[ OUR OPINION ]
Lingle, lawmakers
need to get along
-- for voters’ sake
THE ISSUEDespite her efforts, the governor was not able to increase her party's count in the state Legislature.
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By the same token, Democrats, who increased their majority in the state House, cannot treat the governor as incidental to the political process. After two years of gamesmanship, they should acknowledge that Hawaii voters elected her to lead the state. It was at her prodding that some of the accomplishments they claim as their own came to be.
In Tuesday's election, Lingle learned that her favored status has boundaries. During the legislative session, the governor openly warned some Democrats she was tracking their voting records and would personally campaign for their ouster. She took GOP challengers under her wing, linking them up with financial supporters and campaigning door-to-door with them.
However, instead of scoring her "veto proof" Legislature, Republicans ended up losing five seats in the House, reducing their ranks to just 10. In the Senate, Democrats retained their 20-member majority.
Senate President Robert Bunda -- who is said to have gubernatorial aspirations of his own -- declared the election " a mandate against Lingle and her party." Such tiresome statements impede what voters want: reasonable solutions to Hawaii's problems.
Republicans bewildered about their losses should take note of Rep. Hermina Morita's assessment. Though her GOP challenger Mamo Cummings is "very articulate," the Kauai Democrat observed, "she wasn't saying anything that wasn't being said by every Republican candidate in the state."
The outcome of the legislative races might not have been so much about Lingle's short political coattails as the long shadow she casts over the GOP. Few others in her party have the kind of wattage she radiates.
Still, the party does a disservice to its candidates by having them deliver Lingle's message. Rather than individuals, they appear as a collection of minions. This does little to broaden the party's base, which is what the GOP needs to boost its legislative membership.
Voters must beware
smears and gossip
THE ISSUENew rounds of dirty tricks stained elections in Hawaii.
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Though dirty tricks and smears aren't new to politics, the electronic age has inserted a stealthy weapon into the quiver of scandalmongers. Victims are mostly defenseless against the swiftness of massive e-mail transmissions, Web sites and their poisonous masters.
Duke Bainum, who lost his bid for Honolulu mayor, attributes his defeat, in part, to rumors about his wife spread by Internet, telephone and, as the candidate put it, "good ol' whispering." Republican lawmaker Mark Jernigan was the target of a more conventional attack -- fliers sent out by the Democratic Party with information that the bipartisan Clean Campaigns Project judged "inaccurate" and "unfair."
That Jernigan also lost his election confirms that despite voters' claims that they don't like negative campaigning, the tactic has some effect at the polls.
There are ways to curb underhanded behavior without crushing freedom of speech. Watchdog groups should gear up early in campaign seasons to monitor campaign material as well as Internet activities. A strong deterrent would be for candidates themselves to discourage supporters from taking part in smears.
In the end, the power of smears lies with voters. They should question the accuracy of what they are told and consider the sources.
