Why did Hawaii break so heavily for Kerry?

[FullCountNotRecount]

After it was so tight two days before the Election? Did Cheney ruin it for them? Really, if that state moved into Kerry's column, why wouldn't Nevada or NM?

[Dookus]

1. I doubt it was ever seriously in play

it was just a head game.

[Vincardog]

2. MN did 10,000 new NA voters did not go to Bush.

[demosincebirth]

3. I don't think it was ever close in Hawaii,

[liberalpragmatist]

4. It's always been heavily Democratic

Never voted Republican except in the Reagan and Nixon landslides. Gore won by nearly 20 points.

It was a little close towards the end, but ultimately voting habits die hard and there wasn't much reason for them too either. It was always extremely unlikely to go to Bush. And frankly, Kerry's margin there was still surprisingly small for such a heavily Democratic state.

[TaleWgnDg]

5. if you look at those 3 states, side-by-side, who they are, what

they are, you will come up w/ the obvious conclusion that Hawaii, by far, has the most progressive diversity of ppl, overall. And, it's reflective in their state laws (yes, I am aware of the recent constitutional amendment prohibiting same sex marriage) . . .

New Mexico is trying to enter into the progressive mode but has a long and deep history of western "conservative" politics and law too, same as NV.

[Straight Shooter]

6. Two days before election they were fighting for their lives

They didn't know if Rove would pull it off or not. They were taking no chances.

And it was good for ratings, and Crashcart got to go to Hawaii.

[George_S]

7. Maybe this doesn't mean anything...

State terminates deal for voting machines

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Staff Writer

A state administrative hearings officer yesterday canceled a Texas company's $3.8 million contract to provide electronic voting machines at Hawai'i polling places, but the decision will not disrupt balloting in the Nov. 2 election.

Even though the contract for electronic voting machines was canceled, a state official expressed satisfaction with the machines.

Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
Voters will still be able to choose between a paper ballot and the new Hart InterCivic eSlate electronic voting machine, which is meant to make it easier for disabled voters to cast ballots, but can also be used by others.

The awarding of the contract to Hart was challenged by Election Systems & Software, whose electronic voting system ranked second in the bidding. Sheryl Lee Nagata, State Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs hearings officer, concluded that Hart didn't have the required three years of experience with electronic voting systems at the time the contract was issued.

Hart InterCivic director of corporate communications Michelle Shafer, reached last night at the firm's headquarters in Austin, Texas, called the ES&S challenge "an example of sour grapes by a vendor who lost a procurement fair and square."

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Oct/22/ln/ln01p.html

[Ducks In A Row]

8. Rove forgot to fuck with the election there.

[GreenPartyVoter]

9. Are you kidding? Those folks had strong support for Kucinich

in the primaries. And rightly so, in my book. ;)

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[Quetzal]

10. My explanation can be found in this thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=147x562

Also, those polls showing a close race were only confined to the island of O'ahu. True, it is the most populous island, but there are other islands too.

And although Bush garnered a higher vote total this time, that is probably the most a Republican can ever recieve out of Hawaii. In other words, they reached their limit. *Note: this rule only applies when the national presidential race is highly contested.