Mazie Keiko Hirono is Hawai`i's most popular politician, has compiled an excellent progressive voting record in Congress, and consequently looks like a leading contender in the race for Hawai`i's first open U.S. Senate in 36 years. But progressive women never have an easy route to political success. Indeed, since she entered the race last month she's endured a steady stream of name calling and unsubstantiated putdowns from certain male pundits. And nobody is going to hand her this powerful position (nor would she want them to); she's going to have to earn it. So, she's pulling out all the stops and hitting the road to support her campaign.
On Monday night, she helped Democratic Leadership for the 21st Century kick off its review of next year's U.S. Senate races with a visit to Houndstooth Pub in Midtown Manhattan. By all accounts, she was a hit. Please follow me below for a brief report on her appearance and, more important, a link to provide some critical early support to her campaign.
New York City Comptroller John Liu introduced Mazie at Houndstooth.
As noted by Politcker (which provides all the quotes for this diary), "they share something of a path-breaking pedigree: Liu became the first Asian-American elected citywide in 2009, and Hirono was the first Asian naturalized citizen to be elected to Congress back in 2006."
Mazie talked about her inspiring personal history, which includes immigrating from Japan to pre-statehood Hawai`i by ship (in steerage) as a young girl, being raised by a single mom in Honolulu, learning English in the public-school system, and going on to earn a law degree at Georgetown.
In New York City (as she does in Hawai`i), Mazie described herself as "a progressive Democrat" with an emphasis on creating jobs: “People are hurting in Hawaii, in this country. I am concerned about jobs. People need to understand that I’m on their side.”
She went on to express frustration at the extremism and shortsighted thinking of the Boehner Congress: “Every single day I’m on the (House) floor, I hear the ridiculousness. . . You can’t solve infrastructural ailments and problems in one year, two years.”
Mazie acknowledged that she has a chance to make history and gave credit to America's open political system: “For someone who literally ‘got off the boat,’ it’s pretty awesome!”
To help her actually fulfill that chance to make history, it's important to contribute to her campaign by the next quarterly reporting deadline of June 30. Even $5 would help. In fact, it would help a lot. The key is to express your support early. The quarterly FEC reports will show not just the total amount of money raised by each candidate, but also the number of donors. The report will be critical in determining how Mazie's candidacy is perceived by the media, potential large donors, and opponents in her race.
To hopefully seal the deal (and to quote myself from two weeks ago, if you'll excuse me), here are 5 reasons to contribute $5 Mazie's campaign by June 30:
1) She's a reliable, courageous progressive.
2) She's a leader.
3) She's a pragmatic, effective legislator.
4) She's compassionate.
5) She's in a tough, important race.
And here's the link:
http://mazieforhawaii.com
I promise you that this will be a good investment.
Mahalo!