Across the state, the numbers of unhappy campers grow. The demands for leadership increase. The Republicans, however, have faced these circumstances before and almost always managed to fall into one of the traps. The first mistake the GOP makes is telling voters that the Democrats are so lousy and have bungled things so badly that the Republican candidate must be better. It may seem like an obvious mistake, but the Republicans constantly base their campaigns on calling Democrats names.
Republicans also seem intent on believing that political nirvana is just one governor's race away.
Portions of the GOP hold as dogma that if they just find the right candidate to win the governor's office, then the good times will be back. It has never been true in Hawaiian politics. We may take our clues from a handful of leaders, but they draw all their strength from the depth of their own political roots. In other words, you are nothing without a bunch of buddies in the Legislature and county councils. Republicans can hardly expect victory to be any different, but they never stop thinking they need just one statewide win.