 Aloha. Welcome everybody to Talk Story with John Wahee. We got a great guest this afternoon. We have with us the former lieutenant governor of the state of Hawaii, a good and old friend, and the last Republican lieutenant governor we've ever had. I mean, actually, I think it was the only Republican lieutenant. Well, no, Jimmy. Jimmy Kealoha. Yeah, and that was a transition between statehood and territory. So we have with us James Duke Iona. I should've been here ago. Duke is to his friends, and he was lieutenant governor with Governor Lingo. But don't forget, our relationship started. Oh, we go along. Yeah, it was back to law school. When you gave my first big break, I'm very appreciative of that. Well, you know, I wanted to make you a judge. He did. You were a good judge. You formed the juvenile court. Drug court. Yeah. And tell us a little bit about that before we get into politics. I think people ought to know that you have this background. Well, back then, I guess it was very innovative in the sense that it was actually treating as opposed to just adjudicating drug addicts or people who were involved in the criminal justice system who had a drug and or alcohol problem. And so it was very innovative in that respect. But what we also did in Hawaii's drug court program was we, I guess you could say we shaped it for Hawaii. In other words, we didn't take a cookie cutter treatment program from the West and bring it here to Hawaii like a 12 step or something like that. It was actually, Darren Colozoi was a thrust behind of that. And he did a great job in regards to just making it more culturally appropriate and community based. And it took off. You know, and it was a big success. And I want you to know that I have taken credit for that success. We all have. We all have. We all have. I made you the, nominated you to the judgeship that allowed that to happen. Meanwhile, you went on became the tenant governor. You are the highest, I guess, ranking official currently living in Hawaii or in the, you know, Republican Party. And we now have a Republican president elect with Mr. Donald Trump. Very interesting. And, and, you know, I wanted to talk to you about that. I was hoping, well, I don't even know where to begin. But what I mean, he has so many facets. He does. He does. And he's tell us a little bit about the way you see all of this. Well, you know, okay, well, first of all, it is not like a disclaimer or anything like that. But, you know, the primary for the nominee for the Republican Party, you had 17 candidates. Yeah. 17, right? And a lot of really, I thought people I know that and I consider, you know, high quality type people. I agree. I think a lot of us thought that way. Donald Trump was the last person I thought would be standing. Okay, really, I never thought he'd be the last person standing. But he was. And I had committed from day one that I was going to support the Republican Party nominee. And I stuck to that. Of course, he said a lot of things. Can I ask you something though, since you, since you put it that way? And I don't want to put you on the spot. But did you have a particular favorite in the, in the, in the period? I came out at the very end. You know, I was, it was, it was a great field, like you said. And initially, it just kind of let it, I let it kind of filter down. And then when it came down to, I believe it was four or five, I supported Marco Rubio. I thought that Marco Rubio. Well, young, young, young. And I thought, I thought he had it all. You know, I really, I mean, there were some things, obviously, that Republicans didn't agree with him. But every single one of those candidates, you had Republicans. Well, one of the issues that people didn't agree with him was immigration. Which, by the way, we, we may see, I think, in Hawaii, we may see immigration a little less, little differently than somebody that might be living on a Texas border. True, true. But I thought, I thought Rubio was the best. And then, like I said, you know, when it came, when Trump was the last person standing, obviously, I, you know, I said I would support the Republican. He was Republican nomination nominee, I should say. And, you know, I supported him. He said a lot of things that obviously, you know, kind of curls your toes. Oh, my goodness. But now he's president-elect. Now he's president-elect. And I think what you're going to see, and you and I have been talking about this, and I think it's so true. I think everybody sees it. I think his eyes have opened up. I think he's seen it in a different perspective now. Not that he didn't see it when he was running for, you know, when he was campaigning. You've got to admit, though, when he was running, it was a new activity for him. Well, you don't go likewise with you, right? I mean, you were a lieutenant governor, likewise with me. But when you stepped into that office as governor- It makes, it's different. Yeah, exactly. There is a difference. I don't think anybody can appreciate what it's like to be in that position until you're actually there. Right. And likewise, I think that's why you see