Mr. Djou Goes to Washington
FF Exclusive: Republican Charles Djou’s victory in Hawaii’s 1st congressional district stunned political watchers. Djou spoke with FrumForum about his November reelection bid and his efforts to raise the Republican Party’s profile in Hawaii
This week FrumForum sat down for an exclusive interview with one of Congress’ newest members, Rep. Charles Djou of Hawaii’s 1st congressional district. He discussed the whirlwind activity since his special election victory on May 22nd; his priorities as a congressman; his comfort with self-describing as a ‘moderate’; and the future of Republican politics in Hawaii.
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It wasn’t long after he arrived in D.C. that newly minted Hawaii congressman Charles Djou had a ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington’ moment. From his perch on the budget committee, Djou was about to pose some tough questions to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke when he decided to mount a mini-filibuster.
Well, not quite… He just couldn’t figure out how to turn on the microphone. “It was a freshman mistake,” he said, laughing. “I started talking, and no one could hear me, and I kept on holding the button down, and so it took a good thirty seconds or so before anyone could figure out how I could talk so people could hear me.”
Due to the circumstances of the special election, Djou didn’t have the usual two months to prepare his office and hire staff. Since his election a month ago, “it’s been like drinking from a fire hose,” Djou says.
Republican congressmen helped out by lending staff to aid him through the transition to Washington: GOP House Whip Eric Cantor lent Djou a press secretary; Nebraska congressman Adrian Smith loaned a receptionist; House Republican leader John Boehner also chipped in with a few staff.
So far, his reception in Washington, D.C. has been “cordial,” the former Hawaii local councilman says - this despite the fact that one of his first votes as a congressman might have more accurately reflected the ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington’ theme. Along with only four other Republicans, Djou voted on a measure backing the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”.
As of yet, Djou told FrumForum, this hasn’t cooled his relationship with the House Republican caucus.
“[There’s been] no blowback from… the Republican caucus… I am under no illusions here that the honeymoon will last forever, but having been a congressman here for a few weeks, it certainly has been a pleasant reception thus far.”
Djou explained his decision to break Republican ranks, and says that he made this decision less to defend the gay community, and more because he saw some soldiers exploit the current system:
“I take this position based on my personal experience as an Army reserve officer… I just saw too many instances of reservists taking an enlistment bonus, and when they're mobilized to go to war, they claim they’re gay and get out. It doesn’t make sense to me.”
Interestingly, Djou considers himself a moderate, a rare self-classification in this political climate, Djou said, quite simply, that it was not a dirty word in his vocabulary. “That’s what I have always campaigned on, and it reflects the policies that I have propounded for ten years.”
The negative connotations that come with identifying as a moderate are generated by the media, Djou says:
“The squeaky wheel gets the oil. The shriller you sound, the more you get covered – and that’s disappointing and unfortunate, especially for someone like me… It is far more difficult to present a balanced, well-reasoned position in the middle than it is to present an extremist position and get your sound-bite on the air… [extreme positions] get a lot more media attention, and I think this has led to a decline of moderates, a decline of people who want to talk about public policy seriously.”
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Talking to FrumForum about his priorities as a congressman, Djou said that he desperately wants to draw attention to the mounting tension in the Korean peninsula:
“For me, representing Hawaii’s 1st district, if things go hot in North Korea, it’s going to be the sailors from Pearl Harbor; it’s going to be the airmen from Hickam Air Force Base; it’s going to be the soldiers from Schofield Barracks - who reside in my district, they are going to be the people who go straight to Korea to fight… My district [also] lies in the flight arc of North Korea’s ballistic missiles, and [Kim Jong-Il] has twenty nuclear bombs. That’s something that demands attention.”
In his first few weeks as a congressman, Djou has put a strong emphasis on free trade, with the aim of creating jobs and boosting tourism in his district. His first bill, introduced Monday, was a piece of legislation pushing for a free trade agreement with the Philippines. His first floor speech was a speech in favor of free trade with South Korea. “I intend to push a free trade agreement with South Korea, which I am disappointed that Congress has not yet taken up,” he says.
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Looking forward, Djou faces a formidable challenge in his bid for re-election. Democrat Ed Case announced two weeks ago that he would be dropping out of the Democratic primary, precluding a divisive bid for the nomination and ensuring that Colleen Hanabusa would be Djou’s sole opponent in November.
“It changes things a little bit on the tactical level,” says Djou. “Ed [Case] was a blue-dog Democrat, making things a little more challenging on the fiscal issues… [but now] there is a very clear choice for the voters between me and Colleen [Hanabusa]. I don’t think the electorate of Hawaii wants someone who is so far to the left… the fact that Case has dropped out – I got the opponent I prefer to have.”
Djou’s reelection, if it comes about, will be hard earned - Hawaii remains an overwhelmingly Democratic state. But Djou thinks of his reelection campaign as a chance to dramatically transform the Hawaiian political scene. “If I succeed, it could shift the state of Hawaii [towards Republicans],” he said. “On the other hand, if I fail, a generation may go by with Hawaii as a solidly blue state.”