ALMOST a year before the traditional start of the campaign season you can hear the first rumblings. Just making it into the audible range comes the low, grinding noise of rusty gears starting to work. The wheels that nobody turned since inauguration now slowly revolve. Coffee hours at
Washington PlaceLevers that haven't been pushed in three or four years are slipped forward. Money by the bale, the fuel of all campaigns, already has been gathered.
The campaign for governor has started and that machine you hear is the one reserved for the incumbent governor.
Gov. Ben Cayetano, who three years ago said he would govern without regard to re-election, now wants four more years.
To that end he's already raised more than $1.5 million, enough to scare any Democrat dilettantes out of the race.
More importantly, he has clicked on the lights at Washington Place and is serving up the coffee and politics on a regular basis.
A handful of coffee hours have been held already. They are the staple of local politics and the best indication that someone is in the race.
While the GOP's Maui Mayor Linda Lingle is out giving speeches, Cayetano is putting together the operation Hawaii's incumbent Democratic governors have used with undisputed success since 1970: the invitation to coffee at the governor's home.
It may not be a night in the Lincoln bedroom at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., but it isn't an invitation to reject.
According to several attendees, the meetings are divided to host potential campaign workers from various districts. Someone from that area is the host or master of ceremonies. The governor's cabinet is in attendence.
In case you didn't get an invitation, here's how the evening goes.
First the MC welcomes the crowd and brings on the first lady.
For the folks I talked to, this was a big part of the evening, because Vicky Cayetano brings out her two sisters and they quickly form a trio, sounding like the Andrews Sisters.
They announce the campaign song, reportedly "Don't give your vote to anyone but Ben."
Vicky Cayetano takes the microphone to talk about her husband, the governor. The cabinet is introduced and then Cayetano himself gets up to speak.
From all accounts the message is a simple one. Cayetano touches on his fiscal resolve, his tough decisions needed to balance the budget and his efforts to increase selected industries in Hawaii.
He also talks about the Democratic Party and stakes his claim as the one that the party should support next year.
Finally he tosses the meeting open to the assembled 150 or so guests. Questions, according to several attendees, are not too tough and Cayetano or his cabinet members handle them.
LIKE Governors Waihee, Ariyoshi and Burns before him, Cayetano is in his element, gaining valuable points, while risking very little.
The final act, a request to pledge support to Cayetano's efforts, wraps up the night. Cayetano's staff then is able to collect names and addresses and the campaign databank grows.
The benefits for Cayetano come not only in the troops enlisted during the coffee hour, but the extension of a community network that hasn't really been put in place during Cayetano's first three years.
By the end of the night, however, Cayetano can appreciate the advantage of incumbency extends to where you live.