a lot of presidents are governors, because they have- Yeah, it's closer, closer to what you need. But it's still not the same, right? Absolutely. Still not the same. Absolutely. The burden that, see, when I started my politics on the Democratic side, you know, Governor Burns says the enemy. I was the young Turks, we were trying to, you know, overthrow the establishment. When I became governor, I started, wow, this guy was a great man, because I began to understand why he did what he did, or appreciate the current. Whether you agreed or didn't agree, you now get a better appreciation of different perspectives. What do you, what do you hope that, let's talk about, what do you hope that he will do, and what that might mean for our country? Well, obviously, I hope he can be a leader, first and foremost. And a leader is somebody that, you know, leads by influence, right? I mean, you measure it by influence, and I hope it's positive influence, not just leadership, because I'm the president of the United States. And I don't think we're going to see that. I really don't. I believe that Trump can bring people together. If they give him a chance, obviously. Well, you know, you've got to admit, though, that because of the roughness of the prime minister. Oh, I agree. And the election, that's not going to be an easy task. No, it's not. It's not. It's not. And it, whether it was Hillary, or whether it was Donald. It was going to be the same. It was going to be very tough, but I believe, you know, you'll see him now, like we just talked about, have a broader perspective on things. And when you see the tempering of his position, you've seen it right now. Right. We are. You see some of it right now. And you see who he's talking to. You know, he's talking to a spectrum of people. Well, you know, you're going to have appointees that obviously are going to be controversial. Well, that's like any administration, right? Right. So the proof is going to be in the pudding. Well, one of his early appointments, which is Nikki Haley from South Carolina. North Carolina. And, you know, I've always been interested in her background and her viewpoint. And she was one of the most antagonistic Republicans to his ascension. But here she is now. She appears that she's going to be the ambassador. He's considering Mitt Romney as his secretary of state. Mitt Romney, who emphatically said, no way. I mean, you heard what he said about Donald Trump. He called him. He called him some nasty names also. Oh, I should say nasty names, but he put him in a very bad light. I think Mitt Romney would probably be a very good secretary of state, frankly. And, you know, it's funny, but when I was practicing, when I was a partner in Washington DC law firm, it seemed like we all gathered together. My partners were Bob Dole, who I admired and was a great American. And also George Mitchell and Ann Richards. So we talk about the Republicans and the Democrats. But sometimes, okay, the reason why I'm bringing that up is, you know, we had, we were all sort of a cozy club. And sometimes that relation, the ability to get along, gives the impression to the rest of America that there is an establishment. And the establishment doesn't matter whether you're Democrat or Republican. You're not us. You know, I, you know, I think we, How does that work? You know, I don't, I don't know how that ever, how it got to the point where it's at right now. You got to admit it is so entrenched right now, right? I mean, Washington has the worst, I guess you could say reputation that it's ever had with the people of America. And I guess it's something that has evolved because of people being entrenched. Well, you know, we used to, we used to, we used to practice law and says, you know, if we can't win in court, we'll just go change the law. I mean, we had Republicans and Democrats. But exactly, there is a process to everything, right? So Donald represents an attack against the establishment. He does. Now, as he moderates his viewpoints, how much of that image does he lose? Good question. And I think we were talking about this offline. And we said, you know, that first big for me, at least I thought one of his first big political decisions was going to be whether or not he was going to follow through on Hillary and the, and inditing her or opening up the investigation. Exactly. I felt that it was, it would be a good political move for him to just say, it's over. Or to say, okay, this is up to DOJ. My attorney general is, you know, is the person that is, that has to make that call. I appoint the attorney general, I have full faith in that attorney general, and they'll do whatever they need to do. I thought he would do that, but apparently I guess he's signaling that is not going to be anything further on this matter. That's his signal, but I don't know if he's given that. That's his signal. If you were hosting this, and I was the guest, you would be asking me something like, would the Democrats allow him to actually moderate his position? And that's a good question. That's going to be what... And that's why I hope it, you