Abercrombie and Tsutsui look promising as a team

At 41, Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui finally looks old enough not to get carded at the Ale House in Kahului, but not by much.

He is a bright, quick study, first elected to the Legislature as a Democratic senator in 2002 and returned to office in 2006 and 2010.

His background is economics and Tsutsui served as a financial adviser before opening a small business on Maui. He is a Maui High and University of Hawaii grad.

In an interview in his office earlier this week, Tsutsui confessed that when asked by Gov. Neil Abercrombie to take over for Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz, who had just been named a U.S. senator, the Maui lawmaker’s immediate reaction was to turn down the governor.

Under the state Constitution, the Senate president is first in line to succeed the lieutenant governor, and Tsutsui was wavering. Finally Abercrombie talked him into it, implying the administration would be a partnership.

While in the Senate, Tsutsui functioned independently of Abercrombie; he was never seen as particularly close to Abercrombie and couldn’t be considered an ally.

"We are still trying to sort out how things are going to work; the governor has made a commitment to have me involved in the administration, involved in Cabinet meetings," Tsutsui said. "I want to be there to assist in some of the areas that may need extra attention and focus during the legislative session."

Now as the state’s No. 2, Tsutsui is busily awaiting orders from No. 1. Tsutsui is to be forgiven if, like past lieutenant governors, he is humming John Fogerty’s song, "Centerfield": "Put me in, coach, I’m ready to play."

Meanwhile, he is working on his own legislation and is suggesting that the state Constitution be changed to give a primary-winning gubernatorial candidate the chance to pick his or her own running mate, similar to the way the candidate for president picks the vice presidential running mate.

The inspiration is that Abercrombie is better served with Tsutsui, than a randomly selected lieutenant governor picked by the voters.

"I am fortunate that the governor and I talked about the positions and things I would do prior to me taking the position, but in most cases you don’t talk about those things because you are running for the office of lieutenant governor," Tsutsui said.

If there were a way to hurry up the process and change the rules as soon as an amendment can be passed, all the better, said Tsutsui.

"The sooner you can get a governor and lieutenant governor who are on the same page, it is beneficial to the state," he said.

In the past, Hawaii’s lieutenant governors have had a tricky time working in the administration of their governor. Lt. Govs. George Ariyoshi, John Waihee and Ben Cayetano showed that it could lead to big rewards, while Lt. Govs. Tom Gill and Jean Sadako King would argue that battling the governor won’t work.

Asked if Abercrombie’s own diminished popularity would cause Tsutsui to run against the governor in 2014, Tsutsui flatly said "No."

"The governor and I can show how it would work in a true partnership," Tsutsui said.

And on a more realpolitik level, an engaging, neighbor island, AJA businessman with three kids and a part-Hawaiian wife goes a long way to temper whatever anti-union, anti-environment negatives now are associated with Abercrombie.

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