IF Hawaii's Democrats got a wake-up call Saturday night, the question is whether or not they responded by hitting the snooze bar. It was a
deer-in-the-headlights
momentGov. Ben Cayetano wasn't running against Maui Mayor Linda Lingle in the primary. He had a virtually uncontested race; she was up against former Mayor Frank Fasi. But that didn't stop folks from letting Lingle and Cayetano shadowbox.
Lingle whomped Cayetano, 109,000 to 96,000.
At Cayetano's headquarters Saturday, you could see something was out of place. Cayetano supporters didn't seem to know how to act. When Lingle came on television, giving a live victory speech, the TV sets at Cayetano's stayed on her. His crowd became quiet. There were no boos, no jeers. Everyone just sat there and watched.
It was a deer-in-the-headlights moment.
I timed how long it would take them to snap out of it. Seven minutes later, someone got the band to start playing and drown out Lingle's oratory.
If Democrats were slow on the downbeat Saturday, they may have dramatically missed the beat of the state as we head into the remaining month and a half before the general election.
Cayetano and his advisers are banking on pulling in the straying Democrats and reviving those disinterested and disenchanted.
"What is really important are the values that drive the different parties," Cayetano said Sunday morning.
"We found that that is what many, many people are concerned about. It resonates with a part of our party. One of the problems we have is that the younger generation doesn't understand the value of our history," he told reporters.
But while Cayetano is talking about attracting those with old-time Democratic values, he forgets one of the great Democratic themes, that the party is a big tent, able to hold many sorts of supporters.
When the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly spurned Cayetano and endorsed Lingle, Cayetano showed that he was willing to write off portions of the community and didn't need their endorsement, actually prefering to get the fire fighters' endorsement instead.
At the same time that Cayetano is campaigning against sections of the community, Lingle preaches the politics of inclusion.
"I'm here to talk about a more important form of unity -- that we are to be united as a state," she told supporters at the GOP unity breakfast.
"We were able to work with the entire state, to look to the future, to describe a new future of the way things could be -- and we were able to do it for all people," she said to explain how she won the primary.
What has happened is that Lingle has tapped into the public's feelings of frustration with the stagnant economy and translated the hope for a better life into a desire for change.
A staunch Democrat who has served in several Democratic administrations and worked in their gubernatorial campaigns explained the public's mood.
"We just want that community feeling, that we are all working together. That's what grassroots campaigns are all about," she said.
"Why don't you write a positive story about that? Why don't you tell people about how we are energized on the grassroots level?
"You should tell people how exciting it is to be working with neighbors on a campaign -- to be working for Lingle."
Richard Borreca reports on Hawaii's politics every Wednesday.
He can be reached by e-mail at rborreca@pixi.com