Mazie Hirono | The Honolulu Advertiser

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Mazie Hirono | The Honolulu Advertiser | Hawaii's Newspaper

Posted on: Tuesday, January 1, 2002

12 to watch in 2002
Mazie Hirono

Advertiser Staff

Did she jump or was she pushed? Whatever the case, Mazie Hirono's surprise switch from the gubernatorial campaign to the Honolulu mayor's race brought a lot more heft to a campaign that was expected to be the battle of the also-rans.

At heart, Hirono, 54, is an old-time lefty liberal Democrat from the 1970s, trying to succeed in a more centrist world. The success or failure of her campaign could very well be an indicator of the future of the Hawai'i Democratic Party. It will be fascinating to see whether Hirono can reach beyond her reliable bases in the labor and the AJA crowds and find her voice with a younger, more conservative and more ethnically mixed electorate. More important, can she gracefully come down from the glad-handing, big-picture stratosphere of backing up the governor to the brain-grinding minutia of potholes, police and park maintenance? And can she loosen up?

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