Unity with Sanders camp sought
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM
Delegates cast ballots at the state Democratic Party convention Saturday at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel.
Calls for party unity are standard fare at political conventions, but those pleas have special urgency at the Hawaii Democratic Party convention in Waikiki this weekend.
State Democrats hope to somehow graft thousands of left-leaning, adamant Bernie Sanders supporters to a party hierarchy that is far more supportive of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
If the effort is successful, the Democrats may enjoy a potent injection of youth and energy into the party that already dominates state politics.
If the effort fails, things could get messy. The Sanders voters, including thousands who are new to the Democratic Party, swamped the party’s presidential preference polling on March 26, lifting Sanders to a decisive win with 70 percent of the vote.
Since then, a significant body of Sanders supporters has remained active, and observers agreed they seem to dominate the 847 delegates who had registered for the convention at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel on Saturday. Hundreds of delegates erupted in an impressive roar and standing ovation, cheering “Bernie! Bernie!” after a video message aired Saturday of Sanders congratulating his Hawaii supporters.
Clinton, who was supported by party elders such as former Govs. John Waihee, George Ariyoshi and Ben Cayetano, garnered just 30 percent of the votes in a contest that may signal the Hawaii party is under strong pressure to move in a new, more progressive direction.
Bart Dame, authorized representative for the Sanders campaign in Hawaii, told the crowd that some saw the March 26 polling as a “spontaneous outburst for democracy, and it’s a glorious thing,” adding, “It is glorious to have so many thousands of people be excited by a candidate who finally speaks to their heart.”
Many Clinton supporters have been welcoming, “but there are other people who are going to try to slam the door in the face of our new people,” Dame said. “It’s been in very small micro-aggressions against our people across the state. That has got to stop.”
One example Dame cited was a proposal to require that people must sign up for presidential preference polling at least two weeks in advance, a proposal that prompted booing from the crowd at the Sheraton. The convention is scheduled to consider that proposal today.
“Had that had been in effect this time around, there would have been many thousands fewer people participating, and frankly, that is the intent,” Dame said. “We have to fight voter suppression, whether it comes from nominal Democrats or whether it comes from Republicans.”
Strength in diversity
Gov. David Ige and former U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa offered more calming and conciliatory messages to the delegates.
Hanabusa, who is planning a campaign this year to try to return to the U.S. House, said she is proud of the Hawaii activists who delivered the state to Sanders. She urged them to help unite the party after the national convention in Philadelphia from July 25-28.
“You saw the rise of Donald Trump. You should be afraid for our country and for each and every one of us,” Hanabusa said. “And you should know that that’s where the party has got to focus.”
Hanabusa said the differences and disagreements within the party make it stronger. In a nod to the Sanders campaign, Hana- busa told the crowd that the Democrats work with the union movement because “we are the party that fights for the working class.”
Ige told the delegates that “we derive our strength from our diversity,” adding, “We embrace diversity and the knowledge that there is more that unites us than divides us.”
He added, “We know that when the shouting ends and the smoke clears, we stand together, so let this convention be an exciting marketplace for ideas that enrich the growth of our partnership, and the community and the people, because we are Democrats first and foremost.”
Natalie Strauss, 21, said Ige’s comments were reassuring. This is her first party convention “and I think for a lot of us, especially the students, we were really apprehensive and confused about how it was going to go, and we weren’t sure how everything worked,” she said.
Strauss, who just graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, was vice chairwoman of Students for Bernie Sanders. That involved phone banking, organizing rallies and sign waving, and she also helped to open the only Sanders campaign office on Hawaii island in donated space in Hilo.
Strauss agreed with Ige that the Sanders supporters “have more similarities than differences” with the rest of the party. “I think that most of all we just want to help the common man,” she said.
Sanders’ influence
Colin Moore, director of the University of Hawaii Public Policy Center, said the influx of Sanders supporters “absolutely” will have an effect on the party, and will test the strength of the Democrats’ “Old Guard.”
The performance by the Sanders supporters in the presidential preference poll was “remarkable,” Moore said. “If they can follow on that success, then we will really have a strong, progressive part of that caucus.”
“Bernie’s dramatic victory and whatever they can pull off at the convention will demonstrate … how much they’ve managed to consolidate and turn out the progressive part of the Democratic Party, which has been, I think, beleaguered for a while,” Moore said.
Dame said he is confident that Sanders supporters will profoundly influence the direction the party takes in the years ahead. He predicted that party newcomers initially may zero in on issues of “agricultural justice,” a term that generally refers to more strict regulation of pesticides and the movement to restrict, label or ban genetically modified organisms.
