When Brian Schatz was appointed to take the seat of Daniel K. Inouye the day after Christmas, he told reporters that he could not possibly fill the late senator’s shoes “but together all of us can try to walk in his footsteps.”

To paraphrase Nancy Sinatra, it seems those shoes were made for walkin’.

Eight months after the passing of Inouye, arguably the most important figure in Hawaii politics since statehood, Hawaii’s four congressional delegates are busy carving out strong identities of their own. But it seems they are less concerned about working “together.”

It wasn’t supposed to turn out that way.

The day after the 2012 primary election, when Hawaii Democrats held their traditional unity breakfast, Mazie Hirono, Colleen Hanabusa and Tulsi Gabbard took the stage to showcase the new delegation — though all three still had to defeat general election opponents.

For the first time, Hawaii would have three female delegates. Hanabusa teased Inouye and his wife Irene, who were sitting at a table near the stage, that the senior senator would be surrounded by powerful women in D.C.

Four months later, Inouye was dead and Schatz was hitching a ride on Air Force One to Washington. Hirono, who had to defeat two accomplished candidates to become senator, was suddenly “junior” to Schatz, who is also 25 years younger.

Other unexpected things happened: Gabbard became a political star virtually overnight, and talk swirled that she might challenge Schatz in 2014 — or Gov. Neil Abercrombie, or Hirono in 2018. Hanabusa took her time deciding whether to run for Senate or governor — and when she did settle on running against Schatz, her campaign sometimes appeared unprepared for the big time, despite the support of experienced Inouye veterans. (Read Hanabusa Aide May Have Mixed Campaign and Congressional Work.) And Schatz raised an impressive $2 million for his re-election bid.

What should not have been unexpected is that these four Hawaii politicians — especially Schatz, Hanabusa and Gabbard — are determined to advance their ambitions. As seen in the Schatz-Hanabusa fight, it could get ugly; revelations have surfaced to embarrass both camps, with accusations that the leaks came from the opposing campaigns.

Not that it was always one big ohana on “Team Inouye.” Inouye and Patsy Mink will soon have statues commissioned for display downtown, but remember that Mink lost to Inouye in 1959 for Hawaii’s first seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Several Hawaii Republicans have also served in Congress, and one of them, U.S. Rep. Pat Saiki, challenged Sen. Daniel Akaka in 1990. Foreshadowing the Hanabusa-Schatz race, Saiki argued that she was the more experienced leader against Akaka, who had been appointed to the Senate after the death of an incumbent.

Saiki lost. So did Democrat Ed Case, the U.S. representative who took Akaka on in 2006 — a race that is a sort of flip version of Hanabusa-Schatz. Case, you’ll recall, also raised questions about leadership in that campaign — Time magazine named Akaka one of the five least effective senators that very year — and also talked about seniority, arguing that Hawaii voters should be worried about not planning for a transition from Akaka and Inouye to a younger generation.

Well, that generation (two, really: Hanabusa and Hirono are in their 60s, Schatz is 40 and Gabbard is 32) are here now. And each is blazing their own trail.

That trail is evident in streams of press releases from each delegate’s office, sometimes in subtle ways.

On Friday, for example, Hanabusa announced that she would be part of a congressional delegation traveling to Israel this month. Perhaps her staff did not know, but Hanabusa made no mention that Gabbard would be part of the same delegation.

Then there was Schatz, whose staff said in a July 31 press release “Senator Brian Schatz met with President Obama and Senate Democrats.” The release includes a photo of Schatz and fellow Punahou grad Obama (reproduced here) walking along what appears to be a White House corridor.

In fact, Obama met that same day with many senators and a lot of House Democrats, too, but the Schatz press release gives the appearance that the day was mostly about Barry and Brian.

Just six days earlier, a Schatz press release announced that “the Senate Appropriations Committee approved $16.7 million in federal funding for the East-West Center.” In fact, as Civil Beat’s Kery Murakami reported, Hirono and Schatz both requested the funding. But there was no mention of Hirono in Schatz’s press release.

The deliverance of federal dollars to Hawaii was perhaps Inouye’s greatest gift to the islands, and maybe Schatz wanted to demonstrate the same ability. But it stood in sharp contrast to how Inouye often used to announce the arrival of new funds: jointly.

For instance, on 16 separate occasions, from July through September of 2012, Inouye’s congressional office issued press releases announcing the issuance of tens of millions of dollars for Hawaii. The releases invariably began the same way, as seen in the introductory paragraph of an Aug. 14 press release:

Healthcare, education and wellness programs designed to address the needs of Native Hawaiians will receive $10,673,171, Senator Daniel K. Inouye, Senator Daniel K. Akaka, U.S. Representative Mazie K. Hirono, and U.S. Representative Colleen Hanabusa announced today.

Note that the delegation was listed in terms of seniority. Maybe I’ve missed it, but I don’t recall seeing many joint press releases from Hawaii’s current delegation announcing big bucks in grants.

I did find a couple of joint releases, like this one dated March 7: “Senator Mazie K. Hirono, Senator Brian Schatz, Representative Colleen Hanabusa, and Representative Tulsi Gabbard announced today that Hale Kula Elementary School will receive $33.2 million for renovation and repairs.” It came from Hirono’s office; note the order of seniority.

I found another, dated May 9, announcing $1.1 million in assistance in providing uninsured individuals with affordable health care coverage under Obamacare. The press release from Schatz’s office listed Schatz first, Hirono second.

There have been times when members have worked together. Schatz and Hirono have pushed for helping Filipino veterans of World War II in the Senate, something Hanabusa and Gabbard have pushed for in the House. Schatz and Hirono have also introduced bills to help expand the number of Native Hawaiians eligible for homeownership.

And, in late April, Schatz and Gabbard introduced Senate and House versions of bills funding preventative health care training for students; Hirono and Hanabusa are original co-sponsors of the legislation.

But more often than not, delegates have tooted their own horns. Consider this July 18 press release from Gabbard’s office titled “VIDEO: Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Leads Passage of Amendment to Reauthorize the Native Hawaiian Education Act.” Gabbard and Alaska Rep. Don Young introduced the amendment.

Buried at the bottom of Gabbard’s release is this sentence: “Hawaii’s entire congressional delegation has sponsored legislation to reauthorize the NHEA.”

There are other signs of our delegates going their own way, especially their votes on legislation. That topic is best explored down the road.

But, just last month, Gabbard and Hanabusa split votes on defunding the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of phone records, while Schatz and Hirono cast opposite votes on capping interest rates for student loans.

To paraphrase another Sinatra — Frank — Hawaii’s representatives in Congress are each singing “I’ll do it my way.”