Honolulu Lite
People thought I was insane when I suggested that Mayor Jeremy Harris give up as Democratic candidate for governor several months ago. Actually, they thought I was insane well before that, but the Harris suggestion just confirmed the prognosis. Revenge may be
on mayor’s mindNow that Harris has quit the governor's race, the idea doesn't seem so insane. At least the first part of the idea. The second part of my suggestion was that after he pulled out as a Democratic candidate for governor, he run for lieutenant governor as a Republican. That may still seem kind of nuts, but these are nutty times.
Why would he do it? For the oldest of motives: revenge.
See, Harris got hosed by the Democrats. He had a deal going back to the last governor's race. Democrats have not hung onto power for all these years by keeping employment high, taxes low, the public education system first rate and the homeless housed. In fact, they've done pretty much the opposite of all that. The way Democrats have stayed in power is to make deals. The deals were straightforward: George Ariyoshi would be governor for eight years, then it would be John Waihee's turn, as long as he behaved as lieutenant governor. After Waihee's tenure in the top spot, it would be Lt. Gov. Ben Cayetano's turn.
It's kind of like being part of a royal family, where heirs apparent wait patiently in the wings for their turn on the political stage.
But something weird happened before Ben's second term as governor. Mayor Jeremy Harris, technically nonpartisan, made it known that he might like to run for governor as a Democrat. And he had the power to beat Ben in the primary or at least create an impressive, not to mention expensive, bloodbath.
So a deal was struck. Ben would be governor, and Jeremy would become governor four years later. (Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono apparently was laboring under the delusion that lieutenant governors automatically become governors. After all, it had always been that way.)
But when it came time for Jeremy to prepare to assume the throne, strange things began to happen. He was attacked by Democratic heavyweights such as party Chairman Walter Heen. The Campaign Spending Commission, historically buddy-buddy with the Dems, began hassling Harris about fund raising. Others were trying to force him to resign to run. Indictments were mentioned. "The Deal" wasn't looking so hot. "The Deal" was falling apart. Finally, last week, "The Deal" was dead.
Harris is royally ticked off. Revenge would be sweet. The best way to get revenge would be to help Republican Linda Lingle win as governor with Harris as her L.T. Then, when Lingle eventually runs for Congress, Harris can ascend to the office he had been promised. It may sound insane. But what doesn't these days?
Charles Memminger, winner of National Society of Newspaper Columnists awards, appears Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. E-mail cmemminger@starbulletin.com