Congressman Ed Case took time out from his Senate campaign to, once again, besmirch the memory and legacy of Patsy Mink. As reported by Jerry Burris in his Honolulu Advertiser's Akamai Politics blog,
http://www.blogs.honoluluadvertiser.com, Case told a meeting of the newspaper's editorial board that Patsy "would not today represent this district" because of her liberal views.
For those of you unfamiliar with Patsy, she was a force for justice and equality throughout her political career. In 1965, Patsy became the first woman of color to be elected to Congress, and she was instrumental in obtaining passage of the Title IX Amendment to the Higher Education Act. Title IX prohibited gender discrimination by federally funded instituions, and it paved the way for women's athletics. Upon Patsy's death in 2002, Title IX was renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act.
Case's dismissive comments are consistent with his attitude towards Patsy. In 2002, Case insisted on running against Patsy's widower, John Mink, in a special election to fill her term. Case's rationale for running was that it was necessary for him to serve a few weeks so that he could build up seniority if he was elected to a full term in the U.S. House of Representatives. Well, Case got his extra seniority, and now he is cynically trading it in because he now claims the need to build up seniority in the U.S. Senate.
In serving as Patsy's successor, Case actually had the audacity to vote for the Hensarling Amendment in 2005, which, among other things, would have eliminated funding for Title X family planning services. It is no wonder that Planned Parenthood has endorsed Senator Dan Akaka in his re-election bid.
As a former consituent of Patsy, I am pleased to see so many HI-2 candidates embrace her legacy and spirit. Patsy's views still resonate in Hawaii, and we will be well served by a progressive successor.
Andy Winer
Campaign Manager
Akaka in 2006