By Jerry Burris
Advertiser Editorial Editor

Hawai'i's senior U.S. senator, Dan Inouye, handed Gov. Linda Lingle quite a brick last week with his diplomatically worded claim that she is the key to getting the so-called Akaka Hawaiian recognition bill through Congress.

It was a fancy bit of positioning by the senator. In what appears to be nothing more than a compliment to the new Republican governor, Inouye made her metaphorically responsible for getting a Republican-controlled Senate and Republican administration on board with the Akaka bill.

That will be no easy task, and Inouye knows it all too well.

If the Akaka bill does make it past the Senate and the Bush administration, Lingle will get to share in the credit. That's fair enough.

But you can bet that if this scenario — considered fairly unlikely by many — happens, the Democrats will want to share in the applause. After all, it was the Democrats who pushed to keep the Akaka bill alive for years.

If the bill fails, then Inouye has set up Lingle to take the fall.

That's not entirely fair. No governor, no matter how highly regarded, can impose his or her will on the Senate and the White House.

Lingle might credibly say that she was only trying to help pry the Akaka bill out of the grip of its strongest opponents. At that point, she might say, the job of carrying the ball remains in the hands of the state's Democratic congressional delegation.

Truth be told, Lingle invited her current position during the campaign when she hammered home how important it would be to have a Republican governor to talk sense into GOP colleagues in Washington.

And so she did. But there is little sense that she closed the deal.

At the stage-managed hearing on the Akaka bill, Republicans were little in evidence. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, the all-important Republican chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee, made a brief appearance and said some nice, if noncommittal, words about the bill. Freshman Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska made an even briefer appearance.

By and large, it was Sens. Inouye and Akaka who listened to the testimony. As if they needed convincing.

One reason Inouye might have decided to put Lingle out in front is that the odds continue to stack up against the bill, both in Hawai'i and Washington.

Here, many Hawaiian groups oppose the concept, saying they neither need nor want to become federal wards. Others oppose the measure from a constitutional standpoint, saying it pushes us toward impermissible race-based federal programs.

Within the Bush administration, that argument seems most persuasive. Added to those objections in the Senate is opposition from senators with substantial Native American constituencies who fear dilution of existing programs for American Indians.

The political maneuvering around this crucial piece of legislation is only just beginning.

Reach Jerry Burris through letters@honoluluadvertiser.com.