If you're interested in Barack Obama's Hawaii roots, take a look at this story by Honolulu-based AP writer Sudhin Thanawala.

The AP story focuses on Obama's years at Punahou—the private school founded in 1841 by missionaries.

The AP article makes a great deal about how the school (yearly tuition $16,000) is elitist.  To its credit, it's also the largest single-campus private school in the United States and one of the best regarded. 

The school has produced business leaders (Steve Case), actors (Kelly Preston), athletes (Michelle Wie), even Polynesian navigators (Nainoa Thompson).  But never before a major presidential candidate.

Hawaii's senior U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye, a Hillary Clinton supporter, tried to make a point of Obama's Punahou ties right before the Hawaii caucuses.  The "elitist" ploy didn't work.  Obama outpolled Hillary three-to-one.

Even though he's now from Illinois, Obama is Hawaii's favorite son in the race.

Oh, and believe it or not, that's Obama's 1979 Punahou graduation picture, above.  A national magazine ran it, identifying it as Obama's graduation from Harvard Law School.  We doubt anyone ever graduated from Harvard wearing a maile lei and getting his diploma from former Punahou president Rod McPhee.

 

The Democratic presidential caucus at Koko Head Elementary School last night wasn’t chaos. It was more like college registration in the bad old days before computers—long lines, and nobody knew which one to stand in. People were, by and large, frustrated but patient.

Up on the stage, trying to make herself heard, was precinct chair Amy Monk. In a normal presidential year, perhaps as many as 100 people might show up for this caucus. 

“They told us to expect 200, we prepared for 300 and got 1,000,” says Monk.

To vote, people had to register both as voters and members of the party. The caucus ran out of forms by about 6:30 p.m., so someone—no one got his name—took blank forms to his nearby office and made hundreds of copies. He was rewarded with cheers.

“This is the strangest election I’ve ever seen,” said new Hawaii resident Mae Ariola, as she filled out the paperwork. It was—people clustered around cafeteria tables, while precinct captains shouted themselves hoarse, passing out ballots. By the end of the evening, the ballots weren’t much.  Just scraps of paper you filled out with a pen.

Despite the confusion, everyone who got there by 8 p.m. got to vote. Groups of volunteers counted the paper scraps—watched over, literally, by the international press.
 
RAI Italian Television had sent Andrea Salvadore and a cameraman to cover the scene in this small elementary school. Salvadore seemed a little bored. “At the Iowa Caucuses, people made speeches, moved across the room from one candidate to another, very emotional,” he said. “This is going to be a landslide for Obama.”

He was right. Hawaii-born and -raised Barack Obama carried Koko Head, 760-259, and the entire state by a landslide.

 

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama is a pretty good comedy writer.

Or maybe he should just be thankful that his—or David Letterman’s—joke writers aren’t on strike with other television scribes.

The former Hawaii-resident and graduate of Honolulu’s prestigious Punahou Schools rattled off a humorous Top 10 list on tonight’s Late Show with David Letterman.

Obama’s contribution to Letterman’s fertile collection of Top 10 lists?

Top 10 Barack Obama Campaign Promises.

Alas, there was no mention of our state anywhere on Obama’s Top 10 list. But Hawaii residents might want to be thankful for that.

Here’s the list:

10. To keep the budget balanced, I’ll rent the situation room for sweet sixteens.

9. I will double your tax money at the craps table.

8. Appoint Mitt Romney Secretary of Lookin’ Good.

7. If you bring a gator to the White House, I’ll wrassle it.

6. I’ll put Regis on the nickel.

5. I’ll rename the tenth month of the year Barack-tober.

4. I won’t let Apple release the new and improved iPod the day after you bought the previous model.

3. I’ll find money in the budget to buy Letterman a decent hairpiece.

2. Pronounce the word nuclear, nuclear.

1. Three words: Vice President Oprah.


UPDATE: Click here for a Late Show video clip.