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On Politics Richard Borreca |
A bloody day for
Hawaii’s Republicans
The adage goes that "If you strike the king, you must kill the king." What then does it mean if the king tries to kill you and misses?
Losing five incumbents and gaining just one newcomer, the House Republican tally shrank to 10, the lowest number in a decade.
If she couldn't win a GOP majority, Lingle wanted enough votes in the House to support her vetoes. With her threat of a veto now just a debating point, she has to get along with Democrats who consider her the enemy.
Surviving Republicans predict the next two years will be a Democratic obstacle course for Lingle and her administration. "I pity the governor's cabinet," one GOP House member said.
Senate GOP leader Fred Hemmings predicted that "the Democrats will spend the next two years setting her up for defeat in 2006."
Lingle has said little since Tuesday. GOP legislators who survived "Bloody Tuesday" report having received only an e-mail from the governor since losing a third of their House members.
Meanwhile, Democrats are suddenly free to weigh their political options. They thought an organized push in the face of Lingle's juggernaut could hold the House GOP to 15; they never expected to take five seats away from the Republicans.
If Democrats last week were worried about who they could convince to run against Lingle, today they are counting up their choices.
Many in both parties still believe U.S. Rep. Ed Case would be the toughest opponent to Lingle because the pair draw from many of the same voting groups. Case is considered to be just as popular as Lingle, with the added plus of being a Democrat. His major political problem is that unions dislike his positions on civil service.
Defeated mayoral candidate Duke Bainum is a natural possibility; he only lost Oahu by 1,300 votes. But there are questions about whether he could sustain his campaign peak for two years.
Also mentioned is Sen. Colleen Hanabusa, (D, Nanakuli-Makua), who is neither encouraging nor discouraging speculation. She is hampered by not having the ability to draw enough money to run against Lingle.
Finally, the fellow with the money and the interest is Walter Dods, who retires as CEO of BancWest and First Hawaiian Bank next month. Although Dods will keep his position as chairman of both firms, he would have the experience and money to run against Hawaii's only GOP governor in 40 years.