know, this is a chance for both parties to, I guess, to bring some credibility back to Congress, right? Right. And show that they can work together. Well, the people obviously didn't like the establishment. I mean, you didn't have to go to Donald Trump, I mean Bernie Sanders. Exactly. You know, Bernie Sanders. And even the third party candidates, I think, got more collectively than they've ever had in the past. I could be wrong on that, but I think they did. You're probably right on that. You know, and it shows again, it shows the disenchantment that the voters have in regards to, like you just said. So what does this all mean for Hawaii? Well, first of all, what does the alienation mean for Hawaii number one? And just as importantly, what does Donald Trump mean? Well, obviously, I think it's being blown off. I really believe that, you know, all of this, you know, initially, you saw so many different, I guess you could say, stories in regards to, okay, this is what it's going to mean for immigration. This is what it's going to mean for race relations. This is what it's going to mean for the native Hawaiians, et cetera. I think that's all blown up. Really, I really do. You can't say that, you know, based on what he may have said in the campaign at different points that, you know, he's going to follow through on all of that, or he's going to create some kind of racial, you know, just some kind of racial tension that can't be overcome at all. Well, you know, that was the fear. That was the fear. And that's why you had these crazy people going to an hotel, say, seek Trump, you know. Likewise, you know, well, yeah, but, you know, what was interesting was that Trump stood up and said, I don't want any of that stuff. So, you know, there's some, maybe some balance. But the system, is the American system strong enough to withstand anybody? I mean, I don't think somebody, you know, are you saying that somebody just can't come in and change the whole thing? After all, we survive warring high, right? I mean, if you can do that, surely you can. Well, this is, I guess, the beauty and the genius of the founding fathers and the Constitution and the way government has been set up. I hope, hopefully now we will truly see three branches of government acting the way, or I should say performing the way it's been set up to, and let the process, you know, work itself. Right. And so, and when we come back, I've got to take a break right now, but when we come back, let's talk about what this all means, specifically for Hawaii. We're going to take a short break. We've got an exciting program. Duke Iona, former lieutenant governor of the state of Hawaii. We'll be right back. We're going to look at procurement each month. We have a different series, and so it's going very well. We learn so much. We keep the public so well advised the best we can. Ray, what do you think? Well, I think this is the place where it's happening. This is where we discuss the latest of what is going on in the energy world. And it's a great place to be, a great place to meet some new people that are into the energy world that we haven't talked to before. So I'm happy to be here. Okay, this is a, you know, energy is the biggest thing happening in Hawaii when you realize that it's not going to affect all of our lives, is affecting all of our lives. And it's like a million things are happening in energy. How could you possibly understand what's happening unless you are informed? This is your way. This is the deal. Hawaii, the state of clean energy every Wednesday at four o'clock, right? Join us. I knew you'd say that. Welcome back to Talk Story with John Laihi. And we have our guest, the former Lieutenant Governor of the State of Hawaii, Dukai Ona. And we are having an exciting time talking about politics nationally, but we're going to switch off and talk about Hawaii. By the way, folks, if you want to call in, the number is 415-871-2474. 415-871-2474. So we're back here in Hawaii. You know, do you believe that the election of Donald Trump will somehow strengthen the Republican presence in Hawaii? No. You don't think so? No. What would do it? What would make it possible for us there? You know, you and I agree about one thing, I am sure. Well, we agree more than one thing, but at least we agree with this. I really believe that this state needs a strong second party. Absolutely. There needs to be a two-party system. I mean, if for nothing else, the quality of legislation that will come out of Democrats being challenged. Right. You know, and the reason I say no, it will not affect the resurgence or strength of the Republican party is not because of Donald Trump and who he is, but it's because of what I believe in. And this is just my opinion, my humble opinion. I firmly believe that what's the problem with the Republican party in the state of Hawaii is we're not getting out the vote. I really believe that. I really believe that. Well, one thing about Donald, Donald got out the vote. He did. But you know, in Hawaii, you can say maybe he did, but I can tell you right now, when we had our first