished second in the RAT gubernatorial primary in 2002, and he's taking a calculated gamble in declaring his candidacy against Akaka. Akaka has never been considered the sharpest tool in the shed, and at 81 he might not make it through his next term and perhaps have GOP Governor Linda Lingle name his replacement. Case jumping in now allows him to have a leg up if Akaka chooses to forgo reelection.
I can think of two good things about Case running against Akaka: (1) He won't be running against Governor Lingle, taking away the Democrats' strongest potential challenger, and (2) if Case wins this Senate seat, and perhaps also if he loses and becomes a pariah, he will not be able to run for the Senate in 2010 when Inouye will almost certainly retire (and when Governor Lingle will hopefully be finishing her second term and run for the open Senate seat).
The Senate race may be more winnable for us than would Case's 2nd CD, since Case's district is 3% more Democrat than Abercrombie's 1st CD. I don't know who would be our best candidate in the 2nd CD, but the three most populated counties/islands in the district (which comprises all of Hawaii outside of Oahu and a bit of Oahu as well) have Republican mayors: http://www.gophawaii.com/county-mayors.htm
It should be noted, though, that Big Island Mayor Harry Kim is being wooed by the Democrats to run for Governor, and has indicated interest, so we can probably scratch him off the list. http://www.draftharrykim.com/
Our best Senate candidate would probably be Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona, who is a former judge and a Native Hawaiian. http://www.hawaii.gov/ltgov/ltgov/ltgov/biography.html
But I assume that Aiona would rather run for reelection and thus set up a gubernatorial run in 2010 (perhaps becoming governor earlier if Lingle resigns early to run for the Senate full-time that year). If Aiona doesn't run, I don't know who else has the name ID and profile for a statewide run against either Akaka or Case. Maybe former Congresswoman Pat Saiki can make a comeback---she lost to Senator Akaka in 1994 and to Governor Cayetano in 1994, but perhaps the third time will be the charm.
I think Case's bid for aKAKA's seat is a preemptive strike. Neil "Old Hippie" BLABERcrombie appeared to be the heir apparent to aKAKA's seat. OLDFRIEND mentioned Shinseki. Quite possibly Shinseiki for Inouye's seat soon though Shinseike has been absent from local politics.
The demographics in Hawaii has changed considerably in the last 10 years. Dimocraps cannot find a good candidate to run against Republican Linda Lingle for Governor. However, the public sector unions are flush with money and control the state and local politics. This is going to be interesting.
Ohio has two eighty something Senators. With a popular Republican Governor very likely to be relected this year. You do not have to be a genius to figure out that thier will be 1-2 Senate seats being filled with Republican apointees in a state that almost alway votes to relect incumbents. This does add complexity to the situation but hopefuly Akaka will prevail.