Democrat vs. Democrat: five tough primaries that pit left against itself

Republicans have become famous for eating their own in primaries. The Democrats? Not so much. But there are still a handful of interesting Democrat vs. Democrat races this cycle. Here’s a list:

1. Hawaii: Colleen Hanabusa vs. Brian Schatz

Eugene Tanner/AP/File
Brian Schatz (far r.) and Neil Abercrombie (center l.) celebrate their primary election victory in the race for lieutenant governor and governor in Honolulu in 2010. As governor, Mr. Abercrombie appointed Mr. Schatz to the Senate in 2012.

This is the only Democratic Senate primary this cycle that’s competitive, but it’s a barn-burner. Senator Schatz got his seat by gubernatorial appointment in 2012, replacing the late Sen. Daniel Inouye (D).

Schatz’s appointment was controversial: Senator Inouye had requested before his death that Gov. Neil Abercrombie (D) give the seat to Rep. Colleen Hanabusa. He appointed Schatz, his lieutenant governor, instead. Schatz is only the second non-Asian to represent Hawaii in the Senate, adding a racial component to the primary.

President Obama, born in Hawaii, has endorsed Schatz. A Civil Beat Poll released May 27 has Schatz up by 5 points, 44 percent to 39 percent. The primary is Aug. 9.

1 of 5

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.