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Campaign Crawlers
Djou Hopes for Hawaiian Surprise
A special election in Barack Obama’s backyard could turn into an aloha moment for the president and his party.
Scott Brown’s upset win in Massachusetts dealt a blow to the White House, but another special election loss could hit closer to home for President Obama — literally.
At the end of February, Democratic Rep. Neil Abercrombie, who represented the Congressional district that includes Obama’s birthplace of Honolulu, gave up his seat to run for governor of Hawaii. Under the unique circumstances of the May special election to replace him, there will be a three-way race featuring two Democrats, giving the lone Republican, Honolulu city councilman Charles Djou, a shot to take the seat with a simple plurality.
Djou’s campaign argues that despite the Democratic nature of the state, it promises be a competitive race, and notes that George W. Bush received 47 percent of the vote in the district in 2004, and Republican Gov. Linda Lingle won nearly two-thirds of the vote there in 2006. While the Cook Political Report still considers the seat to “lean Democratic,” it was previously considered safe.
If a Republican can win in the district representing Obama’s birthplace, “then no Democratic seat in the U.S. Congress is safe,” Djou said in an interview on Tuesday at a gathering of reporters in downtown Washington, trying to emphasize the significance of his race.
Djou, 38, was born and raised in Hawaii and graduated from Punahou School (the same high school as Obama) before moving stateside to gain degrees in economics and political science from the University of Pennsylvania and later a law degree from the University of Southern California. A practicing attorney, Djou first entered politics when he was elected to the Hawaii House of Representatives in 2000 and two years later joined the Honolulu city council.
In person, Djou seemed at ease discussing a wide range of domestic and foreign policy issues, taking positions that one might expect from a Republican trying to strike a balance in a traditionally Democratic area. For instance, he talked about reducing capital gains taxes to spur economic growth and advocated a simpler tax code with lower rates and fewer exemptions. Yet when it came to abortion, he said he considered Roe v. Wade settled law, but supports parental notification, and opposes partial birth abortions as well as public funding of abortions. An officer in the U.S. Army Reserve, Djou favors allowing gays to openly serve in the military, but says that marriage should be between a man and a woman.
Djou identified the budget crisis as the dominant issue in the campaign, and prominently features a national debt clock on his website. “The federal government spending trillions is bad enough,” Djou said. “But government spending with no results is even worse.”
While he strongly criticized many of President Obama’s signature policies, including the health care push and the economic stimulus package, he’s careful not to make the race about Obama. “I am not personally running against Obama,” he said. “Barack Obama is not on the ballot.”
Djou said that health care “is not as acute” an issue in Hawaii, where an employer mandate already exists. Just as Scott Brown maintained support for the Massachusetts health care system even while disavowing the similarly-structured national health care bill, Djou gave me a “a cautious yes” when asked if he supported the health care system in Hawaii. He reconciled his views by saying that ideally, he’d like to see the Hawaiian system superseded by some of the reforms that conservatives have been advocating, including tort reform, expansion of health savings accounts, interstate purchase of insurance, and allowing individuals the same tax advantages for purchasing insurance on their own as they do when purchasing through employers.
Asked about the type of measures he would support to fight the fiscal crisis, he mentioned earmark reform and a balanced budget amendment. In the abstract, he said he supported the idea of reining in entitlement spending, but was hesitant to discuss specifics. For instance, he said that President Bush had the right idea by addressing Social Security, and said the concept of voluntary personal accounts “deserves examination,” but wasn’t willing to say he supported a specific plan because he said that Democrats would take him out of context and attack him for wanting to destroy Social Security.
When it came to foreign policy, the generally cool-mannered Djou got particularly fired up when discussing North Korea. Kim Jong-Il is a “nutcase,” he said, with 20 nuclear weapons capable of hitting Honolulu if the guidance systems are improved. Djou said that a disproportionate amount of attention has been put on the Iranian nuclear threat to the neglect of the situation in North Korea.
