Clinton mess may help
Ward against Abercrombie

By Pete Pichaske

Star-Bulletin

WASHINGTON--The shock waves from Kenneth Starr's report on President Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky, still roiling Washington, might eventually hit the political shores of faraway Hawaii.

Some political pundits and Republicans say the ever-growing Clinton-Lewinsky scandal could have a dramatic impact on the re-election campaign of Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Honolulu.

They say the scandal, by energizing GOP voters and discouraging Democrats, could tip the balance in a race already expected to be close.

"Hawaii already had a potential tidal wave, the economy. And this could be another one," said Amy Walter, House race editor for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, which handicaps congressional races. The latest Cook report, released yesterday, insists that "there is no question that there will be some impact--and that this impact will harm Democratic candidates in November."

The report lists the Abercrombie race as one in which Democrats are likely to be hurt.

Local Republicans, not surprisingly, embraced the theory of White House scandal as Democratic liability.

"It's absolutely true," said state GOP Chairwoman Donna Alcantara. "In Hawaii, the Democrats are already demoralized and dispirited because of the economy. . . . This is only going to add to that." Hawaii Democrats, however, weren't buying.

"It's pure speculation. Nobody knows what the voters will do," said Walter Heen, chairman of Hawaii's Democratic Party.

As for the two main candidates, neither one was expecting Clinton's troubles to play a major role.

State Rep. Gene Ward, the GOP's choice to topple Abercrombie, said he was not counting on any boost at the polls from the White House scandal.

"This election is about the economy, the economy and the economy," he said. "Anything else I'm not going to plan on."

Abercrombie, whose comments on the scandal have been circumspect and measured, apparently agrees. A campaign aide said the Honolulu Democrat will focus on the economy, jobs and education in his re-election campaign.