I've been living here for 41 years now and you pretty much nailed the situation in Hawaii. Inouye and Akaka will be in office until THEY decide to quit or more than likely die. We did vote in a Republican mayor here on Maui but lost the Governor race to a full on progressive “60s” idiot hippie.
He totally screwed the American people in congress and now has come home to roost and lay more liberal eggs here. Maui was again this year voted the “Best Island in the World”, it's a shame that the people here are so stupid. I had a local friend tell me that he could not possible vote Republican , if his family , who forever has voted Democrat, found out they would disown him. Thus Abercrombie is in, probably until he can't run anymore. Pathetic.
You guys have been here a lot longer than I (a bit over 4 yrs), so you are much more attuned to the local politics.
That said, I worked with a guy a few years back who was active in the local Republican machine. He told me that assuming a democrat here was the same as a mainland dem was a mistake, that it was a difficult call where their political views were until you knew their history. IOW, some democrats would easily qualify as Republicans on the mainland, that party affiliation did not mean as much as it does in say, Ohio.
Witness the ease of passage of the law prohibiting police from confiscating firearms during an emergency. Think such a law would pass in most mainland blue states?
It does seem different here, with the exception of turds like Abercrombie, in that D-R is not quite so clear in agenda and beliefs. Still learning, and know there is much history with missionaries and such that taint current conditions.