This is from Kerry Spot reader Justin, who may make a great campaign consultant someday:
If I was part of the Bush campaign, I would seriously consider a brief trip to Hawaii. Two big questions:
How could he do it without costing up time in other battleground states?
By using the time zones to his advantage, Bush could pull it off. Most of the campaigning takes place in the Central and Eastern Time Zones. Hawaii is five hours behind Central Time and six hours behind Eastern Time. If he left the Central or Eastern time zone in the late afternoon/early evening, he could arrive in Hawaii for a late rally. Jump off the Air Force One and deliver the stump speech while the rest of the US sleeps, and then head back stateside overnight. It would be a very brief visit, but it could be done. Remember too, that Saturday night provides an extra hour due to Daylight Savings Time.
Why would he do it? First, Hawaii may be close. The RCP average shows Bush with a .9% lead. Second, a visit to the islands would get more than it's fair share of press. Coverage would see this as brilliant at best and only a novelty at worst. Third, there's probably no state in the union that would have as high an electoral payoff relative to the amount of time actually spent in the state. A few hours on the ground could reap huge benefits in a close state because these are voters that are historically ignored. A candidate who meets with them face to face - even if it's brief - could sway a lot of undecided voters. Finally, a surprise overnight trip partways around the globe could remind some voters Bush's Thanksgiving trip to Iraq which was one of the highlights of his term in office which certainly wouldn't be a bad reminder.
I'm not a travel or campaign logistics expert, but I think if he could pull this off, 4 electoral votes in Hawaii would be a whole lot easier to mine with just one visit than the war of attrition that is the battle for New Hampshire's four votes.
