None of state's three candidates deserving

Within the Republican party, competition between Frank Fasi and Linda Lingle is turning ridiculous.

When you add Ben Cayetano and his rhetoric about his role in improving education, it becomes downright hilarious.

Cayetano campaign co-chair Ann Kobayashi said they were surprised that the University of Hawai`i Professional Assembly would endorse Lingle.

Yet what did they expect, considering Cayetano cut the university's budget by one-third, and UHPA had to fight to get their paychecks on time at the end of June.

Fasi proposes a 70 percent increase in the hotel tax. Thinking the increase will allow for a decrease in the lower income tax bracket's tax, it is more likely to destroy the hotel business than help balance the budget.

Lingle, for her part, is riding on the creation of 5,400 Maui jobs since 1991. Yet those jhobs might well have been created more by dispersal of Hawaii's tourism over the poast seven years than by Lingle's direct action.

Considering the ideas of the three candidates, this promises to be an exciting four years, no matter who wins.