Wow! You know who Quentin is! I’ve met him several times and know his story and connection to Hawaii’s past,as well.I have suggested essentially the same thing you are saying here ,many times. He indeed was a Republican , although nowadays he has almost completely disappeared from the public eye. Everytime Hawaii residents have a chance to elect real Hawaiians , they refuse to do so. Duke Aiona is the perfect example. In addition , the Hawaii Republican Party (HRP) is one if the most feckless , ineffective , almost non-existent R State Partys in the entire nation.So the is almost zero hope for political change. You mention Fong as the best we’ve had , Hirono is the worst. By far. I truly hope she croaks. It’s the only way we will get rid of that curse.
I heard some time ago QK had health issues. I’ve not heard him mentioned in a long time. A damn shame the state didn’t elect Duke Aiona as Governor.
Used to be a time, however briefly, when HI would vote Demonrat for President and then switch to supporting the Republican incumbent. They did it with Nixon in 1972 and Reagan in 1984. But that went out the window. Reagan in ‘84 was the last time the GOP won a single county for President. Even though Hillary fell a whopping 9% off Zero’s 2012 performance (from 71% to 62%), even if Biden were to drop another 9%, it still wouldn’t prevent the Dems from winning every county again.
I cringe at the fact it sends the 2 Stalinists to the Senate, especially when it’s teetering on returning back to just one at-large House seat (which if it doesn’t happen in 2022, probably will by 2032). That this radical state thousands of miles away in the Pacific could be the difference between a radical Communist majority or GOP is quite frightening.
It’s no wonder the Dems are pushing to have D.C. and PR as states, as both would also all send Demonrat delegations (PR might send a Republican House member, it technically sends the one now - but they’re not elected on the same party lines).
If we’re going to keep HI, I think it should be demoted to territorial status with the President appointing the Governor. Drastic changes are going to have to be made to save this Republic. The Founding Fathers would never have supported the notion of a place like Hawaii being a full-fledged state. Even Alaska is borderline dubious, but it at least has natural resources to offer.
But, alas, Hirono kicking off won’t help. The Dems always manage to get something worse. They kicked out a perfect Black Communist nutter in St. Louis last night (a city one of my relatives once ran a century ago, back when it was a booming city of nearly a million that was Republican) all because he wasn’t insane and Communist and White-hating enough.
I mean, look at the flow chart of Senators for HI...
Oren Long (Kansas Dem Haole) succeeded by Inouye, then the imbecilic Brian Schatz...
Hiram Fong (lone GOP) succeeded by Spark Matsunaga, then Akaka, then Hirono. Always much worse than the last.
At this rate of ever-increasing lunacy, in another 20 years, Hirono and Schatz will look like Trump.
Well, I’m not mentioning anything you’re not intimately aware of...