by Dan Boylan, Midweek

Will Colleen Hanabusa run for the U.S. Senate next year? I asked her last week, and she gave me a straight-forward “I don’t know.”

Why, after unsuccessful attempts to win the 2nd Congressional District seat in 2003 and 2006, and after two hard-fought and expensive campaigns last year in which, after an initial defeat, she finally won the seat in the 1st District, would she possibly consider an expensive three-way 2012 Democratic Primary for an opportunity to meet a well-financed Republican ex-governor in Linda Lingle?

Hanabusa’s answer? Because in the 2012 Senate race Hanabusa sees a remake of the 2002 gubernatorial election.

“Mazie Hirono and Ed Case batter each other in a contested Democratic primary, then the survivor meets and loses to Lingle in the general election. I think I’d make a better candidate against her. I served in the state Senate throughout the eight years of Lingle’s governorship. I know her decisions.

“Many people assume that with Barack Obama at the top of the ticket, whoever gets the Democratic nomination will win the Senate seat. I think they’ve forgotten how good Lingle is as a campaigner.”

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