Volcanic Ash
Democrats lacking a 'titan'
By David Shapiro
U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie got a good laugh from delegates to the Democratic state convention when he ridiculed critics who say the party is in trouble in the 2002 governor's race.
"They say, 'Oh, what about disarray, the confusion, conflict?' I say, 'What, did you forget about Tom Gill and Jack Burns?' This is nothing."
He's a funny guy, but the joke is on Abercrombie if he really thinks the Democrats have a candidate of anywhere near the stature of John A. Burns or Thomas P. Gill running for governor this year.
The 1970 Burns vs. Gill contest was a clash of titans — two of the most influential figures in Hawai'i's political history, each with his own army of passionate supporters. The survivor was a sure winner against the GOP in the general election.
If the Democrats had either of them to run for governor this year, they wouldn't be having this unpleasant conversation about how in the world they're going to beat Linda Lingle and the Republicans in November.
The reality, however, is that the names they'll most likely have on the ballot are D.G. "Andy" Anderson, Ed Case and Mazie Hirono.
These are quality people, and one of them could quite possibly make a good governor. But they're all a very long way from seeing their names in the same sentence as "titan." Their supporters are cadres, not armies, and none yet inspire the zeal that surrounded Burns and Gill — and now Lingle.
The Democratic campaign stalled for two months while Jeremy Harris made up his mind whether or not to run. He's out now, but candidates are still in limbo as speculation persists that more Democrats may enter the race.
Each day of uncertainty kills the candidates' momentum as they struggle to build organizations, deliver their messages and raise money to compete with the $5 million Lingle expects to have.
Time is running short as party faithful and potential donors withhold commitments while waiting for the next shoe to drop.
Anderson needs time to prove his Democratic credentials after a lifetime as a Republican. Case needs time to sell Democrats on his conservative economics that run counter to decades of party dogma. Hirono needs time to shed the wishy-washy image she projected by flip-flopping in and out of the race.
And the party needs time to sharpen its message to the voters. Boasts about the things Burns and Gill did 30 years ago won't cut it anymore in the absence of compelling recent achievements.
Unity was the theme of the state convention, but it will be difficult to achieve.
Democrats have become a party of fractured fiefdoms operating in separate orbits. We have "old guard" Democrats, "new" Democrats, Cayetano Democrats, House Democrats, Senate Democrats, City Hall Democrats, neighbor island Democrats and labor Democrats representing the often-conflicting interests of public workers and the private-sector unions.
The party's troubles trace directly to factional unwillingness to compromise individual interests for the common good. You wonder if there's still a center around which they all can rally — especially without a titan leading the ticket.
U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, the only real titan the party has left, gave Democratic officials a stern scolding for "stupidity and self-interest ... back-biting and internal skirmishes."
"It has got to stop," he said to hearty applause from the convention rank and file. After one burst of cheers, Inouye said, "Keep it up and I might just run for governor."
That might be what it would take to pull this one out.
David Shapiro's Volcanic Ash column appears in the Opinion section each Wednesday. He can be reached by e-mail at dave@volcanicash.net.
