U.S. Sen. Barack Obama has purchased TV ads in Hawai'i that could start airing today, an indication the Islands may now be relevant in the campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.

With the nomination unsettled after Super Tuesday, the campaign now moves to state-by-state contests over the next several weeks where every delegate is important.

Democrats in six states and Washington, D.C., will vote before the Hawai'i caucuses on Feb. 19. Local volunteers for the Hawai'i-born Obama and U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York said last night they plan aggressive campaigns for what in the past have been largely meaningless caucuses.

Wisconsin Democrats will also vote Feb. 19 and will likely be seen by the candidates as the bigger prize. But Obama's ad buy is the first sign the campaigns may devote some attention to the Islands.

"Hawai'i has been a powerful and meaningful example for him, for his campaign," said Maya Soetoro-Ng, Obama's sister. "He genuinely loves Hawai'i. He recognizes that so much of what he is was born here. It was here where he really first learned to tear down boundaries, to build bridges, and to negotiate understandings."

SURGE IN INTEREST

Soetoro-Ng, a history teacher at La Pietra Hawai'i School for Girls, plans to campaign on Kaua'i and Maui and join house parties on O'ahu for her brother. "I want people to recognize that we do have an important role here and we need to stay committed and active and show that we can participate and we are as engaged as the rest of the nation.

"We have a voice and we intend to use it."

Linda Chu Takayama, an attorney and local Clinton volunteer, likened the interest in the nomination to an "ultimate reality show" that has brought new voters to the Democratic Party.

"We think it will have some impact on people's response to our caucuses," said Takayama, who is close to U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, a Clinton supporter.

State Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, D-21st (Nanakuli, Makaha), a local Clinton volunteer, said the Super Tuesday results "mean the focus is going to shift to Hawai'i."

"For the Obama campaign, it's got to be a victory in Hawai'i because it's his home state," Hanabusa said. "For the Clinton people, it's going to be an issue of it being truly a moral victory if we are able to hold our own in Hawai'i."

'YOUR VOTE WILL COUNT'

Voter turnout at the caucuses has historically been fewer than 5,000 people. Party leaders are now expecting substantially more people to attend and are making plans to accommodate larger crowds. On caucus night, people can both join the party and vote in the caucuses, and while the party has scheduled a minimum of 30 minutes for the presidential preference poll, party leaders said they will let anyone in line sign up and vote.

"Your vote will count. This is a chance to give your vote a voice," said Jeani Withington, a Big Island attorney and the party's interim chair.

A six-day break in the primary and caucus schedule leading up to the Hawai'i caucuses could also mean that high-profile surrogates, or perhaps one of the candidates, may visit the Islands, Withington and others said.

Inouye and the Hawai'i Government Employees Association and other labor unions behind Clinton are expected to bring people to the caucuses. Obama volunteers, including U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, former Makiki state Rep. Brian Schatz and attorney and Democratic strategist Andy Winer, are depending on energized activists to take advantage of Obama's local roots and message of change. The local Obama campaign also may benefit from the well-connected network of alumni from exclusive Punahou School, Obama's alma mater.

CAMPAIGN SUPPORT

Obama volunteers have been working telephone banks for weeks and may now get some help from the national Obama campaign in the form of staff and paid media. Last night, at a Super Tuesday viewing party for Obama volunteers at Ryan's Grill at Ward Centre, young activists were seen calling potential caucus voters from their cell phones.

"It used to be sort of the tail at the end of the dog," Chuck Freedman, a local Obama volunteer who works for state House Majority Leader Kirk Caldwell, D-24th (Manoa), said of the Hawai'i caucuses. "People should recognize that this is a chance to make a difference in the most amazing nomination campaign we've ever had."

Iokona Baker, who works for the state judiciary and lives in Kailua, said he is inspired by what he described as Obama's vision, passion and integrity.

"He seems to have inspired a whole section of the populace that has long since lost faith in the process," said Baker, who was at Ryan's Grill last night. "I don't know why I came tonight, but I had to. I'm so looking forward to this breath of fresh air. I believe in him. I do.

"I can't help but be inspired."

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com.