i L i n d . n e t

Hawaii is back in the national election spotlight with the opening this afternoon of the Democratic Party’s state convention. At least two issues are drawing national attention.

Most important is the election of three superdelegates who could make a key difference in the tight presidential race where every vote is likely to count. Delegates will elect a new state party chair and vice chair, who will both vote as superdelegates at the national convention in August.

Annelle Amaral, immediate past chair of the Oahu County Committee, is running for state chair against Brian Schatz. Both Amaral and Schatz formerly served in the State House.

Schatz is CEO of Helping Hands Hawaii, a nonprofit social service provider. He has been a spokesman for the Obama campaign in Hawaii, and his bid for party chair has been endorsed by Obama. Amaral is a former Honolulu police officer and a longtime advocate of women’s rights and reproductive justice who is active in the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs and president of Ahahui Siwila Hawaii O Kapolei . Amaral was a backer of Hillary Clinton but has pledged to cast her vote for Obama at the National Convention in accord with his overwhelming support during the party caucuses earlier this year.

The Obama campaign is backing Kari Luna, a Maui teacher and Obama supporter, as state vice-chair.

Obama has also endorsed Jim Burns as Hawaii’s additional unpledged superdelegate. Burns is the recently retired chief judge of the Intermediate Court of Appeals and son of former Hawaii Gov. John S. Burns. There’s a chance that former Gov. George Ariyoshi, who has increasingly enjoyed the role of elder statesman in the party, may run against Burns for the superdelegate slot. This position is filled by a vote of the newly elected State Central Committee on Sunday.

The Progressive Democrats Blog lists the various party positions to be filled by convention.

And there has already been a flurry of behind-the-scenes lobbying over the wording of a resolution calling for a balanced U.S. policy in the Middle East, which has prompted intervention by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (APAC) seeking to modify wording which they interpreted as anti-Israeli. Both Obama and Clinton have been actively courting Jewish voters, while among many grassroots Democrats there is concern over Israeli military policies and their impact on Palestinians. It’s a clash with obvious political overtones.

Meanwhile, Pacific Business News reports that a federal mediator is entering the talks between Gannett’s Honolulu Advertiser and its six unions. They are currently working under an extension of the last contract, which expired in June 2007.

And Ms. Annie leads the list of today’s Friday Felines.

We rescued Ms. Annie back in 2003, the last kitten that we adopted, if I recall correction. We found her on the beach, trying to scramble up a sandy bank towards Kamehameha Highway. She’s a very satisfactory cat and a good hunter, despite being the smallest of our current cats.

Just click for a few more.