Hawaii is marketed as the most romantic place on earth. Our entire economy is built on tourism. So why are the governor and the first spouse celebrating their anniversary in Paris?
In general, it isn’t anybody’s business where a couple goes on vacation. But when you’re governor, everything you do is heavy with symbolism. The governor of Hawaii flying off to a romantic vacation in Paris is like the governor of Michigan driving a Hyundai. Like so many things Neil Abercrombie has done since taking office, it’s tone-deaf.
We shouldn’t be surprised that he doesn’t care what people think. Since he first hollered onto the Hawaii scene in the 1970s with the long hair and the yellow taxi, his schtick was that he’s a free agent and a blunt talker. Along the way, particularly in his primary match against Mufi Hannemann, Abercrombie showed that he was smart enough to comb his hair, wear a nice aloha shirt and speak softly when it served him. But now that he has the job, he’s off the leash.
He spent nine terms in D.C. as just one of the congressional crowd, 5,000 miles from home with nobody paying close attention to things like where he went on vacation. But being the chief executive of Hawaii, living and working right downtown, people take note of everything.
Even if Neil ‘n’ Nancie had planned this anniversary trip for the past 30 years (congratulations, by the way), on some quiet evening in the governor’s mansion, they should have turned to each other and said, "You know, maybe we should show some support for our state and postpone the Paris trip until later when it won’t seem so insulting to the Hawaii visitors industry. Like when we’re retired from public office and when the economy isn’t in such bad shape."
The governor and first spouse left for Paris on the evening of Sept. 15 and return Monday. A cursory search of tour package prices shows a low-end 10-day trip to Paris coming in around $3,000 per person. I’m thinking they didn’t go low-end. Wouldn’t that money have been better spent at Waimea Plantation Cottages, Royal Lahaina, Hotel Molokai or, shoot, the Manago Hotel? Wouldn’t Abercrombie have been treated nicer here than in Paris?
If Hannemann had become governor, you can bet he wouldn’t have blown town to take Gail on a romantic European vacation. Hannemann would more likely island-hop from Koele Lodge to Hyatt Poipu to Disney Aulani and tweet about the great service and aloha spirit he encountered at every stop, posing for pictures with Unite Here! members and joining the lobby pianist for a medley of Don Ho tunes.
But au contraire, Abercrombie doesn’t take requests.
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Reach Lee Cataluna at lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.
