I am excited, but worrying (unnecesarily) why they would even bother with Hawaii if they didn't think they might need it to win.
If they felt like they were sinking... they wouldnt be going to solid democratic states. Besides, its just Cheney, not Bush himself. If they were desperate they would be sending Bush
No... that's not the point. Nobody ever has bothered to campaign there because it's always been a solid dem vote. The dems haven't ever campaigned there because they haven't needed to do so to win it, and the Repubs haven't campaigned there because there would be no point in it.
That Hawaii might be up for grabs is a huge unreported story. The current polling there suggests that the state will break for Bush, or at the very least is very close, and this would be huge. Sending Cheney there is a good move, and could be a heavy factor in keeping the lead there.
I share your concern as well, but on the other hand--Kerry should have had this state locked up from the get-go. If anyone told the Kerry camp months ago that less than a week before election day they'd be vying for HI's votes, they'd say you were a lunatic.
And we've been hearing from the dems how Kerry apparently has FL and OH. While I'm very worried about those two states, I don't buy that it's in the bag for them. If they were, they wouldn't need HI's EV, period.
FGS, it's four electoral votes. It's like spiking the ball.
see post 72. This is insurance....even if hell breaks loose on virtually every other battleground state and Kerry wins most of them except Florida and Wisconsin and Missouri (my post includes some that aren't real battlegrounds, just ones that the polls have gone wacky on sometimes), Bush would still win by taking the 4 votes from HI or NH.