ANALYSIS
With Dods out, Democrats may be down to 3 options

•	Banker cites family as reason not to run
	Join our discussion on the governor's race

By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

For a candidacy that never existed, it left a deep imprint on Hawai'i's political landscape.

Bank executive Walter Dods announced yesterday morning he will not enter the governor's race. He had been urged by Democrats to declare his candidacy after Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris withdrew from the race. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

Ordinarily, such a development, or nondevelopment, wouldn't be big news.

But Dods was seen by some Democrats as the party's best hope to beat Republican gubernatorial front-runner Linda Lingle. Just the fact that his name set off such enthusiastic chatter among Democratic operatives, local pundits and average voters seemed to underscore the lack of excitement about the three Democrats who are running.

But with just three months until the primary election, the word in Democratic political circles yesterday was that after the Dods departure, it's highly unlikely another serious candidate will jump into the race. And some influential Democrats say they're tired of waiting for the next best thing to come along, that it's simply time to get behind one of the declared candidates: Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono, state Rep. Ed Case or businessman D.G. "Andy" Anderson.

"We have to realize that these are our Democratic candidates and they're good and they can win," said House Majority Whip Brian Schatz, D-24th (Makiki, Tantalus). "If somebody were to emerge at this late stage, the question would have to be why. It's not appropriate when you have a prominent businessperson, a very well-respected legislator and the lieutenant governor running. It's about time we focus on those three candidates and what they have to offer as governor."

But the feeling remains that unlike in past years, the question of who will be the Democratic Party's candidate isn't one of ideology, but of practicality: Who is the strongest candidate against Lingle?

"It shows that the party is desperately looking for a candidate that they can all get behind," said University of Hawai'i political science professor Yas Kuroda. "Voters are confused and wondering what's going to happen next and I don't blame them in a way. Every Democrat knows what has to be done, but the problem is there's no solution on the horizon."

With Dods out of the picture, "the perception is that it would make it difficult for other candidates to beat Linda," said Don Clegg, who is polling for Democratic candidates and has polled for Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris. "But politics is a dynamic process and as we've seen in the past, miracles do happen. The underdog does win."

Some Democrats said yesterday that fielding yet another last-minute "breakthrough" candidate after Dods' decision would look too disingenuous — at the same time party officials are publicly praising the three contenders, others are saying privately that none of the three so far has shown what it takes to win.

"That's the big question: Whether they're going to settle for the three and I don't think so," said a Democratic legislator who did not want to be named out of fear of alienating some in the party. "But they're going to have to be realistic. I can't imagine another name that they can get up and running."

Added Schatz: "I don't know why people are worried. ... The Republicans always have the lead at this point. We just have to remember that we're a strong fourth-quarter team."

Senate Vice President Colleen Hanabusa, D-21st (Kalaeloa, Makaha), said: "I think the downside is if there's another candidate out there and if they decide to jump in now, it will detract. People may get this feeling that some are not satisfied with the roster that we have now. I'm sure that there's a lot of people who feel that way, but this is what we have. That's what happens when a Jeremy Harris stays in the race until the (state Democratic) convention."

But Hanabusa said the 10 days of speculation over a Dods candidacy may have helped the campaigns of Hirono, Case and Anderson by making their supporters even more determined.

"It hasn't hurt my campaign," Hirono said. "In fact, these situations just galvanize my people more and they're just ready to go and work as hard as we can. I'm in this race to win so that's how they feel."

Case said of Dods: "Anybody that has considered running for political office knows what a difficult decision it is to make and I think he made it for the right reasons. Mr. Dods has been a major participant in Hawai'i for decades and he would have made a formidable opponent. I'm looking forward to working with him on how best to utilize his tremendous experience and obvious desire to give back to his community. ... The consideration by Mr. Dods or anybody else getting in the race or out of the race has not changed our message or our basic approach to delivering it."

While it is taken as a certainty in political circles that the party's power brokers, especially U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye, are involved in deciding who will and won't run, Dods said yesterday that no one recruited him. He said that since he was a young man he had thought of running for governor or Congress, and when the opportunity presented itself, he decided to consider it.

"It was fun to read about all these invisible hands," Dods said.

But Anderson didn't buy it.

"I think Walter's flirtation with the race was by the back-room manipulators who were concerned that Mazie couldn't win," he said. "There are some in the Democrat Party ... who don't want to see an Andy Anderson leading the Democrat Party in Hawai'i."

Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.