PDHblog
This is a place for members of Progressive Democrats of Hawai‘i to express their thoughts
and exasperations about political happenings. The opinions and views are not necessarily
those of PDH's steering committee or membership as a whole.

(my initial reaction, in a letter to some of the democratic leadership….)

It has come to my attention that there is a meeting scheduled tomorrow to regarding the idea of allowing Senator Mike Gabbard to join the Democratic Party of Hawaii. I am writing to share my thoughts as to why I have very serious reservations about such a decision.

To begin with, I am an active member of the Democratic Party of Hawaii and attended the State Convention in 2006. At that convention, the party platform for the next two years was adopted. That platform, which I believe to be progressive in nature, is the official position of the party regarding a number of topics and for years Senator Gabbard has been strongly and outwardly opposed to a number of those positions, including the right of homosexuals with regard to families and civil unions.

Not only has he been an active and vocal opponent of the gay community, he has treated them with mean and calculated disdain. As far as I am aware of his record, he beliefs have not once been in line with those of the Democratic Party of Hawaii, so my question is, why should he be allowed to join our party, with which his values appear to be at such odds?

What’s more, I question the motives of Senator Gabbard, yourself, and the leadership of the party. In what way does this benefit the leadership and the party at large? Of even greater concern to me is what are Senator Gabbard’s motives in wanting to become a card carrying Democrat? The fact that a move of this magnitude and importance is being considered in secret is disturbing to me. If Senator Gabbard has truly changed his tune, so to speak, why sneaking around behind the backs of the party to which he wants to join, not to mention the very people who elected him to office? It’s also of some concern that the party leadership would feel the need to keep this quiet until the decision has been made.

Frankly, I don’t see how this is a good idea and the more I think about it, the more opposed to the idea I am. What guarantee does the average party member have that Senator Gabbard with step in line with the official platform? How can we not be sure he won’t continue to pursue the same conservative and, I’m sorry to say, bigoted agenda upon becoming a party member? It seems to me if he really has changed his tune, his agenda, and value set, he should say so publicly, and with the party leadership standing behind him. Even if I didn’t think this was a terrible idea simply because of his record, I am extremely skeptical about the whole thing largely because of the quiet, secret way, in which this is being handled.

If Senator Gabbard wishes to become a Democrat, let him say so, on camera and with you and the other members of the party leadership standing behind him. And then, once a member, I would demand that his feet be held to the flames, so to speak, with regard to the official party platform. If this course is not taken, I cannot support Senator Gabbard’s becoming a member of the party. As it stands now, it all looks very suspicious, reeks of political back room dealing, and blatant self-interested action on behalf of the party leadership, with no regard for the will of the membership at large.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

i’ve had a chance to talk to some people and think a bit about this. i admit to needing to learn more about politics and maybe not understanding all the subtleties of political maneuvering, but i cannot imagine how this move will be good for anyone but senator gabbard himself and maybe some of the senate democratic leadership. i don’t know about the rest of you, but this whole thing leaves me feeling a bit betrayed.