For those paying attention to the calendar, you might understand the significance of the post’s title.
For those who do not, it signifies that August 8, 2020, the scheduled date of the Primary Election in Hawaii is now 365 days away.
Why make a point about a date a year away of an event that we do not even know the parameters of, meaning who will be running and what will they be running on? Well, as many have told me about how politics is played, it’s all about identifying how to play the long game, and not worrying about the Manini (small) day to day machinations in the political realm.
So, if you are a person that likes to play the long game, what type of actions are being done now, one year out, from the primary election?
One thing I have found is that potential candidates who are looking to jump in are already looking for people to support them. These could be people who are skilled in taking policy ideas and designing them into effective messages that will be deployed.
Of course they are also getting their resources together – money sources mostly. This is done, at this point, mostly in private meetings with influential and moneyed people who have signaled they are ready to invest in a candidate that aligns with their beliefs.
Yes, the people with money have already made that signal.
Another thing is that they are looking at the political landscape and seeing which way the wind is blowing. In Hawaii, today, the political winds are howling with the protest on Mauna Kea, continued issues of water rights on Maui and the entire rail issue that has absorbed all the political oxygen in the City and County of Honolulu.
These issues will not simply disappear between now and next year, and the well-informed pol (a politician, or someone who is very politically active) is already projecting ahead to see how a narrative can be created that they can control.
The other factor is who will stand as a candidate for office, and who will challenge incumbents. Some of those who are perennial candidates will most likely try again for either the same office as last time or another (maybe easier) office.
Others who have never been in the political realm might find it opportune to jump in. Finally, there is always the decision of the incumbent whether they want to continue in office, or head for the exit, seeking greener pastures.
Pols who will never run for office, but spitball, armchair quarterback or whatever analogy you want to say they do, are already working on this.
Therefore, it might be that there is another year before you may go to the poll to vote, but the narratives that you will hear the money that will be spent and the policies that you will be told are important to vote on are already being formed, banked and written up, now.