Editorial
Governor race must set a different tone

With the formal announcement by newly minted Democrat D.G. "Andy" Anderson and the decision by Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono to run for Honolulu mayor, the lineup for next year's governor's race appears to be largely complete.

Surely others can — and will — throw their names in, but the front-runner ranks appear relatively full at this point.

On the Democratic side, besides Anderson, there is presumptive frontrunner Mayor Jeremy Harris and state Rep. Ed Case. The Republican leader is Linda Lingle, last election's GOP candidate, who has been joined by former state Sen. John Carroll.

Each of these candidates offers a strong political pedigree. Anderson served for years in the Legislature, as a party leader and as a top administrator for the City and County of Honolulu. Harris has had numerous successes at both the elective and appointive level in Honolulu and on Kaua'i.

Case, while relatively new to politics, rose quickly in the Legislature and showed himself to be an innovative and independent thinker.

Lingle, of course, served on the Maui County Council and as its mayor before taking on the race for governor four years ago. Carroll also has years of legislative and party service under his belt.

But these candidates also have something in common that makes this race unlike any other in the history of Hawai'i as a state: For the first time since statehood, the election for governor will not feature an incumbent member of the administration.

Every single gubernatorial contest in Hawai'i has included either an incumbent governor or lieutenant governor. And except in the case of William F. Quinn in 1962, that incumbent has won.

This presents a historic opportunity for the field in next year's race. It is a chance to break with tradition and set a campaign tone that looks to the future rather than the past.

Every previous campaign has included large doses of political rhetoric aimed at pointing out the failures of the incumbent administration and/or defending its record. Thus the "subject" of the campaign was — in large measure — the past.

This go-round, it is time to campaign on the future. Candidates should give up the luxury of using valuable campaign time to criticize the past. Instead, they should offer their own specific and thought-out ideas for the future.

What will Hawai'i be doing over the next four years, for instance, to repair its education system and revitalize its economy? It will be relatively useless to spend much time on the failures or successes of the current administration. Instead, the candidates should focus on the specifics of their future plans.

The field ahead is clear. The voters will reward the candidate who has the best plan for the next four years, not the best critique of the past four.