There is therefore a very classic urban rural split to the n-th degree... because not only are we out of the city, but we have to be flown there for such routine things as medical consultations.
Candidates:
There are eight, count 'em, eight people running in HI-02 as Democrats... it is presumed that Mazie Hirono is the front runner. Gary Hooser is the only "outer island" candidate, a progressive state senator from the Island of Kauai, he stands in contrast to the rest of the Oahu based cast of Democrats, several of whom are state Senators such as himself. Whichever of the eight wins the primary is presumed to be the next representative from HI-02 and easily beat whichever given Republican in November.
Inner and Outer, Oahu and Its Neighbors
Honolulu sees itself as the center of Hawaii, the "inner" place, and the rest of the islands are the "outer" islands, or, more affectionately, the "neighbor" islands. Someone that grew up here could tell you better how important this is in general, but politically I give my impression from the handful of years I've leaved here and the years I visited before that. My grandfather was half Hawaiian and born in Hawaii, but that didn't confer to me any special intuitions about Hawaiian politics, so I state my potential biases and lack of experience.
Still, this is surely how the neighbor islands are referred to. As one that thinks metaphor is how a mind thinks about abstract things like politics, I take note of that distinction, inner vs outer, who is the home, and who the neighbor. This is why Gary Hooser stands in contrast to Mazie Hirono and the other candidates, she is inner, he is outer.
Democrats vs Republicans
Everybody knows, assumes, that Hawaii's Second District is going to go Democratic, whoever wins the Democratic Primary feels confident to say aloud they are the next representative from Hawaii. However, that used to be true of the Governorship, for 50 years the Democrats held the governorship, but Mazie lost to Lingle in a close race in 2002 after the Democratic machine in Honolulu suffered major damage in corruption scandals.
Ed Case got 2/3 of the vote in this district against a strange radical Republican running on an anti-homosexual agenda. Ed Case isn't that liberal, and the nut isn't running again, still, no one, including me, thinks this district is going to go to Republicans this time around, but the future is another matter, and we need to be wary in Hawaii. Lingle works non-stop arguing for Republicans in power in Hawaii, arguing for example the Akaka Bill failed because Hawaii had no senators in the Republican Caucus where decisions were being made (in other words, Republicans will oppress your voice so become Republican).
City and Country
Perhaps even more so than in general, there is a vast difference between rural life in Hawaii, which often means isolation from some important infrastructure by a hundred miles of ocean, and the urban life in Honolulu where modern services make Honolulu a typical American city... ok, maybe not totally typical, but in terms of state infrastructure.
Half the population of HI-02 still lives on Oahu. Understand also that while HI-01 is the part immediately next to Honolulu, the whole island takes just a couple hours to circumnavigate... so HALF of HI-02 is still "inner" island, still essentially Honolulu Metro Area, conditioned by an (aloha-ified) urban economy and frame of mind. Conditions with respect to access to urban infrastructure, such as hospitals, are much different for those on Oahu from HI-02, than say those on the island of Hawaii, Kauai, or Maui. (Each island of the State of Hawaii is a county, and the Mayors are actually county heads, each managing their island as a whole.)
Local Issues
Of course, other localities share some of these, in that sense these are national too, but you know what I mean, I hope, when I call them local.
- Rural Medicine, esp transportation and outer island infrastructure, medical professional shortages, and inherent difficulties ensuring sufficient quality medical issues.
- The Future of Agriculture
- Gas Prices (especially so, even in times of glut)
- Waste Disposal and illegal dumping
- Energy, we still burn a lot of gas for electricity
- We import more and more foods and other goods, which which are prone to disturbances in shipping (strikes, weather, bad luck, bankruptcy and business fortunes)
- Education - Our educational system does not rate too well nationally, locally, or any way, except, I will say, the love Hawaiian people have for children, including the teachers. But they are underfunded and the institutional structure is not making headway addressing the problems as of yet.
National Issues
Our district is an interesting factor in many national and global issues:
- Genetically Modified Plants -
they love to test GMO here, and this is a constant battle, from the Hawaiian perspective they are playing with destroying our habitat, to mainland eyes they are isolating any disaster to "just us".
- Military Spending -
this money could be put to better use her in scientific research, Hawaii is of interest to many sciences, such as renewable energy, astronomy, marine biology, agriculture, botany, geology.
- Pacific Rim -
Hawaii is a common ground of the Pacific, and could play more of that roll than it does now, since much of rural Hawaii is wired and ready to support technology businesses, e.g. on the Big Island.
- Racism -
Hawaii has a lot of racism still, and there is a sovereignty movement that would like to secede from the US. That is not likely to happen, but the movement is still quite politically visible, a tangible reaction to what happened to the people of Hawaii in Hawaii's history. The Akaka Bill seeks to put Hawaiians in a similar classification as the Native American Tribes, giving them a sub-sovereign government to manage some sublet state resources.
- Hawaii is a Blue State -
That means that you will have to look to Hawaii to have the type of liberal people that can bring the the most progressive ideas (like Title IX) to the table.