Crystal Ball Outlook: Safe D
Democratic candidates: Daniel Inouye, incumbent senator
Republican candidates: none
Recent updates from the Crystal Ball
Update: February 19, 2009
Daniel Inouye (D-HI): Republicans would love to see Governor Linda Lingle (R-HI), whose second and final term expires in 2010, challenge Inouye. However, how do you defeat not just a Hawaiian institution but also the chairman of the pork-barrel Senate Appropriations Committee? Inouye’s been around since 1962, and few in the Aloha State much care if he’ll be seeking a ninth six-year term at the age of 86. Inouye is a World War II hero who lost an arm in the fighting, and he was pushed for the Democratic vice presidential nomination in 1968 by President Lyndon Johnson–Vice President Humphrey, the Democratic presidential candidate, said no, fearing America wasn’t ready for a non-white nominee. Lately, Inouye’s actions have been a little less heroic, as he gave a middle-finger salute to his own party by endorsing Alaska’s corrupt Republican Senator Ted Stevens for reelection in 2008. As we said, no one much cares about these little details in Hawaii. DEMOCRATIC HOLD, even if Lingle runs.