By Steven Patrick
Congressional Quarterly

Electoral votes: 4

Delegates: 33

Chairman: Gov. Benjamin J. Cayetano

Hotel: Sheraton Pasadena (626) 449-4000

1996 Election:
Clinton – 57%
Dole – 32%
Perot – 8%

Democrats have dominated Hawaii - the only state in which Americans of Asian and Pacific Islander ethnicity make up a majority of the population - virtually since the island chain gained statehood in 1959. If Vice President Al Gore could not count on Hawaii's four electoral votes over his Republican rival, Texas Gov. George W. Bush, he could hope for few others.

Democratic presidential candidates have carried the 50th state in all but two elections. Richard M. Nixon carried the state in his 1972 landslide, and Ronald Reagan did the same in his 1984 romp. But George Bush, the father of this year's Republican nominee, lost the state to Democrat Michael S. Dukakis by 54 percent to 45 percent in 1988.

In 1992, Democratic challenger Bill Clinton stretched the party's margin to 11 percentage points when he defeated incumbent President Bush by 48 percent to 37 percent. Then, in 1996, Clinton won the state by an outsized 25-point margin, 57 percent to 32 percent, over Republican challenger Bob Dole.

All four members of the state's congressional delegation, Gov. Benjamin J. Cayetano, 85 percent of the state Legislators and most significant locally elected officials are Democrats.

Cayetano is the delegation chairman. Attending the convention as delegates are the state's members of Congress, Sens. Daniel K. Inouye and Daniel K. Akaka, Reps. Neil Abercrombie and Patsy T. Mink and Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono.

In a state in which Democrats have entrenched themselves so thoroughly, the only real concern for party leaders here is keeping the party from being seen as too liberal by middle-of-the-road voters. "I'd say right now we're left of center," said Albert Lardizabal, vice chairman of the Hawaii Democratic Party. "Center but not too left."

Here, as elsewhere for many Democratic leaders, too far to the left means Green Party nominee Ralph Nader, the consumer advocate and anti-free trade activist who some fear could take liberal votes from Gore in November. "He's a real pain," said state Democratic Party Chairman Walter M. Heen, a convention delegate. "He's drawing support from Democrats, especially in Hawaii."

In Hawaii - a state world-famous for its coral reefs, lava flows and white sand beaches - environmentalism runs strong, which could add to the attraction of the Green Party. As that party's 1996 presidential nominee, Nader garnered 3 percent of the state's vote, though he hardly campaigned.

Whether Democratic leaders' fears are realized, self-described liberals within the Hawaii delegation say they are willing to accommodate themselves to Gore's positioning as a centrist "New Democrat."

"I have no problem supporting him," said Faye Kennedy, a board member of the American Civil Liberties Union and former civil servant from New York. Although she said she wishes Gore were more progressive on such social issues as same-sex marriages (an issue of particular debate in Hawaii), Kennedy said she's backing him because "we know we don't have an alternative."

Delegates who initially supported Gore's sole rival for the nomination, former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley, say they are of a similar mind.

"We came in as Bradley supporters," said Edward Hasegawa, an educator and one of two Hawaii delegates still technically committed to Bradley. "But I'm a Democrat first, so for sure, I'm behind Al Gore."

Across the board, delegates said ensuring quality care for seniors and improving education should be Gore's top campaign issues and that Clinton would be more of an asset than a liability on the campaign trail - especially given the nation's strong economic performance.

Delegates also were united in their desire for Gore to stake out the policy differences between himself and Bush and to hammer those differences aggressively. "You can't shake the leaves down unless you shake the Bush," gibed Heen.

While delegates said they expect some contention at this year's convention between organized labor and New Democrats over such issues as normalized trade with China, labor activists within the delegation said overall they support the Clinton administration's new trade initiatives.

"They are just trying to balance it out to stay competitive," said delegate Arthur Defries, a retired construction worker and former union organizer.

In fact, the only serious controversy that has arisen within the Hawaii contingent stemmed from the national Democratic Party's desire to ensure gender equity within all delegations. After the first phase of Hawaii's two-part delegate selection process, Heen said "we were unbalanced" because of the largely male leadership. Consequently, four male delegates were dropped and replaced with women in order to reach a nearly even split of 17 men and 16 women.

Among those booted was Richard Port, vice chairman of the 1996 delegation and a former chairman of the state party. "There was a slight problem with him being taken off the list," said Heen. "But we were able to work it out."

HAWAII NOTABLES: Gov. Benjamin J. Cayetano, the delegation chairman; U.S. Sens. Daniel K. Inouye and Daniel K. Akaka; U.S. Reps. Neil Abercrombie and Patsy T. Mink; Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono; state Democratic National Committeeman George R. Ariyoshi, a former governor; state Democratic National Committeewoman Lorraine Akiba, director of the state Department of Labor; state Democratic Party Chairman Walter M. Heen.