The embattled nomination of Carleton Ching to serve as head of the state’s Department of Land and Natural Resources has created endless conversation in Hawaii media, at the Legislature, at water coolers and elsewhere as to Ching’s qualifications and preparation to meet the challenges of this key position.

Relatively little attention, though, has been paid to how well this nomination has been managed by the governor and his team. Which is to say, horribly. While Team Ige is likely to earn a passing mark at the end of this course, it will have to work hard to make up for the failing grade it just got on the midterm in the form of last Thursday’s 5-2 Water and Land Committee vote against the nomination.

Ige knew or should have known from the start that Ching’s nomination would be radioactive. The Castle & Cooke lobbyist’s background in real estate development always meant that he would be, at best, a nominee who invited strong criticism and opposition. There’s nothing inherently wrong with putting forward an individual who doesn’t inspire immediate praise and across-the-board support, but it certainly raises the bar with regard to prosecuting a strong case for confirmation.

Gov. David Ige rises to interrupt the questioning of Committee on Water and Land Chair Laura Thielen early in the second day Carleton Ching’s confirmation hearing.

Cory Lum/Civil Beat

Yet, Ige has only delivered bland praise of Ching’s heart and local roots and generic assurances that he’d be “an effective steward” for DLNR.  In the days leading up to the Senate hearing, an administration source conceded that Ige had not made a compelling case for his nominee or explained why it was important to endure weeks of withering criticism on Ching’s behalf.  Was there a significant reason why Ching was the right person at the right time for DLNR? It’s a question that still awaits an answer.

Ching, meanwhile, met with senators individually to shore up support – an effort that only seemed to make things worse.  Sen. Josh Green pronounced him “not qualified for the job” and said Ching was unable to answer important questions relative to DLNR. Other senators were rumored to have visited the governor to ask that the nomination be withdrawn. The abiding impression: Ching hadn’t properly prepared for the confirmation process. Or been properly prepared.

The confirmation hearings began after most other new Cabinet members had already been confirmed (many unanimously), nearly seven weeks after Ching’s nomination was announced at the end of January. If that time was used to get Ching ready for a rigorous, highly public vetting, it wasn’t apparent in the generalities and politically off-key testimony he provided Sen. Laura Thielen’s Committee on Water and Land.

Making matters worse, Ige spent much of both days in the hearing audience along with Chief of Staff Mike McCartney, unavoidably linking the governor’s credibility to the outcome of the committee vote. Low point: when a clearly frustrated Ige stood to interrupt Thielen, interjecting, “I don’t quite understand what this question has to do with the confirmation.” At other times, he could be seen on the live broadcast of the hearings working his phone or resting his eyes. Weren’t there other pressing gubernatorial concerns during this busy legislative session?

During the gubernatorial race last summer and fall, Ige benefited enormously from the fact that he wasn’t Neil Abercrombie. If voters seemed fuzzy on exactly what the longtime senator stood for, they seemed equally confident that the pragmatic and wonkish Ways and Means chairman would replace Abercrombie’s bombastic, in-your-face style with a steady, workmanlike approach to leading the state.

The Ching affair, however, shows that the governor hasn’t yet fully adapted to his new role. Ensuring a problematic nominee is properly prepared for a confirmation process, making an effective public case for the nominee and managing perceptions of both the nominee and the governor all constitute significant leadership tests. Ige hasn’t risen to the challenge, and the public perception of him and his administration is now unavoidably characterized by a series of unforced errors.

Ching’s nomination goes to the full Senate this week, and while the outcome is uncertain, observers seem to think Ige’s relationships with former Senate colleagues will be enough to deliver confirmation.

Our position remains unchanged: The governor should withdraw Ching and submit a new nominee whose professional background isn’t so divisive and whose candidacy doesn’t call Ige’s judgment so sharply into question. If Ige remains unwilling to do so, Ching ought to save the governor from himself by withdrawing.