BOB Dye is one of the sharpest guys in Hawaii at sizing up the political landscape. His assessment of the governor's race so far: "It almost scares me to even think it, but sometimes it seems like Frank Fasi is making more sense than anybody else out there." What’s wrong with
governor campaignScary, indeed. But Dye put his finger on exactly what's wrong with the early course of the campaign for governor.
The candidates -- including Fasi -- have occupied themselves mostly with mindless squabbling over whose unemployment rate is higher, whose bankruptcy rate is lower and other statistical folderol. Some are whining that even relatively mild attacks by their opponents represent "smear" campaigns.
That's not what voters want to hear. They're looking for somebody who can lead Hawaii to a prosperous future. Any voice in the bleachers can tell us what the problems are. Voters are hungry for a candidate for governor who can tell us what the possibilities are.
Fasi instinctively understands political leadership. It's what made him effective in his early years as Honolulu's mayor. He didn't worry about managing the small details of city operations. He hired people like Dye and Jeremy Harris to do that. He saw his job as projecting a vision for the city and making it happen.
Fasi's vision may have become clouded by bitterness in recent campaigns, but so far he's the only candidate even trying to offer any real vision. Like an old crooner, he can't hit the right notes anymore but he still knows what songs the audience wants to hear.
Gov. Ben Cayetano and Maui Mayor Linda Lingle, the more relevant candidates, can't seem to get it that this election is more about vision and leadership than managerial skill. Voters want to know what possibilities they see for Hawaii.
Cayetano is struggling to find a focus for his campaign. He had the bad luck to catch the worst economy since statehood in his first term and was unable to do much to fix it.
He's selling himself as someone who has made tough decisions in tough times. Even his critics should grant him that. He's shown some real political courage.
But that begs the question of whether the tough decisions he made were good decisions. And after four years, he has still failed to provide a clear vision of where he wants to take Hawaii and how he plans to get there. Correcting that has to be his top priority.
Lingle has campaigned almost exclusively on her managerial skill, pointing to ways Maui is doing better economically than the rest of the state.
It's foolish for Cayetano and Fasi to argue that Maui is not doing better than other counties. Anybody with eyeballs can see that it is.
THERE'S little question that Lingle is a good manager. But it's fair to ask how much of Maui's good fortune is really her doing. Is it the result of her own vision or is she simply riding Maui's rich natural resources and carrying forward the vision laid down long ago by Elmer Cravalho and Hannibal Tavares?
Fasi also makes a fair point that running Maui is not nearly as big a job as running Honolulu or the state. Lingle needs to spell out how her success at running a small county translates to leading the state out of its most difficult period ever.
It's still very early in the campaign. Maybe the candidates just need to get the silly stuff out of their systems before they start talking about what matters. But if they don't get on track soon, they risk losing the attention of an already cynical electorate.
David Shapiro is managing editor of the Star-Bulletin.
He can be reached by e-mail at editor@starbulletin.com.
Volcanic Ash runs every Saturday in the Star-Bulletin.
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