The Democratic primary for governor has mostly been a dry affair involving the same slick TV ads played at numbing frequency.
Change may have begun last week when the leading candidates — Lt. Gov. Josh Green, businesswoman Vicky Cayetano and U.S. Rep. Kai Kahele — appeared together for the first time in a lively forum on the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s “Spotlight Hawaii” livestream program.
Green has enjoyed comfortable leads in public opinion polls, special-interest endorsements and fundraising, leading him to play safe and take few chances.
The joint appearance gave Cayetano and Kahele their first chance to poke holes in his carefully curated image.
Some random impressions on how the three did:
The candidates aren’t far apart on many major issues, so battle lines fell mostly on matters such as trust.
Green repeatedly hit three talking points: He’s a doctor, he loves his Native Hawaiian wife and he was a leader of Hawaii’s COVID-19 response, recognized as one of the best in the nation.
Cayetano challenged him on COVID-19, suggesting he wasn’t part of Gov. David Ige’s inner pandemic leadership team because he was “difficult” and created “chaos” and “division” with public statements that sent a mixed message from what the governor and Health Department were saying.
Green responded that he “ultimately brought many people together,” but was unpersuasive he was integral to Ige’s management that earned the plaudits he took credit for.
Green struck back by noting Cayetano’s past presidency of the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, which has resisted minimum wage increases, paid family leave and other workers’ rights — core issues among Democratic voters.
The ensuing back-and-forth about “spreading lies” didn’t distinguish either.
Kahele hit Green hardest on his massive fundraising among wealthy interests, gibing, “For the lieutenant governor to talk about leading by example is a joke. His campaign is funded by hundreds of thousands of dollars of outside mainland money — corporations, special interests, big pharma … wealthy individuals who want to control the political and economic life of this state.”
Green’s initial response was that it was “inappropriate” to refer to a doctor as a joke, but he got over his shock and parried effectively that Kahele, who is using public financing in this campaign after entering late, took large amounts of special-interest money in earlier races — including from donors implicated in recent scandals.
Cayetano used the exchange to highlight her main campaign point: Her opponents are both part of the pay-to-play politics at the root of Hawaii’s problems, and she isn’t.
Viewed at fast-forward to study body language, it was striking how grim Green appeared, with lips tightly pursed and eyes downward. Kahele sat tall, often with a big comfortable smile, while Cayetano kept an adult-in-the-room countenance.
The encounter settled nothing, but Cayetano and Kahele succeeded in showing Green to be a bit crabby and thin-skinned under pressure, and will likely press him harder in future appearances.
Mail ballots go out in three weeks ahead of the Aug. 13 primary.
Reach David Shapiro at volcanicash@gmail.com.
