Reaching back to his old teaching days at the University of Hawaii, Gov. Neil Abercrombie recently gave his Kauai audience a quiz.
According to a report in Kauai’s newspaper, The Garden Island, Abercrombie asked, "How many of you here have read the latest Council of Revenues report?"
Abercrombie was appearing at the Kauai Chamber of Commerce’s annual briefing with the governor and he was in full campaign mode.
When no one admitted to reading the report from the Council’s May 29 meeting, Abercrombie let them off the hook.
"Don’t feel bad," he said, adding that no one in the state has read the report — "except me."
The governor, in the midst of a reelection campaign that some pollsters are predicting he could lose (http://goo.gl/lJRFkg), is hoping that voters think he is responsible for much of the state’s economic good fortune.
Indeed, the Council on Revenues does say in its most recent report that it "remained optimistic about the economy in coming years due the amount of anticipated construction activity," and Abercrombie has shown himself to be a strong supporter of development.
But, if Abercrombie read the whole report (http://goo.gl/BBJ7hi) to his audience, they might not think this is the best of all economies.
Earlier this year, the council blew up the state’s revenue projections by lowering the tax growth rate from 3.3 percent to zero.
Then, in May, the council lowered its projection again, saying instead of zero, it would be minus 0.4 percent.
"The members expressed much uncertainty about the economy," the report said.
Against that prediction, Abercrombie said the jobless rate is down to 4.1 percent and the state has taken steps to rebuild after the recession. The governor, according to the newspaper report, also is willing to mix it up with groups that didn’t support his economic plans.
"Let the people who didn’t put their paddle in the water and pull deep like the rest of us explain to you why they should have been treated differently than everybody else.
"That’s part of the political equation that’s going to be decided very shortly," Abercrombie said in the news report.
So how much should voters award or subtract from Abercrombie’s popularity rating because of the economy?
On a national level, the economy is rebounding and reports show that across the country governors are getting applause. All 50 states have seen gains in jobs and drops in unemployment since 2011, so it should be a good time to be an incumbent.
Both the Democratic and Republican governor’s associations are saying it is because of the men and women at the helm.
Representatives of both the DGA and the RGA say that much of the state governor’s races will be about the economy and they both say the improvement will exclusively benefit their incumbent governors.
"The economies in states with Republican governors have dramatically improved since 2010 and numerous polls show voters give credit to their governor for the success," RGA spokesman Jon Thompson said in a CNN interview, while a Democratic spokesman had an almost identical statement about the Democrats.
What is interesting for the 2014 races of both Abercrombie and former GOP Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona is that both national governors’ groups have indicated they will spend money in the Hawaii election.
Realistically, that may be the only economic contribution any governor can claim.
Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at rborreca@staradvertiser.com.
