U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz describes himself as a "pragmatic progressive" who has passion for Democratic values but understands politics is about compromise.
Schatz, the 40-year-old former lieutenant governor and Makiki state legislator, was appointed by Gov. Neil Abercrombie in December to replace the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye.
Thrust into a Senate riven by debates on the federal budget, gun control and U.S. military drone strikes, the new senator did not have the luxury of a transition like colleagues who were elected in November.
Schatz also did not receive the public vetting that comes with an election campaign to such a high profile office, so many voters might not know his political philosophy or where he stands on important public policy matters.
While Schatz will have the advantage of incumbency, he will not have much time to establish a record before he has to campaign for election next year. U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, D-Hawaii, has said she is considering primary challenges against Schatz or Abercrombie and could make an announcement by summer.
"I come by Democratic values with some passion, but I also understand that there are a diversity of backgrounds and experiences and views in the U.S. Senate, and that politics is about compromise," Schatz said in an interview earlier this month in Inouye’s old seventh-floor offices in the federal building in Honolulu, which were still eerily empty.
"So I’m interested in working with anyone who has a viable solution to America’s problems and anyone who will work in Hawaii’s best interests."
Schatz entered a Senate that has been portrayed as dysfunctional, a chamber trapped in gridlock by partisanship and arcane procedural rules. But Schatz said he is of two minds.
During the past few months, the Senate has averted the fiscal cliff, approved some of President Barack Obama’s Cabinet nominees and reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act. The Senate and the House, however, were unable to prevent the automatic $85 billion in federal spending cuts known as sequestration.
"There’s still intense partisanship and sort of an emotionalization of the issues that I think is unhealthy," Schatz said. "But I do see, at least among some senators from both sides of the aisle, a desire to restore the ability of the institution to function properly and to solve problems."
Schatz said Congress seems "consumed with the precipice of the day" but should be able to "deal with a social issue, a health care issue, an economic challenge and a foreign policy issue simultaneously."
The senator said sequestration was unacceptable and avoidable. He said the lesson for Congress is "to not set up gauntlets for ourselves."
Asked how voters should judge his performance when he is up for election, Schatz said it would be important to know what other senators think of him, since the Senate is driven by relationships.
"So how they view me is one measure of how I’m doing," he said. "I also would ask whether the votes that I cast reflect Hawaii’s values."
Schatz said it is reasonable for voters to expect some progress on issues critical to Hawaii, such as maintaining the military’s presence, advancing the state’s clean energy goals — possibly using Hawaii as a national model — and preserving Native Hawaiian programs.
Schatz said the state’s congressional delegation has been in conversations with the White House about ensuring Native Hawaiian representation in the executive branch.
The senator said the delegation is still assessing how best to advance Native Hawaiian federal recognition, which has been stalled in the Senate for more than a decade.
Schatz, who serves on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, which has jurisdiction of Native Hawaiian issues, said lawmakers and Native Hawaiian leaders do not want to "put something in the hopper just for the sake of saying we did it."
He added, "The point here is to advance the cause, and that means that we have to take our time and gather our resources and try to speak with one voice."
Political analysts say they doubt Schatz will have enough time before the 2014 election season to really establish himself on the issues. The congressional delegation does not get the same kind of daily examination from the local news media that the governor or Honolulu mayor receives, so Schatz might have only a few opportunities to distinguish himself on public policy before he is viewed in the context of an election campaign.
"I think he’s going to have trouble establishing himself on issues in any way, frankly," said Dan Boylan, a history professor emeritus at the University of Hawaii at West Oahu and a columnist for MidWeek. "There’s just not enough time."
Boylan said Schatz’s immediate challenge is to raise money and set up a campaign organization to prepare for a potential primary against a serious threat like Hanabusa.
"I think, on the issue part of it, he’s undoubtedly going to have to try to identify himself with some of the things that Inouye made go," he said of federal spending for the military and other Hawaii priorities, "and go with issues that he’s been interested in, which are more progressive, if you will."
John Hart, a communication professor at Hawaii Pacific University, said the presumption is that Schatz is a liberal Democrat in the mold the state has traditionally sent to Washington.
"And the only thing that’s going to raise any eyebrows would be any time he takes a vote that isn’t in line with that," Hart said. "It seems to me his biggest challenge actually would be that he’s got two years to kind of get his constituent services down and damper any challenges on the home front. And then, within reason, it’s his job for life pending a disaster."
One of the factors Abercrombie considered when appointing Schatz was his youth and his potential to accrue seniority in a chamber often ruthless about its internal pecking order.
Inouye, elected to the Senate at 38, was mentored by insiders such as U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield, D-Mont. Schatz said he is building relationships with U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and, in particular, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.
"I’d like to serve as long as I’m able because I think that that would be in Hawaii’s best interest," Schatz said. "But I know that this has to be done one step at a time, and so I’m not looking beyond 2014, because we’ve got a lot of work to do in the short run."
Hawaii’s seniority in the Senate evaporated when Inouye, 88, died and U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, also 88, retired. The two Democrats had a combined 72 years of service in the Senate.
Schatz said he has been struck by how much good will resides in the Senate for Inouye and Akaka not only as politicians, but also as friends.
"People have a warm place in their heart for those two men, and they want to help Hawaii as a result," he said.