caucus, remember, we changed our rules in regards to caucuses, primaries here in Hawaii. Right. When Mitt Romney was the nominee, we had a tremendous turnout. If not more, I think it was more than what we had this time around. Or if not, it was about the same. So what is your party doing about the vote? That's just it. Get out the vote. Okay. A good example. With Mitt Romney, it was a lot of the LDS members that came out and voted in the primary. Okay. Did that translate to the general? And if it did, in what numbers and how? In other words, did they just come out and vote for Romney? Or did they trickle down to the local races? But the LDS people aren't automatically Republican, right? Well, you know, yeah. I guess you could say more so than some other faith-based communities. The reason why I say that is because... Because of Utah. And because they voted for me. I mean, you know, I do have some affection on this issue. But no, but it seems like with Donald Trump, he had a problem with Utah. But there are people in Hawaii who have strong views on the social issues that need to be... That aren't necessarily Republican. They're scattered throughout the Democrats. How do you pull all of them into standing with the creation of an opposition? Well, of course, another factor. And that's why I don't want to rank them and say, well, this is the real priority. This is the number one reason why Republicans don't fare well in Hawaii. Because I believe it's all of the above. And I really believe getting out the vote is very significant. I think, you know, in regards to that question, in regards to how do we get the people to vote that way, it is about image also. And you won't know that. It's about the image of the Republican Party. And they keep throwing it back. The old, you know, which is really that old image of the Republican Party. It's the first 50 years. Right, exactly. I mean, look, I'm not white. And I'm not rich. OK, and I don't come from that aristocrat background. And neither was Lynn Finnegan. Neither was Elwin Ahu. Neither is, you know, Andrea Tupola. Actually, you have some great, great people. We got a call. Do we have a call? We got a call. Yes, Governor, why? Hey, I have a question for former Governor Lieutenant Governor Duke Iona. There's a certain amount of dissension in a Republican Party. How does that play in Hawaii? How does that play? Well, the question that the viewer is asking is that there is a lot of dissension within the Republican Party of Hawaii. And how does that play? Does that help her? How does this all work? If you look at the image, obviously, it plays the role that it does play, right? But no more, I would say, no more dissension than what you see in the Democrat Party. We seem to be able to get past it. Well, I have to maybe take a little bit exception to that in regards to what happened this past election. Do you really believe that the Bernie supporters, I mean, you were there. Right, no, I was. You were there on the floor. You know, it's amazing because you may be pointing out something. In Hawaii, it appeared that at least on the end, most of the Bernie people came out. And I know that the incident in the Democratic Party and where the woman flipped the finger at that, you know, the people who disciplined her were the Bernie people. So the young people now didn't necessarily translate across the country. So I am actually, someday you should invite me to your radio show and we'll talk about what my hope is for these young Bernie types that are coming in. But one of the things is the Republican Party has always prided itself on a prior, you know, try to like be selective. We're going to help this person. We're going to help that person. Did any of that targeting process affect how well the party has done? Or you think that there needs to be a much general? Well, in regards to that question, in regards to the, as you say, the dissension within the party, he's correct in regard, or she is correct, the caller was correct, in regards to the fact that there is a dissenting voice in the Republican Party right now. And I'll leave it at that. Because we have to deal with that, right? Obviously you have to deal with that within the party. So I don't want to bring it out and start talking about, you know, who that party is, what they stand for, et cetera. But the bottom line is yes, you're right. And obviously you welcome a dissenting view. You should welcome it. I do, I do. I mean, that's the only, and that's why you and I agree on a party system. I do, I do, I do. Because if you don't have dissension, then you don't have quality. Exactly. And the real question is, well, How do you, exactly, how do you get over that? Obviously, we have not done a good job. What about, you and I have discussed in the past, the importance of message. Yes. You know, a consistent message. Now, if you were going to just give us a brief summary of a message that you feel that the Republican Party represents, I'm not talking about internally, but represents to the people of Hawaii. What would be the essential ingredients of it? I brought out some