Akaka eager to
serve 5th term

Hawaii's likable senator is
respected by colleagues on
both sides of the aisle

By Pete Pichaske
Phillips News Service

WASHINGTON -- If there was ever a United States senator who, when he looked in the mirror, did not see a potential United States president, it is Hawaii's Daniel K. Akaka.

Or, as the latest edition of "Politics in America" puts it: "In a legislative body known for oversize personalities and powerful egos, Akaka is thoroughly unassuming. He is surely the most remarkably unremarkable member of 'the world's most exclusive club.'"

Yet, the thoroughly unremarkable Akaka won 72 percent of the vote when he last ran for re-election in 1994 -- the biggest margin in the Senate that year.

And as he prepares to run for another six-year Senate term next year, Akaka is once again a heavy favorite with no serious challenger on the horizon.

"There's not a lot of will among the Republicans in Hawaii to put up a challenger in this race," said Jennifer Duffy, a political analyst for the Washington-based Cook Report, which handicaps political campaigns and rates Akaka's seat as "solidly Democratic."

"We're certainly not going to spend any time looking at the race."

"I can't imagine anyone thinks there is an alternative that is better than Danny," said longtime friend Andy Chang, vice president for governmental relations of Hawaiian Electric.

That easygoing, mild-mannered Akaka has become a master of the often rough-and-tumble world of Hawaii politics is one of the mysteries of that world.

'People have asked me,
'When did you plan to run for
the Senate?' As an educator,
my goal was to be
superintendent.
That's it.'

Daniel K. Akaka
U.S. SENATOR

Political observers credit his success to a combination of timing, hard work and innate likability.

Even to Akaka, the success that landed him in the U.S. Senate is something of a surprise.

"People have asked me, 'When did you plan to run for the Senate?'" said Akaka recently. "I say, 'I never did.' As an educator, my goal was to be superintendent. That's it."

As he speaks, Akaka is relaxing in his Capitol Hill office. He has just completed a morning ritual he observes most weekdays: an informal get-together with visitors from Hawaii.

This day was typical. While the senator was away voting, his wife of 51 years, Millie, sitting barefoot and draped with a lei, shared fruit juice, Kona coffee and friendly chatter with the dozen or so visitors.

When he returned, Akaka took over, chatting amiably for a relaxed 20 minutes before posing for pictures with each visitor.

The get-togethers are adapted from the popular breakfasts that Akaka's predecessor, Sen. Spark Matsunaga, used to host in the Senate dining room. But they are classic Dan Akaka: all warmth, hospitality and aloha spirit.

"People ask my why I spend my time on this ... but the meetings really recharge me," said Akaka. "They're a connection with home."

They're also, as one admiring Republican said, a great campaign tool -- helping to bolster Akaka's image as a family man who has kept his Hawaii roots despite "all those years" in Washington.

'Always a willing campaigner'

Those years began in 1976. In the 1950s and 1960s, Akaka, who was born in Honolulu of native Hawaiian and Chinese parents, worked as a teacher and administrator in Hawaii's public schools. Although he had no apparent interest in politics, he caught the eye of Gov. John Burns, who picked Akaka to head the Hawaii Office of Economic Opportunity in 1971.

Akaka soon became something of a Burns protege, eating breakfast often at the governor's mansion, where Burns lectured him on the need for native Hawaiian politicians and told him he should run for office.

"I had never thought about it before then," recalled Akaka.

In 1974, shortly after Burns died -- Akaka, a talented singer, arranged the music for Burns' funeral -- Akaka made his first foray into politics: a race for lieutenant governor. He lost, but his effective last-minute campaigning caught the eye of party leaders.

Two years later, when Rep. Patsy Mink ran for the Senate, Akaka ran for her House seat and eked out a narrow victory.

"He had good people supporting him," recalled longtime friend Russell Okata, noting that powerful leaders like Gov. George Ariyoshi were in Akaka's camp. "And Danny was always a willing campaigner. He and his wife, Millie, worked hard for that campaign.

"People were comfortable with him, with his style," added Okata, who is now executive director of the Hawaii Government Employees Association. "With his personality and his ways of aloha, Danny was always well liked. And he had a liberal point of view, which is quite attractive to Hawaii."

Akaka appeared content in the House, easily winning re-election for well over a decade.

But when Matsunaga died in 1990, Akaka was appointed to the Senate seat. When a special election was held in the fall, Akaka narrowly beat GOP opponent Pat Saiki.

It was Akaka's toughest campaign, one in which he had to survive Saiki's portrayal of him as an ineffective and lackluster lawmaker.

