U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois added more superdelegates to his quiver yesterday as Brian Schatz, one of Obama's main volunteers in the Islands, became chairman of the Democratic Party of Hawai'i.

Schatz was elected chairman by delegates at the party's state convention in Waikiki and becomes a superdelegate to the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August. The state central committee picked Kari Luna, a Maui teacher and Schatz's preferred choice, as vice chair and a superdelegate. The committee also chose James Burns, a retired chief judge of the state's Intermediate Court of Appeals who was personally recruited by Obama, as the party's last superdelegate.

Obama, who was born in Hawai'i, has secured seven of the state's nine superdelegates and took 14 pledged delegates to the national convention through his overwhelming victory in the February caucuses. U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York has the support of two superdelegates and earned six pledged delegates through the caucuses.

While Obama is expected to get the party's presidential nomination, the delegate math, even in Hawai'i, is still important to his campaign, and local volunteers worked feverishly at the convention to make sure the superdelegate makeup matched Obama's caucus performance.

Democrats closed their convention yesterday on a theme of unity, although there were still a few spasms between the Obama and Clinton camps.

U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, who has endorsed Clinton, told delegates in a videotaped message that loyalty and his word are his bonds but promised to fully support the party's nominee. As the Inouye tape aired, dozens of Clinton supporters held "Hillary" signs aloft.

Inouye and U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawai'i, who addressed the convention live, asked majority Democrats to embrace their differences and come together to challenge Republicans.

"Diversity is enriching and constructive," Akaka said. "Division is destructive."

Schatz, who defeated former Kunia state Rep. Annelle Amaral for party chair, said Democrats need to keep their disagreements civil and in perspective.

"Our real opponents this year are not each other. Our real opponents are the failed policies of George Bush," Schatz told delegates.

Democrats will attempt to saddle U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona — the presumptive Republican presidential nominee — with President Bush's record and in particular the war in Iraq. Local Republicans, meanwhile, are starting to describe Obama as too liberal.

"America cannot afford another four years of Jimmy Carter," said state Senate Minority Leader Fred Hemmings, R-25th (Kailua, Waimanalo, Hawai'i Kai), likening Obama to the former president.

With Schatz, 35, now chairman, the party has a younger face and an identification with Obama that might give some of the thousands of new recruits who have joined over the past several months some validation.

Burns described the youthful activism as a revolution and said he agrees with Obama's message of change. He said if his father — party icon and former governor — John Burns, could devote his life to politics, he could give some time to the party now that he is not on the bench.

The Burns campaign for superdelegate, however, was an example of the competition between the Obama and Clinton camps. Burns had a letter of endorsement from Obama and was thought to be the favorite, but Clinton supporters pushed for a comparable candidate, with Jennifer Goto Sabas, Inouye's chief of staff in Honolulu, finally stepping forward.

The state central committee was forced to choose between Burns, whose family is legendary in party politics, and Sabas, the senior senator's point person in the Islands. Burns won by three votes.

"I'm really not a politician," the retired judge told reporters afterward. "But I want to get involved in the party."