Cayetano thinks
Democratic candidates
need spunk

The governor says that his successor
must be able to rally the troops and voters

---

By Richard Borreca
rborreca@starbulletin.com

While he is sure Hawaii's next governor will be a Democrat, Gov. Ben Cayetano frets that the Democratic candidates so far have failed to ignite the passion needed to excite supporters.

The problem, according to Cayetano, is that neither Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono, Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris nor state Rep. Ed Case have the excitement to generate the loyal supporters needed for a bruising statewide campaign.

"There is one thing that people need when they get up to this level," Cayetano said last week in an interview with the Star-Bulletin. "You have to have the passion that will attract a group of people who will stick with you -- even if the ship is going down."

Recalling that former Govs. George Ariyoshi and John Waihee were able to generate that loyalty, Cayetano said he came to expect it from his troops.

Cayetano, who will leave state government next year after serving an unprecedented two terms each as lieutenant governor and governor, nearly lost his re-election in 1998 when Republican Linda Lingle came within 5,000 votes.

"One of the rewarding things about this business is, you go into this adversity and you find out who your friends are," he said. He said he did not know any Democratic candidate who has a staunch loyal following.

While he is dismissive of Lingle's chances to win in 2002 and says the Democrats have the best choices, Cayetano wonders about the strength of their organizations with just over a year before the election.

"I think Harris has an organization, but I don't know if he has an organization that includes people who say, 'We are with you to the end,'" Cayetano said.

"I look at Hirono, Harris and Ed Case, and I don't see it," the governor said.

"Ed hasn't had the chance to develop it; I don't know about Harris and Hirono -- but who knows? It can change," he said.

Cayetano said he admires Case, a House Democrat who has been a frequent critic of legislators supported by public employee unions.

"You take a guy like Ed Case. I like him a lot. I like him because if you listen to his speeches, clearly he is a big-picture guy with a lot of substance," Cayetano said.

"He has courage but he is lacking in experience," Cayetano said of Case, who was first elected to the House in 1994.

Outside of the elections, Cayetano also spoke well of another "big picture" player in Hawaii's state government, the University of Hawaii's new president, Evan Dobelle, whom the governor said is off to a good start.

"He is doing exactly what I would do if I were in his shoes," Cayetano said. "No leader worth his salt is going to come in and rubber-stamp everything."

Dobelle said he would take six months to review Cayetano's plans for moving the UH medical school to waterfront state land at Kakaako. But the governor said he is confident that after the new UH administration reviews the steps the state took to arrive at the Kakaako location, Dobelle will also come to agree with him.

"He (Dobelle) also told me he would talk to all the gubernatorial candidates," Cayetano said. "He said he wanted to know where they stand on the medical school."