Lingle and Aiona, alone on the darkened stage with local reporters, marveled at how far Republicans seemed to have come in such a Democratic state. Maybe Lingle's "New Beginning," her campaign slogan in 2002, was unfolding faster than anyone imagined.

Asked what would happen if Bush lost here, and if Republicans failed to gain seats in the state Legislature, Lingle brushed away the question. Regardless of what happened, she explained, it was obvious the GOP's strength was building. "People do want a two-party system," Lingle said.

Instead of showing how far Lingle and her party had come, the election showed how far they still need to go.

Halfway through her four-year term, Lingle remains popular. Her administration has presided over an economy with the nation's lowest unemployment rate. Business and personal bankruptcies are at a seven-year low. Tourism is on pace for a record year.

But Lingle still lacks a signature legislative achievement and her adversarial relationship with Democrats in the Legislature has often forced her to use administrative rules to carve out policy changes. Some veteran Republicans were privately disappointed that the governor and party leaders talked openly about taking control of the House in November instead of doing more to protect vulnerable GOP incumbents. Quietly, some even whispered criticism usually heard among Democrats, that Lingle might be better at raising issues and winning public-relations battles than at the deal-making needed to advance her agenda at the Capitol.

In an interview about her first two years as governor, Lingle was optimistic and determined, traits her friends and advisers believe make her the kind of leader who can break barriers. Lingle said the governor's role is to focus the public's attention on issues and, given that Democrats hold an overwhelming majority in the Legislature, it is unreasonable to judge her solely by legislation.

"The message we try to project is, legislation is one way you change things, but it is only one way," Lingle said.

On the biggest issues of the past two sessions — education, "ice" abuse and crime — Lingle has been stymied. But she has used the tools of her office to make a series of changes that she believes has brought more integrity and accountability to state government.

Lingle had made restoring trust in government a major theme of her campaign, particularly in ending favoritism in government contracts and advancement based on "who you know." As governor, she backed a law that changed procurement rules to sever the link between state contracts and campaign contributions. But some Democrats have noted that many of the governor's close campaign advisers and supporters have jobs or appointments in her administration.

Helping business

The governor, who also campaigned on making Hawai'i more friendly to business, believes her administration has had a role in improving the state's business climate and in limiting government regulation. It created Hawai'i Business Express, an online service that helps new businesses register with multiple state agencies. It approved long-delayed rules to require that by 2006, 85 percent of gasoline sold in the state contains 10 percent of cleaner-burning ethanol, an alcohol blend made from sugar cane. It eased restrictive animal quarantine regulations so more pets could be released to their owners sooner after they enter the state.

One seemingly small change, simplifying a medical assistance application form, helped 7,500 more children get health insurance through the state's medical program for the poor, while nearly 5,000 more women have qualified for maternity care.

Hawaiian issues

The administration formed a five-year plan to reduce the waiting list of Hawaiians who want to live on homestead land. Working with lawmakers, Lingle made millions in back payments to the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs for revenues from former kingdom lands. Nationally, she partnered with Hawai'i Democrats in the state's congressional delegation behind a Native Hawaiian federal recognition bill. Lingle did not get the Bush administration to support the bill, which would create a process for self-governance, but some congressional aides say Lingle helped address Republican concerns.

Lingle said she has used administrative rules and legislation to reduce fees and assessments by more than $5 million. She also believes her administration has earned a reputation for fiscal restraint that helped improve the state's credit rating, enabling the state to get a lower interest rate when it sells bonds for capital improvement projects.

"You can't spend everything you have because times won't always be as good," Lingle said. "You need to save for when times aren't as good."

Economists see a minimal cause-and-effect relationship between Lingle's policies and the state's strong economy, which has been driven mostly by a construction boom and a resurgence in tourism after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. But Lingle's welcoming attitude has changed some impressions, still prevalent nationally, that Hawai'i is a poor place to do business.

"We're always going to blame the administration when things are going bad, so we have to give them some credit when things go well," said Byron Gangnes, an associate professor of economics at the University of Hawai'iiManoa.

Ted Hong, a Hilo attorney and Lingle's former chief labor negotiator, said the governor has remained upbeat and positive, despite her struggles with the Legislature. Her advisers and allies say she is a superb communicator, with an ability to arti-

culate issues clearly and the drive to hold the public's interest. The invitation by national Republicans for Lingle to campaign for Bush on the Mainland shows that the party considers her a valued spokesperson — a woman and a moderate popular in a historically Democratic state.

"To her credit, I think she has raised the bar," Hong said.

Lingle's biggest disappointment has been on education.

Education debate

The governor has invested much of her time and energy on what has been a futile attempt to get the Legislature to support a ballot question on breaking up the state Department of Education into seven districts with elected school boards.

Lingle savaged the education-reform law the Democrats approved last session as "fake reform," even though its centerpiece — a new student spending formula — was also a key element of her own proposal. After it became obvious that her school board plans were dead last spring, the governor said she would make education an election issue and predicted that voters would be harsh on the Democrats who opposed her.

Republican losses in November killed any hopes that the school-board issue might be revived, and the governor now plans to shift her attention to charter schools and early childhood education, areas where collaboration with Democrats is possible. But she believes it was her persistence over the past two years that pushed the Democrats and the public-school bureaucracy toward reform.

"I think people will credit us with education reform, with being the ones who made it the issue, who brought it about," Lingle said.

State Rep. Roy Takumi, D-36th (Pearl City, Palisades), who helped draft the education reform law, said the governor deserves some credit for putting education on the public's radar but was surprised to hear her comments.

"It's very interesting that the governor has went from calling what we did on education 'fake reform' to now saying that we're making progress," he said.

Takumi said the administration has been "far more reliant on public relations than public policy."

Carl Takamura, executive director of the Hawai'i Business Roundtable, a group of corporate executives closely involved with the reform debate, said the governor kept the issue at the forefront even though her school-board plans failed to win support among educators and business leaders.

"I think she did force people to think out of the box," said Takamura, who is now part of a state Department of Education committee studying the new student spending formula. "There really was an effort to talk about decentralization."

Measured tone

Since the election, Lingle has taken a more measured tone when speaking about the Legislature.

The governor has said that affordable housing and transportation would likely be her priorities next session, issues where she is more likely to find common ground with Democrats. Linda Smith, Lingle's senior policy adviser, said the administration believes those issues have broad community support and will attract allies that will help the governor present her case.

"We've done some of that but I think we can do more," Smith said.

The governor also will again propose some issues on principle that she knows Democrats have opposed, such as a balanced budget for the Legislature and so-called "walk-and-talk" and "knock-and-talk" rights to give law enforcement officers more leeway in approaching drug suspects.

Democratic leaders, vindicated by the election results, are unlikely to give the governor any significant legislative prizes of her own. Lingle does have the power to restrict state spending, as she proved this year by withholding money lawmakers had approved for education and "ice" for several months, so Democrats will not have free reign. She can also use the stature of her office to bypass the Legislature and take her ideas to the public.

If the past two years were something of a learning experience — for Lingle as chief executive and for Democrats in dealing with the first Republican governor in 40 years — the lines are drawn much more brightly today.

"I thought I've been very willing to work with them," Lingle said. "I offered compromises on the major issues but because they have the votes and have an overwhelming majority they never have to compromise on anything."