The political winds are shifting, and in long-time Democratically controlled Hawaii, the candidates for U.S. Congress and governor will be jostling more forcefully than ever after a growing voter bloc: the independents.

Much is at stake: the power of the offices themselves; the economic vitality of an ailing Hawaii; decades-long local voting habits; partisan clout to affect the nation's agenda. Voter strength—and responsibility—has rarely seemed so potent.

The gale forces came on Tuesday, when Republican Scott Brown rode a wave of voter anger and ire to win the U.S. Senate job in liberal Massachusetts, a seat held for nearly half a century by the late Edward M. Kennedy, a Democratic icon. Brown's stunning win over Democrat Martha Coakley rocked President Barack Obama's White House and the congressional filibuster-proof majority Democrats had relied on to pass items such as health care reform.

Brown, whose ideas have sometimes landed right of his Republican Party, shrewdly portrayed himself as independent-minded, fighting against the Democratic machine.

“;I thought it was going to be me against the machine. I was wrong. It's all of us against the machine,”; he told supporters in Boston.

That sentiment signals problems for candidates trying to hitch their stars to Democratic stalwarts.

When U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye publicly endorsed state Sen. Colleen Hanabusa for the 1st Congressional District and blasted fellow Democrat Ed Case, it played like an anointment. In more nostalgic times, Inouye's blessing would have been a rocket boost to office. In today's climate, it could backfire.

“;Constituents in Hawaii have been misrepresented by Democrats for too long. There is no doubt that Colleen Hanabusa and Ed Case woke up in fear (Wednesday) as they realize that, on election day, they will pay the price for supporting the Obama-Pelosi big-government, tax-and-spend agenda,”; said Joanna Burgos, National Republican Congressional Committee spokeswoman, in touting “;fiscally responsible Charles Djou.”;

The power of Hawaii's undecideds was revealed in a new Honolulu Star-Bulletin/KITV News poll, results of which ran Sunday through Wednesday. It is those independents—those not trained by affiliation or habit to vote party lines—who hold the key. They're looking to be convinced.

For the 1st Congressional District seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, a hefty 21 percent of 403 district voters was undecided; 37 percent said they would vote for Case if a special election were held today, 25 percent for Hanabusa, and 17 percent for Djou, a Republican.

In the race for governor, nearly one-fourth of 800 registered voters polled were undecided about Democrat Abercrombie versus Republican James “;Duke”; Aiona; a similar 24 percent is undecided in a contest between Aiona and Democrat Mufi Hannemann.

Hawaii voters are notorious for low turnout. In the 2008 presidential election, even with locally born Obama up for the presidency, only 51.8 percent of registered voters went to the polls, the lowest in the nation, U.S. Census Bureau figures show.

In a democracy, it is a privilege and an obligation to vote. In Hawaii, a spirited election year has suddenly become even more exciting. With so much at stake, voters must get involved and pay attention.