By Jerry Burris
Advertiser Editorial Editor

I dropped by a meeting of East Honolulu Republicans on a bright, sunny Saturday morning last week and, boy, are they an upbeat bunch.

This was the first time this regular gathering of GOP stalwarts had met since the Legislature's session, so that was the top thing on their minds. But they also had other things to discuss, such as taking their enthusiasm (and money) out of their East Honolulu stronghold to other parts of the state.

The goal: Elect enough Republicans to tip the balance of power in the state House and to give Gov. Linda Lingle the muscle she needs to see her programs adopted by the Legislature.

Now, that dream is nothing new. You hear it every election cycle. But the tone at this particular Hawai'i Kai gathering suggests they really think they can get it done.

Highlights of the meeting were presentations from Republican legislators from the area, including Bertha Leong, "Bud" Stonebraker, Sam Slom and Fred Hemmings.

Yes, they said, Lingle did not get everything she wanted from the Legislature. But many good GOP ideas were adopted, even if they were wrapped in Democratic clothing before being sent on to the governor.

If they had a complaint, the legislators said, it was that not enough attention was paid to their ideas and their contributions by the news media.

In fact, there seemed to be the suggestion that it would be impossible to pay too much attention to their good works in that big building full of Democrats.

Part of the reason Republicans get the short end of the public notice stick, they suggested, is that much of their work is behind the scenes, working to kill off bad ideas put forward by the Democratic majority.

That's useful duty, but not the kind that garners headlines.

For all the enthusiasm and plans to quietly infiltrate Democratic bastions before the next election, it is clear that this hardy bunch has some work to do.

One example is demographics. With a few exceptions, the Hawai'i Kai group looked mostly like, well, me. That is, it was a generally older, largely Caucasian group.

Not all of them, by any means. But enough to show that widening the demographic base is a top-of-the-list task for the Republicans.

And it can be done. Lingle forged a strong, cross-sectional base of support in her successful run for governor. The trick will be to solidify that base and extend its interest to races below the governorship.

One of the things Lingle did successfully in 2002 was to shift the focus of her campaign rhetoric from what is wrong with Democrats to what is right with Republicans. That was a lesson she learned from her first campaign.

Down at the grass roots, they'll have to do the same thing. This boisterous group had a lot of fun bashing Democrats (and the news media), but as they fan out to the hustings, they'll need more than that. They will need a message of positive change and new ideas.

If they can come up with that, package it with the good humor and energy that showed up that Saturday morning last week, they could have a winner.

Reach Jerry Burris through letters@honoluluadvertiser.com.