[ OUR OPINION ]
Absentee candidates
court isle DemocratsHAWAII Democrats will have an opportunity to choose in caucuses on Tuesday between two capable candidates for the presidency. However, they are not the two candidates that were favored by Hawaii's U.S. House members or by the national parent of the state's most powerful labor organizations.
THE ISSUE
Sens. John Kerry and John Edwards will face each other in Democratic caucuses in Hawaii on Tuesday, but not in person.
The good news for isle Democrats is that they will be part of the decision-making process. Unfortunately, the two candidates from whom they will choose are focusing on the following week's Super Tuesday and won't be in the islands to court their support.
The Hawaii caucuses will choose 13 delegates to the national convention in Boston. Seven others committed to candidates on the first ballot will be selected by the state convention in May. The remaining nine uncommitted delegates will consist of the congressional delegation and party leaders.
Rep. Neil Abercrombie threw his early support to former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, as did the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the parent union of the United Public Workers and Hawaii Government Employees Association. Dean abandoned his candidacy last week but did not release his delegates and urged his followers to maintain their support.
Theoretically, some Hawaii caucus participants could give their support to non-candidate Dean, following his declaration: "We are not going away. We are staying together, unified, all of us." Visions emerge of a liberal organization within the party, challenging the centrist Democratic Leadership Council as a force at the convention to write the party's platform.
Rep. Ed Case had endorsed Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman, who quit after a series of miserable finishes in primary elections. Case might have considered transferring his support to another centrist, retired Gen. Wesley Clark, but he too gave up after winning only one primary, in Oklahoma, next to his native Arkansas.
Sen. Daniel Inouye gave his support to fellow Purple Heart recipient Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the frontrunner. The other major choice is Sen. John Edwards, the sunny North Carolinian who has relished the idea of a one-on-one battle with Kerry. He will have his first opportunity in the Hawaii and Idaho caucuses and the Utah primary, all on the same day.
The only candidate who campaigned in the state is Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a gadfly who refuses to quit despite overwhelming rejection in all states. Kucinich spent two days in October on Oahu and Maui and seemed to have a good time.
Kerry said he considered taking his campaign to Hawaii but was overruled by his staff. "I have honestly proven how powerless I am," Kerry told reporters aboard his campaign plane four days ago. "I've been working on Hawaii and I'm getting pushed back." Kerry envisioned himself "doing a curly roll on a lip of a wave coming over Waikiki."
Kerry added that he will have time to campaign in Hawaii in the general election if he wins the party's nomination. That is a high likelihood.
