HONOLULU'S longest running performance of Hamlet couldn't find a better place to draw the curtains than at next weekend's Democratic state convention. Harris: bridge-builder
or party’s savior?Hamlet, Shakespeare's prince wracked by indecision, has played center stage as Mayor Jeremy Harris, who commands respect as leader of the state's largest city but who has failed to grow the office to match his own ambitions.
Those worries could be erased if Harris uses the convention as the launchpad for a campaign for governor.
Since winning election, Harris has been conflicted. His repeated insistence on filling out the four-year term always comes with the caution that he reserves the right to run for another office.
This vacillation even found its way to the Campaign Spending Commission, where Harris claimed he had the right to collect money to run for mayor or statewide office. The commission's executive director thought differently and fined Harris $50 a day. The issue has not yet been resolved.
Now, just days before the state's ruling political party gathers in convention, incumbent Democratic Gov. Ben Cayetano has started to worry the party.
Every candidate must have a plausible reason and rationale for running. For Harris, the reason came last week when another round of public opinion polls showed Cayetano to be in deep trouble.
Cayetano's poor showing, coupled with the Democratic Legislature's equally mediocre performance, is making Democratic operatives nervous.
Is this the year the Democrats lose Washington Place?
At the convention, Harris could answer with a resounding, "Not now, not on my island, not in my state!"
Harris, who swept every state House district in his victory over Cayetano-backed Arnold Morgado two years ago, is one of the only Democrats who could win both a primary and general election campaign.
To be sure, Harris is not assured of victory in a September primary, or in a November general election. First, while he has set in motion an aggressive campaign of reform at city hall, and built up momentum for change, the Harris administration hasn't really gone anywhere yet.
The question of who will be city managing director is not yet answered. It is critical, for if Harris runs and resigns from office as required, the person he names as managing director will be the acting mayor until a special election can be held in the fall.
The biggest question for Harris to answer, however, is can he beat Cayetano. Harris appeals to both Democrats and Republicans, making him an attractive candidate in the general election, but that broad support makes him weaker in a Democratic primary.
FOR instance, if the state's Republican voters stay in their own primary race to vote in the contested races for governor and lieutenant governor, there will be fewer votes for Harris to win.
A reform-centrist Democrat running against a centrist Republican in a Democratic state would favor the Democrat.
That is the position Cayetano hoped to be in at this time, but the economy and a lackluster Legislature made him an unpopular governor.
Harris stands to define much of his political future next weekend: He can become the Democratic bridge-builder by joining the Cayetano campaign, claim to be the Democratic savior by opposing Cayetano or work his way into irrelevance by saying nothing.
Richard Borreca reports on Hawaii's politics every Wednesday.
He can be reached by e-mail at rborreca@pixi.com