Abercrombie’s opponents pessimistic
By Mark Niesse
Associated Press
Rep. Neil Abercrombie holds such a tremendous lock on his seat in the House of Representatives that none of his three opponents think they can win.
Abercrombie, who is running for his 10th term in Congress, has more experience, money and support than any of the so-called contenders in the race.
"Nobody has the nerve to run. What kind of lock on power is that?" said Alexandra Kaan, Abercrombie's opponent in the Sept. 23 Democratic primary.
Abercrombie seems confident. He has run a low-key campaign so far, with few events planned. An incorrect phone number is listed on his Web site.
He had raised nearly $874,000 through June 30, while his closest competitor, Republican Noah Hough, only had $11,000. The other Republican in the race, Mark Terry, said he had almost no money for the campaign.
The winner of the Republican primary between Hough and Terry will challenge Abercrombie in the Nov. 7 general election, assuming he soundly defeats Kaan in the Democratic primary as expected.
Abercrombie says his campaign is emphasizing his support for affordable housing, rail transit and alternate energy sources like ethanol.
"My record is something I can stand on with certainty, and anyone is welcome to challenge it," Abercrombie said.
Terry says he sometimes calls himself "snowball" because he has a "snowball's chance in Hell" of defeating Abercrombie.
"Win or lose, the important thing is that I educate the voters," Terry said. "This man is an extremist. His mind is back in the '60s. Sure, he's a very slick politician. He comes across as very nice and very reasonable."
Terry, a real estate agent, wants to lower the cost of living in Hawaii and repeal the Jones Act, which requires cargo moving between U.S. ports to travel on ships that are made, owned and crewed by Americans.
Kaan would use her experience as an immigration attorney to facilitate federal immigration reform.
Hough, a major in the Army Reserve who served in the Middle East, believes the government is printing too much money, which leads to inflation and an increase in prices.
"I hold no delusions," Hough said. "Even if a person's campaign has little to zero chance, it's the expression of the ideas that are important."
One area of controversy in this race has been Abercrombie's vote against a House resolution to support Israel in its fight against Hezbollah terrorists. The resolution passed the House on a 410-8 vote.
Abercrombie said he backs Israel's right to defend itself but he did not think the resolution was constructive in resolving the international conflict.
Through the rest of the campaign season, Abercrombie said he will pay close attention to his opponents because he remembers when he won his first election in 1974 as an underdog candidate for the state House of Representatives.