BERG: Audacity of hope for GOP

OPINION:

Republican Charles Djou will most likely win the special election for Congress in Hawaii on Saturday. Latest polls show he holds a solid lead over his two strong Democratic opponents, State Sen. Colleen Hanabusa and former Rep. Ed Case.

The seat for the First Congressional District opened when Neil Abercrombie resigned in February to concentrate on his campaign for governor.

But Democrats are already discounting a Djou victory as mere happenstance that will be rectified in the November general election. A predictable and understandable response to be sure, but disingenuous, nevertheless. Democrats know full well this vote-by-mail special election, which requires only a plurality, not a majority to win, is actually more than special. The race has invigorated the Republican Party in blue Hawaii like nothing else has in years.

Mr. Djou would be the first Republican elected to Congress in Hawaii, which has two congressional seats, in two decades and the third since statehood in 1959. And he would do it in President Obama’s home district where Mr. Obama was born, where his grandmother lived, where his sister and other family members live, where he attended Punahou High School, as did Mr. Djou, and where he garnered 70 percent of the vote in his presidential election.

And what is Mr. Djou’s strategy? The same as Mr. Obama’s. Mr. Djou has the “audacity of hope.” The phrase, inspired by a Rev. Jeremiah Wright sermon, was the title of Obama’s best-selling book.

But before that, he used the phrase as the theme of his rousing speech to the 2004 Democratic National Convention, encouraging delegates to have hope against hope: “Hope in the face of difficulty. Hope in the face of uncertainty. The audacity of hope.”

Mr. Djou, who has served on the Honolulu City Council for nearly eight years, has his own style of audacity in Democratic Hawaii. He stands for Reagan-style values, and has never flinched.

His consistent mantra is fiscal responsibility. He blasts the culture of spending in Congress by calling for a balanced budget amendment. At a recent debate, he even criticized congressional earmarks in Hawaii, calling for open government.

Mr. Djou’s two Democratic rivals actually criticized him because he never voted for a tax increase. I wonder how that will play out in the general election.

His message seems to be resonating. In a January Star-Bulletin-KITV poll, 37 percent of the voters said they would vote for Mr. Case compared to 25 percent for Mrs. Hanabusa and only 17 percent for Mr. Djou. But a recent, originally-internal Democratic National Committee poll showed the following figures for “most likely” voters: Mr. Djou 39 percent, Mr. Case 31 percent and Mrs. Hanabusa 20 percent.

The Obama administration has signaled its concern about losing this symbolically important seat and released an internal memo by pollster Paul Harstad saying Mr. Djou would probably win the election and that Mr. Case is the stronger of the two Democrats.

The national Democratic Party has endorsed neither Democrat, but believes Mr. Case, a moderate, is more electable than Mrs. Hanabusa, a liberal.

But the national party does not want to mess with the great and powerful Hawaiian Sen. Daniel Inouye. The 85-year old senator, who has occupied his seat for almost a half-century, supports Mrs. Hanabusa over Mr. Case for very personal reasons.

In 2006, Mr. Case crossed Mr. Inouye by challenging Hawaii’s junior senator, Daniel Akaka, in a primary election. According to Mr. Inouye, Mr. Case entered the primary after assuring the senior senator that he would do no such thing. Mr. Case would lose the primary.

The bitter internecine warfare among the Hawaiian Democrats is one reason neither candidate dropped out of the race, paving the way for a Djou victory. It is all but certain that both Mr. Case and Mrs. Hanabusa will go against each other in the September primary for the House seat.

All of this works to Mr. Djou’s advantage because he’ll face no major challenger in the primary. His attitude reflecting an audacity of hope has given him the momentum, inspiring his own volunteers and other island GOP candidates.

Mr. Djou also has the support of such Republican heavy hitters as Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty, as well as Sen. Scott Brown, the Republican who had no chance of winning in Democratic Massachusetts but who did.

Just how audacious can Mr. Djou get? Democrats are afraid to find out.

Dave Berg was a co-producer for “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno for 18 years.