Senate seniority, not vanity, important for isles’ future

Whatever Gov. Neil Abercrombie decides onU.S. Sen. Daniel Ino­uye’s wish to have U.S. Rep. Colleen Hana­busa succeed him, it’s vital to getthe governor’s appointee sworn in before the new Congress convenes Jan. 3.

And it’s a shameit took an appeal for "due haste" from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to get local Demo­crats, who must give Abercrombie three candidates to choose from, off their duffs.

As Reid pressed for Hawaii to be fully represented in "fiscal cliff" votes this year, Demo­crats moved up their meeting to pick nominees from Friday to today, potentially allowing Abercrombie’s choice to be sworn in as early as Thursday.

While "fiscal cliff" votes matter, more important to Hawaii long term is that a quick appointment would give our new senator a key seniority jump on the 13 freshmen coming in with the 2013 class.

Seniority is everything in the Senate, and getting any leg up is crucial for Hawaii, which loses 72 years of seniority with Ino­uye’s death and U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka’s retirement.

It might help our state get a seat on the Appropriations Committee that Ino­uye chaired, which could be a first step in restoring lost influence.

The Democratic Party blew it by not pushing years ago for an orderly transition that spared us ending up with zero seniority in Congress. Getting our new senator this golden advantage would start making up ground.

One hang-up was that the Senate’s Jan. 3 freshman class includes Hawaii’s Mazie Hirono, elected in November to replace Akaka, and she chafed at the new senator being sworn in before her and thus becoming Hawaii’s senior senator.

If Hanabusa is appointed, she’d also leapfrog Hirono for the distinction of being the Senate’s first Japa­nese-American woman and Buddhist.

According to Politico, Hirono allies lobbied Demo­cratic officials to hold backthe appointed senator’s swearing in until the same day as Hirono "as a matter of basic fairness."

State Democratic Chairman Dante Carpenter told Politico: "There is a concern among a certain constituency that if the newly appointed person is sworn in before Mazie, it doesn’t seem fair on its face.

"Some of her campaign supporters are concerned it would give an undue advantage. It doesn’t smack of fairness in an institution that is supposed to be the fairest of the land."

It’s good Democrats seem to have gotten their priorities straight on whether "fairness" applies first to onepolitician’s vanity or to Hawaii’s compelling need to gain seniority in a powerful institution where it matters so much.

A rap on Hirono has been a perception that she sees public service as all about her.

That she cried "me, me, me" while the rest of Hawaii cried for Ino­uye and our state spoke toher conceit.

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Reach David Shapiro at volcanicash@gmail.com or blog.volcanicash.net.