On CNN last week, Wolf Blitzer was speculating about who is the one person most politicians want hustling votes for them.
While New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is quickly fading as a GOP luminary, the star power of former President Bill Clinton is growing brighter.
Correspondent Dana Bash reported that political surveys show Clinton is the surrogate of choice.
"Clinton by far, is off the charts at over 60 percent — even more than some of the most popular governors and local heroes, formers and current," Bash reported.
Here in Hawaii the biggest race is for the U.S. Senate and while the winner is expected to be a Democrat and won’t affect the partisan balance of power, the interparty fight between U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz and U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa is attracting national attention.
So who are the big dogs that Hanabusa and Schatz can unleash on the hometown voters?
Schatz has quite a strong mainland kennel at the ready, starting with former Vice President Al Gore. Gore came out to say he liked Schatz’s pro-environment and clean-energy stands.
Green supporters are one thing, but Schatz has also proven adept as picking up the green as he was hosted by Hawaii and New York heavy hitters.
In January real estate developer Duncan MacNaughton hosted a $1,000-per-person fundraiser for Schatz featuring former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg as the special guest.
In something of a "the torch is passing" moment, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who took the late U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye’s place as chairman of the Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee on defense, also held a local fundraiser for Schatz.
The irony is that Hana- busa’s biggest surrogate is Inouye, whose request that Hanabusa succeed him was refused by Gov. Neil Abercrombie, who instead named Schatz to the Senate.
Even though Hanabusa has not been able to keep up with the Schatz money machine, she has a quartet of local political stars of her own.
The much-honored former U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Akaka is her honorary campaign chairman. When she opened her Chinatown campaign headquarters, Hanabusa also had two former Hawaii governors in tow. Appearing were Govs. George Ariyoshi and Ben Cayetano, who have led Hawaii for 20 years total of the state’s 55 years.
Also helping Hanabusa on the campaign trail is Inouye’s widow, Irene. She is telling people that "shortly after (Hanabusa) was elected president of the Hawaii state Senate, Dan recognized that Colleen was more than capable of succeeding him and he began to mentor her."
So who has the most clout, who will voters listen to: the mainland Democrats, or the old governors’ club?
Neal Milner, University of Hawaii political science professor emeritus, says getting the big shots to hold your hand is only the first step. Politicians then have to figure out which surrogates appeal to which candidates.
For instance, Milner says that while Al Gore has a following and appeal, having Durbin’s endorsement adds up to zero in voter support.
"Who in Hawaii are Bloomberg and Durbin going to appeal to?" Milner asks.
At the same time, Milner adds, while Ariyoshi was governor for an unprecedented 12 years, he left office 28 years ago.
Politics is always about "who loves you," and come election time, there are no surrogates in the voting both.
Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at rborreca@staradvertiser.com.
