Mauna Kea’s Thirty Meter Telescope battle is apparently entering a new and more confusing phase, with Gov. David Ige and protesters unable to reach agreement on the fate of what would be the world’s biggest telescope.

While this conflict continues, it could be forming a new legacy of Native Hawaiian political activism. Thousands in Hawaii have been recruited to join protests to stop building the telescope, while others are focusing on Mauna Kea as a symbol fashioned to protect a cultural legacy for Hawaiians.

Observers are already comparing it to the groundswell of support and cultural pride coming from the decades of protest that eventually stopped the bombing of Kahoolawe.

It is questionable, however, how potent a political force will be generated by TMT protests and whether it can become a rallying point to either elect or remove someone from office.

Colin Moore, University of Hawaii political scientist and director of the university’s Public Policy Center, sees the “the increased political activism among Native Hawaiians as a major development.”

“I don’t think it’s going to be a major factor in the local races, but it should translate into increased turnout,” he said.

The beneficiaries should be candidates who are running from outside the mainstream of local Democratic Party politics, Moore said. In other words, new voices in the political debates are more likely to be heard by those supportive of the Mauna Kea protests.

Another political observer, House Speaker Scott Saiki, also agrees that the Big Island protests are likely to be a factor, but he is not sure to what extent.

“Native Hawaiian activism may have an impact in certain geographical areas,” Saiki said in an interview.

The issue, Saiki said, is that TMT supporters have not yet defined what non-Mauna Kea issues, if any, they will focus on.

“I am not sure if activists will attempt to effect change by being a part of government. It seems that activists will pursue non-government routes if they feel they can be more successful,” Saiki said.

John Waihee, Hawaii’s first Native Hawaiian governor, early in his political career supported Native Hawaiian issues when he was a major player in the 1978 state Constitutional Convention. His support was critical to inclusion of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs in the Constitution.

Now Waihee says that TMT already has changed the Native Hawaiian discussion.

Today’s protesters, Waihee said in an interview, are coming at the issue of protecting Hawaii landmarks and Native Hawaiian identity differently than the protesters who battled to protect the island of Kahoolawe.

“It is a higher-educated group from the sense that they have learned in school much of the sense of culture.

“They take for granted the foundation of their concern and accept it as normal,” Waihee said, adding that the discussion about sovereignty and self-determination has moved on.

“The discussion is not whether self-determination is desirable, it is whether it is achievable.

“It is no longer whether there is validity, it is whether or not it can be done in a timely manner,” Waihee said.

The former governor figures that the historical shifts are benefitting the TMT protests.

“Just like Kahoolawe, these protests now have a moral aspect,” Waihee said.

What is clear is that for certain voters, where a politician stands on TMT may be a deciding issue — but more important will be if the leaders from TMT are able to translate the protests into a solidifying cause, and that has not yet happened.

Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays. Reach him at 808onpolitics@gmail.com.