Honolulu Star-Advertiser - July 2, 2010
US Senator Daniel Akaka has been advised he must act quickly on a native Hawaiian federal recognition bill or lose the chance to bring it to a vote before the November elections change the political composition of the Senate.
Akaka, the bill's main sponsor, also has been told privately by allies that he should consider amendments to win back the support of Hawai`i Governor Linda Lingle and help attract moderate Senate Republicans. But sources familiar with the negotiations question whether the Republican governor could deliver any additional GOP votes....
...Akaka needs 60 votes in the Senate to break procedural roadblocks from conservative Senate Republicans who oppose the bill as race-based discrimination....
US Senator Robert Byrd's death and an unexpectedly competitive Senate primary in Alaska have also created new challenges for Akaka.
Akaka had been counting on all Democrats and two independents who typically vote with Democrats to get to 59 votes. He lost a vote when Byrd, a Democrat from West Virginia, died on Monday....
Akaka is also relying on a Republican, US Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who has carried on the traditional alliance between Hawai`i and Alaska on home-state issues.
But Murkowski is facing an August 24 primary against Joe Miller, a conservative Fairbanks lawyer who has been endorsed by former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and the Tea Party Express.
