Normally, the national Democratic party organs don’t worry about spending too much time and effort in Hawaii on Congressional elections because of the grip they have on the island archipelago’s electorate. This year, however, the DCCC has had to sink almost a quarter-million dollars into the special election to replace Neil Abercrombie — and that may be all they’ll spend. Politico reports that DCCC chair Rep. Chris van Hollen may abandon what had been traditionally secure Democratic territory:

Asked if the committee would continue to spend money in the 1st District special election, Van Hollen responded: “We’ll have to re-evaluate based on the situation. The Democrats haven’t been able to come together and resolve this issue. Right now, it’s extremely difficult. So right now, we’ll have to re-evaluate that.”

A Honolulu Advertiser poll released May 2 showed Djou picking up 36 percent of the vote, with Case at 28 percent an Hanabusa at 22 percent.

The DCCC has spent over $243,000 on TV ads blasting Djou.

It doesn’t help when the Democratic candidates are as incoherent as Ed Case was during the last debate.  With an electorate clearly opposed to tax hikes, Case explains that he is all for tax cuts … except when it comes to actually voting for one:

Voting is already under way in HI-01, using a mail-only system.  Voting will continue until May 22, more than two weeks from now.  If the Democrats are already conceding defeat, they must be seeing the same polling as the Advertiser.  Abandoning Hawaii would send a strong message to Democrats on the islands: don’t bother.  Djou already won.

What will that tell Hawaii voters in six months, when the regular midterms arrive?