U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, the state's leading Democrat, will return to Hawai'i to vote in the party's caucuses on Feb. 19, the first time in memory the senator has participated in the often-overlooked events.

"This is the first time in 40 years or more that he will actually attend the caucus," said Linda Chu Takayama, an attorney and the manager of Inouye's 2010 re-election campaign. "He will cast a vote for his candidate of choice: Hillary Clinton."

Local Clinton volunteers think Inouye's popularity can help bring Democrats to the caucuses and blunt the local appeal of Hawai'i-born U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.

State Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, D-21st (Nanakuli, Makaha), a local Clinton volunteer, said the campaign is focusing on traditional Democrats loyal to Inouye and to labor unions such as the Hawai'i Government Employees Association. The Clinton team has no immediate plans for local advertising, since its target audience is card-carrying caucusgoers rather than the more casual voters who only turn out in primary or general elections.

"We hope he's going to come out and stump," Hanabusa said of Inouye. "We know what our focus is and we know who our target audience is. They're playing to a primary audience, but we're looking at people who would go to the caucuses."

Obama's campaign launched local television and radio advertisements yesterday and continues to use telephone banks to contact potential caucus voters. Takayama said individual Clinton volunteers are calling voters and there are plans for "BYOP" — Bring Your Own Phone — gatherings.

Obama volunteer Brian Schatz, a former Makiki state representative, said the Obama camp is reaching outside the pool of Democratic regulars to people who have never joined the party or who have never before been politically active.

"Our strategy is to try to get as many people as possible to participate in the caucuses," Schatz said.

Voter turnout at the caucuses has typically been below 5,000 of the estimated 20,000 party members. During the 2006 primary election, by comparison, more than 238,000 voters pulled Democratic ballots.

Party leaders are accustomed to running their caucuses out of the public spotlight, with only party insiders familiar with the complex caucus rules.

Now that the caucuses could have a role in deciding the nomination, party leaders are clarifying exactly how many of the state's 29 delegates will be awarded based on the caucus results. Florence Kong Kee, the party's political director, is expected to confer today with the Democratic National Committee in Washington, D.C.

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com.