It is the worst of times, say the Republicans. It is going to be the worst of times, say the Democrats.

Those are the alternatives offered by the national Republican and national Democratic groups who have horned in on our race for governor.

First, the GOP is warning that Hawaii already faces an intolerable existence because of the previously undisclosed link between outgoing Democratic Gov. Neil Abercrombie and his apparent handmaiden, Democratic state Sen. David Ige.

Although Ige spent much of Abercrombie’s four years as governor telling the unpopular governor "no," it now turns out, according to the national GOP, that it actually was the "Ige-Abercrombie" administration.

Who knew?

"David Ige is too much like Neil Abercrombie and Hawaii families can’t afford more of the same," warns the latest Republican National Governors Association TV spot.

The ad argues that Ige, with Abercrombie’s help, co-sponsored legislation to set up the much-criticized Hawaii health exchange. The ad glosses over Ige’s opposition to the Hawaii Health Connector’s operation.

Remember back in the primary when Ige was running against Abercrombie? That must have been a trying episode in the GOP-imagined Ige-Abercrombie administration, because Ige’s central theme was attacking Abercrombie’s leadership.

"The Legislature legislates. The executive executes. And this is a failure to execute," said Ige during the last televised debate of the primary.

Another spot has Abercrombie looming darkly over a smiling Ige while the announcer says, "Abercrombie calls David Ige a good partner," before segueing into a list of fiscal woes facing the state. For Ige, those four years did not seem like a partnership, as he noted in another debate.

"I have spent many years passing good policy, and I’ve been disappointed the last four years about the execution. There have been so many priorities that we’ve talked about and we’ve funded that just have not happened," said Ige.

The disconnect on the Democratic side is also large.

The Democrats are running an ad about GOP candidate James "Duke" Aiona’s opposition to abortion.

"In TV ads, he seems so reasonable. But the real Duke Aiona is troubling," says a woman in the spot. "Republican Aiona believes we should outlaw abortion, even in cases of rape or incest. Even when the health of the mother is at risk."

Aiona would not discuss the ad in an interview with Hawaii News Now, which first wrote about the ad, but in a statement, the former lieutenant governor said he wouldn’t push the abortion issue.

"As a former judge I know how to maintain objectivity and submit to the rule of existing law. It’s already been settled," Aiona said.

Ige has been supportive of Hawaii’s legislation allowing for abortion.

Four years ago, Aiona’s first campaign for governor was hurt by his strong pro-Christian stances as the Democrats tried to make it seem that Aiona wanted to turn Hawaii into an anti-gay marriage, anti-abortion theocracy.

While Aiona has downplayed the divisive issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage, he is running with a lieutenant governor candidate who is a senior pastor of New Hope Church, Elwin Ahu, who has strongly opposed gay marriage.

Negative ads are the first tool reached for in the mainland political ad toolbox, but in Hawaii, credibility usually counts more than distortion and fear-mongering.

Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at rborreca@staradvertiser.com.