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Capitol View
WHEN D.G. "Andy" Anderson ran for governor against John Waihee in 1986, unions took some cheap but effective shots by running ads of a plantation luna astride a white horse. Democrats must
adjust to the timesAs the plantation boss looked over a field of toiling laborers, the caption recalled Hawaii in the 1920s. The Republican Party ran Hawaii and didn't have any time for organized labor or Democrats, the ad reminded voters.
That was the mental image Democrats wanted to preserve. According to Democratic doctrine, all voters had to do was remember that Republicans used to run the place and it was no fun being non-white.
But this year's new 18-year old voters were only 4 when the unions were scaring voters with lunas on white horses back in 1986. Since then changes have been dramatic enough that both the Democrats and Republicans must to reinvent themselves in order to be successful.
The changes have shown up already in the GOP vote count at the Legislature, where 22 out of the 76 legislators, or almost 30 percent, are Republican.
Demographically they may not mirror the state's rainbow-hued population, as 68 percent of them are men and 54 percent are white, but of the newly elected legislators, white and nonwhite are almost equally split.
This is not lost on the unions. One of the most articulate warnings comes from the Hawaii Carpenters Union.
Gordon Wong, news editor for the monthly Hawaii Carpenter magazine, wrote a column explaining the changes and urging Democrats to adjust.
"Gone are the days of only appealing to Asians, union plantation workers and those who have lived in the islands for more than 50 years," Wong said.
Three things have happened, he explained.
First, voters are responding to a "do-nothing attitude" of state Democrats and, "like in the movie 'Network,' these people are 'fed up and they're not going to take it anymore.'
"Maybe it's that Hawaii, once the bastion of Democratic plantation labor politics, has suddenly turned conservative," Wong speculated.
The third reason, he warned, is that the Democratic Party itself has grown weak.
"In contrast, Republicans in Hawaii have a huge momentum. Look at the candidates who won in close races... They're mostly young, idealistic, have a good following of supporters and have an enthusiasm seldom seen in today's Democrats," he wrote in the union magazine.
REPUBLICANS also have another advantage, Democratic Party Chairman Walter Heen explained recently.
A Republican candidate has an almost clear field of fire and can run in almost any district, while Democrats have to pick their targets carefully or they will be running against a Democratic incumbent.
What the Democrats need to do, Wong says in his article, is open the party to all. While Democrats would jump to the defense of their inclusiveness, there is still a feeling that Democrats are the establishment.
The party should be one that will "fight for all workers' rights -- not just union workers' rights," he said.
"One that will stand up for small business owners -- not just for Hawaii's big industries such as tourism, construction and public government," he said.
Democrats, who have taken to heart the aphorism that they belong to no organized party, will have a difficult time implementing all of Wong's suggestions by the 2002 election.
But they will not succeed until they retire the image of the man on the horse and move the debate into the 21st century.
Richard Borreca reports on Hawaii's politics every Wednesday.
He can be reached by e-mail at rborreca@starbulletin.com