by Emil Guillermo
(This is the continuation of last issue’s Part 1.)
Schatz singled out the billionaires as the villains, but adds he’s all for “people making money.”
“If they provide value and can make a bunch of money, I’m all for it. But we are getting to the point where basic human needs are not met, and the markets are getting warped based on the whims of these billionaires.”
To Schatz, basic needs means things like Part D cuts in Medicare.
“There are two paths to change, one is to take back power and to reverse it, and the other is similar to what is happening with food assistance cuts,” Schatz said.
He already is seeing red state governors and senators see how implementing SNAP a/k/a food stamps is hurting their constituents and are now willing to talk about postponing some of the most hurtful cuts in Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill.”
Democrats’ Identity Issue And Israel
I asked Schatz, often described as a progressive, how he felt about the Democrats’ identity crisis over its mostly young and vocal left wing, the Democratic Socialists of America.
He called it “growing pains.”
“I want to be in a party that is getting bigger, and the difficulty that you experience politically with an organization getting bigger … is you are less likely to be unanimous about everything.”
We didn’t get into the specifics of the entire agenda, like the rhetoric of defunding the police vs. reimagining how police deal with social and mental health issues on the street. Or how Trump weaponizes socialism and communism like a mentee of a Joseph McCarthy acolyte like Roy Cohn (which Trump was).
But one issue that’s real to Schatz, who is Jewish, is over Israel and Gaza. On that score he says he doesn’t mind voting against Israel.
“I think the first thing is to separate Jewish Americans and Jews across the planet from the question of the conduct of the Israeli government,” Schatz said. “I don’t group a Chinese American and ask them to answer for President Xi. And I think that standard should be applied to everybody, Christians, Muslims, Chinese, Japanese, everybody.
“Number two, I think the conduct of the Israeli government has been immoral and counterproductive, and has caused a lot of people to want to recalibrate specifically our military partnership. Israel receives grants from the U.S. government, and I think it is quite reasonable to say that Israel is not a poor country, and they can afford to pay for their own military.”
Schatz said, “I think we should get out of the business of funding things that we disagree with.”
He called voting as an American Jew against Israel a vote of conscience for him.
“At some point, it became not a particularly difficult vote for me because there was a hot war, and they were violating the standards that our United States military would have never adhered to. It was a humanitarian crisis that was avoidable and was made worse by Prime Minister Netanyahu. I just think most people in Hawaii, Jews included, do not want their taxpayer dollars to fund that war.”
Democrats who identify with, or are sympathetic to, the DSA are generally pro-Palestinian, and their stand on Israel is often seen as a litmus test.
But it’s a polarizing factor from within, which he knows the Democrats need to work out.
“If you want everyone to agree, you can have that, but then you’ll be a 38 percent party. And if you want to be in power, you’re going to have to accommodate the idea that your West Virginia Democrats are not going to agree with your Hawaii Democrats, but they’re all Democrats.”
Which means finding enough common ground to stand together.
Even in Hawaii, a D isn’t always a D, not when Ed Case, an older Democrat, regularly votes with Republicans on issues like the SAVE ACT. He just defeated a young progressive in this year’s primary.
That brought up the issue of succession and generational change, issues that play a fundamental part of Schatz’ career.
Reflection On The Late Colleen Hanabusa
Schatz’ predecessor was the legendary Dan Inouye. Before his death, Inouye dictated a letter asking that U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa fill his vacant spot. But then Gov. Neil Abercrombie selected his Lieutenant Governor at the time, Schatz, who served out Inouye’s term. After two years, Schatz ran for the seat outright as the incumbent and was challenged in the primary by Hanabusa. Schatz beat Hanabusa by .75 percent of the vote (fewer than 1,800 votes). He went on to win the general election and has been in office ever since.
Hanabusa passed away in March at the age of 74. I asked Schatz if he had any thoughts about the circumstances under which he came to his job.
“I mean, time heals all wounds, and you know, Colleen and I, our last exchange was a text exchange, and I won’t read it for you, except to say that it was very friendly and very warm, and Colleen in particular was very good at waging battle but understanding that that was not the human part of this, that these were professional contests, and that of course, everybody would pursue their objective as vigorously as possible.”
He said, “Sometimes fights are necessary, but you don’t have to internalize all of it. So I think about that a lot. And so most of those wounds are fully healed… I think everybody understands politics is competition and that primaries are like divorces. They’re very personal. There are a lot of hurt feelings, but you know it’s been 14 years, and I feel that I’ve been respectful of both Colleen’s excellence and her legacy. And certainly of Senator Inouye’s legacy. I think about him every day and how he would have navigated these extraordinary times, and just try to make sure I live up not just to what he did. My job is not to just copycat Dan Inouye’s career, but to build upon it because he did so much for all of us. But we’re in new times, and I think he would expect the next person to build on that legacy and not just kind of mimic it.”
It makes him reflect on how, after 14 years, he’s older, and that helps him to be a better senator.
“I take very seriously the obligation to try to help lead Hawaii, and I think I see more clearly than I used to what my role is,” he said. “The senior senator’s role is a very specific thing that has a legacy. I didn’t want to jump right into that because it was a contested matter.
But now in some instances I’m needed to help people mend their fences, if they’re in a fight during a primary, to stitch together, you know, county and state or federal and state government, and to play the role of facilitator, right? It would be foolish to try to be Dan, but you know I‘m me. And I’m trying to be as useful as I can to everybody.”
That means pols and constituents alike.
Looking forward, Schatz is cautious to say anything about the midterms. “The outcome in the midterms depends largely on how voters react in places I’ve never visited. And so I’m cautious to tell you what’s going to happen,” he said. “I can read data, and I can act like a pundit, but I truly don’t know.”
Schatz does know what he’d prioritize if the Democrats take back both the House and the Senate. “Two things: I’d like to reverse these Medicaid cuts, and I would also like to use our leverage to stop the war.”
Saying nothing about yet another impeachment or, at the very least, an aggressive charge to hold the current administration accountable for its actions.
It’s all easier said than done with the midterms just weeks away and the current administration doing all it can to suppress the vote with a last-minute attempt to change and negate mail-in voting.
But now you know what’s on the mind of the senior senator from Hawaii. Mostly that he’s right where he wants to be—serving Hawaii from the nation’s capital in a job he never thought he’d have.
He’s staying positive and optimistic.
Knock on wood.
EMIL GUILLERMO is an award-winning journalist and commentator. A former host of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” he was also on the editorial board of the Honolulu Advertiser. He has written a column on Asian American Filipino politics and culture since 1991.
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