Schatz must hit ground running

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Dec 27, 2012

~~<p>Gov. Neil Abercrombie upended conventional thinking Wednesday, and assumed considerable political risk himself, when he appointed Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz to fill the next two years of the late Daniel K. Inouye’s term in the U.S. Senate.</p>
<p>According to those conventions, U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, with two years in Congress following a long tenure as state Senate president, stood out as the most experienced of the three candidates nominated by the Democratic Party of Hawaii to succeed Inouye. That, and the fact that Inouye had asked for her appointment in his last days, made her the presumed front-runner, ahead of Schatz and former U.S. Capitol staffer of many years Esther Kiaaina.</p>
~~

Gov. Neil Abercrombie upended conventional thinking Wednesday, and assumed considerable political risk himself, when he appointed Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz to fill the next two years of the late Daniel K. Inouye’s term in the U.S. Senate.

According to those conventions, U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, with two years in Congress following a long tenure as state Senate president, stood out as the most experienced of the three candidates nominated by the Democratic Party of Hawaii to succeed Inouye. That, and the fact that Inouye had asked for her appointment in his last days, made her the presumed front-runner, ahead of Schatz and former U.S. Capitol staffer of many years Esther Kiaaina. Login for more...