Only a few years ago, this likely would not have happened. A relative outsider to the state’s perennially dominant party has emerged as its chairman, following the Hawaii Democratic Party convention over the weekend.
Tim Vandeveer, one of many Hawaii supporters of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders for president, beat out three contenders representing the more traditional party constituency to be elected chairman.
It won’t be clear exactly how this may change the political landscape in this state, where historical patterns are deeply etched. That will depend on where the surge of new party members ends up.
To leave a lasting impact, they will have to get engaged in the gritty work of local politics, running for office or otherwise working to ensure their voice is heard and their agenda gets attention.
And among the other
caveats: Vandeveer was elected narrowly, aided by the fact that the more establishment candidates for the party helm were splitting the powerful union vote among them.
The prevalent power blocs in the state are likely to remain for some time; the unions and the business interests that have supported campaigns for public office will still be there.
But the changing of the guard in Hawaii does signify an undeniable shift for a place that makes more gradual political moves, when it moves at all. The fact that Sanders won the presidential preference poll by a wide margin surprised many observers.
U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, perhaps the Vermont senator’s most outspoken local supporter, is one of the few in leadership who seemed to pick up that call for change. Hawaii is accustomed to primaries where the voters who turn out dependably have thrown their support to the party establishment.
One reasonable conclusion: The new voters, many of them younger, are not steeped in party politics and so do not show the same kind of loyalties to party policies or leadership maintained by previous generations. They seem drawn to the progressive agenda Sanders put forth, in this way mirroring the leftward lean of latter-day Democratic voters across the country.
If these voters become elected leaders themselves, or at least mobilize to influence those leaders more forcefully, some of the legislation promoting campaign finance reform, and other “liberal” causes long stalled at the state Capitol, may move off the back burner at last.
There is another potential outcome here, if the other parties are able to seize the opportunity.
The voting public has grown restive and dissatisfied — again, a local manifestation of a national trend. On the Republican side of the aisle, here and elsewhere, that dismay registered in a big vote for businessman Donald Trump from those who longed for a political outsider to take charge.
The isle Republican establishment has been shaken by the ascent of the presumed presidential nominee. Former GOP Congresswoman Pat Saiki, whose term as party chairwoman ended in January, has delivered a few punches against Trump.
And most recently the strain within the party produced sharp criticism of Trump at the local Republican convention. The remarks by state House Minority Leader Rep. Beth Fukumoto Chang drew jeers from his supporters.
It’s a different kind of political fragmentation, but the unmooring of partisans on either side are part of a larger phenomenon.
Voters who feel disaffected by political leadership could easily drift away and be wooed by the competition. And if they feel the existing party labels are no longer relevant, they could seek another political harbor. A third party — Libertarian, Green or some other choice — could serve as the lure, too.
For their part, the establishment leaders will have to hear what the dissidents are saying, if they want to stay in the game: A new set of players may be coming off the bench to replace them.
The current upheaval could be a sign of new blood flowing through the body politic. If so, that would be a healthy development — as long as those new arrivals bring a willingness to act as well as to speak.
