Learn about candidates on the Web

With the July 23 filing deadline for this year's political season fast approaching, attention will quickly shift from "who" is running to what the candidates are saying.

To date, most political attention has focused on the intrigue of who will run, who won't run and how the political stars will line up. All that was been great fun. But soon the serious work of campaigning will begin.

The voters deserve more than slick advertising and stew-and-rice feeds with their favorite candidates. They deserve candidates who talk straight talk on the issues, not just with the voters but with each other.

By this, I mean there should be a robust series of debates and joint appearances by the candidates. It's one thing to see a candidate at an event controlled by his or her own organization or in a solo appearance at your local rotary.

It's quite another to see two or more of them on the same platform at the same time, dealing with the same audience questions as well as with each other.

Nothing substitutes for these joint, in-person appearances. But while you're waiting for the action to start, the campaign is already under way in a virtual sense on the World Wide Web. You can get a sense of who the candidates are and how they wish to present themselves by visiting their Web sites.

And in this day and age, no serious candidate for major office would dare go forth without a Web site.

Among Democrats, find D.G. "Andy" Anderson at www.andy2002.org and learn about his family background, read verbatim copies of some of his speeches and decide for yourself if he is the "experienced, qualified and knowledgeable business person" we need as governor.

Look up Ed Case at www.edcase.com and learn about his experiences growing up on the Big Island, his legislative achievements and how we intends to create a new style of leadership that blends Democratic social compassion with a hard-headed approach toward taxes and government spending.

Find Mazie Hirono at www.maziehirono.org and discover that a "tough childhood forged a lifetime commitment" by this former legislator and current lieutenant governor toward public service.

On the Republican side, surf up to John Carroll's red-white-and blue site at www.carrollforhawaii.org and learn what he thinks about education, about sports, about Hawai'i's economy and why you should consider him "because values matter most."

Or click over to Linda Lingle at www.lindalingle.com and learn how this former Californian built a life and a political career in her adopted home of Hawai'i, track her successes and get a quick take on her stand on everything from abortion and the death penalty to Hawaiian sovereignty.

These sites (as well as sites dedicated to lieutenant governor candidates and many legislative candidates) vary in quality, usefulness and ease of access. But they do give us a sense of how the candidates wish to be seen by the voters and what they believe to be important.