On Politics: Even if the field of candidates grows, Democratic governor hopefuls need to seed excitement

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There are fewer than 100 days until Hawaii voters pick the Democratic Party’s candidate for governor — and the Democrats, usually a contentious bunch, have been remarkably quiet, until recently.

There was a time, decades ago, when party leaders feared that a battle between the Democrats’ best candidates would cause division and damage.

Eons ago, then-Gov. John Burns was opposed by Lt. Gov. Thomas Gill, and party leader David McClung tried to get Gill to run in the 1970 primary for the U.S. Senate instead of against Burns. It was a daily, public political clash. Political peace with Burns remaining governor and Gill in the Senate “just seems so logical,” McClung said in 1969 newspaper reports — but it was not to be.

Today, Lt. Gov. Josh Green leads in money raised and political endorsements in his race for governor against Kirk Caldwell, Honolulu’s former mayor, and Vicky Cayetano, businesswoman and wife of former Gov. Ben Cayetano.

As for political drama? Mum’s the word.

“It’s very strange — and quite different from what we’ve seen in past years. At this point in the 2010 campaign, for example, (Neil) Abercrombie and (Mufi) Hannemann were already drawing sharp contrasts between each other,” says political analyst Colin Moore, chairman of the University of Hawaii School of Communications. “But this year the candidates seem to be behaving as if nobody else is in the race.”

All of the announced candidates could be described as “self-selected.” There has been no fervent groundswell of support for any of the three.

What is missing is some sort of public engagement from Cayetano or Caldwell.

Caldwell and Cayetano have been strong in developing issues and talking points, Moore said, noting their position papers on everything from homelessness to clean energy.

Putting issues first as a campaign tactic fails, he explained.

“If you’re behind, you have to draw these contrasts — and do so directly, not obliquely. That’s the only way to get voters to reconsider their support for the leading candidate, and it’s often the most effective way to engage undecided voters,” Moore said.

It is obvious that engaging the voters, getting them to pick sides and become excited about a candidate is what Cayetano and Caldwell need to do.

It may be that this won’t happen until the televised debates start.

As Moore warns, the candidates must understand the importance of the upcoming debates.

“If the other candidates don’t use these debates as an opportunity to explain why they’d be a better governor than Green, they won’t have much impact on the overall race,” Moore stressed.

The caveat is it all could change if freshman Hawaii Democratic Congressman Kai Kahele makes good on his musings about leaving Congress for a gubernatorial try.

As of press time, CNN was reporting that a source said Kahele will “be retiring from Congress at the end of his term … telling colleagues that he intends to run for governor.”

So far that has not happened. Kahele has declined to go on the record with a clear statement regarding his political ambitions, why he can’t continue in Congress, or why a relatively inexperienced Hawaii politician would be successful running the state.

Moore added that Kahele is “not known for being a shrinking violet, so this relatively peaceful and cerebral race will not last for long.”

With or without latecomers, all the candidates need to develop some excitement, explain why their candidacy is important and provide the hope for a better Hawaii.

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