Obama’s Hawaii Home Now Represented by a Republican

by Warner Todd Huston | May 23, 2010 6:10 am

For the first time in nearly 20 years, Hawaii’s First Congressional District will be represented by a Republican. Charles Djou has won the special election[1] to take the seat that lies in the same district in which President Obama’s Hawaiian home sits.

Mark this as the second Republican pick up of a highly symbolic Democrat seat; the first being the loss of Teddy Kennedy’s Massachusetts Senate seat. Kennedy was widely touted as the “lion of the Senate” and it was easily imagined that his party had a lock on his seat. Republican Scott Brown disabused them of that silly notion.

As I wrote on May 6[2], there are three more symbolic seats that as things stand right now Republicans could conceivably take away from the Democrats.

Currently, for instance the seat that Vice President Joe Biden held in Delaware is looking like it could go to a Republican. It would be bad enough for Democrats to lose their own VP’s district, but there’s more.

Secondly, and even more fraught with symbolism, is President Obama’s own vacated Senate seat. With the campaign of Alexi “the Mob Banker” Giannoulias floundering so badly, current 10th District Congressman, Republican Mark Kirk, could possibly win election to the Senate in Illinois. That would be a loss of Obama’s own seat to the GOP and that would be some heavy symbolism, indeed. If these two mentioned go GOP that would be a turn over of party for the Democrat’s two top men.

Then comes number three when we turn our attention to Senate Majority leader Harry Reid’s troubles in Nevada. He has had anemic polling numbers with the result that at times just any Republican in Nevada is polled as beating him. Strike three in the symbolism game if the Senate Majority leader is tossed out on his silly white keister.

It would be quite a trick if the GOP could take Obama’s Hawaiian home, his Illinois Senate seat, the vice president’s Senate seat AND the Democrat Senate Majority leader’s seat!

Quite an interesting year, indeed.

So congratulations to the new Congressman from Hawaii, Republican Charles Djou. He may be one of those more liberal Republicans, one I won’t always agree with, but his symbolic victory over Obamaism is certainly worth noting.