Posted on: Friday, May 2, 2003

Island Voices
Democratic Party must once again inspire

By Bryan Mick

I recently attended a grassroots meeting held by the Democratic Party in Kailua. The guest speaker was Sen. Daniel Akaka, and it was an honor to hear his stories and thoughts on a variety of issues.

Afterward, an open discussion occurred among the 20 or so people who had gathered. And the thoughts that had been swirling around in my head since last election suddenly crystallized. In the 1950s, the Democratic Party of Hawai'i had some great organizing principles that drove it, such as social equality, broad tolerance and the politics of inclusion. These continue to be guiding principles of the party today.

But in the '50s, the party was able to apply these principles to specific areas and lay out goals for people to work for.

These included obtaining statehood, breaking up the power of the Big Five, improving the condition of the blue-collar worker, making the University of Hawai'i a true state institution and making tourism the mainstay of our economy. These exciting projects drew people to the party and inspired great leaders.

The problem was that by the 1990s, these projects have been largely accomplished with varying degrees of success. The candidates stopped being people with inspiring visions but rather caretakers who lacked imagination and initiative and simply gave tweaks here and there to the system. It became easier to hold the specter of a return to the plantation era over voters' heads than inspire them with hope.

That was the wake-up call from the last election, that a party chanting "change change change" and offering some concrete ideas, even if they're bad ideas, will attract most voters. At the meeting, people wondered what needs to happen for the party to win back voters.

The party must apply its values to the problems that face Hawai'i today, and present a unified vision that excites voters. This may mean some fundamental changes, such as building the economy around something other than mass tourism and structural change in the Department of Education and university system.

Someone asked how can the party beat Gov. Linda Lingle in the next election.

I say by having a candidate who articulates a concrete and exciting vision that once again inspires people to the task of building our state.

Bryan Mick lives in Kailua.