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pled with, politically and person- ally, throughout his career. Abercrombie, the iconic long- hair of Congress and college bud- dy of Obama’s father, has posi- tioned himself as the improbable post-racial candidate. His oppo- nent in the Sept. 18 primary — a rematch 24 years in the making — is Mufi Hannemann, a supremely ambitious establishment candi- date and former mayor of Hono- lulu of Samoan descent, who has appealed to the state’s non-white majority by playing up his island roots.


Abercrombie abandoned his


comfortable House seat in mid- term to pursue the office as a coda to his career. The congressman talks about the president of the United States with the pride of a surrogate father, but Obama has stayed noticeably out of the race. Abercrombie’s opponent has used abundant funds and political al- lies to wage a negative ad war de- picting him as unqualified, unse- rious and un-Hawaiian. The only avenue left to the 72-year-old lib- eral has been the high road. “We are now engaged in a con-


versation in Hawaii with one an- other, as to whether or not we are truly going to live in a pono fash- ion, in the right fashion,” said Ab- ercrombie in an interview. He ar- gued that Hannemann had cyn- ically stoked divisions among the islands’ many ethnicities, reli- gions and races, all for electoral gain. Abercrombie feared that his opponent’s success would say, in his words, “the spirit of aloha which the overwhelming number of people in Hawaii subscribe to, is — at least when it came to vot- ing in the polls — no longer our guiding light. I don’t believe that is going to happen.” Polls showing Abercrombie’s


late lead suggest that he might be right, as does Hannemann’s sud- den change in tune. Last week, the former mayor told a debate audience on the island of Maui that “It’s all about hope and opti- mism,” and also, “There’s been too much negativity.” The two rivals’ agreement on most issues has pushed the de- bate onto the more poisonous questions of character. There have been insinuations made about the heritage of their wives and the sincerity of their religious faith. The two candidates have also engaged in a form of Obama- obsessed brinksmanship in which each claims greater pro- pinquity to the popular Hawai- ian-born president.


But it was clear from the begin- ning which candidate had the backing of the state’s resident po- litical king, senior Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, and his political machine. “I have my personal preferenc-


es,” said Inouye, who added in an interview that Hannemann was a familiar presence in his office over the years and was “in a way” family. “I just don’t ignore friends,” the 86-year-old emi- nence said. As for all the years he worked with Abercrombie in Washington, Inouye said that the two were essentially strangers. “If you’re in the House and some-


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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2010 Hawaii’s Democratic primary under an ugly cloud


was usual practice to ask whom a job applicant was married to, the candidate flashed his temper. “You list if you are married or not. Sometimes you put down the names. My wife’s name is what it is. It was not meant to compare and contrast in a way that would make it look like anything was non-factual. It was factual. He has a wife and she is a good woman. My wife’s a good woman. Let’s just leave it at that and move on. What’s your next question?” Asked if it weren’t relevant to


the race, he said sharply: “Why are you asking me these ques- tions? Ask me about Neil. The fli- er was just a small part of it, there are other things here. So let’s move on!”


Since the “Compare and De-


cide” flier, a subsequent flier by a group called Island Values ex- pressing suspicion of Abercrom- bie’s religious credentials urged Christians to vote for Hanne- mann. Hannemann distanced himself from the material after it was widely distributed. It later emerged that an official of Island Values also belonged to Hanne- mann’s exploratory campaign committee, though his name dis- appeared from the Hannemann campaign Web site after local re- porters broke the story. Much like Abercrombie, Han- nemann lights up when talking about Obama, and argued that “Neil doesn’t have a monopoly on the relationship with President Obama.”


During the Obamas’ vacation MARCO GARCIA ON THE TRAIL: “Hawaii was and is a place defined by its diversity,” says Neil Abercrombie, who gave up his House seat to run for governor.


body else is in the Senate, that’s a foreign country. People don’t real- ize that.” Former congressman Ed Case, who seemed likely to replace Ab- ercrombie in the House until In- ouye threw the machine’s support behind another candidate, be- lieved Hannemann was simply positioning himself to take In- ouye’s place. A former antagonist turned backer of Abercrombie, Case has referred to Hannemann as the “most dangerous politician in Hawaii” because, he said, “his election would continue the ma- chine for another generation.”


