BORN TO RUN

Only 5 1/2 more months to file as a candidate for public office

And they're off!

Candidate nomination papers for Hawaii's primary election became available Monday — and already, some three dozen hopefuls have pulled papers, says the state Office of Elections.

The deadline for all candidates to file is 4:30 p.m. July 20. All, that is, except for candidates in the special election for the 1st Congressional District seat soon to be vacated by Rep. Neil Abercrombie. That deadline will come sooner but has yet to be announced.

Also pending is definitive word on when Hawaii's primary election will actually be held. Right now it's slated for Sept. 18 — but that could be moved up to August due to a new federal law aimed at giving deployed troops enough time to vote.

In such a lively election season, voters can keep in the loop on dates and developments via the Web site.

ON A ROLL

With friends like President Obama, who needs enemies?

For the second time, President Barack Obama is feeling the heat from Nevada officials and business leaders for suggesting that going to Las Vegas can sometimes be inappropriate.

Specifically, he said yesterday during a town hall meeting in Nashua, N.H.: “;When times are tough, you tighten your belts. You don't go buying a boat when you can barely pay your mortgage. You don't blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you're trying to save for college.”; Oops.

Early last year, he had slammed corporate beneficiaries of federal bailout money from taking junkets to Las Vegas, which visitor officials there partly blame for a subsequent drop-off in tourism.

The peeved include Obama's Democratic colleague Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, of Nevada, who said, “;The president needs to lay off Las Vegas and stop making it the poster child for where people shouldn't be spending their money.”;

Well, better Las Vegas than Hawaii.