Congresswoman Mazie Hirono is running for Hawai`i's open Senate seat. Here's why I support her:
1) She's an effective legislator.
From the beginning of her tenure, she's made her mark as a strong leader for early education. While just in her first term, she became the first person to receive the Pre-K Champion award in 2008. In addition, she's consistently directed federal money to her district for good things like transit, habitat protection, and renewable energy. Even in the Boehner Congress, she's been able to keep good legislation moving.
2) She's a visionary leader.
Mazie is a founding member of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus; a leading advocate of the People's Budget, "the only honest plan on the table"; and a proponent of finding creative ways to help people more easily get around in environmentally friendly ways.
3) She's a reliable progressive.
Mazie is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and has consistently ranked in the top five of the Progressive Punch ratings. She voted against the Patriot Act re-authorization; against the de-funding of Acorn, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and Planned Parenthood; and against a Republican proposal to mandate he inscription of a religious message at the Capitol Visitor Center.
4) She'd bring some much-needed diversity to the Senate.
Hawai`i is one of the most diverse places in the world. It's only fitting then that Mazie's election would help to change the look and feel of the Senate. The country is more than 50% female, yet the Senate is 83% male. We're obviously long overdue for another Year of the Woman. A native of Japan, she'd be the first female immigrant and just the second woman of color to be a U.S. Senator.
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Aloha & mahalo!
Fri Aug 26, 2011 at 11:26 PM PT: UPDATE:
A couple of right-wing bigots are trying to generate controversy over Mazie's belief system, just as when she was first sworn into Congress. So unfortunately a few obvious points need to be re-stated.
1) Mazie is a Buddhist, not an atheist or agnostic.
2) "Non-theist" isn't a synonym for "atheist."
3) She addressed this non-issue years ago: "I certainly believe in the precepts of Buddhism and that of tolerance of other religions and integrity and honesty."
Thu Sep 08, 2011 at 12:29 AM PT: UPDATE #2:
Mahalo to Civil Beat's DC808 blog for expanding my understanding of Buddhism with this post:
http://dc808.blogs.civilbeat.com/...
The use of "non-theist" was borrowed from Booman23's post in May:
http://networkedblogs.com/...
Because that description is possibly inaccurate, the sentence referencing Mazie's religion has been deleted from this diary. Those who would suggest that the espousal of any particular religious viewpoint in itself can determine a candidate's qualification for office should read the U.S. Constitution (notably, Article VI, paragraph 3 and the First Amendment's Establishment Clause).