With a pedigree rich enough to define the "haole in Hawaii" cliche, Fred Rohlfing should have been the mold used by the Republican Party to cast all its politicians.

But, Rohlfing was different, and his new autobiography of his life in Hawaii politics, "Island Son: The Life and Times of Hawaii’s Republican Reformer," is a worthy read.

Educated at Punahou, Yale and George Washington Law School, Rohlfing served as an officer in the Navy and was elected in 1959 as a Republican in Hawaii’s first state Legislature. He came to politics at a time when both the Democratic and Republican parties were seeking to build a new state in the Pacific.

Rohlfing was a progressive Republican who understood Hawaii’s ethnic make-up, noting that "We are all islanders … and on island, no matter in which direction you travel you come to the ocean.

"You realize that you must get along with your fellow islanders and make do together," Rohlfing said in the introduction.

An attorney, Rohlfing served 21 years in the state House and Senate, unsuccessfully ran twice for Congress, and served as attorney general for American Samoa, as corporation counsel for Maui County, and as a federal magistrate.

Quoting from a speech he gave in 1969, Rohlfing urged his party to move to the mainstream, pointing to Republicans representing both Palolo Housing and Wailupe Circle.

"The people on Wailupe Circle are better able to represent themselves or employ lobbyists than are those that have the greatest need and who must count on the understanding of their legislators.

"It is in this context that those who talk the loudest about their 100 percent Republicanism make me sick," Rohlfing said.

Discussing the fate of the local GOP, Rohlfing notes that, in the past, "Republicans have projected a lot of negative images; Democrats have taken advantage of the Republican Party’s extreme expressions — e.g., the ‘Religious Right’ and other boomlets by overly vocal conservatives."

Rohlfing’s own politics were conservative on fiscal issues, but liberal on matters such as land reform.

"I was an activist when it came to the employment of government power to solve problems that free enterprise or ordinary citizens could or would not solve," Rohlfing said in a reflection that will make tea party activists’ toes curl.

When Rohlfing ran for Congress in 1976, it was in a decidedly less politically divided Hawaii. Rohlfing, the Republican, won all the union endorsements, except for one, when he ran against Democrat Cec Heftel.

"I was an unabashed supporter of ‘liberal’ positions on leasehold land reform, state land management, affordable housing, mass transit and procedural reform," Rohlfing writes.

Asked about the state of the GOP today, Rohlfing says the national party is "in very good shape."

Although he sees the U.S. House swinging to GOP control, Rohlfing said much of the GOP’s fate in the Hawaii Legislature will follow the fight for governor.

"The challenge for the governorship is whether we can swing the supporters of the loser of the Democratic primary to our ticket," Rohlfing said.

Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at rborreca@ staradvertiser.com.