The kid gloves were firmly in place and their metaphorical oratory weapons were holstered when Lt. Gov. Josh Green, U.S. Rep. Kai Kahele and business entrepreneur Vicky Cayetano on Thursday night met face to face for the first time ahead of the Aug. 13 Democratic Party primary election and repeatedly praised one another’s political stances and their philosophical positions.
It was a decidedly different mood compared with when the leading Democratic candidates first met virtually on June 29 during a special one-hour episode of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s “Spotlight Hawaii” livestream program, where they repeatedly attacked one another.
Thursday’s 90-minute, in-studio appearance by Green, Kahele and Cayetano on “Insights on PBS Hawai‘i” gave the candidates their second opportunity to go after one another.
Instead, they repeatedly demurred and acknowledged one another’s efforts.
Gone Thursday was the schoolyard bickering that marked their “Spotlight” appearance, which also was hosted by Yunji de Nies.
While they agreed on broad-brush issues such as the need for more affordable housing, there were clear differences, as they previously outlined on their earlier “Spotlight” appearance:
Kahele and Green support legalizing recreational marijuana, with caveats, while Cayetano is opposed. Kahele is against construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope atop Mauna Kea. Cayetano is in support and Green repeated that more work must be done to address long-standing Native Hawaiian grievances.
But it was their collegiality and respect for one another that underscored the tone of Thursday night’s 90-minute forum.
In one of several instances acknowledging one another, Kahele said about the TMT project: “The lieutenant governor is correct. It is about respect.”
Asked who they would vote for other than themselves, Green said, “these two individuals are very good candidates and very good people.”
Green applauded Kahele’s efforts in Congress to hold the Navy and Department of Defense accountable for cleaning up the leaking Red Hill fuel storage facility and said, “Kudos to Congressman.”
If he could not vote for himself, ultimately Green said he would support his one-time Hawaii state Senate colleague, Kahele, even though “we’re punching each other in the face” during their gubernatorial campaign.
As former state senators simultaneously representing different parts of Hawaii island, Green said, “We have a lot of things in common.”
But if voters pick “Vicky,” Green said, “You can’t go wrong.”
If he cannot vote for himself, Kahele offered a somewhat muted endorsement of Green: “He did his best to lead us through COVID,” Kahele said.
Asked by de Nies about major challenges in their personal lives that they had overcome, Green repeated the story that he previously told the Honolulu Star- Advertiser about being born deaf and on the verge of being institutionalized at the age of 2. He said that influenced his work as a doctor to help rural Hawaii island families who don’t always have access to medical care.
“It gave me incredible drive,” Green said.
Kahele said that he grew up wanting to be an astronaut like Hawaii island’s own Ellison Oniuka, an Air Force test pilot who died when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded upon takeoff in 1986.
Kahele was trying to become an F-15 fighter pilot but could not complete his air refueling requirements and instead transitioned into becoming a Hawaii Air National Guard cargo pilot.
“I washed out of the program … then I had to pivot,” Kahele said. “That’s something that was very challenging for me.”
Cayetano said her biggest hurdle was raising two children as a single mother and then co-founding Hawaii’s largest commercial laundry business.
“That’s something that was very challenging for me,” she said.
All three candidates sat at individual desks that offset their sometimes extreme height differences.
All three wore various shades of blue aloha attire and only Green wore a suit coat over a blue aloha shirt.
At times the studio lights accentuated sweat from Green’s hairline to his upper lip that was not apparent on either Kahele or Cayetano.
Ahead of their PBS appearance, Colin Moore, director of the University of Hawaii’s Public Policy Center, said the candidates’ body language while in the same room would likely resonate with voters more than actual talking points.
Everyone who watched presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in 2016 remember “Donald Trump looming over and stalking her,” Moore said. “No one can remember what was said, but they all remember that image.”
Because Cayetano and Kahele are the underdogs, Green should have been prepared for “some sharp attacks” and to speak to viewers directly rather than his opponents, Moore said.
“The challenge for Josh Green is not to get rattled, not be petty and mean” he said. “If you’re scowling and looking angry, that visual really doesn’t play well with voters.”
None of that happened Thursday night.
The PBS forum did provide Kahele and Cayetano with the opportunity to “make up a lot of ground” with voters with just over a month to go until election day, Moore said.
“Kai Kahale has some natural charisma,” he said. “And Vicky Cayetano really does present herself as competent and calm.”
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