I have been completely unaware of the upcoming special electon going on in HI. There are two Dem candidates running, one that labor likes and the other a LieberDem -- just reading about who he surrounds himself with in business is enough to make me :puke:
http://news.firedoglake.com/2010/04/07/hi-01-will-washington-dems-screw-up-a-special-election-in-hawaii/Hawaii’s special election format presents unique challenges for Democrats. All candidates compete in a single election, with the winner taking the seat regardless of percentages. There are two high-profile Democrats in the race and one Republican, which raises the possibility of the Democrats splitting the vote and delivering the race to Charles Djou, the Republican.
This has led Democratic operatives to want to push one of the Democrats out and pave the way for a victory. However, they appear to have chosen the moderate LieberDem who is hated by the state political establishment.
http://elections.firedoglake.com/2010/04/12/who-is-behind-the-dcccs-phamtom-hawaii-polster/The DCCC’s efforts to meddle in a race that Hanabusa was clearly winning is unique. Obama has historically taken a strong hand to urge challengers out of primary races against Democrats. He personally called Steve Israel and asked him not to challenge Kirsten Gillibrand for the New York Senate seat, and also helped in the effort to “clear the field” for Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania when Joe Sestak was asked to drop his primary challenge. So it’s extremely odd that he’s not intervening in the Hanbusa-Case matter to urge Case out, especially since Case’s entry into a three way race certainly risks throwing the seat to the Republican.
Ed Case is the cousin of Steve Case, the former CEO and Chairman of AOL who merged the company with Time Warner and stepped down in October of 2005. In 2006, he founded a holding company called Revolution LLC.
The board of directors includes a who’s-who of “government insiders, venture capitalists, high-tech veterans” and “banished executives” including Franklin Raines, Ted Leonsis, Carlie Fiorina, Colin Powell and James L. Barksdale. (Raines made a soft landing at Revolution a week after he stepped down from the board of Fannie Mae, and went on to advise the Obama campaign on mortgage and policy matters.)
Revolution has invested in Gaiam, Zipcar, as well as Revolution Money, a competitor to PayPal. In 2007, Larry Summers served on the board of Revolution when they raised $50 million from Citi, Morgan Stanley and Deutche Bank to launch Revolution Money. Last year they announced they had raised another $42 million from Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley. In Nobember of last year, American Express announced they would buy Revolution Money for $300 million.
http://news.firedoglake.com/2010/04/12/hi-01-afl-cio-comes-in-for-hanabusa/I’ve been writing about the special election in Hawaii, where the DCCC has apparently favored LieberDem Ed Case over Colleen Hanabusa in the winner-take-all special election to replace Neil Abercrombie, who is running for Governor. With two prominent Democrats on the ballot and only one Republican, Charles Djou, there is concern that splitting the Dem vote will tip the scales over to Djou.Well, labor has a different conception of which Democrat should be supported to prevent such a scenario, and they’re getting involved in the race starting this week, promoting Colleen Hanabusa as the most worker-friendly candidate.
Labor unions are set to drop 2 mail pieces in support of Hanabusa this week, a source tells Hotline OnCall, aimed at convincing union workers that Case’s record is out of step with labor’s political goals. An AFL-CIO mailer and one from the Longshoreman’s union highlight some issues on which Case stands against labor positions while touting Hanabusa’s work on unions’ behalf.Hanabusa has backing from the HI teachers union, a powerful force in state politics. And the mailers are aimed at the district’s 52K AFL-CIO members and 30K Working America members, according to union figures, a significant portion of the electorate.