Those have already proven to be divisive issues in recent years within the Hawaii political establishment, particularly on the neighbor islands. Some worry that strict new regulation of agricultural industries could put farmers out of business and wipe out jobs.
Dame estimated that 95 percent of the Sanders delegates have never been party delegates before, and predicted they will remain engaged in the years ahead, “fighting to make this party more democratic” and more inclusive.
Key election
Two indications of the latest tilt of the party will be who is elected as the new party leader today at the convention, and whether any additional Hawaii superdelegates can be persuaded to support Sanders, he said.
So far, five superdelegates announced they will support Clinton, including U.S. Sens. Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz; U.S. Rep. Mark Takai; Democratic National Committeeman Russell Okata; and Democratic National Committeewoman Jadine Nielsen.
U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who is also a superdelegate, is a strong Sanders supporter. Superdelegates who have not yet announced who they will support include Ige and Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui. The party chairperson and vice chairperson who will be selected today will also become superdelegates.
Dame and other Sanders supporters argue Sanders should receive seven superdelegates, which would be the same percentage of delegates as he won in the popular vote in Hawaii in March. However, party rules do not require that.
Sanders won 17 of the 25 Hawaii delegates that are apportioned according to the results of the March 26 presidential preference polling, while Clinton won eight.
Ige on Saturday still refused to say who he plans to support as a superdelegate, saying he has been talking with both Clinton and Sanders supporters.
“We’ll see how the process unfolds, and I’m going to cast my vote as a superdelegate in the best interest of the people of Hawaii,” he said. “I think that it’s very important for me to be uncommitted at this point, and I think as the process goes forward, we’ll see how things go.”
32 responses to “Unity with Sanders camp sought”
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“It is glorious to have so many thousands of people be excited by a candidate who finally speaks to their heart.” Really? Sanders is the same person who portrays himself as the “anti-establishment” candidate, yet has been in office since the early 90’s. Doing what, exactly? As the CEO of Disney just asked Sanders, “How many jobs have you created? What have you contributed to the US economy?” As a contrast, Hillary, by her past actions, continues to keep hundreds of feds very busy and very much dedicated to their jobs. (Snark)
Having a right winger attack Sanders validates him as the preferred candidate.
Bernie wants to play the outsider card and only people who are too lazy to do their own research on him will fall for his shibai. Bernie has been in D.C, since January 1991. That many years in Washington makes him anything but an outsider. This is not an attack. It’s a fact. It’s Bernie’s history.
The sooner we replace Hillary with Bernie, this will all start to be clearer, and Trump will be less dominant.
Sanders’s political affiliation until this campaign had been Independent from 1979 to 2015. That’s what it means to not be part of “establishment politics” (i.e., the farcical Republican-Democrat paradigm that purports to be an epic clash of ideologies, when both parties continue to serve the interests of a relatively autonomous class of oligarchs). If you aren’t able to make this fine (yet simple) distinction between what constitutes an “outsider” and “insider” (again, within the context of the Republican-Democrat status quo), then there probably is no point in anyone furthering this debate with you. We would probably have more success moving a brick wall by ramming our collective heads into it.
But he is honest and has not been bought like Hillary!
agree. Sanders is an egocentric crank who promises far more than he could ever deliver. He is fine as a kibbitzer but not as a legitimate presidential figure. Hillary is flawed but she brings the best resume to the election and has done a lot for early education and family-friendly policies. I will vote for her. She set up an unapproved email system as Colin Powell did? Hon, I don’t care.
What defending her?
Ige sounds like Hillary.
The caucus system should be replaced with a regular primary election. Sanders is a registered Independent in the Senate.
We don’t schedule our presidential primaries early enough.
Agree with MichaelG. Notice Sanders supporters welcome an open caucus but shy away from an open primary.
Where is that written? It’s the hardline democrats like williky who didn’t want an open primary.
Hanabusa and Ige you both are phones. You both are from the old big democratic machine and don’t lie about. Hanabusa aren’t you the senate president that pushed and got the bill passed for the legislature pay raise when all other government warmers were taking pay cuts?? Also you got beat in your last election by this same younger voters so now I’m ou are backing their movement. Ige you are just a big PHONEY- is you wife on sabatical if she is then for what legit reason cause if it is because she is the First Lady of this state I would like to know how it qualifies her for a sabatical leave. Please Hanabusa do not run for congress- you are too old to build seniority and you did nothing before-you are just an arogant person(just you picture shows arrogance and the way you speak is like you are above all others. Just stay on the rail(failure) board
phones? what kind, cell phone, land line, or other. never heard of people referred to as phones, how about tv?
Hanabusa’s dark past is well known out here. She is always “available” for elected office. She has accomplished nothing and yes, is way too old to build seniority. She did nothing when in Congress before.
