As President Clinton delivers his State of the Union address to Congress in January, Bob Dole rehearses the Republican response in a room down the hall.
Photo by PF Bently, Special to the Star-Bulletin

Hawaii was not part of that equation, according to local Dole campaign spokesman state Sen. Michael Liu.

"The decision was made early on to take what resources they had and pour it into the so-called battleground states," Liu said.

"We were hoping early on that they (GOP national strategists) would look beyond the national impression that we're a one-party state."

So with no money, the Dole-Kemp campaign in Hawaii hasn't been able to rent office space, hasn't put on a paid staff and hasn't been able to organize large-scale campaigning for the GOP team.

In contrast, local Democrats have a two-pronged approach to the presidential campaign.

They are running rallies, they have a speakers bank set up and they are sponsoring get-out-the-vote campaigns and absentee voter programs.

The first part of the program is the official Clinton-Gore campaign, set up in all 50 states.

The Hawaii office operates at state Democratic Party headquarters, 777 Kapiolani Blvd.

The office has paid staff and is headed by Ted Nakata, formerly director of the State of Hawaii-Washington, D.C., liaison office.

The second portion of the campaign is through the Democratic Coordinated Campaign. It offers Clinton a chance to tie his presidential campaign in with a coordinated state Democratic ticket.

Linda Takayama, a private attorney and former state official, directs the Democrats' coordinated campaign, which helps Clinton's campaign by including Clinton speakers on the regular Democratic programs.

"A lot of what we do benefits all Democratic candidates," she said.

Because the GOP hasn't put up much of a fight in Hawaii, Democrats say there has been little voter interest in the race.

"Everyone already believes that the president will win here," Nakata said. "The problem is that the Dole-Kemp campaign hasn't had an office here, so there hasn't been any competition."

According to Federal Elections Commission data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, Clinton leads in the battle for campaign money in Hawaii.

Totals show that Clinton has received $51,525 and Dole picked up $31,205 in contributions from Hawaii residents from January 1995 through last month.