If he objects to Alito's qualifications and fears for his behavior on the court, he should be prepared to act. A-kaka did swear an oath to defend the Constitution. He should be doing whatever he can to prevent Alito's confirmation.
My family is from Hawaii and my Dad, a lifetime republican, says the race is already looking to be really dirty. Akaka is being challenged by a moderate democrat from the house of reps and all the union backed democrat dinosaur politicians who it would take a nuclear explosion to remove from office in that state have come out publically with the "its not your turn yet" speech. You've never seen more corrupt, union pandering, ol boy network type politicians than you do in Hawaii.
I rank Akaka up there with Patty Murray of Washington state in the completely useless department.
My dad depises him so badly, he says he would actually vote democrat for Akaka's challenger just to help get him out of office.
Akaka is the one who wants to grant Hawaiians status like Indians, so they can legalize gambling, have it heavily regulated by the state, and boost the unions even more.
I could go on for hours about how terrible this man's leadership is, but I don't have the time.