Youth is a wonderful thing, but it’s not everything. Even on a political battlefield where winning over the millennial generation is seen as the big electoral prize, a warrior with many years under her belt brings a critical element to the fight: the long view.
Pat Saiki, named interim chairwoman of the Hawaii Republican Party, will bring that valuable perspective, having seen and done a great deal over the course of her career. At 83, she may also have the confidence and credentials to deliver some tough love to party dissidents who seem willing to sacrifice political power on the altar of philosophical purity.
Saiki is replacing David Chang at the GOP helm, someone who already was working on the party’s outreach. Chang, who stepped down because of military deployment and family responsibilities, had the right idea about broadening the base, and Saiki needs to bring his generation into leadership positions.
Government watchers, even those with a liberal viewpoint, can agree that Hawaii needs a second party that can contend at the Legislature and for statewide and congressional races. It’s a mission that begins with fielding candidates appealing to voters who align with the broad platform of the Hawaii GOP.
And in a state where Democratic Party institutions are woven through its history, that platform may be on the conservative side but certainly it shouldn’t pin the scale. That is simply not where the center of gravity lies for the Hawaii brand of Republican.
The Hilo-born Saiki knows that reality, and she embodies it. She has a background in the public and private sectors, starting as a teacher and businesswoman while raising five children. She served 14 years in the state Legislature and two terms in Congress as a U.S. House representative. Those are all resume lines that bolster her broad appeal.
Saiki’s life experiences the 1950s wasn’t an era especially welcoming to women and minorities in leadership underlie her more liberal stances on social issues. She is pro-choice and a defender of equal rights, and finds herself opposing the more socially conservative members of her party.
They should recognize that, especially in this state, the GOP needs to allow for more diverse social views and focus on dollars-and-cents issues.
The reorganization of the state House leadership under Joe Souki demonstrated how simply enlarging that contingent can begin the process of raising the GOP profile. Souki needed Republican votes to consolidate his speakership, and in return those members have, at least incrementally, more influence in shaping legislation.
This is a process that needs to continue, and the only way Republicans can do that is to expand their solicitation to a wider swath of the Hawaii electorate. Democras have dominated the field for so long that their big-tent coalition includes many fiscal conservatives as well as the more classically progressive politicians.
Many of those could be enticed to join the Republicans, if the invitation is framed correctly.
