Mazie Hirono (D-HI) To The Rescue

Last month we were worrying that the always ambitious, always reactionary corporate shill, Ed Case, would get a free ride for the Senate seat he once tried to steal from Dan Akaka, a progressive who is now retiring. But today one of the most progressive and forward-thinking Members of Congress, Mazie Hirono, declared for the seat. This is especially good news since the latest polling shows she would beat both Case and Linda Lingle, the likely Republican nominee. Mazie's favorability rating is 64%, highest of anyone thinking about getting in the race.

“It’s very humbling to see this strong support for my work on behalf of the people of Hawaii," Mazie said after the polls was released last week. “I take their opinions seriously and have been fighting as hard as ever to create well-paying jobs, hold big oil companies accountable for rising gas prices, protect Medicare from Republican attempts to dismantle it, and promote Hawaii’s renewable energy economy. I appreciate the positive response to my leadership, but I don’t take it for granted and will never stop fighting for a stronger Hawaii."

As for Case, although he had one of the worst attendance records of any member of Congress, he consistently supported the GOP on job-killing trade legislation and on special interests legislation like abolishing the estate tax for the super-rich, making it easier for banksters to rip off consumers, screwing over working families on pensions and GOP proposals to shift the tax burden to the middle class. He generally voted with the most reactionary Democrats when they joined the GOP to stifle reform and anyone who likes Chamber of Commerce pawns and Patriot Act-type Dems like Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK) and Joe Donnelly (Blue Dog-IN) will be perfectly happy with Ed Case-- especially if xenophobia and war-mongering and making sure that victims of big corporations have no recourse to the courts are your cup of tea to boot.

If you feel like sending the Democratic Party a message that you prefer a real Democrat like Mazie Hirono over corporate shills and conservatives like Ed Case, you can do it here through ActBlue.