"I hope you’re all Republicans," former President Ronald Reagan is reputed to have said to the doctors as he was wheeled into the operating room following a 1981 assassination attempt.
Hawaii may not be going all GOP, but after Tuesday’s caucus night, Reagan would find a lot more of the GOP here than previously expected.
For a political party that was heading for the endangered species list, earlier this week the Hawaii Republican Party pulled in about 10,000 voters for its presidential caucus night.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney came in first with 4,250, or 45 percent of the vote.
On a practical level, the caucus will determine how Hawaii’s 17 national convention delegates will vote. The party chair and the two national committee members are not bound by the caucus results and can vote for whomever they want; the 17 will be proportioned among the winners, with Romney getting the largest share.
This is the first time that the local GOP trusted its members enough to just let them vote for candidates in a presidential primary. Loosening the leash appears to have done wonders for building party membership.
"We are alive and well," reported the new GOP Hawaii party chairman, David Chang.
Veteran GOP Rep. Barbara Marumoto happily reported a party caucus meeting that was "upbeat and excited." For a party that at times seemed to be mostly the home of sore losers and ideological diehards, talk of upbeat, positive and spirited meetings is a sea change of gale-warning proportions.
Four years ago it was the Democrats with the passion play primary battle.
It was a great fight, with many different parts. Here in Hawaii, Democrats found 37,000 willing to stand in line and vote.
Of course most were voting for Barack Obama, but even U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye stood in line to cast his vote for then-Sen. Hillary Clinton.
Last month, Hawaii Democrats drew about 1,200 to vote for President Obama’s re-election campaign.
If 2008 reignited the Democrat’s fervor in Hawaii politics, then the 10,000 in the Republican Party this year have their hand on this year’s ignition switch.
No, Hawaii’s four electoral votes are not going to go for anybody but Obama in November, but along the way there could be some interesting fallout.
Obviously, there is something happening in the race for mayor of Honolulu. Former Gov. Ben Cayetano has found himself leading both the contest and also a coalition of Cayetano allies, Democrats, conservatives and Republicans opposed to the city’s rail line.
If that group, perhaps including many of the newly energized GOP 10,000, turn out to vote in the primary, there could be some ripples.
The Aug. 11 primary means the primary election is already under way. Mail-in ballots will be dropped several weeks before that, meaning people are just months away from marking their ballots.
Republicans will have few primary races of interest, but they may be going to the polls to vote against rail. If they pick up a Democratic ballot there could be more support for a moderate Democrat such as former Rep. Ed Case, running the Democratic Senate primary against Rep. Mazie Hirono.
The GOP turnout may not be a game changer for the Republicans in Hawaii, but it does show they can make a game of it.
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Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at rborreca@staradvertiser.com.
