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On Politics Richard Borreca |
Democrats get up
off the matLook who is back in town. Shuffling and hoping no one will notice they have been absent for so long, Hawaii's Democratic Party showed up last week.
When the votes were counted Tuesday night at Democratic Party headquarters, Alex Santiago, beamed, not that U.S. Sen. John Kerry won the presidential primary caucus, but because more than 4,000 Democrats had suddenly found their way in from the cold.
During their absence, the Republicans have happily painted the Democrats as a band of thieves and incompetents. The failings of our state could be traced directly back to the Democratic Party, proclaimed GOP bloodhounds. As proof, they offered up a list of Democratic convictions, herds of bureaucrats who randomly overpaid for under-performing programs and a symphony of complaints about the public schools.
Hawaii's Republican governor, Linda Lingle, ever the efficient saleswoman, provides a daily counterpoint to Democratic failings to such an extent that even Democratic Party leaders worried they would never again utter a coherent political phrase.
Local Democrats, however, seem energized by watching their national big brothers and sisters do what Democrats do best, which is divide up into factions and start gnawing on each others extremities. The smash-mouth, Democratic presidential primary season is almost over. During its run, the Democratic presidential candidates provided a delightful exercise in partisan, two-fisted political street fighting.
The brawl lured in local Democrats who could find something to admire in the campaigns of Kerry and Sen. John Edwards. Democrats took immediately to the somewhat loopy visits by Rep. Dennis Kucinich. Former Gov. Howard Dean, however, snagged the most new local Democrats, according to party organizers.
Of course, Dean flamed out before the state caucuses, but his local ground troops, mostly new, young and enthusiastic, are expected to be around to contribute. Santiago was beaming last week because he knew the primary fight was the best thing that has happened to Hawaii Democrats since Bill Clinton put on an aloha shirt and gave his "speech on the beach."
Super Tuesday this week will, for all practical purposes, end the Democratic primary season as 10 big states, including California and New York, vote. But for Hawaii Democrats the excitement could still be building.
It is time for the Democrats to forget the conventional wisdom of past campaigns and start inventing their own rules. Politics is about people and as much as the party's old liberals recite the Democratic philosophy, the Democrats need to get down to the business of campaigning for somebody.
An exciting party has candidates running for big offices and the Democrats need to take a hint from the national Democratic primary and start encouraging candidates to run for the big offices of governor and lieutenant governor, even if the race is two years out.
Nothing upsets party old-timers more than an unpredictable and uncontrollable primary, but perhaps it is time to pass the Rolaids and go with the unknown.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Richard Borreca writes on politics every Sunday in the Star-Bulletin. He can be reached at 525-8630 or by e-mail at rborreca@starbulletin.com.
