U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois has a new radio ad airing in Hawai'i today that reminds voters of his personal connection to the Islands.

The 60-second spot, called "Special Place," follows television and radio ads that have been up for the past week urging voters to participate in the Hawai'i Democratic caucuses on Tuesday.

U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York has not been advertising in Hawai'i, preferring to concentrate financial resources in other caucus and primary states. But she has sent her daughter, Chelsea Clinton, to campaign in the Islands.

"Almost 50 years ago, my family came to Hawai'i in search of a better life. I was born here, and grew up here," Obama says in the new spot. "This beautiful state and its great people hold a special place in my heart. I'm running for president to give every child the chances I had, and it starts with a great education. We need to invest in early childhood education and recruit a whole new generation of teachers.

"And we need to change Washington too — put it back on the side of people again. My economic plan cuts taxes for workers, helps small businesses create jobs, and makes college more affordable."

An announcer describes Obama as "Hawai'i's chance to elect a native son president."

Jin Chon, a Clinton campaign spokesman who is in Hawai'i to help organize for the caucuses, said the Obama ad shows the caucuses will be competitive.

"The fact that the Obama campaign is putting this ad up so late in the game shows that they know this race is going to be competitive," Chon said. "Hillary Clinton has been talking about her plan to solve the challenges faced by families in Hawai'i and that message is resonating. Her connection to the people of Hawai'i and all Americans is clear — they know she will be the president to roll up her sleeves and make the changes that America needs."

Chelsea Clinton is scheduled to make appearances today and tomorrow on O'ahu and attend a rally on Maui on Sunday. She sent out e-mail appeals yesterday to Hawai'i supporters of her mother, urging them to help the campaign make 1 million telephone calls in the next few weeks before make-or-break primaries in Ohio and Texas.

"My friends ask all the time: 'What can we do to help your Mom win?' " she says in the e-mail. "Well today I have an answer for them and for all of us who support my Mom: we can make 1,000,000 calls."

The Clinton campaign is counting on Ohio and Texas to serve as a firewall against Obama, who is unbeaten in primaries and caucuses since Super Tuesday last week and favored in Hawai'i and Wisconsin on Tuesday.

State House Majority Leader Kirk Caldwell, D-24th (Manoa), who has endorsed Clinton, said it is difficult for Clinton to counter Obama's local roots. "I don't know how you top that, other than the fact that Hawai'i does hold a special place in its heart for Bill and Hillary Clinton. When the president would come out here with his wife and his daughter, they were received very well.

"I think there is still a warmth and a fondness there that is remembered," Caldwell said. "I think the best way to counter it is to remind people of that, and then to focus back on the bigger issue, which is who would be more prepared to lead the country upon assuming the presidency."

Dan Boylan, a history professor at the University of Hawai'i-West O'ahu, said Obama's local ties have created excitement around the nomination campaign and he believes it will have an impact on caucus voters.

The late U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink, D-Hawai'i, flirted with a presidential campaign in 1972 as an anti-war candidate, but no one from Hawai'i has ever been as close to the presidential nomination as Obama.

"I think there is great pride in him as a product of Hawai'i, as a product of Hawai'i's diversity," Boylan said. "That's the reason all of these people are coming out."

Obama's background in the Islands is often mentioned in biographical sketches, but the senator himself has not made it much of a staple of his national identity, instead concentrating more on the experiences that formed his early political years in Chicago.

David Plouffe, Obama's national campaign manager, said in a telephone conference call with Hawai'i reporters yesterday that Obama often talked about Hawai'i when he was campaigning in early caucus and primary states such as Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

The competition between Obama and Clinton has temporarily pushed U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the Republican front-runner, out of the discussion in Hawai'i.

Jo Ann Davidson, the co-chair of the Republican National Committee, who was here for the state GOP's Lincoln Day fundraiser Wednesday night, said Republicans believe they can compete in Hawai'i despite its Democratic tradition.

"This is not something that we would automatically write off and say it's not possible to do," said Davidson, a former state House speaker in Ohio who led President Bush's re-election campaign in the Ohio Valley in 2004. "I think that Sen. McCain, if he is our nominee, I think he'll run very strongly out here. There's lots of obviously defense-related interests out here, and everybody knows how strong he is on that particular issue.

"I think the people in Hawai'i are no different than the people in the other states. They're concerned obviously about taxes. They're concerned about government spending. (They're) not particularly interested in having the government control everything about healthcare. And they want a strong national defense."

Davidson said many Republican voters have concerns about trust with Clinton and experience with Obama. "They're pointing out each other's weaknesses, which keeps us from having to actually do that," she said.