“If Mahmoud Ahmadinejad fires a nuclear weapon and destroys Tel Aviv, that would be a terrible, terrible thing,” he said. “But I’ll be blunt. I’m far more concerned about a nuclear bomb landing in Honolulu.”
Djou took issue with the Obama administration’s call for direct talks with North Korea and favors the six-party approach. He called for an end to food aid and for the same level of pressure that’s being put on Iran. Specifically, he said the military option should not be taken off the table. “We need to understand that [Kim Jong-Il] is a thug, and treat him like a thug,” he said.
With regard to Iraq and Afghanistan, Djou said he believes that once America enters a conflict, it has to do everything it can to win. He said he supported the Iraq War at the time based on the reports that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. “If we knew then what we know now, I don’t think a case could have been made to go in.”
Djou said the United States had a moral and national security interest in maintaining strong ties to Israel. He said he supported President Bush’s “roadmap” to peace between Israelis and Palestinians, but believed that Israelis shouldn’t be pressured into any concessions, particularly while the Palestinians are still divided among Hamas and Fatah. “I will defer to the Israelis,” he said. “I appreciate Israel saying that Palestinians need to get their house in order. I think that is a reasonable negotiating position.”
The special election is officially on May 22, but Djou said the effective election date is three weeks earlier. As a money-saving measure, Hawaii decided to hold an all mail-in election, and based on past experience, Djou expects about half of all ballots to be returned within 72 hours of being sent out on April 30, and 80 percent of them to be returned within the first week. He anticipates a close race, with the first and third place candidate separated by just single digits.
“This is a race you’re going to want to pay attention to,” Djou said.
About the Author
Philip Klein is The American Spectator’s Washington correspondent. You can follow him on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/Philipaklein
Letter to the Editor View all comments (344) | Leave a comment
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JimH| 3.12.10 @ 7:49AM
That would be the Ones official birthplace - Heh heh.
PoliticalRectum| 3.12.10 @ 4:51PM
How dare you call Bahama a lier. He was born there, his no signature-modern day parchment birth certificate says so.
His kids will grow up to hate him after they find out about all the lies that he has told and lives by. They will hate him as Hitler's kids do him.
John| 3.12.10 @ 5:52PM
Djou is a pro-choice, pro-gay rights Republican. Do we really want another Brown?
MTB| 3.12.10 @ 6:11PM
YES! I'd like to see every single stinking lying scumbag democrat voted out of office. It would be the greatest thing for this country since the independence of our country and the signing of the Constitution. Send these dem bums a message they will never forget--that America is primarily a conservative country.
Bruce | 3.13.10 @ 11:58AM
To be replaced by whom? More McCains? More Grahams? More Specters? More Collins' and Snowe's? Voinovich's?
No - we need true conservative Republicans running this show - not copycat Democrats.
XYZ| 3.13.10 @ 12:40PM
AGENT PROVACATEUR
Bruce, if the Democrats are not paying you, they should be. Report to the payroll department outside Howard Dean's office for your check.
Osamas Pajamas| 3.13.10 @ 5:25PM
It's a chess game. Work to replace the Demos with limited-government / peace-thru-strength candidates, keep pushing the pieces across the chessboard and fill in behind them, and swamp the Demo bastards. Political culture changes frrom the bottom up not from the top down ---- so it will be necessary to unteach the crap the public schools teach to your kids and replace it with the culture of self-generated, self-sustaining action, and personal independence, with background on the US Constitution and relayed conservative issues. You'll find also that replacing Democrats with a bunch of libertarians is a heck of a lot better [and cheaper] than leaving the Demos in place. Not having "perfect" conservative candidates in every race and seat is not the end of the world --- but leaving the Demos with any significant authority or control is insane.
Sam| 3.14.10 @ 5:13PM
No thank you. Conservative Republicans do not represent a majority of America.
This is a CENTRIST country and I'm tired of ultra liberals and ultra conservatives trying to steal our country.
Jim Hlavac | 3.13.10 @ 2:30PM
John, there are many millions of tax-paying conservative, even Republican, gay American Citizens entitled to the same life, liberty and pursuit of happiness as you are. We are as fed up with Obama and the socialist bunch as you are. Do a favor, OK, and take the gay money and the gay votes against the Democratic Socialists, and then, later on, after we help save the country from the communists you can throw all the gay citizens you clearly don't like into whichever pokey suits your fancy, just like the, um, communists. Or you could go down the route of theocracy a la Iran, and just kill us. Hawaii had leper colonies, maybe it would be best if you just took all the gays, conservative and liberal both, and put them out there on one of the islands. Yes, that sounds nice, no? Then, no more patriotic gays sullying the Republic, with justice for all (except you people over there).
Damian G. | 3.19.10 @ 3:12AM
THANK YOU, Jim. That is one of the smartest responses I have read in quite some time.
basur | 10.27.10 @ 6:35AM
I was in Hawaii for the first time in my life last fall. I was surprised how many cabbies volunteered how they disliked Obama.
Doctor Right| 3.12.10 @ 9:53AM
I hope this guy wins...It would be devastating to Libs everywhere...But it might actually be better if he doesn't.
Put on your Machiavelli hat and follow me...It's a twisted journey, but I think it will make sense.
Dems, lefties, and losers (aren't they all the same?) around the country are in absolute DENIAL. One need only scour the pages of lib-websites like DAILYKOS (if you can stomach it...I often can't...) to see their defiance in the face of impending disaster.
If the Dems hold this seat in Hawaii, Libs will look to that win...NOT the losses in Virginia, New Jersey, or Massachusetss...As THE clear sign that their fortunes have rebounded.
As such, they'll soldier on in lockstep with Reid, Pelosi, and Obow-ma, pushing a hard-left agenda that most Americans don't want, thus sealing their fate come November.
In actuality, all they'll really have done is (barely) save a safe seat.
For us, it's a win-win situation.
SeattleBruce| 3.12.10 @ 12:45PM
Politics is a game (if it is to be called that) of momentum. It will not be a bad thing to see gathering momentum by winning this seat ahead of November. But, if we lose, I'll go with your theory! :)
Nelson H.| 3.14.10 @ 10:21PM
Too clever by half. The best policy is to defeat them everywhere, defeat them by crushing margins, defeat them so overwhelmingly that their spirits are broken. And then you have to do it again in 2012 and carry out a sweeping program of policy reforms and spending cuts.
Robert Perkins| 3.12.10 @ 10:07AM
Seems as though you are assuming something that just ain't so. Barry Soetoro isn't from hawaii. The Kenyan should be kicked out of the Whitehouse quickly to reduce the damage to the country.
tin foil| 3.12.10 @ 10:32AM
What if BHO was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1959 and NOT August 4, 1961?
loulou| 3.12.10 @ 11:09AM
I doubt Barry was born in Hawaii but I'm not positive. I do know that Barry was an Indonesian citizen when he went to school there as a Muslim. Indonesia did not allow for dual citizenship.
The question is, where's the passport?
SeattleBruce| 3.12.10 @ 12:43PM
"The question is, where's the passport?"
The question is, where's a lot of his records. We may never find out.
11/2010.
Thorvald| 3.13.10 @ 4:24PM
Especially when a man like Lt. Quarles Harris Jr. has already been killed in the effort.
Pingback| 3.12.10 @ 10:30AM
The American Spectator : Djou Hopes for Hawaiian Surprise links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 3.12.10 @ 11:44AM
The American Spectator : Djou Hopes for Hawaiian Surprise links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
SeattleBruce| 3.12.10 @ 12:41PM
"If a Republican can win in the district representing Obama's birthplace, "
It only 'represents' his birthplace...we're still not sure quite where he was born, nor of his dual nationalities, although he tells us his father was British Kenyan...hmmm...wonder what the US Constitution and the Supreme Court have had to say about that?
Gene| 3.12.10 @ 7:01PM
And how does Frank Marshal Davis fit into all this,, Google that name for a little more insight..
