Liberal Hawaii?

[twilight_sailing]

If you'd be so kind, could any of you tell me about Hawaii?
I see that ALL their Congresspeople are of the Democratic Party,
but their Governor is a Republican.

Is it the cool and breezy liberal place one might think it is?
How about cost of living, health care, taxes etc. ?

[C_U_L8R]

1. From friend who lived in Kauai

they found Hawaii to be very conservative
with small pockets of California liberals

[twilight_sailing]

2. Well, darn.

Thanks for the input.

[mahina]

3. Not really

but a lot of rich folks have moved here which has certainly added some social and political strangeness, coupled with the megachurches organizing for the right.

The original poster may wish to cruise over to the Hawaii forum.

While your thinking about us take a look at www.poinography.com, www.ilind.net, http://pd-hawaii.com/blog/

Understand that this state is so blue, that it's not usually a question of Democrat vs republican, but what kind of Democrat. The r's are down to what, FIVE senators? Ya, Lingle won, but she has not built her party because...no matter how much money they have, they suck!
We are about to take our beloved Patsy Mink's congressional seat back for a real Democrat, Mazie Hirono.

We have our own weak spots, for sure.

OK, off to get started on our rally for our Democratic senator Daniel Kahikina Akaka. Whose Dino primary opponent Ed Case, in answer to concerns from a constituent on Maui, asked her,
"Who are you to tell me what a Democrat is?"

We're your constituents, Ed. Enjoy your legal career.
Aloha.

[Cha]

5. Thanks for the Hawaiian input, mahina.

I'll be moving back in 4 years when I'm 66. Is there anyone viable running against lingle?

[C_U_L8R]

9. THX for the straight scoop

my friends are VERY liberal.. so everything probably looks conservative to them :-)

[Hippo_Tron]

22. Kerry only won by 9 points in '04, Gore won by 18 in 2000

And that margin probably would've been bigger without Nader on the ballot. It seems to me that the state is trending red. Is there an explanation for that?

[mahina]

24. Because our good lefties didn't like Kerry enough to come out and vote.

Bringing the progressives out is the task of the day. There is good progress made on this front.

[BlooInBloo]

4. roflmao! "ALL" of them? All *2*? (Or 4 if you count the senators)? lol!

[twilight_sailing]

6. ;)

Yes, that's what I meant, Congressmen and Senators.
Didn't come out quite right, did it?

[MADem]

8. Well, Congresspersons, technically, are Senators and Representatives NT

[twilight_sailing]

11. Thanks.

Good to know I still haven't lost my mind. ;)

[BlooInBloo]

12. The word is simply ambiguous, I gave both possibilities...

... So what's the point of your reply?

EDIT: And *moreover* whether it's 4 or 2 - you didn't even so much as address my primary point. The OP said "all" like it's SOOOOO overwhelmingly more than just 1 piddly governor. In the case of HI, it isn't. It's 1, instead of 2. Or 1 instead of 4.

[MADem]

16. My point was to point out that the use of the term wasn't incorrect

to describe an entire "Congressional Delegation" which consists of both Representatives, who sit in the House, and Senators, who sit in the Senate. They are all Congressmen and Congresswomen, or Congresspersons, if you prefer. The House AND the Senate ARE the Congress of the United States. http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/congdir.tt

The OP didn't, near as I can tell, aver that the Congressional delegation from Hawaii was especially huge, just that it was in contrast to the GOP governorship. When this sort of thing happens, people wonder if states are 'turning' red, or if other factors are at play, like in Massachusetts, where we often have GOP governors but we don't let them do much.

We all know that everyone gets two Senators, and your number of representatives is driven by your population statistics. Hawaii isn't New York or California, population wise.

You seem overly sensitive or irritated about my response for some reason. My point was to assure the OP that the use of the word 'congressperson' to describe the entire delegation of Senators AND Representatives was not an error, which you seemed to imply.

[BlooInBloo]

17. Because I explicitly acknowledge originally that that was a usage.

And it doesn't matter in the least which usage the OP has in mind, to the point I was raising.

Goddamn buncha geniuses around here.

[MADem]

19. Calm down, you're getting upset over nothing. NT

[mahina]

10. Just about all of the state leg. too,

so there is that.

[BlooInBloo]

13. lol - fair 'nuff - just what does "all" come to there?

[mahina]

20. I'm not going to waste my time educating you about our state govt

You obviously think we don't merit the respect other state govt's do. Take a look in the mirror buddy. Ignorance and disrespect don't get you anywhere.
Don't bother responding, I'm hitting the ignore key as soon as I post this.
No Aloha.

[MADem]

7. High cost of living, good health care for poor folk

But you have to adjust your standards because of the cost of simple things, like anything that comes from the mainland, and rent...

[LZelig]

14. I moved after 10 years...

People in Hawaii are - in general - not very political except when it comes to gay marriage, then they will stand on the side of the highways with signs and banners to "protect marriage". They are heavily influenced by Japanese culture where confrontation is frowned upon - political discussion often feels like a tabu subject. There are a few talk radio stations, but they spew Rush, Hugh Hewitt, Laura Ingram, these come in LOUD AND CLEAR (there is an Air America affiliate, but it is not listen-able because the signal is so weak) in my opinion, this is the main reason for any shift from their liberal tradition. But, In general, people are politically clueless and not very interested in life off the rock. They substitute the shopping mall for culture, and turn to the church for a sense of community. There are exceptions, but you have to search them out.

The cost of living is high as everything must be shipped in. You learn to adjust. Real estate has gone through the roof, rents are high.

The weather is beautiful.

[newyawker99]

18. Hi LZelig!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Rockstone]

15. Hawaii is fascist

Capitol is controlled by racist Japanese from Tokyo who believe they are superior ro all others.

[mahina]

21. Just in case you wondered,

that is pure bullshit.

[KamaAina]

23. Cost of living no longer that much worse than, say, NYC or SF

it's not that it's gotten any cheaper here, it's that a few mainland hotspots have managed to catch up with us. Of course in those places, you actually have a chance of making enough money to afford the off-the-charts rents...

True, Dems hold a huge edge in the Legislature, but watch out for DINOs (Ed Case was once one) who run Dem just because the (R) label is the kiss of death almost anywhere except Windward O'ahu (Kane'ohe-Kailua area). (Note that Lingle doesn't use the R-word in any of her campaign ads, just the vapid "Moving Hawai'i Forward".)

The sorry state of the Hawai'i repuke party can be summed up by their failure to field a candidate to run for the State House against Josh Green from Kona. Their candidate first went to the satellite county building in Kailua-Kona, only to be told that he needed to file at the county seat in Hilo, about three hours' drive away. A rich repuke then stepped in and offered to chopper the schmuck over to Hilo, which he did -- only to find out that he didn't have enough signatures after all! :rofl: So, promising first-term Dem Green sails through unopposed.

[mahina]

25. Oh Mahalo for that Kama'aina

I needed to laugh today. Too good.

[brook]

26. I love that story!

Thank you!

P.S. I love Hawaii!