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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Politics of phenom, patronage

By Jerry Burris
Advertiser Columnist

With the Republican state convention just over and the Democratic state convention scheduled for this weekend, it's time to reassess the strength and prospects of our two major political parties in Hawai'i.

At one level, the strength (or lack of it) of the two parties is fairly irrelevant. Politics in Hawai'i follows the trend everywhere: Personality, money, local issues and plain inertia — re-electing incumbents — have greater weight than anything the party does.

Still, for those who care passionately about politics, the party matters. It is a way to define oneself politically and find like-minded folks for moral support if nothing else.

The Republicans ended their convention upbeat and enthused. That's what conventions are for. But the reality is that despite the sparkling individual success of Gov. Linda Lingle, the Hawai'i GOP has yet to find its voice or its home in contemporary local politics.

Lingle promised to identify and then train promising Republican candidates for the state Legislature this year. That's a good move. Party-building begins at this level.

She might take a page from the Democrats' playbook and make smart use of the governor's sweeping patronage powers to encourage more Republican candidates. Democrats often would encourage bright young people to run with the promise that if they didn't win, there'd be an effort to find them a job somewhere in state government.

Some may consider this cynical, but it makes sense. If a person is good enough to be considered for important political office, they should be good enough to perform well in a state job. Public service is public service.

But Republicans face a number of daunting realities. The first is that their party, for good or ill, is the party of a currently unpopular president. Now, it might be unfair to hang President Bush around someone running for the state House of Representatives, but that's going to happen — bet on it.

Second, Lingle's generally popular service as governor has not translated into more troops where it counts. In fact, the Republicans have been losing ground in the state Legislature through electoral defeat and defections. Except for a few districts, folks simply find it more comfortable to run as a Democrat.

And then there is the Obama factor. While the Republicans have been finding a few new members, the Democrats signed up tens of thousands excited by the prospect of a favorite son, Barack Obama, winning the presidential nomination.

Now, history tells us that these momentary enthusiasms don't always stick. Often, a particular cause generates excitement, but then the action slips back into the control of dogged party regulars.

The first test of whether the Obama phenomenon has any staying power comes this weekend at the Democratic state convention, which is expected to attract more than a thousand delegates.

Will the legions of Obamamaniacs who show up be willing to sign up for the grunt work of party politics, including money-raising, canvassing and, yes, signing up as a candidate?

That's not an easy transition. The task ahead for Democrats is to take today's possibly temporary gaudy numbers and convert them into political reality.

The task for Republicans is to figure out what made Lingle so popular and then find a way to bottle that magic, district by district by district.

Jerry Burris' column appears Wednesdays. See his blog at blogs.honoluluadvertiser.com. Reach him at jrryburris@yahoo.com.

Jerry Burris' column appears Wednesdays in this space. See his blog at blogs.honoluluadvertiser.com/akamaipolitics. Reach him at jrryburris@yahoo.com.