City Hall is again proving to be our best acting school.
When Mufi Hannemann was mayor and wanting to be governor back in 2010, he staged one of the longest political stripteases on record as he danced through the state holding rallies, getting union support and doing everything except say “I’m running.”
When he finally joined the race, everyone said “what took you so long.”
Too bad for Hannemann. That long hello became an even longer goodbye, as City Hall in 2010 was his last successful political venue.
Now comes Ernie Martin, the City Council chairman, who has been saying for years that eventually he would like to be Honolulu’s mayor.
Now he owns a nice big color poster saying he is running for mayor, but offers an equally big refusal to make the jump.
Much like Hannemann did, Martin is increasing his number of public appearances and fleshing out a splashy new web page announcing, “Together We Can” and “Support Ernie Martin.”
Star-Advertiser City Hall reporter Gordon Pang, in a recent report, queried Martin about a possible run and he answered with, “I’m keeping all of my options open.”
Martin figures, according to Pang’s article, that if he were to run for mayor, the state’s resign-to-run law would require him to resign from his Council post only when he files nomination papers, not after any public proclamation.
The filing deadline is June 7 — so either Martin is off the Council and running for mayor on June 7 or he remains Council chairman and his dream of being the boss at Honolulu Hale goes unanswered for at least the next two or four years.
Also still saying “I’ll get back to you” is former two-term lieutenant governor, James “Duke” Aiona. After running twice unsuccessfully for governor, Aiona has encouraged speculation that he might want to be mayor. That feeling was amplified by the Star-Advertiser’s Hawaii Poll taken at the beginning of this year, showing Aiona beating incumbent Mayor Kirk Caldwell. Aiona had 43 percent, Caldwell had 38 and Martin, 8 percent.
Also hanging around the starting gate, but not ready to put on his running shoes is former Mayor Peter Carlisle. While expressing an interest in trying again, Carlisle has not shown any serious interest in raising either his profile or the campaign cash needed to put on a realistic campaign.
In comparison, Caldwell is both raising money and his profile.
Caldwell is well ahead in raising money: he already has $1.6 million in the bank. More importantly, as the incumbent, he has developers, attorneys, architects, engineers, accountants and tourist business operators wanting to stay on his good side.
Also, Caldwell could have a long political future ahead of him. At 63, he could win re-election and then resign to run for governor in 2018, or finish out a second term and run for federal office.
Measured in terms of future potential, Caldwell looks like he can see a lot farther down the road than either Martin or Aiona.
Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at rborreca@staradvertiser.com.