of that earlier when I noted the people who are in the party, who are the leaders in the party, myself and, you know, Alvin Aho when he ran, Lynn Finnegan as a representative, Andrea Tupola now. By the way, all top people. Oh, real good people. I can say, I say we represent the people of Hawaii at all levels, at all levels. And if anything, if you want to talk about a big tent, we welcome everybody, even the dissenting, even those, even on the social issues. I mean, it's there for discussion. And it always been. So, I mean, same thing with the Democrat Party. They keep saying that they're the big tent. But how would I be welcomed in the Democrat Party? Well, let me ask you, there is something, well, you know, you would be welcome. How would you welcome them? Everybody, but no, but I'm saying that one of the essential things about the Republican philosophy is this idea of smaller government, more private initiative. And how does that work in Hawaii? Obviously, it should, this is why people's ears should be percolating when they hear that. Because we have, they had Democrat majority, a super majority by the Democrats in the last 40 years. Oh, yeah. We are the number one state in the union in regards to taxes. We're the number one state in the union when it comes to cost of living. But how would you change it? Well, that's what I mean. That's part of the narrative that has to come out. And how do you change it? I don't think it's necessarily this tag that you say smaller government. Limited taxes. I think really, and you're going to say, well, this is cliche, but fiscal responsibility. I think the mayor's race was a good example of that. It was Caldwell who brought out this partisan part of that race, right? He brought out the Democrat Republican thing. Okay. But really what Charles was running on, which I think was the issue, was fiscal responsibility on the rail. That was it. Can you be more physically responsible? That's a powerful message. It is a powerful message and people relate to it. Why aren't they hearing it? Why did it not translate, right? I don't know why, because the bottom line question for that race was simple. Okay. Tell me, what is the current mayor going to do any differently in his next four years? What is he going to do any differently? When he ran four years ago, he said, on budget, on time, I will do rail better. That's a quote. He said that. One aspect of the message, potential message for Republicans that I find attractive is the focus on family and dignity. The Democratic Party started years ago with the idea of the dignity of the person and the family and all of that. And yet we never really, we don't talk about it. Thank you for that. And I think you're missing an opportunity by not doing that. No, you're absolutely right. We have, I have talked about that. For me, that has been one of the tenets of, or I should say, the pillars of my platform in regards to not only as LG, but when I ran twice for governor, it was about the family. And I go back to my experience, thanks to you as a circuit court judge, working with, in drug court. And when I looked at it, governor, what I saw was, you know, really a root to a lot of the issues we have socially, right? The homeless issue, addiction, et cetera. It boils down to the family. Well, I think that's a powerful message, too. It does boil down to the family. You know, one of the things, I had Bet Pukamoto on the show and we talked about the fact that, I think, okay, that when I see the party, there's this tendency to, for the local Republican party, to look, to follow national trends, and not focus on, and yet they are, within our own contemporary history, a number of Republican heroes in my mind, Hiram Fong. Yes, Pat Psyche. Pat Psyche. Again, they're not white. No, no, no, no. Fantastic, but they were, I worked with Pat Psyche, she was fantastic. Hiram Fong is the father of Asian immigration for the whole nation. These are exciting people. You're right. And I think, again, you should be, you should come into the party and give your ideas, because you are touching on some themes that we obviously are not promoting, that we should promote so that we can, but you know what's, when I hear this thing about the Republican party is not putting up good candidates, I gotta disagree with that. I gotta disagree with that. We have some great candidates out there. It's just that, for one, when you got that R behind in your name, you are two strikes behind, right away. Right off the bat, you're two strikes behind. Well, you're putting up good candidates, and I really want to encourage you, and by the way, I am a loyal diver. Oh, we know that, yeah. So the only way that we can have a two-part is to have a strong opposition. But you and I both agree that the health of our state, you know, will reside in the discussions that we have. And that's right. And so, ladies and gentlemen, I know we have come to the end of our program. This has been exciting. Thank you so much for joining us. Duke Iona, former Lutela governor. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. I appreciate it.