With five days until Hawai'i's Democratic caucuses, campaigns for the leading candidates are ramping up as volunteers reach out through phone banks, potlucks and rallies featuring local celebrities and "high-profile guests."

And why not? Hawai'i party members will get a chance to voice their opinions while the Democratic presidential nomination is still up for grabs. In most years, the candidate has already been picked by the time Hawai'i weighs in, but the historic race between U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York is still very much a race

Hawai'i Democrats don't just get to choose between the first woman and the first nonwhite leading candidates, but also whether to choose a Hawai'i-born-and-raised contender.

Obama, a 1979 graduate of Punahou School, might have a hometown advantage, but his campaign isn't taking that for granted.

"I believe he connects with a whole range of people and I think Hawai'i is special for him and we call him the third senator for Hawai'i," said volunteer Amy Agbayani, who took 10 days' vacation from her job at the University of Hawai'i to work on the campaign.

"I think Hawai'i is a small place and when we think we have someone from Hawai'i doing so well, people are proud of him. We believe he was influenced a great deal by his life in Hawai'i and we feel he won't forget people when he's in the White House," she said.

But the campaign knows there are obstacles. "Sen. (Daniel K.) Inouye's support for Clinton and the union support for Clinton is formidable," Agbayani said.

The Hawaii Government Employees Association, the state's largest union, is backing Clinton and will host her daughter, Chelsea, for a rally at the HGEA building on Maui from noon to 2 p.m. Sunday.

She is expected to arrive on O'ahu tomorrow.

Obama supporters will hold their own rally Sunday, with an "Obama 'Ohana" potluck at Kapi'olani Park from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

His rally at UH-Manoa's Campus Center will feature actress Kelly Hu and musician John Cruz. It runs from 3 to 4 p.m. tomorrow.

Obama's Hawai'i campaign has been gaining momentum, but formal organization only began within the past couple of weeks, when it became clear that the contest between Obama and Clinton would not be settled before the Tuesday caucuses.

Georgia McCauley, who left her job as executive director of Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies to campaign for Obama, said she's campaigned for other candidates, but that this effort has been different.

"It's unusual to have a presidential campaign where a person does not have infrastructure already established," McCauley said. "This is entirely grassroots."

In fact, when supporters first wanted to organize, they were told to throw house parties, attend rallies and join together with other supporters on the Internet and in person.

"The really exciting part of this campaign is that it has grown organically for the last 10 months and only recently have we overlaid a true professional campaign structure," said Obama volunteer Brian Schatz.

Clinton's local efforts have been off to a slower start, but yesterday morning her local campaign welcomed national volunteers and yesterday afternoon she held a teleconference with local reporters.

"We're hitting the ground running," said campaign spokesman Jin Chon. "We know we have an uphill battle in the state, but we have a lot of committed volunteers and supporters and we hope to be competitive."

For the next six days, the campaigns have one similar goal: to let people know that they have to come out on Tuesday if they want to have a say in which candidates the state delegates support at the national convention.

"Part of our effort over the next few days is in getting the information out about caucusing," Schatz said. "It's actually pretty surprising to us that people don't know that Tuesday is their opportunity to support Sen. Obama."

Obama's campaign will be targeting youth. Schatz visited with 'Iolani School students yesterday while the head of the Students for Obama spoke at another school.

Starting today, more efforts will be concentrated at UH, Schatz said.

Unlike in a regular election, when name recognition can be a major factor, there will be less sign waving and more one-on-one contact to make sure people understand the caucus and presidential preference poll process.

"We're totally focused on getting out the vote," Schatz said.

Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.