While Sunday on a holiday weekend meandered along, out of nowhere came a political game changer from the Islands:
"In this contest of values there's room for only one standard bearer for our party," said Ed Case. "So today I withdraw my candidacy in favor of Colleen (Hanabusa)."
With that, Ed Case has removed his hat from the ring for Hawaii's 1st Congressional Primary race in September after a third place finish in the Special Election.
"We should have contested Primaries in the normal case, but given what's at stake and last weeks election results I concluded we need to make that decision now," he said.
Case finished a disappointing third place (PDF file) in last weekend's special election to replace Neal Abercrombie, a Democrat who resigned from the House a few months ago to focus on his gubernatorial bid.
Therefore, there was probably a lot of tactical practicality in Case's decision. He had to know that winning a Democratic primary that would be more heavily populated with progressives and activists was going to be an expensive contest with long odds. By dropping out in May, he gets to collect some chits for putting party above personal ambition (even Senator Dan Inouye sang his praises yesterday). Those could come in handy down the line. Case is only 57 years of age, and both U.S. Senators from Hawaii are in their mid-80s.
Case's decision, for what it is worth, does not necessarily preclude a contested Democratic primary. The filing deadline is not until late July (Hawaii is always near or at the tail end of the primary calendar), and as James L. at SSP pointed out yesterday, another name Democrat might pop into the race now that Case's exit has opened a window of opportunity.
Those chances seem remote, however, and thus it is exceedingly likely that Hanabusa will be the party's standard bearer in November against newly-elected Republican incumbent Charles Djou. This allows her to tuck away precious resources for a Fall campaign that won't necessarily be a walkover for the Democrats. Djou's vote in favor of repealing DADT, however, shows that he is not interested in being a placeholder. But Hanabusa having the luxury to focus on him from this point forward is a tremendous advantage for the Democrat.
