Dazzled by her welcome involvement in the presidential campaign of Republican Sen. John McCain, Gov. Linda Lingle has questioned the sincerity of Sen. Barack Obama's connection to Hawaii. The doubt flies in the face of the reality that many people have lifelong attachments to the city, state or country where they were born and raised, especially where relatives remain.

When Obama, D-Ill., was campaigning in Colorado three weeks ago, he joked that he connects to the West because one cannot go further west in the United States than his native Hawaii. Lingle later campaigned for McCain in Colorado and commented, without humor, that Obama had spent only a few years in Hawaii during high school and his claim that Hawaii is one of his home states was “;not genuine,”; the Greeley Tribune reported.

Much of Obama's 1995 memoir, “;Dreams of My Father,”; is about his years in Hawaii, where he was born and spent 14 of the first 18 years of his life, graduating from Punahou School in 1979. His sister, brother-in-law, niece and maternal grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, live in Hawaii.

“;If you read his materials about Hawaii, he certainly illustrates how it was important in his life,”; said Neal Milner, a political analyst at the University of Hawaii.

Obama vacationed in Honolulu in August to be with family and took a leave from the home stretch of the campaign yesterday to visit Dunham, 85, who is reported to be gravely ill. In the dedication of his 2006 book, “;The Audacity of Hope,”; Obama paid homage to “;Tutu, who's been a rock of stability throughout my life.”;

Lingle also has joined the McCain camp in its questioning of what retired Secretary of State Colin Powell correctly described as Obama's “;very, very limited relationship”; with 1960s radical William Ayers, with whom Obama sat on an education committee in Chicago in the 1990s. Endorsing Obama a week ago, Republican Powell called it “;inappropriate”; to connect Obama to “;some kind of terrorist feelings.”;

In campaigning for McCain, Lingle has ignored real issues that are important in Hawaii. A strong proponent of Hawaiian sovereignty, she has said nothing about McCain's unequivocal opposition to the Akaka Bill, which would grant such sovereignty. Obama has supported the bill.

Nor has she commented on McCain's health care plan. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Business Roundtable have opposed the plan, warning that it would unravel the employer-based health coverage pioneered and widely acclaimed in Hawaii and copied by many other states.

Asked by the Star-Bulletin's editorial board more than two weeks ago about whether McCain's health plan would essentially pre-empt Hawaii's health care system, Lingle said, “;I don't want to answer for sure. I can find out and get back to you.”;