The Obama connection


Last week, Abercrombie of- fered a tour of the abandoned res- taurant overlooking a turquoise wharf that served as his cam- paign headquarters. He pointed to the blown-up photos on the wall of himself and Obama wear- ing flower leis or posing in formal wear on the night of the inaugura- tion. In the bar area, still fur- nished with beer taps, Abercrom- bie, who came to national atten- tion cruising the streets of Honolulu in a checkered cab and penning a congressional crime thriller, explained the memorabil- ia on the walls. “That’s me as Mr. Looking-Off-in-the-Middle- Distance,” he said of a drawing of him in his youth, his beard still late-Beach-Boys long. In a nearby photo, he posed with “Magnum”-


era Tom Selleck. He marched into his own office and reached up for some Hawai- ian shirts hanging from a pipe in the ceiling. “When you are in Hawaii, you


have to have five changes of shirts,” Abercrombie said, ex- plaining that he needed the ap- propriate shirt for the Okinawan Festival he’d attend later that af- ternoon. He exposed a pale paunch as he disrobed from the jacket, shirt and tie that he called “my disguise.” He took a seat in front of the


Hawaiian flag and a dreamy pho- to of a humpback whale. He stuck mostly to talking points, casting himself as the unlikely insurgent against the establishment candi- date who had everyone’s backing. That includes unions, business leaders, political powerbrokers — oh, and the editorial board of the Star Advertiser, Hawaii’s largest paper. “The sniveling — ” he start- ed saying about the paper, as his press aide, Jim McCoy, gestured for him to tone it down. “Well. You know.” He spoke happily about his friendship with Obama’s father upon coming to Hawaii in 1959 from Buffalo to attend graduate school at the University of Ha- waii, and said that Obama’s im- posing intellect drew only those like himself who were up for brainy combat. But, he added, “everybody’s virtue is their vice.


He was also overbearing. The sheer power of his person and personality turned people away.” The president has not gotten


involved in the race, but his sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, is a good friend of Abercrombie’s wife and a vocal supporter of the campaign. It’s a connection that the candidate feels deeply. As he relayed a story about how Obama greeted early supporters after winning the Democratic nomination, Aber- crombie started crying. His voice breaking and his eyes welling, he recalled how the president stopped in the midst of all the election-night jubilation to point at Abercrombie and announce, “ ‘He knew my father.’ ”


But his opponents, and espe- cially Hannemann, have accused Abercrombie of depriving the president of votes on key legisla- tion such as health care, by leav- ing office early to focus on his home-coming candidacy. The re- sulting special election cost the state more than $600,000 and, worse still, two Democrats split the vote and a popular Repub- lican won.


Abercrombie draws parallels


between this year’s contest and a 1986 House race that he lost to Hannemann, who ran a negative campaign depicting Abercrombie as a weed-toking hippy from the mainland. That bitterness made an opening for a Republican to take the seat. “Now he is doing the same thing and it’s going to have the same kind of result,” Aber- crombie said, adding, “He hasn’t changed and people recognize that.”


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a romance as timeless as Romeo and Juliet LOPE DEVEGA'S


EL CABALLERO DE OLMEDO


The Knight from Olmedo


Directed by José Luis Arrelllano García Adapted by Mar Zubieta & Francisco Rojas In Spanish with English Surtitles


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Young actors to audition for ‘A Christmas Carol’ at Ford’s


Home delivery makes good sense.


1-800-753-POST SF


Perhaps Christmas will come early for a few budding stars. Ford’s Theatrewill hold a one-day open audition for children’s roles in its upcoming production of “A Christmas Carol.” Open to children ages 5 to 13, the audition will be held at Wool- ly Mammoth Theatre, 641 D St. NW, on Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Interested actors will sing a Christmas song and recite


a short poem and should bring two photos and a résumé. Ford’s Theatre will fill 12 slots, including Tiny Tim and Scrooge as a boy. The performance will have two casts of six children, which will perform four to five shows per week each, said Lauren Beyea, a Ford’s spokesman.


