Writing for the progressive website Salon, Jonathan Bernstein raised an interesting question about Rep. Mazie Hirono on Friday. 

Why isn’t she promoting liberal causes on her website? It’s a fair question, and one that Bernstein poses for Democratic Senate candidates as a whole. On Hirono’s campaign website, she breaks down the issues — with the subhead “why we’re in this” — into the following categories: 

• Clean Energy

• Jobs & The Economy

• Social Security & Medicare

• Sustainability

• Veterans

Absent from the list are issues like abortion rights and same-sex marriage. Here’s Bernstein’s theory as to why: “It’s possible that the candidates are being overly cautious. I suspect, however, that what’s really happening is that Democratic interest groups, activists and other party actors are not pushing hard on any of these issues.”

In Bernstein’s eyes, that’s a “serious mistake.” Read the complete story.