The reasons to vote against Progressive candidates continue to pour in every time the newspaper is printed. This one is straight from the Honolulu Star-Advertiser (June 24, 2014):
MoveOn.org, a national progressive advocacy group, has opened an office in Honolulu to help coordinate a get-out-the-vote drive on behalf of U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz in the Democratic primary for Senate.
While Schatz likes to preach that he understands ‘Hawaii values’, his actions come direct from the Progressive playbook. Anyone who understands ‘Hawaii values’ understand that the kama’aina have an innate distrust and distaste when the mainland tells them how things should be done.
Clearly Schatz is not about local people. Clearly he is not about ‘Hawaii values’. The time he has spent in the rarified air of Washington D.C. and on the 5th floor of the State Capitol had left him out of touch on what ‘Hawaii values’. If Schatz truly cared, he would ask MoveOn.org to respectfully pack up so that his constituents can decide who best represents them. Not who D.C. supports, and not who the President suports.
With he exception of the Schatz race, Progresive organizations have kept an unusually low profile — and rightly so considering the unpopularity of the 2013 Special Session and same-sex marriage (SSM). Progressives have not publicly supported SSM champions like Abercrombie or Clayton Hee because they are afraid to remind voters about the Special Session. Neither candidate even lists SSM on their meager lists of accomplishments. But Progressive support for Schatz is beyond full-throated:
This is about the future of the Democratic Party and Social Security. If we want to protect and expand Social Security, we need Brian Schatz in the Senate. With less than a month to go before the primary election, Schatz needs our support now.
Adam Green of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC, another out-of-state group stickin their nose into local politics) wrote this glowing endorsement, as reported by Derrick DePledge in the Political Radar Blog. If it were the other way around, Progressives would be crying foul. But as a means to their end, it is perfectly fine to look the other way. Instead, Progressive groups must intervene on behalf of the Progressive “golden child” (anointed by Abercrombie no less) to ensure a victory rather than letting the people of Hawaii decide for themselves.
It’s time that Progressives were called out on their own hypocrisy. Whether it is the PCCC, ACLU, MoveOn.org or the President – ‘Hawaii values’ lose out when the mainland tries to influence Hawaii politics. Their meddling in island politics is offensive.
We know what is best for ourselves, we don’t need you to tell it to us.
Edit: This story continues to write itself. Soon after publishing the blog post, the Political Radar Blog (‘Progressive Hero’) reported that another malahini is meddling in island politics. The latest plea comes from Democracy for America’s chair, Jim Dean:
We have just two weeks left to protect Social Security from a corporate Democrat — by re-electing progressive hero Brian Schatz to the Senate.
The stakes are high. Schatz’s opponent in the Democratic primary for the Hawaii Senate seat, Colleen Hanabusa, voted for the Simpson-Bowles plan that would have cut Social Security benefits. If Schatz wins, it will send a message to Democrats across America that attacking Social Security is a losing proposition.
Horns of Jericho Blog 