Posted on: Thursday, October 28, 2004

EDITORIAL
Our endorsements for the state Legislature

Decisions on who one should vote for in local legislative races can be built on two very different theories.

The first is to vote for the candidate who is best in touch with, and will do the most for, his or her individual district. At this level, elections are all about covered walkways for schools, parks, swimming pools and the other kinds of bacon a legislator can bring home.

The second is to measure a candidate's worth as a contributor to the overall work of the Legislature. Will he or she bring fresh perspectives, new thinking, passion or hard work to larger issues facing Hawai'i?

At The Advertiser, we take this second approach in recommending candidates for the state House and Senate. We don't purport to understand the detailed issues of each and every district, nor do we pretend to know how each candidate will deal with district-centered issues.

In fact, our experience has been that most candidates are sincere and focused on issues of concern to their home community.

So what we look for is a mix of experience and new ideas. We believe, for instance, in the value a vigorous minority voice can have, whether we agree or disagree with that voice. And we hope that vigorous debate can help refine and elevate ideas already on the table.

In the chart at right, we list our recommendations for the 12 Senate and 51 House seats up for election this year. Some districts are missing because a candidate won outright in the primary election.

There was no "litmus test" in these endorsements; some of the candidates are strongly aligned with our editorial policy on major issues, others are not. But in each and every case, we believe these candidates would contribute to a forceful, thoughtful and useful state Legislature for the next two years.

As we went through this list of impressive and caring candidates, we looked for folks who would bring more than lockstep ideology or single- issue politics to the game.

This past session there was an unfortunate amount of party-line voting, by both Democrats and Republicans.

Our hope is that the Legislature that takes office in January will take a more nuanced and sophisticated approach.

Considerable strides were taken this year in the areas of education, fighting the drug epidemic and in holding down the cost of prescription drugs for the elderly.

In the case of education and drugs, Republicans were disappointed that majority Democrats passed their own programs rather than the packages advanced by Gov. Linda Lingle.

What must be acknowledged, however, is that significant elements of the Lingle program in these two areas were folded into the majority package.

And both sides agree that the work in these two critical areas, as in so many others, is far from finished. Our hope is that there are lawmakers among those listed in the adjacent chart from both major parties who will hold the interests of their state and their constituents above party politics.

The emergence of a two-party government, with a Republican governor and Democratically controlled Legislature, has led to fresh and exciting energy in the districts. The GOP has done a solid job of recruiting promising new candidates, and the Democrats have awakened to the fact that they cannot simply assume they will hold on to their majority.

As voters, we have been presented with intriguing choices. With the election less than a week away, it is time to get to know your candidates and make decisions that will lead to a new Hawai'i Legislature we all can be proud of.

If you remain undecided, there are many useful sources of information, including the voter guide published by The Advertiser, which can be found online at www.honoluluadvertiser.com/specials/election2004. If you have a high-speed Internet connection, another good source is the Web site of 'Olelo, community television, www.olelo.org/vote2004, which will offer you videotaped statements by most of the candidates under "candidates in focus."

Those candidate profiles will also be carried by 'Olelo in a marathon rebroadcast beginning Nov. 1.

Another source is www.hawaii.gov/elections (click on "Candidate profiles").

Study the issues, study the candidates and vote.