U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton won overwhelmingly among Asian-American voters in the California Democratic primary on Super Tuesday, but as the nomination campaign now comes to Hawai'i — the state with the highest proportion of Asian-Americans — there are doubts the pattern will repeat here.

More than half of the people in Hawai'i — 56 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau — identify themselves as Asian or part-Asian. But as a majority with full access to political and social power, Asian-Americans in the Islands are substantially different than Asian-Americans who are minorities on the Mainland.

"In the context of Hawai'i, groups like Chinese-Americans, Japanese-Americans, Filipino-Americans, these are significant constituents of society, so these groups do not have to necessarily categorize themselves together as Asian-Americans in order to have a voice in local politics," said Jon Okamura, an associate professor of ethnic studies at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa.

"There is also the sharing of a 'local' identity, which is far more common a collective identity than Asian-American. The term just never really caught on here."

Clinton's popularity among Asian-American voters may still be an asset in the Hawai'i Democratic caucuses next Tuesday, in which she will compete with U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, who was born here and graduated from Punahou School.

Hawai'i, along with having the highest proportion of Asian-Americans, also ranks first among states with people who are of two or more races, with 21.5 percent. Obama's father was from Kenya and his mother was white and from Kansas. The couple met as students at UH-Manoa.

In California, exit polls say, Clinton won as much as 75 percent of Asian-American votes.

The U.S. senator from New York had the endorsement of state controller John Chiang and other Asian-American leaders. The 80-20 Initiative, an Asian-American political action committee, also endorsed her, spent $30,000 in advertisements in ethnic media, and sent out thousands of e-mails tailored to different Asian communities.

"Asian-Americans focus more on stability and experience," said Frank Lee, the president of the Organization for Justice and Equality in the Bay Area, who is is a board member of the 80-20 Initiative.

CALIFORNIA FACTOR

The 80-20 Initiative — named for its goal of getting 80 percent of Asian-Americans to vote as a bloc — chose Clinton in California because the group believed she would fully enforce a 1965 White House executive order prohibiting discrimination in government employment and contracts. The group has since announced that it will remain neutral, after Obama noted that he, too, would enforce the executive order.

Lee said Asian-Americans may have also supported Clinton because she was involved in a proposed amendment to a federal immigration bill last year that would have helped reunite families that have been separated. "It really showed her willingness to help," he said.

Keith Kamisugi, communications director of the Equal Justice Society in San Francisco, believes many Asian-American voters went for Clinton in California because they were more familiar with her history than Obama's and were influenced by endorsements and Asian-American media.

In Hawai'i, Clinton has been endorsed by U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, the state's top Democrat, and state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, D-21st (Nanakuli, Makaha), along with the Hawai'i Government Employees Association and other labor unions.

But Kamisugi, who was born in Hawai'i and went to Mililani High School, does not believe Clinton will get the same level of support from Asian-Americans in the Islands as she did in California.

"In Hawai'i, Asian and Pacific islander cultures are the mainstream culture. That's not the case, even here in San Francisco," he said. "You don't judge voting in Hawai'i by Asian-American standards.

"To me, Hawai'i is Asian America."

Kamisugi and several other Hawai'i transplants on the Mainland, including actress Kelly Hu, are coming to the Islands this weekend to campaign for Obama.

PUNAHOU PANACHE?

Eric Byler, an independent filmmaker who graduated from Moanalua High School and now lives in Virginia, has been doing outreach for Obama among Asian-American and Latino voters, who have been trending toward Clinton.

"I think we're just beginning to awaken to the political power that we have," Byler said of Asian-Americans nationally. "In Hawai'i, they're accustomed to having an active role in politics. I think those who want to see a more participatory democracy, and those who want to see young people and people of color, and just see a more vigilant and involved electorate, those people are supporting Obama for obvious reasons.

"But the more passive consumers are sort of sticking with this idea that we can go back to the '90s and pretend the Bush administration never happened."

While issues of race and gender have influenced the nomination campaign, one theme that has not been brought up much in Hawai'i so far is social class. In a state where high-school allegiances often surface in casual conversation, the fact that Obama went to exclusive Punahou may be interesting to class-conscious voters.

"Anytime you hear that somebody went to Punahou, you're thinking, 'Oh that guy, he's a rich guy. He's got all the breaks in life.' Silver spoon, that sort of thing," said comedian Paul Ogata, who was born in Hawai'i and went to Pearl City High School and now lives in Los Angeles. "But when you hear of Obama's story it really speaks to the opposite of that. I think, anyway."

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com.