U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka said yesterday he does not feel betrayed by U.S. Rep. Ed Case's decision to enter the Democratic primary for the Senate but said other prominent Democrats would have tried to talk Case out of running had they known.

"I won't say that he was disloyal, but he did not discuss it with the delegation," Akaka said in a telephone interview from Washington. "And, if he did, I think the delegation would have tried to persuade him not to run."

Akaka said he was energized by the support he has received in Hawai'i and Washington since Case's announcement on Thursday. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., backed Akaka yesterday and personally asked Case if he would reconsider. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which helps elect Democrats nationally, also endorsed Akaka.

"There was a feeling here that he should not run against me," Akaka said.

Akaka said friends had told him for months that Case might run but he had not heard anything directly from Case until the two Hawai'i Democrats spoke over the telephone on Thursday.

"Let me say, I'm still friendly with him," the senator said. "I know he feels strongly that he will be able to represent Hawai'i here in the U.S. Senate. I don't feel badly about him."

But Akaka said he is ready for a campaign. "I want to do the best I can for Hawai'i with the experience I have here and the influence I have here now," he said. "I feel like I can use my influence to help the people of our state and I want to continue to do that."

CASE: UP TO VOTERS

Case said yesterday he expected the initial criticism from the party's establishment, and a backlash from Akaka's friends in Hawai'i, but said he also heard a volume of support. He said he thought it would take longer for people to accept the idea of a generational transition within the party but he believes that his message has broken through.

"I think what I have said was already on the minds of virtually everybody and just needed a little articulation," he said. "Now it's up to them to make the call."

The congressman said he thought the reaction would be worse. "I've done something that was not in the mainstream of the political culture of Hawai'i," he said. "One of my basic points is that that culture has to change, that it is holding Hawai'i back."

Some of the reaction yesterday was visceral, a disbelief that Case had the nerve to challenge Akaka and, by extension, the delegation and the party's leadership. But some of the immediate surprise has begun to ease and people began talking about the campaign and what it might mean for Hawai'i politics.

In Washington, Phil Singer, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said Akaka "has been an effective senator and it's our privilege to support him for re-election."

U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, who along with U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie has supported Akaka, said he would treat Case as a member of the delegation. "He will still have a place at the table. That won't change," Inouye said.

Stuart Rothenberg, a national political analyst, said he is not surprised that the party would back Akaka.

"They don't want some younger insurgent to come along and say the incumbent's time is up. Time to move on. It's just not the way things are done," Rothenberg said. "I don't think it's so much about Ed Case. The issue is about what he is doing and the timing and his kind of failure to accept and live by generally accepted political practices here."

In the Islands, some Democrats felt Case was putting his own ambition over what is right for the party.

"I don't think it's good for the party and it looks like a pretty selfish act," said Susan Arnett, an active Democrat who is a deputy public defender. "It doesn't respect the years of service that Senator Akaka has given to the state of Hawai'i and will continue to give."

Randy Perreira, deputy executive director of the Hawai'i Government Employees Association and president of the Hawai'i State AFL-CIO, said the unions would aggressively support Akaka's re-election campaign. He said the congressman's decision "is proving that Ed Case was never part of the team, which is very unfortunate."

State House Majority Leader Marcus Oshiro, D-39th (Wahiawa), who is considered part of a new generation of Democrats, said he would tend to support Akaka. But he also said a contested primary might help the party attract new voters in a year when Republican Gov. Linda Lingle is up for re-election. "It will be a time for us to showcase who we are as Democrats," he said. "It will give us an opportunity to reach out to new voters."

Lingle also said it was a positive development for voters. "It will increase awareness of the upcoming election. It should boost voter turnout. And I think anything that involves more people in voting is a positive thing for our state and for our country," she told reporters.

Robin Danner, chief executive officer of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, said she expects the Hawaiian community to rally around Akaka.

"He is well-liked and respected by his peers on both sides of the aisle, and for many in Washington, D.C., is the only Native Hawaiian they may ever meet," she said. "His humility and dignity are as powerful as the next person's aggression."

'LIGHTNING BOLT'

But others said Case has been bold and had forced a discussion on the direction of the party into the open. Some also said the party had become too captive to its old guard and risked losing touch in a changing Hawai'i. The party's frustrating inability to find a candidate to challenge Lingle in the governor's race, some said, is a symptom of how the party's structure is flawed.

Several Democrats interviewed by The Advertiser did not want their names published because they did not want to offend party leadership or seem insensitive to the popular Akaka.

"That was a lightning bolt," one Democratic lawmaker said of Case's announcement. "It just shook up the entire apparatus and the old boys can't handle that."

One state worker said many in his office were planning to support Case, not just with their votes, but with campaign contributions as well. Coming from what he described as an "ILWU plantation family," he said it is clear that "the old boy network is trying hard to survive."

Bill Richardson, a venture capitalist who lives in Manoa, said he would back Case. "Generational transitions within parties are always tough," he said. "I think Ed represents change that is difficult for a lot of people to accept. But it's good change."

BLOGGERS WEIGH IN ON CASE ANNOUNCEMENT
Here is what the blogosphere is saying about Hawai'i's U.S. Senate race:
• http://2008politicalperspective.blogspot.com/2006/01/more-on-hawaii.html

• http://www.bloodlesscoup.com/blog/002027.html

• http://politicalwire.com/archives/2006/01/20/case_challenges_akaka_to_senate_primary.html

• http://neal2028.blogspot.com/2006/01/odd-very-odd.html

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com.