The political right has never been much of a force in Hawai'i, but there's an active effort afoot to change that.

Conservatives had clear impact in the 2004 Honolulu mayor's race and again in this year's debate on the Akaka bill for Native Hawaiian recognition.

Now, the local right seems to taking aim at moderate Republican Gov. Linda Lingle as she gears up for re-election next year.

The question is whether it's really a widespread movement, or a just small clique making themselves look big by working through multiple organizations controlled by the same people.

Driving the action is the intertwined trio of Republican state Sen. Sam Slom, two-time Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate Richard Rowland and writer Malia Zimmerman.

Slom is president of Small Business Hawaii, where Rowland is a director and Zimmerman has worked as editor of the newsletter.

Rowland is president of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, a "think tank" that's become a leading voice against the Akaka bill. Zimmerman is co-founder and vice president, and Slom sits on the advisory board.

Zimmerman is president and editor of Hawaii Reporter, an online journal that shares office space with the Grassroot Institute and lists Small Business Hawaii among its sponsors. Hawaii Reporter regularly publishes Grassroot writings, and Zimmerman does contract writing for the Grassroot Institute.

Zimmerman insists that despite her ties to Small Business Hawaii and the Grassroot Institute, Hawaii Reporter doesn't take sides on their pet issues such as the transit tax and the Akaka bill and merely tries to stimulate discussion.

It can be a pretty one-sided discussion.

Akaka bill headlines posted on Hawaii Reporter one day last week included: "Aloha, Apartheid," "U.S. Representatives Document Akaka Bill Concerns," "Hawaii Does Not Need Another Government Entity," "Akaka Bill Will Have Negative Impact on Hawaii's Construction Industry, Economy," "Separation by Racial, Religious or Ethics Grounds Does Not Work," and "Land Up for Grabs If the Akaka Bill Passes."

A 480-word letter by former state Supreme Court Justice Robert Klein disputing a Hawaii Reporter article on the Akaka bill was buried under more than 1,800 words of counterattack with the headline:

"Former Hawaii Supreme Court Justice Makes Outrageous and False Claims About Hawaii Reporter."

The Grassroot Institute, with rapidly rising donations, claims ties to national conservative groups such as the Heritage Foundation, Heartland Institute, Americans for Tax Reform and Reason Foundation.

On Akaka, the institute engaged Bruce Fein, a conservative Washington attorney, in a successful move to persuade Senate Republicans to thwart a promise by their leaders to bring the measure to a vote by Aug. 7.

Local conservatives also enlisted Wall Street Journal columnist John Fund, who obliged by writing articles reprinted in Hawaii Reporter that compared Native Hawaiian rights to South African racism and attacked Lingle, who supports the Akaka bill, as a RINO — Republican in Name Only.

That tied into a campaign by Slom and others to skewer Lingle for failing to stop Democrat initiatives to enact the transit tax, increase Hawai'i's minimum wage and raise the conveyance tax to pay for affordable housing.

"Betrayal is how most Republican loyalists feel," Slom said. "Fallout will continue."

Lingle supporters worry about the kind of fallout mayoral candidate Duke Bainum got in 2004 when Slom boosted Mufi Hannemann with a late endorsement and Zimmerman attacked Bainum's wife, Jennifer, with an "expose" of an old elder-care dispute that the Bainum camp considered a blatant smear.

In her previous runs for governor, Lingle feared a below-the-belt campaign by Democrats that never materialized.

It would be ironic if it was delivered upon her next year by her own right flank.

David Shapiro, a veteran Hawai'i journalist, can be reached by e-mail at dave@volcanicash.net.