"If I had known what I found out after being (appointed), I wouldn't have" accepted the appointment, said Akaka. "It was a tough race."

One of Akaka's fondest memories of that memorable campaign was of Sen. Ted Kennedy -- whom Akaka has sat next to since arriving in the Senate -- flying to Hawaii just before the election to deliver a rousing, emotional campaign speech for Akaka.

"I think that night turned it around for me and for the Democratic Party in Hawaii," said Akaka. "It is why I have so much aloha for Ted Kennedy."

Local causes come first

In the Senate, Akaka has kept his House style -- focusing on local issues, maintaining close ties to his constituents, almost ignoring the national spotlight in which so many senators revel.

"My priorities have been first for Hawaii, unless it affects our country," said Akaka. "There's no question I'm for Hawaii."

In fact, if there is a downside to Akaka's low-key style, it is his lack of national stature.

You'll search in vain for Dan Akaka on the Sunday morning news shows or on the front page of the Washington Post. You won't find him in back rooms with congressional powerbrokers, steering major bills through the Senate. It is rare even to see him on C-SPAN, taking part in debates on the Senate floor.

Akaka "doesn't leave fingerprints all over national legislation," said Norman Orenstein, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and one of the capital's most respected political observers. "He sees his role as representing Hawaii. He didn't come to Congress to be secretary of state.

"He certainly is not a familiar national figure," added Orenstein. "Whether or not that serves Hawaii's interest is up to the voters of Hawaii to decide."

Republicans have argued for years that Akaka, however likable, is at best simply an affable second fiddle to Sen. Daniel Inouye, Hawaii's powerful senior senator. At worst, they say, he is little more than a warm body consistently voting the Democratic line.

"There's no originality there; he just votes with the rest of Hawaii's representatives," said former state GOP Chairwoman Donna Alcantara. "People just accept the fact that he's not effective; they like him in spite of that fact."

Current GOP Chairwoman Linda Lingle said she fully expects the party to field a credible candidate against Akaka.

"That may be the most difficult race in Washington -- running against Sen. Akaka -- because he's such a nice man," said Lingle.

But she said Akaka would be vulnerable on such issues as tax cuts, the federal budget and federal control over state funding.

"We expect to have an outstanding candidate, and there will be obvious differences with Sen. Akaka," said Lingle. "He pretty much votes the straight party line."

Indeed, since he joined the Senate, Akaka has voted with the majority of Democrats more than 90 percent of the time every year, according to the authoritative National Journal.

Akaka's causes reveal his priorities. Rather than draft a Medicare reform bill or deliver foreign policy speeches, Akaka is known for working to control the spread of invasive plant species, blocking efforts to use Pacific islands to store nuclear fuel and persuading Congress to officially apologize for the 1893 U.S. overthrow of the local government.

Friends even among the GOP

Supporters argue that Akaka's niceness is his biggest strength as a politician: He can rally support simply because people like him so much.

"Sometimes people mistake quiet and unassuming for something negative," said Okata. "But Danny Akaka long ago realized that leadership comes from keeping your word and doing the best job you can. That's how you build trust among colleagues."

Akaka says he uses trust to get results. He recounted how he talked Sen. John Ashcroft into lifting a hold the Missouri Republican had put on the judicial appointment of Hawaii attorney Susan Mollway after Ashcroft, a friend, visited Akaka's office to explain the hold. (Mollway subsequently was confirmed, after years of waiting.)

"I have good relations on both sides of the aisle," said Akaka.

Indeed, prominent Hawaii Republicans have been known to show up at Akaka's fund-raisers. And in Washington, some of his best friends are Republicans.

"I think he's a very effective representative for Hawaii, and he's certainly a gentleman," said Sen. Frank Murkowski, the conservative Alaska Republican.

Akaka and Murkowski have served on Senate committees together for years, traveled overseas together several times and co-authored much-publicized (but so far not passed) legislation cracking down on immigration abuses in the Northern Marianas Islands.

"Sen. Akaka is a very quiet individual, yes," said Murkowski. "But when he's got something to say, it's usually worth listening to."

While Akaka, who turned 75 last month, was rumored to be considering retirement, he says now he will run for at least one more six-year term.

"We're gearing up, making plans," he said. "We're seeing what opposition is there." Any campaigns after that, he said, would depend on his health.

While health might be a question, there would be none about his supporters, who are among the most loyal in Hawaii politics.

"He disproves the theory that nice guys finish last," said Charles Freedman, vice president of Hawaiian Electric, who has known Akaka for nearly three decades. "When I see Dan, I give him a kiss on the cheek. He's the only man I ever kiss."