By David Shapiro

So far, the 2002 governor's race has disappointed voters who hoped for a high-minded, issue-oriented debate befitting the importance of the election to Hawai'i's future.

The campaign has taken on a whiny tone as Republican Linda Lingle and Democrat Mazie Hirono have turned petty and personal in their attacks. Their carping has done little to illuminate the important choices facing voters.

Lingle convened a big-production news conference to accuse Hirono and her running mate, Matt Matsunaga, of illegal "cyber-squatting" with a Democratic Party Web site called www.linglefacts.com that criticizes her record as mayor of Maui.

Though Lingle didn't file an official complaint about the "offense," she claimed it was especially egregious because Matsunaga, as a state senator, sponsored the cyber-squatting bill and Hirono, as acting governor, signed it into law.

Nice sound bite, but the Democrats, while skating near the edge of the truth in depicting parts of Lingle's record, clearly label their site as partisan and don't come close to illegally misappropriating Lingle's name to purposely deceive.

It was a non-issue, and Republicans cheapened their campaign by making a big deal of it.

Hirono, meantime, is using schoolchildren, their parents and their teachers as human shields to deflect criticism of how she and other state leaders have mismanaged Hawai'i's public schools.

As Hirono explains it, the problem isn't that our schools lag far behind most other states in key areas of student achievement; it's that Lingle is hurting the poor kids' feelings by drawing too much attention to the system's failings.

"This constant bashing of our school system, which really translates into bashing our teachers, our schools, our parents, our students most of all, is not the positive way we are going to make the changes we need to make," Hirono said.

Of course, Lingle and many other critics of the education system aren't bashing students and teachers at all. They're bashing Hirono and other state officials who have failed to reverse the undeniable decline of our schools.

Only Hirono herself, by her pandering excuses, plants the thought that the blame might fall with students and teachers.

When Hirono talks of "changes we need to make," what does she mean besides more happy talk? Hard to say.

In a recent TV commercial, she boasts that while other candidates only talk about change, she has been hard at work actually making change for Hawai'i. An example she offers of making change in education is that she walked the picket lines last year with striking public school teachers and University of Hawai'i faculty.

By what measure does appearing on picket lines for photo opportunities qualify as making change? She changed absolutely nothing in terms of shortening the strikes or getting a better deal for teachers and professors.

Even the unions didn't buy it. The university faculty endorsed Lingle over Hirono and the public school teachers are remaining neutral — the first time ever that they haven't endorsed the Democratic candidate for governor.

A campaign of petty sniping and misleading generalities belittles the political process and, ultimately, the candidates.

Lingle and Hirono have the full attention of voters in the final three weeks of the campaign leading up to the Nov. 5 election. They'd be wise to use it for hard-hitting, specific and fair debate of their relevant records and important issues that separate them.

If they can't treat one another and our political system with a minimum of respect in conducting their campaigns, how can the winner expect to govern with the public's respect?

David Shapiro can be reached by e-mail at dave@volcanicash.net.