Lingle champions Bush, GOP agenda
By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
Gov. Linda Lingle yesterday strongly defended President Bush and promised personally to help local Republican candidates win more seats in the state Legislature.
Speaking before hundreds of Hawai'i Republican Party convention delegates and others at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel, Lingle referred to last weekend's Democratic convention, which focused largely on criticizing the Bush administration. She welcomed a challenge to Bush's record.
"I hope they run against the president's record — his record of protecting our nation from terror and liberating people in other countries from brutal regimes," Lingle said.
"I hope they run against his education record, since children are doing better in the country. And I hope they run against his economic record, because our economy is growing stronger every day."
Lingle, who is heading Bush's re-election campaign in Hawai'i, said the president's policies have protected the country since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and liberated 50 million people in Afghanistan and Iraq. She defended Bush's No Child Left Behind education program, saying it has improved student achievement nationwide and no longer allows educators to make excuses for disadvantaged children.
She said Bush's tax policies have reinvigorated the economy and driven job growth nationwide.
Lingle, who in 2002 became Hawai'i's first Republican governor in 40 years, stressed the importance of increasing GOP seats in the state House and Senate, where she said Democrats use their "brute force of political numbers."
Republicans hold 15 seats in the 51-member House and five of 25 Senate seats. At a minimum, the GOP wants to win three more House seats or four more Senate seats to block a veto override.
Lingle criticized Democratic lawmakers, saying that rather than make great strides in issues such as education reform, crime prevention and the economy, they took "baby steps."
"They know they always have the votes, no matter what," she said. "They can override my vetoes, they can steal ideas from our caucus, they can vote down any idea. They don't have to be responsive to the public, either, because they have the brute force of numbers to win every single vote."
Lingle said she would help state House and Senate candidates raise money, personally campaign for them — even walking door to door — and mentor certain hard-working candidates. She urged party members to commit to a local campaign, contribute money and put off vacation or leisure time to help.
"Do it for future generations, and just imagine what we could achieve for the people in our state," she said.
Lingle also touted her administration's achievements and touched on a recent Hawai'i State Ethics Commission ruling that she had improperly used state workers and equipment for the nonprofit group Citizens Achieving Reform in Education. Lingle created the education advisory committee to promote her education reform proposals; the group became a nonprofit in December.
CARE, at the governor's request, repaid the state $29,843 for use of state resources, and the ethics commission chose not to pursue the case further.
"Sometimes even I do something that is not exactly correct," Lingle said, adding that she had taken "swift action" to correct the situation when it was pointed out to her. "I don't think any of you here could have imagined that it's against the ethics code in our state to help an organization that's involved in public policy. ... You can be sure if we do make a mistake, we'll own up to it and we'll correct it immediately, as we did in this case."
Lingle later said the ethics law might need to be changed to address the relationship between nonprofit groups and government.
Earlier in the day, convention co-chairman Sam Aiona announced the death of former Republican President Ronald Reagan, and delegates and guests shared a moment of silence.
But spirits at the convention were high overall. Lingle's speech was preceded by a parade of candidates and incumbents on a stage flanked by two giant screens and decorated with banners reading, "Together, We Can Do It!" Dozens of candidates took to the stage as Aiona bellowed out their names as if they were members of a sports team.
Hawai'i Republican Party Chairman Brennon Morioka, noting the 50th anniversary of the "Democratic Revolution" of 1954, when Democrats first took control of the Legislature, said the roles had reversed. Today, he said, Democrats who fought to get their voices heard 50 years ago were fighting to suppress Republican views. This convention, he said, "is going to lead us to another revolution."
The second day of the convention ended with a dinner banquet featuring keynote speaker Rich Galen, a national GOP strategist, former news commentator and one-time press secretary to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.
