I received a notice about a “unity rally” of Honolulu Advertiser employees at noon today where Congressman Neil Abercrombie is expected to make an appearance and offer support. The attachment with info was unreadable…But I’ve since learned the rally will be on the front steps of the Advertiser building. Remember the Star-Bulletin rally in the same spot back in 2000 or so when Gannett brought in the power washers?

And we just got back from our early walk and opened up the Advertiser to check election stories and other news. Guess what? No bylines! It appears to be a byline strike on the day of the rally. Perhaps there’s an explanation inside, and if so I’ll get to it in a few minutes. What a day to choose, as it will be a potentially historic item in Hawaii politics, both the caucus results and the absence of bylines.

Contributors to Hawaii Threads add several descriptions of the scene last night at different caucus sites. Hunter Bishop describes the scene in Pahoa on the Big Island. If you know of others, please let me know and I’ll add them here. More photos here from the caucus in Hana, Maui, another packed house.

And here’s a tidbit from the Hawaii Democratic Party’s delegate selection plan dated May 2007 that describes what was supposed to happen last night in addition to the presidental voting. According to the plan, once the presidential ballots are cast, then delegates to the state convention are elected from each precinct.

e. Precinct meetings will elect delegates and alternates to the State Convention. Any person
who has been registered as a member of the Democratic Party may be elected by the
precinct club as delegate or alternate to the State Convention. Delegates shall be elected
by voice vote.

f. Delegates elected by each precinct to the State Convention shall be composed of equal
numbers of men and women to the greatest extent possible. If the number of delegates
allotted to a precinct is an odd number, then the composition of the delegates may deviate
by one.

The unexpected crowds last night overwhelmed any possibility of precinct elections last night in our precinct (47-01) and, I expect, elsewhere across the state. Now the party is going to have to figure out how those selections are going to get done. Of course, if there ended up being some sort of rump session last night where precinct officers and delegates were selected after most people left, that’s going to bring another set of issues.

Very little last night went “by the book”. Hopefully the overwhelming turnout and energy more than makes up for procedural lapses.

The Progressive Democrats of Hawaii Blog has some interesting comments on the caucuses and other political issues.