Lingle not shy this time about GOP connection

By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

In a clear departure from her 1998 strategy, gubernatorial candidate Linda Lingle is emphasizing her Republican Party connections, suggesting that she can establish a relationship with the Bush administration and the Republican majority in the U.S. House that will benefit Hawai'i.

During her unsuccessful campaign for governor four years ago, Lingle rarely mentioned that she was a Republican, and downplayed the ideological differences between the parties. This time, Lingle has turned up the volume on her Republican affiliation, suggesting that it will be easier to get some attention from the White House if Hawai'i has a Republican governor.

Still, the issue of party affiliation is perilous territory for Lingle. Democrats are eager to paint Lingle as a "Bush Republican," a label that may move some undecided voters away from supporting her and either staying home or supporting the Democratic candidate, Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono.

"If anyone is going to run for higher office in the state of Hawai'i, where there are more Democrats than Republicans, you don't want to be associated too closely with the (national) Republican party," said retired University of Hawai'i political science professor Yas Kuroda. "I think the image of a successful Republican candidate is ... sort of a Republican who is closer to the Democrats, not the establishment Republicans."

As chairwoman of the state Republican Party, Lingle has been openly working to move the party closer to the political center and to make a clear distinction between Hawai'i and the national party, especially on social issues like abortion.

"I'm a Lingle Republican," Lingle said. "My focus is here at home, on the people of Hawai'i."

But as it did in 1998, the Hawai'i Democratic Party is working hard to draw connections between Lingle and what they describe as a conservative national Republican agenda.

"We tell people that despite what the Republican Party is doing to morph itself into looking like the Democratic Party of Hawai'i, make no mistake about it, Linda Lingle ... and their crew over there are nothing but Bush Republicans who are trying to (promote) the national GOP agenda here in Hawai'i," chairwoman Lorraine Akiba told Democrats at a party unity breakfast the day after the primary election. "We can't let them do that."

In the document that is the centerpiece for her campaign, "A New Beginning for Hawai'i," Lingle mentions in six separate instances that she will "lobby" or "work closely with" the Bush administration on a variety of issues, ranging from support for the East-West Center to getting White House backing for Native Hawaiian rights to establishing Honolulu as a regional headquarters for the Department of Homeland Security.

Lingle said Hawai'i has been at a disadvantage because it is the only state with neither a Republican governor nor a member of the GOP in Congress. Massachusetts and North Dakota are the only other states with no GOP member in their congressional delegations, but they have Republican governors. The U.S. House is controlled by Republicans, although the Democrats are the majority in the U.S. Senate.

"Whenever I raise this issue to people you see people quickly nodding their heads because it's the idea of balance, being able to talk with both political parties," Lingle said. "I think the people recognize immediately that it would be an advantage to us if we had a better balance."

Hawai'i voters chose Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore over George Bush by a 55-37 margin in 2000. Lingle acknowledged that some voters are probably wary about the direction of the national Republican Party, but said Bush's popularity has grown in Hawai'i since the Sept. 11 attacks.

She also said she thinks Bush is doing a "really good job" but that she doesn't agree with all of his policies.

"Regardless of which party is in power, who's the president, people have their own individual points of view," Lingle said.

Lingle says she's comfortable with how Bush has been aggressive in dealing with Iraq, and agrees with the president on areas such as providing the same health insurance coverage for mental illnesses as physical ailments.

She also said she likes the No Child Left Behind Act, a new federal law requiring that schools in high-poverty areas must maintain adequate academic performance levels or pay the transportation costs of students who choose to go to other public schools with higher achievement ratings.

When asked on what issues she differs with the president, Lingle said, "He's pro-life, I'm pro-choice." She declined to mention other examples.

U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye scoffed at Lingle's argument that Hawai'i's Democratic representation has eroded the state's standing in Washington.

"That is rather strange," he said. "For the past 15, 20 years I've been considered the Mr. Pork of the country."

Some political experts say Lingle raises a legitimate question about Hawai'i's lack of Republican political connections, but that it's not clear whether a Republican governor can help much in the national arena or that voters care much about it.

The clearest example of the finger-pointing that accompanies discussion of whether Democrats or Republicans have the most clout in Washington can be found in the efforts to pass the bill introduced by Democratic U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka to provide federal recognition for Native Hawaiians. Republicans have consistently blocked the bill in the House and Senate.

Democrats are saying Lingle should have been able to use her Republican contacts to push for the bill, while Lingle blamed Hawai'i's congressional delegation for being ineffective. Lingle said being governor would give her the clout to push the legislation.

Hirono said Lingle's talk about Republican connections indicates she won't be effective with a Democratic state Legislature.

"She's going to have to run the state from Hawai'i, not from Washington, D.C., if elected governor," she said.

Hawai'i Pacific University political science professor Greg Gaydos said being labeled a "Bush Republican" isn't necessarily a negative.

"Bush is really a compassionate conservative," Gaydos said. "He's the one kind of Republican who seems to attract people from the Democratic Party."

Kuroda, who has polled for the Democrats, disagrees. He said former Republican U.S. Rep. Pat Saiki's connections with the elder George Bush hurt her in her race for the U.S. Senate in 1990. News media covered Saiki's fund-raiser, which Bush attended, and much was made of the fact that donors paid up to $1,500 to have their picture taken with Bush.

"I was doing statewide polling every night and that was the night she started to lose," Kuroda said. He said it was because people made a connection between Saiki and wealthy, "establishment" Republicans, as well as big money. Saiki lost the race to Akaka.

But Kuroda said while the Democrats' strategy to link local Republicans with the national party has been effective, the political landscape here has changed as Lingle worked on softening the GOP's image.

"If you compare 10 years ago with what it is today there are more Republican voters, so that is a plus for her," he said. "So this tactic that Democrats are waging might not work as well this time."

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