Hanabusa Begins Under Cloud Of Liberal Skepticism
Tomorrow, the 112th Congress begins its first session. Among the new members of the House of Representatives will be Colleen Hanabusa, unlike most of the others, a Democrat.
Though Hanabusa is a Democrat, and Hawaii liberals helped to elect Hanabusa to Congress, liberals Hawaiians are now preparing for Hanabusa’s oath of office with a feeling of skepticism. Hanabusa was elected on a liberal agenda, but just after the election, Hanabusa gave her support to a Republican package of tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.
Hanabusa’s capitulation to Republican demands didn’t carry much weight, given that she wasn’t yet sworn in to Congress and couldn’t actually vote on the legislation. Yet, the betrayal was reminiscent of the Democrats’ worst troubles of the 111th Congress, in which liberal legislation was blocked, not by Republicans but by Democrats who felt that they had to vote like Republicans in order to get re-elected. Most of those right-leaning Democrats were voted out of office in last year’s election.
If Hanabusa cannot bring herself to show more backbone than those Blue Dogs, she may share their fate in 2012.
