Capitol View
One of the continuing disappointments of the Cayetano administration has been the governor's inability to attract new workers and ideas to both state government and the Democratic political party. AG Anzai won’t rock the boat
The most recent example is the appointment of Earl Anzai as attorney general.
In Hawaii, with its heavily structured, centralized government, the attorney general is second only to the governor in power.
If a state department head wants to change policy, rewrite rules or reform past practices, the changes are likely to go through the attorney general.
As Margery Bronster showed, the AG also sets the tone for new state efforts. The state can investigate broad concerns, such as the price of gasoline and breakfast foods. The AG can control the tenor of those investigations.
When departments ask for advice, the ensuing AG opinions become the rules the bureaucrats follow.
And, as Cayetano said before becoming governor in 1994, the attorney general is "the people's lawyer." The AG is supposed to represent everyone in the state, not just do the governor's bidding, Cayetano said at the time.
Whether that is how Cayetano and Anzai feel about the AG's role today is open to speculation.
Cayetano, who at one time urged that the AG be elected, recently said the post is one for the governor to handle. And if the state Senate wants to get into the act, then senators should switch jobs.
"If people want to choose their attorney general, then they should run for governor," he said.
The irony in Cayetano's predicament is that if the post were an elected one today, there would be no shortage of candidates, but as an appointive position, Cayetano had to fall back on his faithful aide-de-camp, Earl Anzai.
Despite the fact that Anzai had already been rejected once for a cabinet post by the state Senate, there isn't much in Anzai's resume to trigger opposition.
But, as city Prosecutor Peter Carlisle explained, although Anzai is an attorney, he doesn't have much experience with the law at the attorney-general level.
Carlisle will have to work with the AG during the next year, so he is staying out of the confirmation question, but he did note that Anzai's appointment raises questions.
"The obvious question is that it appears to be rewarding a friend, Anzai, and punishing an enemy, the Senate," Carlisle said.
The answer, he added, is to get beyond that and see what sort of AG Anzai will make.
Anzai and Cayetano are as close as two can be in temperament. Like a set of twin brothers, when together, they finish sentences for each other. One will defend the other in political debates. Politically, their reflexes if not their opinions are identical.
The problem, of course, is that while Anzai and Cayetano will be able to complete the final two years of the Cayetano administration with little internal rancor, they aren't really pushing the envelope.
Cayetano won't challenge Anzai to think differently and Anzai won't be showing the governor anything new.
Trusted friends are good to have, especially when you are fighting a war and need unquestioning support. But big, bold ideas come from those who will push and dare you to think differently.
By making Anzai the AG, Cayetano is signaling that he is hunkering down to survive the coming two years, not change Hawaii's government.
Richard Borreca reports on Hawaii's politics every Wednesday.
He can be reached by e-mail at rborreca@pixi.com