Clock is running in
political power game

Game on.

Welcome to the start of the most intense six-week sprint in Hawaii's political history.

Yesterday's primary election cleared the field of the second-stringers. Now the No. 1 contestants, the primary winners, are up to bat.

Two questions will be answered with the results of the November general election: How much power do Hawaii's unions still have, and just how good a political machine has Gov. Linda Lingle assembled.

While each one of the eight state Senate and 48 state House races is a story in itself, the larger issue is just who holds the power in Hawaii.

For decades, political power in Hawaii rested in the hands of Democratic governors. Now that Republican Lingle's hands are on the reins, the Democrats must rearrange how they get and keep control.

So far the Republicans are losing out in the campaign for political funds. The latest Campaign Spending Commission report shows the Hawaii Democrats collecting $532,000 since January. The GOP has picked up $403,000. Both parties have spent more than $300,000.

Meanwhile, the state's unions, first the ILWU and now the public employee unions, have served the purposes of the Democrats while increasing their own political muscle.

For Lingle, the Republican Party lives or dies on her ability to deliver a big vote in November. The commercials are being cut, the gubernatorial endorsements are being made, and Lingle is personally attaching herself to GOP campaigns across the state.

In her first two years in office, Lingle has not shied away from risking her considerable political capital to get out in front of an issue. Her push for educational reform has led to her endorsing an approved list of Board of Education candidates. Her demands that the state not spend more than it takes in prompted her to cancel or cutback grants to social service agencies.

She probably wasted some political assets endorsing a mass transit line and its accompanying tax increase, only to withdraw from the fight after finding little support among her Republican rank and file.

Today, Lingle starts the campaign with hopes to take at least three state House seats away from the Democrats. She wants to build a team of at least 18 minority votes in the state House so the GOP can block an override of her vetoes.

Elections on Kauai and the Big Island could give her two new seats. There is a chance that two Democratic incumbents along Oahu's Windward side and perhaps the North Shore could tumble.

At the same time, the unions have said that preserving a Democratic super-majority in the Legislature is their main goal. The issue for the Hawaii Government Employees Association is preserving the ability to control the vote on civil service legislation and increased benefits.

Public unions are sending out mailers, holding stop-work meetings and tracking their members to make sure they vote. The GOP is also holding rallies and organizing their voters for a big November turnout.

That final key to winning voter turnout will answer the question -- who's got the power in Hawaii.