By Jerry Buris
Advertiser Editorial Editor

When Gov. Linda Lingle appointed Honolulu attorney James Duffy to the state Supreme Court, there was applause all around.

Duffy, well-respected in the legal community, seemed to fit perfectly into Lingle's campaign promise to choose people for top positions based on ability.

There were some puckish comments that Duffy was something of a surprise since he wasn't (A) a well-known Republican; (B) a member of Lingle's campaign team; (C) someone from her home county of Maui or (D) a relative of one of the above.

This was simply by way of pointing out that, for all her good intentions, Lingle came into office only to discover that the Republican "bench" in Hawai'i is not particularly deep. And no wonder. Since Republicans had not held the governorship for some 40 years, they had little opportunity to build up a patronage base.

Previous governors, Democrats all, had a wealth of bodies that had passed in and out of government to choose from when they needed to make an appointment.

So Lingle has been forced, probably more often than she wanted, to go to either A, B, C or D to get willing bodies for state boards, commissions and departmental appointments.

Going into the election, Lingle promised this about her philosophy of appointment:

"Selection for these positions will be on the basis of qualifications, experience, and personal character, not on the basis of who you know, how much you contribute to someone's campaign or to which political party you belong."

It turns out that many of Lingle's appointments fit precisely into one or more of the categories she cited as being, as of this moment, irrelevant to the appointment process.

Now, that hardly suggests they are unqualified. In fact, most of Lingle's appointees have been widely praised, both in the community and in the state Senate where top appointments must be confirmed.

True, two regents nominees were rejected by senators who contended they were unqualified and too political. But those were the exception, and it seems clear that the politics involved in the rejections involved both sides of the fence.

But there is no doubt that there is a strong GOP-Maui-Campaign flavor to the list of people who have joined the Lingle administration thus far.

She moved key elements of her campaign team intact to the fifth floor of the Capitol, including top adviser Bob Awana and communications guru Lenny Klompus.

Republican Party officials past and present, from Micah Kane to Jane Tatibouet and the Hellreichs, Dr. and Miriam, have found a home in the Lingle administration.

Does the fact that Lingle has had to draw from a relatively narrow close circle for her appointments mean that the public will not be well-served? Hardly. And it is human nature to go to whom you know and whom you trust for key positions.

But it is an illustration that the task of breaking up a "good old boy" network is not as easy as it might have appeared from the outside.