A somewhat exasperated state Rep. K. Mark Takai explained it this way back in 2004: “Tulsi is going to do what Tulsi thinks she should do, and you can’t convince her to change.”
At the time, Takai, a high-ranking officer in the Hawaii National Guard, was trying to convince Gabbard, a newly elected member of the Legislature, that she didn’t have to volunteer to leave the Legislature to volunteer to serve with the Guard in combat.
Gabbard left anyway, but returned and capped elections to the Legislature and the City Council by beating former Mayor Mufi Hanne- mann for a U.S. House seat. She also has been promoted to major in the Hawaii Guard.
Doing what people warn against may be a thing with the 34-year-old House Democrat.
On Sunday, Gabbard endorsed progressive, self-described democratic socialist U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders for president. She was going decidedly against the grain.
Asked Tuesday by Brian Williams on MSNBC about the endorsement and “how unpleasant life can become for a Democrat in the House under a President Clinton,” Gabbard acknowledged the risk.
“A lot of people warned me about doing what I did, but it is a serious issue that speaks to the high stakes that exist,” said Gabbard.
The reason, Gabbard said, is her opposition to Hillary Clinton’s foreign policy, especially in the Middle East.
“She (Clinton) voted for and championed the Iraq War. She was the architect behind and the major advocate for the overthrow of Gaddafi in Libya within the administration, which has really strengthened our enemy in ISIS and al-Qaida having a stronghold there now. And now currently, present day with Syria, she’s advocated strongly for the overthrow of the Assad regime,” Gabbard said during a live interview on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition this week.
Although Gabbard is not included as a policy adviser to Sanders, she is now being mentioned by the news media in stories about Sanders and foreign policy.
Gabbard’s politics are fascinating because she is nearly as strong with conservative Republicans as she is with Democrats. For instance, she was recently praised by Allen West, the conservative Fox News analyst, noting that they both had military service and played off the military jargon for watching your back,
“I warned her of one thing — watch yer six!” West said in a 2015 column.
Gabbard’s support for Sanders may have been signaled five months ago when she was battling U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz over expanding the number of Democratic presidential debates. Gabbard wanted more, but theFlorida congresswoman, who is also chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, said no need.
The tiff was heated enough that Gabbard found herself uninvited from a list of debate guests.
“If she needs a ticket, have her give me a call,” Sanders’ spokesman said on CNN back then. “I think we have a couple; we can give her one.”
The political point behind that was that the relatively little-known Sanders needed all the publicity he could get and wanted more debates, while the well-known Clinton would prefer not to raise Sanders’ profile.
Meanwhile, Gabbard’s profile is soaring.
Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at rborreca@staradvertiser.com.
