U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois may be on the brink of the Democratic presidential nomination, but state party leaders are trying to avoid turning the party's state convention in Waikiki this weekend into an Obama coronation.

Two-thirds of the more than 1,000 delegates at the convention are expected to be behind the Hawai'i-born senator who swept the party's caucuses in February. But party leaders are delicately trying to maintain neutrality because some of the party's veteran activists and volunteers prefer U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.

Party leaders want the Obama delegates, including many new to politics and attending their first convention, to feel welcome, yet do not want the Clinton loyalists to feel pushed aside given that the nomination has not been officially sealed.

Many party activists also want to get beyond the nomination campaign and integrate into the party's aging apparatus some of the thousands of new Democrats who joined the party for the caucuses.

"The concern from the party is when it's over, we're going to need to be able to come together and work to get a Democrat in the White House," said Florence Kong Kee, the party's political director. "And that's going to happen."

At the state Republican convention last weekend, the local GOP placed large banners and photographs of U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican nominee, around the ballroom at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Kong Kee said Democrats do not plan anything similar for Obama and Clinton, although it is likely that delegates with Obama T-shirts, stickers and signs will be the prevailing visual.

Maya Soetoro-Ng, Obama's sister and a history teacher at La Pietra Hawai'i School for Girls, will introduce U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, tomorrow morning, and the Obama faithful are planning a visible show of support during the congressman's speech.

Abercrombie, who has campaigned for Obama on the Mainland, said he plans to hit themes of unity and renewal in his remarks.

"I think this is a real chance to bring the party into the 21st century. That's what his nomination means," the congressman said by phone from Washington, D.C.

On Sunday, former Makiki state representative Brian Schatz, who has been a leader in Obama's local campaign, is favored to be elected party chairman over Annelle Amaral, a former Kunia state representative and O'ahu Democrats' chair.

DELEGATE BREAKDOWN

Obama will get 14 of the state's 20 pledged delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August based on his performance in the caucuses. Clinton will get six. If Schatz is elected chair and his preferred vice chair, Kari Luna, a Maui teacher, is chosen by the state central committee after the convention, Obama would also have six of the state's nine superdelegates.

Obama has personally endorsed Schatz and has also signed a letter of support for James Burns, a retired chief judge of the state Intermediate Court of Appeals, for the last available superdelegate slot. If Burns is chosen, Obama would have seven superdelegates.

"We want them to understand it's their party. And that, to the extent that we're going to be able to achieve the kinds of things that Barack is talking about, that it's not a situation where we can stop in May or November even," said Andy Winer, an attorney and Democratic strategist active with the local Obama campaign. "It's a commitment to go beyond that, so we need them to be involved at the party level and stay involved."

Winer said party membership jumped after the record turnout at the caucuses in February, when more than 37,500 participated, and the challenge now is retaining new members at a level beyond the "phenomenon of Barack."

He said the convention is partly about "knitting the forces together that need to be together for Barack to do well."

INOUYE WON'T BE THERE

U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, who has endorsed Clinton, will not attend the convention because he is getting married this weekend in Los Angeles. The senior senator has videotaped a message that will be shown Sunday at the convention that describes both Clinton and Obama as fine candidates but reiterates his support for Clinton.

Linda Chu Takayama, an attorney who is managing Inouye's 2010 re-election campaign, said there are no hard feelings in the local Clinton camp and suggested that reports of tension between local Obama and Clinton supporters have largely been manufactured in the news media.

"From the Clinton side, it was always very professional, very low-key, very much business as usual," Takayama said.

WOUNDS HAVE HEALED

State House Majority Leader Kirk Caldwell, D-24th, who has supported Clinton, said he expects to see a lot of energy and enthusiasm for Obama, especially from new members, which he believes is a good thing for the party.

Caldwell said any "scar tissue" from the caucuses has mostly healed. "We're friends, the Clinton and Obama people, so it's hard to hold a grudge for very long," he said.

One Obama loyalist, speaking on background, described the differences between the two camps as like trying to iron a wrinkled shirt.

"Sometimes you just can't get the doggone thing ironed out," he said.

While the total number of potential delegates to the convention has not changed much during the past few election cycles, party leaders are describing this convention as the largest in recent history because more than 1,000 delegates plan to attend, double the number from 2006.

By tonight, delegates will likely know whether there will be significant debate this weekend over the party's platform and resolutions.

Activists, for example, have been discussing a potentially controversial resolution related to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

CONCON RESOLUTION

State Rep. Della Au Belatti, D-25th (Tantalus, Makiki, McCully), plans a resolution that would set some recommendations for a state Constitutional Convention if voters call for a convention in November. Belatti said the recommendations could involve which year a convention is held, the number of delegates, and whether delegates should receive public financing for their campaigns.

Maui and Kaua'i Democrats, in postings on their Web sites, have described a Constitutional Convention as a "Republican sneak attack on our rights" and cited threats to water access and labor unions.

Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona and several other Republicans have recommended a Constitutional Convention, in part so people can debate ideas outside the state Legislature, which is controlled by majority Democrats.

Belatti is among several Democrats, including former congressman Ed Case, who have been discussing a possible convention.