Former Gov. Linda Lingle offered her own analysis of Donald Trump’s surprise victory to a crowd of about 400 Republicans who gathered at the Koolau Ballrooms at Koolau Golf Course in Kaneohe on Wednesday for a pre-inaugural gala in celebration of the president-elect.
Lingle announced that she plans to move back to Hawaii in April. She’s been living in Illinois, where she spent a year working as chief operating officer for Gov. Bruce Rauner.
“We are here celebrating while the majority of East and West Coast voters, the media, various entertainment and cultural elites are still wondering what the heck happened,” Lingle told the crowd.
Lingle said that Trump tapped into pent-up frustrations among many Americans that the political establishment of both parties had been ignoring.
“A successful billionaire businessman and reality-TV star won the presidency because he understood and reflected the feelings of millions of Americans whose beliefs were increasingly put down and who had been let down by the establishment in both political parties. These millions of Americans who were tired of being demonized because they believed in America’s greatness and they wanted it restored,” Lingle said. “They were Americans who believed the nation’s immigration laws should be followed and enforced. They were Americans who wanted a stronger military and greater support for our veterans. They were Americans who felt that international trade deals too often hurt workers in their cities and towns. They were Americans who wanted their support for police officers and their pro-life and Second Amendment positions respected.
“And they were Americans who wanted to be able to say ‘Merry Christmas’ instead of ‘Happy Holiday’!” she said to cheers from the audience.
While Lingle noted that she is Jewish, she said she enjoyed celebrating the spirit of the holiday as a nonreligious event.
Lingle, who called Trump “one of the great disrupters of all time,” said that under his presidency “action is going to be fast and furious.”
She said she expected him to quickly roll back “job-killing regulations,” cut corporate and middle-class taxes, increase infrastructure spending, and provide greater choice for schools through charter schools and voucher programs.
About 400 people attended the Hawaii Republican Party fundraiser, for which tables cost as much as $10,000. The mood was jubilant throughout the evening as guests ate, drank, listened to live music, danced and took photographs beside a life-size cutout of Trump.
THE slogan “Make America Great Again!” was displayed across signs on the wall and on a table of free bumper stickers.
While the Republican Party doesn’t score many victories in Hawaii, Trump’s surprise victory nationally and the Republicans’ continued control of both houses of Congress has re-energized the party, local officials say.
“It’s a huge boost for Republicans locally because now we know we are part of a winning majority nationally and now our job is to try to translate the national success into local success, which will not be automatic,” said Fritz Rohlfing, chairman of the Hawaii Republican Party. “It’s not a foregone conclusion that we can succeed in the same way, but if we can think strategically and we try to address the concerns of the voters here and local issues, we can translate that into success locally. But it’s got to be tailored and customized to Hawaii.”
In Hawaii, Democrat Hillary Clinton beat Trump
62 percent to 30 percent.