Rehearsals will be held at the Church of the Epiphany, 1317 G


St. NW, and technical rehearsals onstage at Ford’s Theatre. Re- hearsals will be after school on weekdays from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., and weekends from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with Thanksgiving, Christ- mas Eve and Christmas off. An audition form is posted on


Ford’s Theatre’s Web site. The musical will run Nov. 20 to


Jan. 2. — Timothy R. Smith


(202) 397-SEAT www.ticketmaster.com Group Sales: 202-312-1427


B B COMEDY B


Every street corner seems pa- pered with red placards for Mufi Hannemann or with Abercrom- bie’s cresting wave logo, which is remarkably similar to the one Obama used in 2008. The signs hang in front of the luxury homes on a winding road a few miles east of Waikiki Beach, on the oth- er side of the Diamond Head vol- canic crater, where the towering Hannemann walked into the Ka- hala hotel wearing jeans and a Hawaiian shirt. Surrounded by dolphins, stingrays and Hawaiian green sea turtles swimming in la- goons around the pool, he said he had hosted a fundraiser at the ho- tel for Obama that brought in about $1 million during the presi- dential election. Not surprisingly, he thinks a lot has changed since he last faced Abercrombie. “I’m older, wiser,” said the for-


mer mayor, 56, as he lifted a wilt- ed garland from around his neck. He talked about how his time as


mayor of the country’s 12th larg- est city had given him executive experience, the linchpin of his campaign, and how, unlike Aber- crombie, he had business chops and had lived on another island outside of Oahu. He said that Ab- ercrombie was “looking to retire, to come home.” He refused to say whe


job,” Hannemann offered. For a state that depends so


heavily on tourism, he said his comfort abroad, especially in the


to Hawaii early this year, Hanne- mann made national news by ex- changing tense words with the president’s staff when he and an- other city official were prevented from greeting Obama as he snor- keled at Hanauma Bay. Hanne- mann had already succeeded in getting into several pictures with Obama by showing up at the Honolulu Zoo and acting as their unsolicited tour guide. “I knew him when his name was Barry,” said Hannemann, ex- plaining that he coached the bas- ketball team at Iolani School, the rival of Obama’s Punahou School. “When he was on the J.V., we did draw up defenses for him. Oh, yeah! He was a shooter — a good shooter.” Hannemann, who is 6-foot-7, rose from his seat to charm a bunch of women celebrating a


“We are now engaged in a conversation in Hawaii with one another, as to whether or not we are truly going to live in a pono fashion,


in the right fashion.” — Neil Abercrombie, Democratic candidate for governor


East, would come in handy. “When I go to China, people


look at me and they say ‘Yao Ming’? And I go no, ‘Yao Mufi.’ I go to Japan, and I’m very comfort- able singing karaoke,” said Han- nemann, adding that his last name is German. In appealing to Hawaii’s differ-


ent ethnicities, Hannemann has found his base, but also political trouble. The former mayor sent out a much-discussed mailer that pointed out Abercrombie’s lack- luster voting record in Congress and lack of business and exec- utive experience. But it also seemed to suggest Abercrombie was deficient for attending the University of Hawaii, whereas Hannemann graduated from Harvard, and listed Abercrom- bie’s lone accomplishment as winning first place in the Lahaina Whaling Days Beard Contest. Most explosive, though, was the information under the head- ing “personal.” Hannemann made clear he was born in Hawaii and married a woman with a dis- tinctly Japanese last name — a major plus with the powerful Jap- anese voters. By contrast, Aber- crombie was identified as a main- lander whose wife has a haole (or white) surname. The flier backfired, turning into an effective talking point against Hannemann’s character. “When you apply for a job, what do they ask? Name? Are you mar- ried? That’s what it was! It was a job résumé,” insisted Hanne- mann. When asked whether it


baby shower in the hotel cafe, and then marched onto the beach. “Go get him, brother!” Kimo


Chung, the hotel’s 53-year-old wa- terman in a green hat and sun- glasses, called out to Hanne- mann. The voter attested that he supported Hannemann for being, like him, a “local boy.” “You got it,” answered Hanne-


mann.


Negative campaign On Sept. 7, Abercrombie and his wife, Nancie Caraway, arrived at Honolulu City Hall to cast early votes in the primary. “I’ve got my Obama shoes on,” she said, pointing at her red pumps. “I wore them on election night.” Sen. Inouye walked in, and Ab- ercrombie’s aide whispered in his boss’s ear that it was the senator’s birthday. As Inouye cast his vote, television reporters clamored around Abercrombie, who wore an orange Hawaiian shirt, and asked why the governor’s race had become so venomous. The candidate used his answer to la- ment negative campaigning and depict himself as the high-mind- ed candidate worthy of high of- fice.


Abercrombie finished deliver- ing his aloha talking points, re- porters turned away, and Inouye sauntered into the scene. “Happy birthday,” Abercrombie told him. “Thanks,” said Inouye. “Best of


luck.” horowitzj@washpost.com


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