Hanabusa brings vigor to the race for governor

Colleen Hanabusa fought hard to get back to Congress. Really hard. She scrapped. She beefed. And that’s just the stuff we saw in public.

So why is she turning around and coming back like a homesick first-year college student missing sticky rice?

Is David Ige that unpopular within his own party?

In not quite three years as governor, Ige has managed to be every bit of the drip everyone thought he’d be. The only surprise has been his avoidance of straight talk, as in his repeated denial that he had anything to do with the firing of the competent-yet-disliked-by-Mrs. Ige school superintendent. His inner circle, the so-called Pearl City Mafia, has proved to be insular, impenetrable and ineffective, a star chamber without actual stars.

It’s been a long time since the Hawaii Democratic Party fielded a strong candidate for governor. The beginning of the end of the dynasty came with Ben Cayetano’s departure from the fifth floor. Decisive, brash, unapologetic, Cayetano might not have been universally loved, but there was no doubt he was a leader.

Since then the party has fielded an uninspiring tray of leftovers. Mazie Hirono could not overpower the promise of a fresh start that Republican Linda Lingle offered in 2002. Four years later Randy Iwase was pushed in front of the Lingle train.

Then came Neil Abercrombie, who left his comfortable aerie in Congress to run for governor. It didn’t take long for Abercrombie to get crosswise with party leaders and, well, voters with his fast mouth and arrogance. His refusal to appoint Hana‑ busa to the late Daniel Inouye’s Senate seat enraged some party insiders and, well, voters.

Thus, David Ige was called up to take one for the team. What he lacks in charisma and leadership he makes up for in peevishness and a smug certainty that what he doesn’t know doesn’t matter. Now we get to sit through a year of Ige’s communications team straining their storytelling abilities to bring shape to Ige’s invisible accomplishments. And no, signing Hawaii on to the Paris climate accord doesn’t count.

And what role does the all-but-announced candidacy of Republican Andria Tupola play? Tupola is a different kind of Hawaii Republican: young, high-energy, deeply connected to her Mormon faith but not preachy or harshly judgmental, detached from Donald Trump and way more hip about social media and messaging than just about anyone else in local politics.

Hanabusa might be coming home solely to neutralize Tupola’s west-side support with her own west-side heritage. Firecracker Tupola would surely out-dazzle wet-blanket Ige. Hanabusa packs her own style of political pyrotechnics.

This opens the question of who is now angling for the congressional seat Hanabusa is abdicating. There was great excitement when people thought Tulsi Gabbard might defect to the Trump White House. Wannabes were making calls, calculating odds, checking on apartments in D.C. Suddenly, the wide-open race is not the primary challenge against Ige for governor, but the free-for-all for Hanabusa’s seat.

Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.