In case you missed it, Advertiser Capitol Bureau reporter Derrick DePledge reported last week that Gov. Linda Lingle says she could well spend $6 million in her upcoming re-election campaign.

Now, that's a lot of money for someone who — at this point, anyway — does not even have an opponent.

One can hardly blame Lingle for wanting to pile it on, however. In her first run for governor, she agreed to abide by voluntary state campaign spending limits. In retrospect, she concluded that her inability to spend freely in the final weeks of the campaign led to her narrow loss to Ben Cayetano.

Last time around, she spent $5.8 million, and it worked.

So, it is understandable that Lingle and her advisers are in no mood to let the governorship slip away simply for lack of spending.

One of the interesting things is that Lingle has had to front-load her fundraising efforts, particularly out of state, to get around a new law that takes effect in January.

The law, which clearly targeted Lingle, limits the amount of money a candidate can raise out of state to 20 percent of the total raised.

This was in response to Lingle's success last time in out-of-state fundraising among groups who were entranced with the idea of finally electing a Republican (and a woman at that) in normally Democratic Hawai'i.

So she will collect as much as she can from those Mainland admirers before the new limits kick in.

The real question now is not how much money Lingle will have to spend, but how and where she will spend it.

If she does not end up with substantive opposition, she will be free to focus at least a fair chunk of her political energies on other races. The obvious target here, and perhaps the greatest concern of the Democrats, is the Legislature.

Lingle would love to see a Republican majority in at least one of the two houses, or failing that, at least enough GOP votes to make the Legislature "veto proof." That is, there would not be enough Democratic votes to overturn a gubernatorial veto.

It is obvious that Lingle's coattails alone will not do the trick.

Last time around, with her primary attention focused on beating Democrat Mazie Hirono, Lingle had no impact on Republican fortunes elsewhere. In fact, the GOP lost substantial ground in the Legislature.

So, it will take more than a popular Republican at the head of the ticket. It will take time, money and energy to build successful district-by-district races for the Republicans.

Assuming that Lingle hits her mark of $6 million-plus, and assuming the Democrats fail to come up with a gangbuster opponent, Lingle can devote more time to those other races.

Anticipate huge gusts of print and television advertising, direct mail and other events, such as rallies, that send home the message of a Republican "ticket" rather than just a Lingle-Aiona campaign. The message: If you like the governor, you have to give her the troops to complete her work.

Jerry Burris is The Advertiser's editorial page editor.

Reach Jerry Burris at jburris@honoluluadvertiser.com.