Editorials
Wednesday, November 6, 1996
Americans vote for
divided government
AMERICANS gave Bill Clinton another four years in the White House on the basis of the peace and prosperity of his first four years, despite strong doubts about his ethics. But they kept the Republicans in control of Congress, thereby maintaining the restraining influence that kept Clinton on a centrist course during the last two years. It was an endorsement of divided government, and neither party can claim much of a mandate from the results.
Clinton again proved himself to be a superb campaigner, and Bob Dole was no match for him. Dole clearly showed he was much more at home on the Senate floor than on the campaign trail. Although he was gaining support at the end with his attacks on the administration's questionable ethics, he offered no convincing reason to the voters to turn Clinton out of office when the economy was performing well and the country was at peace.
With the House Republicans chastened by the fallout from the government shutdowns, and the president hoping for achievements in his final term, the outlook is for a moderately productive session within the bounds of fiscal responsibility.
The Hawaii results were also mixed. Jeremy Harris' mayoral victory over Arnold Morgado was earned by a solid record over the last two years and was something of a rebuff for Governor Cayetano, who endorsed and worked for Morgado. Cayetano's candidate for prosecutor, David Arakawa, also lost, to Peter Carlisle, who made an issue of Arakawa's endorsements by the political establishment.
Orson Swindle fell short again in his second bid to wrest the 1st Congressional District seat from Neil Abercrombie, denying Hawaii a voice in the GOP congressional majority. But the Republicans were encouraged by sizeable gains in the state House and Sam Slom's defeat of Donna Ikeda in the state Senate.
Ikeda, one of the most powerful figures in the Legislature in recent years, was the most prominent but not the only victim of the anti-incumbent sentiment that erupted after the last session. But another Democratic stalwart, Patsy Mink, easily won re-election in the 2nd Congressional District against little-known Tom Pico.
Like the Republicans in Congress, the Democrats still control the Legislature but they have been singed by some setbacks and the knowledge that an increasing number of voters were angry with them. That could signal more production and less bickering in the next session.
The approval of a constitutional convention in 1998 opens the door for an attempt to institute an amendment barring same-sex marriage, the most emotional issue of the last session. The convention could complicate the process of dealing with Hawaiian sovereignty proposals and should have been deferred until a sovereignty conference had been held.
In the City Charter questions, approval of a Fire Commission to appoint the fire chief and abolition of the Honolulu Public Transit Authority were sound decisions. There is a need to divorce the fire chief from politics as much as possible. The transit authority, approved six years ago, was an unnecessary addition to the city bureaucracy.
Bhutto ousted again
FOR the second time, Benazir Bhutto has been fired as prime minister of Pakistan by the nation's president, opening another chapter in the turbulent story of the Bhutto family. Her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, also served as prime minister but was overthrown by the army and executed in 1979.
Once in power Bhutto became embroiled in some of the same difficulties that doomed her father. Although she regained office three years ago, she never succeeded in uniting the country behind her. But at age 43 she may have opportunities to stage another comeback.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited Partnership
Rupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor