Hawaii GOP sees caucus as recruiting opportunity

Republicans begin to choose their presidential nominee with the Iowa caucuses on Tuesday, a process that will reach more than two dozen states before Hawaii votes in March.

For the first time, Hawaii Republicans will hold caucuses to determine which presidential candidates are awarded the state’s delegates to the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., in August. GOP activists hope the March 13 vote will help grow the minority party and give the islands a voice — however small — in selecting the nominee.

Hawaii does not usually play a significant role in presidential politics. President Barack Obama is widely expected to claim the state’s four electoral votes next November. Just two Republican candidates — Richard Nixon in 1972 and Ronald Reagan in 1984 — have won in Hawaii since statehood.

But majority Democrats showed in 2008 that caucuses can be a recruiting tool. A record 37,000 voters turned out to support the Hawaii-born Obama at caucuses that had never before drawn more than about 5,000.

Republicans want to emulate that success and, ideally, build some momentum behind a nominee that can hold Obama’s victory margin down in November. Former Gov. Linda Lingle, the leading Republican contender for U.S. Senate, and other Republican candidates would likely suffer if the president matches the 72 percent of the vote he took in Hawaii over U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in 2008.

"As (the late U.S. House Speaker) Tip O’Neill said, ‘All politics is local,’" said David Chang, the state GOP chairman. "So they may vote for Obama at the top of the ticket, but when it comes to district and state, I believe they really vote for what’s best for the state, not for one particular party."

Like in Iowa, where polls show that Republicans are divided, there is no clear Republican front-runner in Hawaii. Businessman Herman Cain, who has suspended his campaign, led former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in Hawaii in a Public Policy Polling survey taken in October. A straw poll taken at the state party convention on Kauai in May also had Cain up over Romney.

In presidential fundraising, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, has raised more than $40,000 in Hawaii — the highest among Republicans — while Romney has raised more than $35,000, according to the Federal Election Commission. Obama has collected more than $165,000.

Former congressman Charles Djou has endorsed Romney, but Lingle — the state’s most influential Republican — and none of the nine Republicans who serve in the state House and Senate have publicly chosen a candidate.

"I think what we need right now as a leader is someone who understands both business and government," said state Rep. Kymberly Pine (R, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point), who is leaning toward Romney.

Several of the state’s leading Republicans prefer Romney, who led an investment firm before he entered politics, and consider him the Republican in the field with the best chance to appeal to independent and moderate Democrats.

"Romney has the best potential to do well in Hawaii," said Dylan Nonaka, a Republican strategist and former party chairman.

Romney and Paul have paid the $5,000 fee to enter the Hawaii caucuses. Chang said former congressman Newt Gingrich’s campaign has indicated that Gingrich will likely enter. He has also heard from former senator Rick Santorum’s campaign. Gingrich and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., are the only Republican candidates who have personally campaigned in Hawaii.

Voters have to sign up for the Republican Party to participate in the caucuses.

"This is the first time we’re doing this in Hawaii, so it’s a very new concept," Chang said. "I don’t know if this first time around everyone will understand it. We’ll promote this as much as possible."

At the caucuses, Republicans will compete for 17 of the state’s 20 delegates to the national convention. Three of the state’s delegates — the party chairman, the Republican National Committeeman and the Republican National Committeewoman — are unpledged and can choose any candidate.

Some Republicans at the state convention in May did question whether the party should devote limited resources to staging presidential caucuses when history on the Democratic side suggests low voter turnout in the absence of local star power like Obama. But Republicans who see the presidential election as a recruiting opportunity prevailed.

State Sen. Sam Slom (R, Diamond Head-Hawaii Kai), who had supported Cain, said he has doubts that the caucuses can produce significant gains in party membership.

"I think it was just to get Hawaii into the mix, to have us participate more and all of that," he said. "But as far as getting more people in — I’m not sure about that."