Reply #36: I live in Hawaii

[Quetzal]

Has there been an uptick in Republican activity? Yes.

In 2000, Hawaii had THE lowest turnout out of any state in the nation. Why? Because everyone just assumed that Gore would win Hawaii - which he did by an overwhelming margin.

In 2002, Linda Lingle, a Republican was elected as our first Republican Governor since statehood. Does it mean that Republicans have a foothold here? Hell no. Unions rule this state and there is no way she can defeat them - especially since the Democrats control 37 of the 52 seats in the State House and 21 of the 25 seats in the State Senate.

The only reason she won was because the Democrats were suffering from large scandals and our Democratic nominee for governor entered the race late and was a poor campaigner.

Also, Mike Gabbard (A.K.A. Wingnut extroindinaire, BIG TIME anti-gay bigot) has stirred up the congregations of the conservative churches here. More people have registered as Republicans due to his running for the US House. He is up against Ed Case and will get creamed - but will not go down without a fight. He will demagogue gay marriage all the way till November 2nd.

If the Republicans win Hawaii, it will be a result of Democrats not coming out to the polls to vote. Why? Because they assumed Kerry was going to win Hawaii anyway.