Obama Wins Big in Hawai‘i
February 26, 2008
HONOLULU — In the state with the largest proportion of Asian Americans, Barack Obama won a resounding victory over Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Hawai‘i caucuses Tuesday night, gaining the upper hand in the Democratic presidential race.
With 100 percent of the votes counted in Hawai‘i, where Obama was born and attended high school, Obama had 76 percent to Clinton’s 24 percent.
The triumph in Hawai‘i, along with a win in the Wisconsin primary, made 10 straight for Obama, and left the former first lady in desperate need of a comeback in a race she long commanded as front-runner.
The win ensured that Obama would pick up most of the state’s 20 delegates and came on the heels of an impressive victory in the Wisconsin primary (in which he picked up 74 delegates) held the same night.
Voter turnout was larger than expected even for party officials. Stuart McKinley, communications director for Hawai‘i’s Democratic Party, said local Democratic officials were prepared to handle 15,000 voters but that more than 35,000 party members cast ballots. McKinley noted that the election was the largest thus far for a Democratic Party caucus in Hawai‘i.
Although both candidates opted to campaign in Wisconsin instead of visiting Hawai‘i, the Clinton campaign sent the candidate’s daughter, Chelsea, to Hawai‘i for a three-day swing prior to the caucus, while Obama’s sister Maya Soetoro-Ng, along with actress and Hawai‘i native Kelly Hu, stumped for Obama in the islands.
Hawai‘i Congressman Neil Abercrombie, an Obama supporter, admitted that Obama had a “built in entree having been born and raised here,” but added that Obama’s “message of inclusion” and emphasis on diversity that “defines us, not divides us” were factors in his Hawai‘i victory. Abercrombie called Obama’s bid for the presidency “no longer a campaign; it’s a movement.”
Several major Democratic politicians, including Hawai‘i Sen. Daniel Inouye and state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, supported Clinton in the days before the caucus.
Next up are the March 4 primaries in four states, including major contests in Ohio and Texas, each with more than 100 delegates at stake.
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