Case is better in Senate for mainstream Hawaii

THE ISSUE Rep. Ed Case is challenging Senator Akaka in this month's Democratic primary election.

LEADERS of Hawaii's Democratic Party were stunned in January when Rep. Ed Case announced he would challenge Sen. Daniel Akaka in his bid for re-election this year. However, his explanation that Hawaii needs to avoid a sudden loss of clout in the Senate while moving beyond the stale, left-right political debate makes sense. Case receives our endorsement.

Both Akaka and Sen. Daniel Inouye turned 82 years old this month, and their longevity in the Senate is limited. If both of their careers end at about the same time, Hawaii would be left with no seniority, the Senate measure of power.

Inouye is serving his eighth Senate term since election in 1962, and his ability to direct federal funds to Hawaii is profound. Akaka, appointed to his seat in 1990 after the death of Sen. Spark Matsunaga, is finishing his second full term in the Senate. His seniority is modest -- 19th among 44 Democrats in the Senate -- and is not likely to grow sig-nificantly over another term; most Democrats with more seniority are younger than Akaka and are not about to retire.

It is time for a younger person to begin building seniority in the Senate in anticipation of Inouye's end of career, avoiding the debacle that beset Oregon in 1996, when Sen. Mark Hatfield retired only a year after Sen. Bob Packwood resigned. Oregon went from first in seniority to 50th. Case, 53 years old, will have time to rack up seniority while Inouye continues to serve.

Lacking any seniority at first, Case's influence will derive from his centrist stance on issues, enabling bipartisan bridge-building to counter the polarization that too often paralyzes Congress. In the House, Case is among 37 members belonging to the Blue Dog Coalition of conservative and moderate Democrats and 40 members of the New Democrat Coalition, an extension of the Democratic Leadership Council.

Case's detractors charge that his moderation is inconsistent with being a Democrat. That assertion is baseless. President Bill Clinton was one of the DLC's early chairmen, and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, frontrunner for the 2008 presidential nomination, is a leading member, chairing its American Dream Initiative. Tennessee Democrats are rallying behind Rep. Harold Ford, a Blue Dog from Tennessee who is vying for the seat being vacated by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.

Case gained experience as a legislative assistant to Matsunaga for three years in the 1970s and as an effective legislator during his four terms in the state House and two terms in the U.S. House. During his years in Congress, Case has found time and energy to conduct more than 130 "talk story" community sessions with his constituents in the 2nd Congressional District.

We have agreed with Case on nearly all issues, including his opposition to setting a time frame for withdrawal of troops from Iraq, regardless of the Iraq government's ability to achieve security and stability. Akaka has called for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq by next July, regardless of the consequences.

Akaka is an honorable person who has embodied the aloha spirit during his years in Washington. We have endorsed him in past elections over many years, but the time has come for Hawaii to gain representation in the Senate for the next generation.