STAR-BULLETIN / 1985 Sens. Dan Akaka and Dan Inouye, shown here in August 1985, have been in public service for decades.

---

Senior senators

Inouye and Akaka show
no signs of slowing down
as they turn 81

WASHINGTON » Ask Sen. Dan Akaka about the age of Hawaii's congressional delegation and he chuckles: "We are old."

Today, Akaka turns 81, just four days after Sen. Dan Inouye turned 81.

"That's why I always tell him, he's my senior senator," Akaka jokes.

Hawaii's congressional delegation Dan Inouye Born: Sept. 7, 1924, in Honolulu. First elected to U.S. House in 1959, elected to U.S. Senate in 1962. Dan Akaka Born: Sept. 11, 1924, in Honolulu. First elected to U.S. House in 1976, appointed to fill the vacancy created by death of U.S. Sen. Spark Matsunaga on May 16, 1990, elected to U.S. Senate in 1990. Neil Abercrombie Born: June 26, 1938, in Buffalo, N.Y. First elected to U.S. House in 1986-87 and then since 1990. Ed Case Born: Sept. 27, 1952, in Hilo. First elected to U.S. House in 2002.

Inouye and Akaka are now in the ranks of octogenarians, Rep. Neil Abercrombie turned 67 this summer and Rep. Ed Case, the relative youngster in the group, celebrates his 53rd birthday later this month.

Senior citizen status in politics can be viewed as either a help or hindrance. Former President Ronald Reagan, for instance, neutralized critics who said he was too old to be president when he told opponent Walter Mondale that he "will not make age an issue in this campaign."

"I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience," Reagan said.

Although both Inouye and Akaka now sport hearing aids, they appear in good health.

Akaka has had both knees and his right hip replaced and walks a bit stiffly but still manages a full day's work.

Inouye had shoulder surgery in 2003 and beat doctors' predictions that he would be recuperating for nearly a year when he returned to the office within six weeks.

"I am looking forward to 82," Inouye said. "When I was a bit younger I thought I would be saying goodbye around 70. That was the average for my generation."

Now Inouye says he is ready to order bumper stickers for his 2010 re-election campaign and brags about his good health.

"I would be willing to bet that my numbers may be better than yours," Inouye said.

"My latest blood pressure was 130 over 70, cholesterol 164. My weight, I am proud to say, is 146. But actually you have to add 7 pounds to that," Inouye said, pointing to his empty right sleeve.

Inouye, a Medal of Honor winner, lost his right arm in combat during World War II.

Serving in the war and growing up in times of great national crisis, Akaka said, helps define both he and Inouye.

"He went to McKinley, and I went to Kamehameha," Akaka said. "We graduated at the time World War II was on, so we were destined for the military. He went to Europe, and I went to the Pacific.

"I think we came from a time that brought changes in our spirit and our thinking for our country and for ourselves. Without knowing it, I think we were destined to serve the people of Hawaii in some capacity," Akaka said.

"I think Inouye and me come from a generation that was destined to give service and we have done our best," Akaka added.

In terms of seniority, Inouye ranks third in the Senate behind 87-year-old Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., and 73-year-old Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. All three are in various stages of their eighth term in the Senate.

In senatorial politics seniority trumps just about everything else, according to Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

"Small states such as Hawaii benefit enormously from the seniority of their senators, and seniority is irreplaceable for decades. The view around the country is that every year with a senior senator is worth a dozen with a junior senator, in terms of what the members with seniority can deliver for a state," Sabato said.

If opponents hope to use a senior senator's age against him, Sabato said, it is most likely to fail.

"The argument can be made that electing junior members now is like opening a new bank account and building up capital. But there's no guarantee the new members will ever rise to the positions of seniority and power that the aging members already have," Sabato said.

Akaka is up for re-election next year. He as yet has no announced opposition and already enjoys the endorsement of Hawaii's political labor establishment. But Akaka is not taking any chances and has already hired a media-savvy communications team of both a press secretary, Donalyn Dela Cruz, a former television reporter and sister of City Council chairman Donovan Dela Cruz, and Jon Yoshimura, a former city councilman, attorney and television reporter.