Obama stays out of public eye in Hawaii

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - HONOLULU — As Barack Obama decides if he'll seek the Democratic nomination for president, the Illinois senator has stayed out of the public eye in Hawaii this week. Obama didn't make an appearance at a small rally outside the federal building in Honolulu on Thursday, where supporters tried to drum up grass-roots support for him to run for president in 2008.

Obama's sister, who told The Associated Press last week that her brother would decide if he'll run for president while on vacation in Hawaii, is now declining interviews.

"The world will find out soon enough," said Maya Soetoro, who has received several interview requests in the past week.

Rep. Neil Abercrombie (news, bio, voting record), D-Hawaii, who organized the gathering of about 25 people, said Obama's island roots and aloha spirit single him out as the best choice for 2008.

"He's a new generation of hope that will have our diversity define us rather than divide us," said Abercrombie, who held a sign that read, "If you run, we will be your feet" and showed a pair of flip-flops. "This is just a small number of the grass-roots force that is developing, a tsunami of support."

Supporters have tried to find ways to encourage Obama without intruding on the Honolulu-native as they begin grass-roots campaign efforts.

"We figure that the best way to get him to run is not to bug him right now while he's deciding and relaxing," said Brian Schatz, the state director of Hawaii's effort to urge Obama to announce his candidacy.

Obama has been spotted on the golf course throughout the past two weeks, but has veered away from any public appearances or interviews. He played at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu with friends on Wednesday and was seen at Olomana Golf Links in Waimanalo twice last week.

Obama, 45, has stuck to his plan to take a break from his busy schedule, play golf and basketball with old buddies and enjoy the ocean. He's staying at a hotel on Oahu with his family for the holidays and had planned to spend a lot of time with his grandmother.

During his visit, Hawaii supporters also helped sponsor a television ad to promote Obama. It aired here last week and included photographs and clips from speeches he has delivered.

A telephone message left at Obama's Washington office was not immediately returned Thursday.

Growing up in Hawaii — with its melting pot of mostly Asian, Polynesian and European cultures and religions — has provided Obama with a diverse background needed to pull the country together, supporters said.

The son of a black student from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas, Obama was born in heavily Democratic Hawaii where his father had come to study. Obama graduated from the prestigious Punahou high school in Honolulu in 1979, then went on to Columbia University. He has a law degree from Harvard.

Abercrombie said he told the lawmaker from Illinois last week that he would work in Hawaii and in the U.S. House to gain support for an Obama presidential campaign.

Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals Chief Judge James S. Burns , president of Waialae Country Club, golfed with Obama on Wednesday after meeting him through a mutual friend. The two enjoyed themselves with four other players and did not talk politics, Burns told The Honolulu Advertiser.

"He was very relaxed and he had a great time on the golf course," Burns said. "He had some good shots and some bad shots. He's very friendly, and of course everyone wanted to say hello to him, meet him and take pictures with him."

[Stoner]

Of course he's staying out of the public eye. The less he speaks the less harm he does to his potential campaign race.