Actually, I think this year’s convention has more harmony and less contention that previous ones where fierce debates and arguments were common between ideological factions. Yes there is a national edgyness because the Bernie and Hillary, but consider the Mufi v Abercrombie tensions in the past? Rivals for Mayor and Governor have often met to make “big body” at the convention. The debates have been relatively respectful. Many of the Sander’s delegate proposals did make it into the Platform and the Resolutions. A new Central Committee will see many new faces. The biggest source of dissatisfaction are the logistics, long lines for registration, etc. Candidates for new Party Chair find support from a mix of stakeholders.
SA….”Some worry that strict new regulation of agricultural industries could put farmers out of business and wipe out jobs.” Really? Had to throw this pro GMO pesticide comment in….really bad attempt to brain wash us.
Ah the beautiful choice between two evils, one a ruling class, lying, and lawless one who believes she is owed the job and the other an absolute economic idiot. Our parties have failed us.
If you look into Bernie’s ideas and see the tripling of your taxes to support his ideas, you may not be as enthused. Want to see somebody who really doesn’t get along with the house and Senate in the executive office? Oh, yea, Foreign Policy? Hmm, not so much.. either. If the polls stayed open and didn’t shut out many voters I believe you might have seen more voter support for HRC. At least she knows what is going outside of Vermont. Hopefully these “new voters” will learn to read and find out what is really involved and not just listen to sound bites.
Bill and Hillary Clinton founded the right-leaning Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) that is allied with Big Business, Wall Street, and the Big Money Super PACs who control the political system of this country. It was this Clinton-led Big Money political system that passed the Free Trade Agreements that caused millions of American jobs to be outsourced, and repealed the Glass-Steagel Act that deregulated Wall Street and resulted in the Great Recession. Bernie Sanders is the only presidential candidate who is not tied to this Big Money Super PAC system. Hawaii politicians can prove that they are really progressives by supporting Sanders. The rank and file Hawaii Democrats have moved to the left, away from the right-leaning Big Money politics of the Clintons and the DLC. The young progressives are the future of the Party. The Old Guard needs to support the progressive agenda or get out of the way of progress.
Sanders should run as an independent like he is. He is not happy with the DNC anyway.
He needs to figure out how to encourage his followers to follow Clinton. A third party would be a disaster for liberals at this point.
That’s ok. We will change it for the better.
The super delegates are doing their jobs. Basically, they want the best candidate nominated. And they need to do due diligence to get there.
Bernie Sanders: “Socialist is the political and economic philosophy I hold, not a party I run under.” 1988. Quoted in Politifact.
How many people who use email every day actually know if their emails are really secure and private? Maybe you’ve heard that “leaks” in an organization starts at the mail room? And what would you do if you knew that people who ran your company email servers likely had differing corporate loyalties? You could fire the entire staff, and rehire, only to have the same thing happening again. You could encrypt your email, but in so many words, that’s only as good as the trust you have in your entire IT staff.
You might consider using an email service that uses private servers and encrypts your email to avoid people sniffing traffic on the wire and hacking into your email. But, the downside is that would mean placing all of your trust in those persons who provide such a service. And you may not know those persons well enough to do that. Trust, we all know how important an issue that is in today’s digital commerce.
Or, you could use a private server that sits outside of the corporate network. In that case, in order to stay very secure, everyone you do business with that sends email to your private server would require knowledge of and consistent use of encryption.
Likely, with the diverse number of people sending email to your server, all of whom have varying levels of sophistication with technology, the most practical solution is to have email sent to a private server, but without encryption.
Without getting into any technical details, which you could debate just about forever, suffice to say, this is our feeble take on why a person might use a private email server. We don’t condone the practice, just saying this might be why you might use one. In other words, just speculating, nothing else.
Bernie is not diversity – he is divisive. he is not a democrat but an independent and is now using the democratic party to win the presidency. he should run as an independent. he is trying to imposed his socialistic ideas on the democratic capitalistic society. America became a great nation because of capitalism, now he wants America to become a socialist or communistic state. how great are communistic countries compared to those capitalistic countries? wake up democrats this outsider is using the democratic party to impose his failed ideas on our great country. he and trump are trying to tear down America, this is totally unacceptable. Hillary may not be the best candidate but she is better that both of these two radicals put together.
Yes we are not Sweden.
Anybody knowing and supports Hillary is putting their neck on the line.
That New Mexico Governor is not doing her job. As the head of the State she should have taken the proper measures to prevent the rioting after Trump’s Rally regardless of what she thought about Him.
What happen to our dragstrip? Crooked Democrats in cahoots with Private Developers. You know who you are.
You article is out of date already. We have a new Party chair. That should have been reported.