“Case Hangs Tough”; July 12th Registration Deadline

Dear Friend:
"Case is doing unbelievably marvelous considering what he is up against."

"Ed is making a race out of it, the strategy of ignoring him and simply hoping that he is going away hasn't worked."

Those are the observations of some "political operatives" as reported in Richard Borreca's column in this morning's Honolulu Star-Advertiser: Case Hangs Tough Against Hirono And Her Backers (reprinted below).

They recognize what we know: our statewide grassroots campaign isn't about money or the political status quo. It's about the strong effective leadership needed to deliver a better today and tomorrow for our Hawai'i and country.

But we need you to seal the deal. We need your vote and that of everyone you know.

This Thursday, July 12th (just two days from now) is the deadline to register to vote in the August 11th primary election.

If you have any doubt whether you or anyone you know of voting age is registered (like you don't know if you've signed up, or haven't voted for an election or more, or moved or changed your name), please go to http://hawaii.gov/elections/factsheets/fsvs517.pdf (and forward this email to others now). It's easy to do, but you have to do it by July 12th or your vote won't count.

This is truly an election that will affect your and our futures. Please weigh in, register by July 12th, and help us hang tough for strong effective leadership on August 11th!

Aloha,


PS: Check out these pics of Shaka Da Vote with our great 18-34s for Ed at last week’s First Friday in Honolulu.

PPS: Can you contribute $5000, $500, $50 or as much as you can to help us “hang tough” to victory in just 32 days? Mahalo!

Case hangs tough against Hirono and her backers
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POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Jul 10, 2012

It should be the easiest of primaries, but for U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono's campaign, there is this nagging worry that somehow Democratic maverick Ed Case, 59, may just inch ahead and win.

On the surface, it appears that Hirono, 64, has the money and political backing to cruise through the primary and into the U.S. Senate general election against former Republican Gov. Linda Lingle.

With the tacit backing of Hawaii's senior U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, Hirono has nabbed almost all the major endorsements, including the politically potent Hawaii Government Employees Association. Hirono also has most of the money, having raised $2,334,825 through the end of March. Case, in comparison, had picked up only $594,731.

In an informal survey of a half-dozen political operatives on the promise of anonymity, the general theme was that Case is doing much better than expected, but is still considered a dark horse.

"Case is doing unbelievably marvelous considering what he is up against," said one political veteran.

Another political consultant said "Ed is making a race out of it, the strategy of ignoring him and simply hoping that he is going away hasn't worked."

Indeed, Hirono's sudden shift in tactics and deciding to participate in a live television debate has to mean that Hirono either felt her campaign needed a boost or that she had done well enough in her previous encounters that she might win big.

Hirono's campaign also benefits from retaining several of the advisers from U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Akaka's 2006 re-election campaign that beat Case in the Democratic primary. The decision by Case to leave a safe U.S. House seat to challenge Akaka, essentially because the delegation needed fresh blood, was one of the worst political decisions of the decade. It still haunts Case.

Both Hirono and Case come out of the liberal wing of Hawaii's Democratic Party. To separate them, Inouye continually says that he can't support Case because he thinks Case misled him about his initial intentions to run against Akaka.

Just last week in Hilo, Inouye was interview by the Hilo Tribune-Herald.

Inouye said he received an invitation to Case's campaign headquarters.

"What am I supposed to say: ‘Thank you for lying to me'?" Inouye said.

Observers say that despite Case's liberal record, his best chance of winning comes from drawing support from independents lured to the Honolulu mayor's race, featuring former Gov. Ben Cayetano.

"Case will have to succeed in getting enough independent-minded people to vote for him.

"Will Cayetano bring out enough? And is Cayetano likely to have a lot of Caucasian support? Will that translate into support for Ed? It could," said one political consultant.

This isn't the first time that Case and Hirono have fought it out in a statewide primary. In the 2002 race for governor, Hirono beat Case by 2,613 votes.

Interestingly, Case won Oahu by almost 2,000 votes, but was swamped by Hirono on Maui and was barely beaten by her on Kauai and Hawaii island.

If there is a cautionary tale to the past returns, it is that Hirono, despite having served in the state House for 14 years and lieutenant governor for eight, does not run strong on Oahu. Besides being beaten by Case, she was swamped on Oahu in the 2006 race for Congress by Colleen Hanabusa. Hirono won the seat by taking the neighbor islands, but lost Oahu by 5,666 votes.

For Democrats, the August primary is likely to be as much about who is the best candidate against Lingle as it is who is the more likeable.