Pingback| 3.12.10 @ 12:51PM
The American Spectator : Djou Hopes for Hawaiian Surprise Staff links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
CarolynMerry| 3.12.10 @ 1:20PM
I wonder why the democratic party is allowing 2 candidates in this race. Surely they understand teh concept of a 3rd party spoiler.
The only possiblity that I can imagine is that the Acorn bunch has total control of a mail-in election. As light is being shed on their tactics, it seems that in Ohio and now possibly other states, elections were stolen using fraudulent absentee ballots.
Mr X | 3.13.10 @ 12:27PM
Because Democrats in Hawaii are deeply divided. EVERY Statewide election in Hawaii features Democrats from the same two competing factions.
Case represents the eco-shake down faction and Hanabusa represents the union/mafia shake down faction.
Senior Chief| 3.12.10 @ 1:38PM
" Djou, 38, was born and raised in Hawaii and graduated from Punahou School (the same high school as Obama) before moving stateside...."
Stateside? the proper term would be "...moving to the Mainland..." Having been stationed there, I know the Hawaiians are a bit sensitive to that.
Pingback| 3.12.10 @ 2:18PM
Ineffective Ways to Cure Bad Breath at Home links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 3.12.10 @ 3:17PM
The American Spectator : Djou Hopes for Hawaiian Surprise links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 3.12.10 @ 3:17PM
The American Spectator : Djou Hopes for Hawaiian Surprise links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Tony in Central PA| 3.12.10 @ 4:08PM
I was in Hawaii for the first time in my life last fall. I was surprised how many cabbies volunteered how they disliked Obama.
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Big Elk| 3.12.10 @ 11:44PM
Obama is from Hawaii? Hmmm... and here I thought all commies were from hell.
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Zeo WOods| 3.13.10 @ 7:43AM
Oh wow, It will indeed be interesting to see how that turns out wont it?
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highbush| 3.13.10 @ 12:57PM
bi-ch,bi-ch,bi-ch.That's all were going to do about it until he's gone.
Wayang Kulit| 3.13.10 @ 4:08PM
1. Birthplace? I thought it was Manhattan!?! As documented in "Rosemary's Baby" (1968).
2. Good luck to Mr. Djou. He sounds like one of those nice Hubert Humphrey Democrats they used to have, not at all like the Ho Chi Minh ones they have now. What? He's a Republican?!?
3. What's wrong with being a homo? If they would just be ladies and gentlemen about it, no one objects to how they attempt orgasms. But it is definitely not marriage, whatever else it is. Some people have a fully formed nesting instinct, and, apparently, some don't.
4. There is no right to abort your child. Sorry. Let's have a litmus test for candidates.
5. If Hawaii wants to run itself as an archipelagic Cuba, just don't ask the rest of us to pay for it.
Heather Robinson | 3.13.10 @ 7:21PM
"Djou eat yet?" That's what the guy said, "Djou?" (Woody Allen). Just a lil' joke there. Seriously, though, Djou sounds like he's got his head on straight:
"I will defer to the Israelis," he said. "I appreciate Israel saying that Palestinians need to get their house in order. I think that is a reasonable negotiating position."
Go, Djou!
Richard Baker| 3.14.10 @ 10:44AM
The Kenyan's back yard is Hawaii? Interesting. Lived 8 years in Hawaii and would love to see the long form vault copy of said document proving this. The whole world wonders.
Yosemeti Sam| 3.14.10 @ 11:39PM
" ... Yet when it came to abortion, he said he considered Roe v. Wade settled law, but supports parental notification, and opposes partial birth abortions as well as public funding of abortions...."
Well now - how CONSIDERATE!
Sanctioning millions for slaughter - but the refrain of endorsing specific low-numbered butchery.
" ... An officer in the U.S. Army Reserve, Djou favors allowing gays to openly serve in the military, but says that marriage should be between a man and a woman...."
Again - how CONSIDERATE!
This guy likes to straddle fences.
A RINO - attribute.
One thin clown from Hawaii - is ENOUGH!
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