Chad Blair: Herding Cats and Democrats
At its state convention Saturday in Kaneohe, members of the Hawaii Republican Party marveled at what they see as major divisions and disarray in the Democratic Party of Hawaii.
The hope is that contested primary battles among Democrats could help the GOP win a few elections.
Democrats see things differently. To them, fights among party candidates are to be expected.
“I analogize it almost with families getting together,” said Joshua Wisch, chairman of Oahu County Democrats. “They debate and discuss and argue, and then they all hug at the end. Just because we disagree with each other doesn’t mean we don’t love each other.”
That may be true. But come Aug. 10, the day after the primary election when Democrats gather for their traditional “unity breakfast,” the losing candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, the U.S. Senate, the 1st Congressional District and a few state House and Senate races may find it hard to keep a smile on their face.
Some will likely also be saying goodbye to electoral politics.
This is the Democratic Party’s first state convention since the death of Sen. Daniel K. Inouye. His passing has left a void that has led to some of the battles going on inside the party now, including the race to fill out the last two years of his term.
The fact that so many Democrats are running for so many important seats has affected the way the party will hold its biennial convention this weekend at the Sheraton Waikiki. Party leaders decided they couldn’t give speaking roles to everyone, settling on an arrangement that has angered many party members.
The executive committee of the party’s State Central Committee settled on the convention speaking criteria last week.
“The committee weighed the question of elective accountability for statewide races only when speaking at the Convention podium,” according to a press release Friday. “Officers will be addressing the delegates directly to provide a report on the work they have been doing for the benefit of Hawaii, focusing on those works that reflect the platform of the Party.”
Party Chair Dante Carpenter.
As it stands right now, according to , U.S. Reps. Colleen Hanabusa and Tulsi Gabbard will address delegates Saturday morning, U.S. Sens. Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz will speak around noon and Gov. Neil Abercrombie and Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui will speak at 4 p.m.
House Speaker Joe Souki and Senate President Donna Mercado Kim have the 9:45 a.m. slot on Sunday, followed by state Sens. David Ige and Clayton Hee at 12:15 p.m.
All the talks are called “reports,” as if each of these politicians is expected to just summarize how things are going in Hawaii or D.C., rather than make a heartfelt pitch to the very people whose votes count most to their campaigns.
None of the candidates who face each other — Abercrombie v. Ige, Schatz v. Hanabusa or Tsutsui v. Hee — will be at the podium at the same time. And none of Kim’s six primary opponents will be allowed to address delegates.
The idea is to allow only top elected officials to speak, though some in the party are wondering why Hee is allowed a convention role but state Sen. Will Espero, Rep. Mark Takai, Honolulu Councilmen Stanley Chang, Ikaika Anderson and Joey Manahan, and activist Kathryn Xian are not. Anderson in particular fought for CD1 candidate inclusion.
As a compromise, Anderson and the rest of the CD1 candidates who don’t have speaking slots have been invited to a “Meet and Greet” luncheon Saturday at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel’s Coconut Grove garden oasis. The Royal Hawaiian is next to the Sheraton, and the party convention has carved out the time so that delegates can leave one hotel and go to the other.
The reception, according to the party, “will allow every candidate running for a local, state or congressional office the opportunity to give a campaign speech to the grassroots body of delegates and guests in an intimate setting, thus furthering one-on-one camaraderie.”
Things could get crowded. As of with the state Office of Elections, the reception invitation appears to extend to at least 115 people.
The invite explains further:
This event offers a unique opportunity to introduce yourself and make meaningful connections with convention delegates. … Delegates are eager to get to know candidates. For instance, please be prepared to speak to some lessons of your past, what that has taught you, and how it will help guide your future as a leader in Hawaii and as a member of the Democratic Party of Hawaii.
The allotted time on the reception stage is just 3 minutes, something that could change depending on the number of applicants.
“Any additional, non-delegate guests/assistants will be asked to pay the event entry fee of $75 each,” the invitation adds.
Speaking of money, the party is saving about $40,000 this convention by holding the event for just two days instead of three, as has been the case in recent years. But that’s got some members worried that many neighbor island delegates might check out of the Sheraton and head for the airport early rather than stick around for the election of a new state party chair on Sunday afternoon.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie.
That could hurt the chances of Stephanie Ohigashi, who is the current Maui County vice-chairwoman, former county chairwoman and state vice-chairwoman. Ohigashi has been active in the party since the Walter Mondale-Geraldine Ferraro presidential campaign in 1984. She faces only one other candidate for the state job: Tony Gill, the former chairman of Oahu County Democrats.
Outgoing Chairman Dante Carpenter will have the last word before the grand rally at the convention’s close. I asked him how his four-year tenure went.
“I was chair probably too long, some people would say,” he replied with his usual self-deprecating humor. “Coming in early January 2010, I don’t think I did as good as I could have done. But the practical fact is that during those two election-year periods, 2010 and 2012 and now coming up on 2014, we have the most Democrats of any state in the union in either elections, collectively, or when comparing state legislatures. It’s about 90 percent. So, good, bad or ugly, that’s a practical fact.”
As with his Republican counterparts, Carpenter is concerned about declining voter turnout. Democrats, too, are making a renewed effort to register voters and get them to the polls.
“No vote, no grumble,” Carpenter said.
Wisch, the Oahu County chairman, says he has observed a lot of interest in the party in the weeks leading up to the state convention.
“I have been in a lot of meetings, a lot of people have called, and I’ve seen a lot of email chains, and what I am seeing is the passion that people have,” he said. “It’s something that everyone can see, and it really underscores the health of the party right now.”
The passion, Wisch implies, is driven by what the Democratic Party stands for: basic human rights including the right to marry for all, the right to work for a living wage and the desire for energy self-sufficiency.
“Most Democrats agree on these things,” he said.
The convention will include committee reports from the affirmative action, platform, rules and resolutions committees. The latter often lead to lively floor debates over responses to hot topics. But for longtime party members like Carpenter, it’s all to be expected.
“There is always that time when we fighting and then we unify,” he said. “We have always come together reasonably well.
Contact Chad Blair via email at cblair@civilbeat.com or follow him on Twitter at .
