Column: Don’t look to Hawaii Republicans to fight for our families

Once upon a time they used to put grotesque gargoyles on buildings to direct water from the roof away from the sides of walls and the foundations. Those gargoyles come to mind as we watch the spectacle of Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy and their ilk direct the poison of the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection and Donald Trump’s role in it away from the GOP by characterizing it as patriotic fervor, or possibly domestic tourism.

We saw no Hawaii Republican Party press release calling it what it was: domestic terrorism by white supremacists. They could — but did not — follow the example of U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney who has denounced as “dangerous” and “un-American” the idea that the “deep state” staged the Jan. 6 insurrection.

But with this month’s Virginia gubernatorial win, Honolulu Star-Advertiser columnist Richard Borreca tells us, the Hawaii Republican Party is now talking about how it will win over Hawaii voters (“Stumbles for Democrats on mainland spark enthusiasm among Hawaii Republican Party,” On Politics, Nov. 7). Will it also be speaking up to condemn the vicious threats on U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez by U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar? That Republican has seen fit to post on social media an anime video that depicts him stabbing AOC, and then directing his violence toward President Joe Biden.

Will the Hawaii Republican Party be as fired up with outrage at this ugliness as it is by the fact that a tired Democratic candidate — Terry McAuliffe, a relic of the Clinton years — lost to a tap-dancing Republican in Virginia? Are people in Hawaii truly blown away by the “monumental Republican victory in Virginia” and what the GOP here calls the “hard fought campaigns that were based on issues most important to Virginians?” Issues like critical race theory (aka the unvarnished history of systemic racism) that is NOT taught in Virginia high schools? That did not stop the governor-elect from promising he would move swiftly to ban it. The Hawaii Republican Party might be a little more credible if it disavowed this kind of nonsense. But so far, crickets.

Democrats have too often chosen the familiar establishment candidate over the impatient progressive whose ear is better tuned to the community. Progressive groups Battle Born Collective, Justice Democrats, Sunrise Movement and United We Dream Action said in a joint statement: “Terry McAuliffe offered an uninspired return to yesterday, while voters were focused on what must come next.”

In Boston, progressive candidates like Mayor-elect Democrat Michelle Wu won because they spoke to what could come next for their diverse communities. People want leaders who are not afraid to get out of the rut of progress in incremental steps.

This time of real peril calls for leaders who think big, who understand that it’s time for hulihia — an overturning. As “The Value of Hawai‘i 3: Hulihia” coeditor Noelani Goodyear-Ka‘opua explains: “imagining new possibilities can be the best consequence of this undeniable phase of massive disruption and overturning of the assumed normal.”

The Hawaii Republican Party seems to think that the fabrications, the stoking of fears and pandering to racism that constitute the national GOP playbook could become “the assumed normal” for Hawaii voters. After all, nationally, several Republicans involved in the U.S. Capitol riots won state and local seats, and at leave five are running for Congress. But will that fly in Hawaii?

The growing rumble of disappointment locally at those Democrats in Congress who whittled down the infrastructure bill suggests that Hawaii voters will be looking for representatives with the backbone to fight hard for struggling families. The Hawaii Republican Party is not the place to look for these champions. The good news is a new generation of truly progressive Democrats is emerging, and they will have their day. If voters show up.

Dawn Morais Webster advocates with nonprofits on societal issues, and is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Hawaii-Manoa.