Crowded gov field
spurs early ads

4 major candidates attempt
to distinguish themselves with
TV and radio campaigns

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By Richard Borreca
rborreca@starbulletin.com

With the first round of television and radio commercials already booming across the state, Hawaii's four major candidates for governor are taking different tacks to define themselves.

The early pitches have Republican Linda Lingle and Democrat D.G. "Andy" Anderson on statewide radio, while Democrats Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono and Rep. Ed Case are on television.

"These are all going to be professionally managed campaigns. It isn't a case of someone just getting a camera and saying what they think," said Ira Rohter, University of Hawaii professor of political science.

So far, Hirono has hired the advertising firm of Ostrander-Chu, which had done some early work for Case before Hirono jumped back into the race for governor.

Case has hired Laird Christianson Harris Advertising Inc., which had previously handled Mayor Jeremy Harris' campaign. Anderson has yet to formally sign with any firm.

Lingle is handling the media work inside the campaign with her communication director, Lenny Klompus, and press secretary, Lloyd Yonenaka, and volunteers such as Kitty Lagareta, president of Communications-Pacific Inc.

Jim Boersema, political consultant with Starr Seigle Communications Inc., noted that "on the Democratic side, the three candidates need to set themselves apart from their opponents.

"Honestly, there are so many people running for office, you have to focus as much as possible on your strengths and select two or three critical issues."

By comparison, while Lingle faces opposition from former state legislator John Carroll in the primary, she is clearly the GOP front-runner, so she does not need to worry about television commercials early in the race, Boersema said. "She can reserve a lot of her ammunition."

Case's campaign spokeswoman, Crystal Rose, said the first round of television spots was designed to help build Case's name identification and introduce the four-term Manoa Democrat as a candidate for governor.

"We also did a special insert in the newspapers, and the television is a follow-up," Rose said. "We thought it was effective. His name recognition went from 51 percent to 68 percent."

Hirono, meanwhile, who is known by more people because she has run twice for statewide office, is working on building her image.

Robert Toyofuku, her campaign manager, said the commercials are designed to show what Hirono has accomplished as lieutenant governor. "Hopefully, the public will know what she can do, without it sounding like she is tooting her own horn," he said.

Toyofuku said he expects the general tone of the commercials to sharpen as the campaign progresses.

Rohter, who is also a co-chairman of the Hawaii Green Party, said he expects Hirono's commercials "to get warm and fuzzy and emphasize the history of the Democratic Party.

"Ed Case's commercial will probably be edgier because he has set his campaign to run against the political machine."

"As for Anderson, I am not sure where he is going to get his voters. I don't know if he has support past the very old guard in the Democratic Party," Rohter said.

Anderson, who had been away from campaigning himself for more than a decade, was first off the blocks with a series of TV commercials six months ago, but since then has been relatively quiet.

Last week, he started a series of radio ads addressed as "open messages" to Lingle, challenging her to be more specific with her campaign.

"They are designed to be hard-hitting and challenge Lingle," said Ray Lovell, Anderson's campaign spokesman.

Lingle said her commercials, which have so far aired only on radio, are designed to hammer away at the issues of education, economy and ethics in government.

Consultant Boersema said Lingle is in a strong position now and should use her commercials to support the entire GOP ticket. "Her objective should be to raise the image of the entire party and give people a reason to vote."

Lingle, however, said she also will use her commercials to go after the Democrats.

"It is important to talk about what this campaign is about," she says. "The Democrats only talk about two things: their right to stay in power and how to beat Lingle."