RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM Former governor Ben Cayetano spoke at the Hawaii Democrats Luau yesterday. Behind were George Ariyoshi and John Waihee.

Democrats gather for
Ko Olina fund-raiser

Former governors address
the crowds amid children's
rides and local musicians

Three former Hawaii governors called on isle Democrats last night to band together to oust President Bush in November and gather support for a win against Republican Gov. Linda Lingle in 2006.

"The Democratic Party has not even begun its fight," said former Gov. John Waihee, who served from 1986 to 1994. "We need to ... secure a victory for this state, this country and, most of all, for our families and for ourselves."

Waihee, along with fellow former Govs. George Ariyoshi and Ben Cayetano, were among the speakers at a Democratic Party fund-raiser yesterday in Ko Olina, which also featured children's rides and local musicians.

Organizers said attendance at the event was just shy of 2,000, while about 2,500 tickets were sold.

But only about 1,000 listened to the governors speak. The rest of the attendees were at a nearby lagoon, or mulling around food tents and inflatable rides.

Tickets to the event were $35 each, with proceeds going to support the Hawaii Democratic Party.

Brickwood Galuteria, the party's chairman, said the gathering was aimed at connecting isle Democrats, and "putting away differences" for the betterment of the party.

"It's a way to make money, but it's also a way to share aloha with each other," Galuteria said. "Everything is geared toward getting them (Democrats) into voting. ... Right in front of us is the '04 vote, but right after that we've got '06."

All three former governors said Democrats needed to work to muster enough support within the next two years so that the party can spring back from a defeat two years ago, when Lingle became the second Republican in the state's history to head the islands.

"We have got to come together," said Cayetano, who preceded Lingle. "We got to take this state back because we built this state."

Many attendees -- like 10-year member Bettina Brown -- didn't need to be convinced that Hawaii's Democrats needed help.

"I came out to support the party," Brown said, adding that the fund-raiser gave her the "opportunity to meet and greet and people, to re-establish alliances."

Windward Oahu construction inspector Reginald Lee agreed, saying that the gathering and similar events in the future will likely "make the Democratic Party stronger."

But not everyone at the event was a Democrat, or even a party sympathizer. Republicans John and Rochelle Victorino said they were there on a friend's tickets, hoping to get another point of view on top of a good family outing.

"It's good to look at two sides," Pearl City homemaker Rochelle Victorino said. "I'm open."

Others chose to be nonpartisan, saying they had come for the eats and entertainment -- not the politics.

"I'm still undecided," said Terence Liftee, who was with his wife, Sherry, and 9-year-old son. "I came for the food."

The fund-raiser ran from about 2 to 6 p.m., and much of it was streamed live on the Hawaii Democratic Party's Web site (www.hawaiidemocrats.org). Vice presidential candidate John Edwards' wife, Elizabeth, addressed the crowd via telephone from Arizona at about 5 p.m. to urge attendees to back the Kerry-Edwards ticket.