Raising Cane
By Rob Perez
In the world of academia, it's almost unheard of for the head of a state university system to formally endorse a gubernatorial candidate. Dobelle’s backing of Hirono
was unusual and troublingIt's almost unheard of everywhere, that is, except in Hawaii, where we sometimes do things differently than the rest of the world.
Just days before last week's election, University of Hawaii President Evan Dobelle appeared in a television commercial to endorse Democratic Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono in her bid, ultimately unsuccessful, to become Hawaii's first woman governor.
What in the world was Dobelle thinking?
Presidents of public university systems typically don't endorse gubernatorial candidates because they try to stay -- at least publicly -- out of the electioneering fray. Given the stakes, they don't like to take sides, especially in a high-profile fashion and especially in a close race.
Governors, after all, appoint the board members who run the university systems. Governors also have considerable influence over university budgets and other financial matters.
As such, a president has to work closely with the state's top executive and usually tries to maintain good relations.
What would happen, then, if the president endorsed a candidate and that candidate lost?
Dobelle is finding out the hard way. He got snubbed by the candidate he didn't endorse.
When Dobelle, a longtime Democrat, called Republican Linda Lingle to tell her that he would be endorsing her opponent and wanted to explain his reasoning, she abruptly hung up on him.
On Thursday Lingle publicly chided Dobelle for the endorsement, calling it inappropriate. She also declined an invitation from Dobelle's administration to attend today's sold-out Wahine volleyball game.
Yet Lingle said the endorsement won't affect her relationship with Dobelle, and both have vowed to work together for the benefit of the university.
Already, though, the brouhaha has resulted in one resignation: Interim UH regent Michael Hartley quit the board last week in protest of Dobelle's action.
The issue of public endorsements by university presidents isn't one that comes up often, although top executives sometimes support candidates in lower-profile ways.
"Formal endorsements are pretty rare," said Scott Jaschik, editor of the Chronicle of Higher Education, a weekly publication that covers university issues nationally. "Most presidents don't want to risk the possibility of offending a winner by endorsing a loser."
The Dobelle ad ran at a time when polls showed the race was too close to call.
In the commercial backing Hirono, Dobelle said he was speaking as an individual. But the ad clearly was designed to capitalize on his popularity as UH president.
He spoke of being independent-minded and made no mention of his close ties to the Democratic Party, something that some UH faculty viewed as being intellectually dishonest.
Dobelle was treasurer of the Democratic National Committee, served as finance chairman for Jimmy Carter's re-election campaign and was a protocol official in the Carter White House.
Dobelle told reporters Friday that no one approached him to make the commercial and that he did it of his own accord.
Yet he has told faculty members privately that U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, an influential UH supporter who helps get millions in federal funds for the university annually, urged him to do the ad.
It would have been difficult politically for Dobelle to say no to someone with such clout.
Inouye could not be reached for comment.
Dobelle said he didn't believe his endorsement was inappropriate. He noted that former UH President Albert Simone publicly supported John Waihee in both Waihee's successful bids for governor.
Simone, however, did nothing that approached the high-profile nature of Dobelle's prime-time commercial. Simone could not be reached for comment.
The Dobelle ad generated mixed reaction among UH faculty, whose own labor organization, the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly, endorsed Lingle, just as it did in her unsuccessful bid against Gov. Ben Cayetano in 1998.
Some faculty members believe the UH president has no business endorsing gubernatorial candidates because of his obligation to serve the greater interests of the university system. Endorsements, they say, not only hinder that task but further politicize the university at a time when it is striving for more autonomy and less interference from downtown politicians.
The faculty union, on the other hand, is a group organized to serve the interests of a specific constituency and doesn't need to be perceived as being nonpartisan, the Dobelle critics say.
But others say they had no problem with Dobelle's endorsement.
It essentially was no different than UHPA backing a candidate, said Larry Meacham, a spokesman for the government watchdog group Common Cause.
"They're both going to have to deal with the (governor's) administration in the future," Meacham said. "And they're both entitled to endorse whoever they want, even if it may not be prudent to do so. But that's their right."
While Dobelle's decision to endorse a candidate reflects poorly on his judgment, Lingle doesn't emerge unscathed in the controversy.
She has said she won't belittle those who disagree with her and will conduct herself as governor in a way that Hawaii's people can be proud of.
Can Hawaii residents be proud of a politician who rudely hangs up on someone over a disagreement?
Star-Bulletin columnist Rob Perez writes on issues
and events affecting Hawaii. Fax 529-4750, or write to
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu 96813. He can also be reached
by e-mail at: rperez@starbulletin.com.
