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Capitol View
YOU can't count the votes in the elections that matter most for Hawaii. Forget about the rules; there are no rules, so if you want to keep recounting until you win, that's OK, too. Jousting for power
begins at LegislatureThe election is for leader of the House and Senate. In the past it has been something of an election by attrition -- you became winner when no one else said they were the winner.
Rep. Ed Case, a Democrat from Manoa who just won his fourth term, says he's just now appreciating that his vote for speaker and for the state House Democratic line-up will be the most important vote of the legislative session.
"How the House organizes will tell you 75 percent of the story of whether the House is committed to change," says Case, who last year found himself at odds with more liberal House members.
"There's a lot more riding on House organization," he says.
"The future of the Democratic Party in Hawaii rests on whether it will embrace or reject change. The executive is not the problem, the Legislature is the problem," Case worried.
Not everyone views organizing the state house in that same apocalyptic frame. The current house speaker, Calvin Say, a decidedly low-key sort, wants everyone to sort out what they want and then decide who they want to get them there.
This is also a different plan than the usual house organization. The usual way is for various leaders to seek pledges of support from various legislators in return for committee chairmanships. Critical mass is reached when you have enough votes tied down to prevent someone else from taking it away from you. Having 26 votes is enough, but 30 votes make you a safe bet for speaker of the house.
It is fair to bring in your buddies to help convince colleagues that their future is safer in your hands. So business groups make calls, lobbyists phone a friend and the unions always have a hand in the pot.
Say has been conservative, consensus-driven and open to both union and business leaders. He was able to balance off a pro-business agenda by giving the pro-labor Big Island Democrat, Dwight Takamine, the Finance Committee post. If Taka-mine can't pass whatever legislation he wants, he definitely can block bills he doesn't want.
The short answer to how much the House organization matters is whether or not Takamine keeps his clout.
THE Senate organization is more obscure. When the Senate leaders split chairmanships into two posts, so that Ways and Means, Judiciary and Consumer Affairs had co-chairs, they diluted the power of the Senate leadership.
Developing a coherent position either devolved into mush or the issues were simply lost because it was impossible to find consensus among committee co-chairmen.
The obvious benefit of a "two leaders for every committee" approach is that it gives all your supporters a title.
Now the largest group has 10 senators. They are fairly moderate, interested in the new economy and appear willing to let the power move up from the individual senators instead of down from the Senate president. A second smaller group is a more improbable combination of union supporters and conservative Democrats.
The bottom line on the Senate, however, is that everyone has to run again in two years, so all alliances are temporary.
Finally, the House Republicans could be real players this year, if they are able to maintain some party discipline. Nineteen solid votes will speak very loudly in 2001, no matter who is leading the Legislature.
Richard Borreca reports on Hawaii's politics every Wednesday.
He can be reached by e-mail at rborreca@starbulletin.com