Colleen Hanabusa, supported by drone manufacturers and PhARMA, is challenging the progressive Brian Schatz (endorsed by the League of Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club) for the Hawai'i Senate seat because she claims that former Senator Inouye anointed her as his successor.
Chris Cilliza's The Fix wrote her up in the "Loser" category:
4. Colleen Hanabusa: In the most heated Senate Democratic primary of 2014, Sen. Brian Schatz (D) has established himself as the financial pace-setter, and Rep. Hanabusa is doing little to show she'll be able to close the gap. She raised $455,000 to Schatz's $705,000. Over the course of the entire cycle, Schatz has raised twice as much as Hanabusa.
My contention is that the only heat in this race is Hanabusa arguing with herself. She keeps trying various self-contradictory strategies to gain traction and failing miserably.
The "Inouye wanted me" meme failed (after it was revealed that it was written and robosigned by Inouye's staff member now working for Hanabusa. Additionally voters were annoyed about the undemocratic selection method this implied.)
The "I'm a progressive" approach failed after she voted to gut part of Dodd-Franks Wall St. reform, voted to force the U.S. govt to pay the maximum price for Medicare drugs, voted to prevent the EPA from imposing tougher standards on coal fired boilers and a host of other votes with the GOP.
So then she tried the, "I'm NOT a progressive" (Because progressives are [white, mainland] outsiders.) That went over like a lead balloon. Mufi Hannemann managed to take his 20 point lead and lose by 20 points with THAT approach in his primary against Tulsi Gabbard.
Many of us regret that she left her House seat in this quixotic quest for the Senate because we risk another ConservaDem who is even WORSE than Hanabusa winning it.
The poll below is (obviously) satirical.