The Democrats just got another seat in Hawaii’s Senate. Mike Gabbard of Hawaii cut ties with the Republicans and re-registered as a Democrat. While the move gives the Democrats an extra vote, it’s also ruffling a few feathers.
Once a die-hard Bush supporter, Gabbard’s political career rests on core Republican values, including opposition to gay marriage.
Gabbard, who gained prominence as an opponent of same-sex marriage in the 1990s, described himself as a social conservative who disagrees with the party’s platform in favor of civil unions and abortion rights. But the senator is with the party on labor and environmental issues and said he fits within its big-tent political philosophy.
“There are obviously some things we don’t see eye to eye on,” Gabbard acknowledged, adding that he would continue to be independent and not always follow the party line on votes.
Then, really, what’s the point? Political piggy-backing?
Meanwhile Doug Pyle of the party’s legislative committee does not approve of Gabbard’s political shenanigans, “Prejudice is not fit for any political party.” Party chairman Mike McCartney, however, insists there’s always a place for Gabbard in the party: “The Hawaii Democratic Party has never turned people away. It goes back to the plantation days. We’re inclusive.” Would it kill the Democrats to be a little more selective?
How about we take this to the next level?
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WWH
MANY Dems don’t give a hoot about the gays.
hisurfer
This is bscene. Gabbard is THE face of anti-gay politics in Hawai`i. His, and his family’s, political campaigns are based around “stop teh gays.” He was a thorn in the side for Republicans trying to convince us that they aren’t so bad. Making him a Democrat, and part of the majority party, is not “inclusive.”
His reasons for switching are kaka, too. Local Republicans are at least tolerable on the environment.
I would vote Republican rather than for a party that has this ass-wipe in it (locally, of course, never ever for a national election). I’m a leftie, but have voted Repub before because the Democrats in my state keep fucking things up. Guess I’ll be doing it again. Stupid fucking Hawai`i Democrats.
Ugh. /rant.
Bill Perdue
Democrats are Republicans in drag. Republicans are Nazis in hiding. The two parties are interchangeable. Yesterday’s Dixiecrats morph into today’s Republicans. Yesterdays Republicans morph into today ‘New Democrats”.
Their sole non cosmetic difference is about who should win the elections so that they can get the bribes. Millions of Americans boycott the elections every time they’re held and it’s a misnomer to call that ‘voter apathy’ – there’s nothing apathetic about it. They know with absolute certainty that the ‘bad guys are going to win no matter which of the twin parties of the billionaires win.
Our best hope is to join and build the union sponsored US Labor Party. Check them out at http://www.thelaborparty.org
cjc
I wonder if there will be any true third party to challenge either of the major ones.
And if U.S. Labor is successful, will they sell out to the status quo just like their British Labour bretheren?
Bill Perdue
cjc…
The last sucessful ‘true third party’ in the US was the Republican Party. It ran on an agrarian reform and anti-slavery program to win and went from there to a reluctant and uneasy stewardship over the Second American Revolution, the Civil War. By the time Grant was elected they were permanently on the wrong side. If JW Booth hadn’t shot Abe some Republican fatcat would have.
The Labour Party is no longer controlled by the trade unions. All politicians are apt to be attracted to men with briefcases full of high denomination banknotes; they are no longer kept on a tight leash. The same is true for the NDP in Canada. Currently all Labor parties are in the hands of reformists who historically have all been apt to sellout at the drop of a hat. Nevertheless they remain useful tools to build and fuel the kind of social engines we’ll need to drive the third American Revolution to triumph when it erupts. They provide an alternative, however timid and backsliding, to the twin parties of the uberbillionaires and help organize and galvanize the social groups that can win.
That’s the central reason for supporting their growth. That and the fact that the Democrats and Republicans are drenched in blood – 655,000 Iraqi dead and almost 4,000 GIs dead, plus the dead from Katrina, the lack of medical services for the poor, not enforcing mine safety codes, etc., etc., etc. The Democrats and Republicans are so immersed in corruption and cynicism that they have become the enemies of working people, gays and lesbians, and all our potential allies.