EDITORIAL
Campaign 2002 should dive beneath the polls
It should not come as much of a surprise that voters say the economy and education are the most serious problems facing the state this election year.
After all, that's what the candidates have been telling them for quite a long time now.
There is a feedback loop phenomenon regarding polls that seek to probe what is on the minds of voters. Voters will tend to say they are concerned about what the candidates have told them they ought to be concerned about.
And at the same time, candidates tend to talk about the issues that crop up on polls as being top voter concerns.
So the latest Advertiser Hawai'i Poll, which found education and economy at the top, in some ways captures an ongoing conversation between voters and candidates.
But as Capitol Bureau Chief Kevin Dayton noted, there were some surprises in this survey. Despite heavy media attention to the failings and crimes of a handful of (mostly Democratic) officeholders, public corruption seems to have little hold on the voter's mind as an issue.
That has to come as something of a disappointment to Republican gubernatorial candidate Linda Lingle, who has focused quite heavily on "restoring trust in government" and "returning honor to public service."
Worthy goals, certainly. But the poll suggests these aren't the issues that drive people to the voting booth.
What we'd like to see now is for both Lingle and her Democratic opponent, Mazie Hirono, to take this conversation to the next level. Let's accept that both the candidates and the voters see education and the economy as Priorities One and Two.
What's needed is far more detailed talk about how the candidates would change things, improve things, in these two areas. We have heard some ideas, but they must be fleshed out.
In this campaign, the issues are set. Victory should go to the candidate who best understands those issues and has concrete ideas on how to make things better.
