Gov. Linda Lingle said yesterday she would campaign in six states on the Mainland for the GOP presidential ticket of U.S. Sen. John McCain and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

The Republican governor also will serve as a surrogate for Palin after the vice presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis on Oct. 2.

Lingle told reporters at a news conference at the state Capitol that she is scheduled to campaign for the GOP ticket in Michigan, Ohio, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts and Missouri.

Lingle said the Mainland swing, paid for by the McCain campaign, would be beneficial for Hawai'i because she will inevitably speak about the state at her appearances.

Lingle has been a national campaign surrogate for Palin, a friend she met through the Republican Governors Association, and spoke about Palin in a prime-time address at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., earlier this month.

Some Democrats have questioned why Lingle has been willing to be such a visible advocate for McCain, an opponent of a Native Hawaiian federal recognition bill, and for Palin, who unlike Lingle opposes abortion rights.

DEMOCRATS CRITICAL

Democrats also say Lingle's activism puts her out of step with local voters who support Hawai'i-born U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, the Democrats' presidential nominee.

Lingle said that being involved in the national campaign puts her in a better position to have access if McCain is elected president. The governor campaigned on the Mainland for President Bush during his 2004 re-election.

Lingle also said she believes McCain is the better choice.

"Senator McCain, overall, is just a much better person to lead the country, so I'm very comfortable being out speaking on his behalf," she said.

"I think his record is clear and superior to Obama's record. So while I guess you could pick any one issue on either side, if you weigh the candidates side by side, clearly Sen. McCain is better for our state."

Brian Schatz, chairman of the Democratic Party of Hawai'i, said it is surprising that Lingle would be campaigning so aggressively for candidates "who don't represent Hawai'i's interests on some of our largest issues.

"To be pushing for a ticket that wants to overturn Roe and will reject the Akaka bill is hard to take for some of us," he said, referring to the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion and to the Native Hawaiian recognition bill.

State Rep. Marcus Oshiro, D-39th (Wahiawa), chairman of the House Finance Committee, chastised Lingle for traveling to the Mainland for politics when state leaders are preparing for substantial budget cuts and watching the turmoil in the financial markets.

Oshiro said that as governor, Lingle has a different role in managing the state than some of the prominent Democrats, such as U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie and U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, who have campaigned for Obama on the Mainland.

"We are very disappointed that Gov. Lingle is again leaving Hawai'i and putting the national Republican Party ahead of the Hawai'i people," Oshiro said. "She should stay home and address the problem that we are facing. Her priorities are misplaced. The Hawai'i people should come first, not McCain and Palin."

TRAVELING FOR OBAMA

Andy Winer, Obama's state director, said local Democrats would continue to help Obama in the Islands and also in western states, particularly Nevada, where many Hawai'i transplants live. A group called Hawaiians for Obama is planning a trip to Nevada in mid-October for a cultural festival in Las Vegas. The local Obama campaign also plans get-out-the-vote training that weekend for volunteers who will be targeting voters in the Islands and the Mainland.

Lingle has been among Palin's vocal defenders and predicted after her nomination was announced in late August that she would not wilt under the national spotlight. Asked yesterday how she thinks Palin has been treated, Lingle said Palin has been held to different standards than male candidates.

Lingle said male candidates would not have had their experience and background questioned as much as Palin and would not have been asked how they planned to balance politics and family life. Palin has five children, including an infant with Down syndrome.

"I think, clearly, she's been held to a different standard, and she's done very well in answering all of the questions that have come her way," the governor said. "I think the challenge for someone like Sarah or anyone in that position is to go from being a governor of a state to now launched nationally is to hold on — and I told you this also at the time — is that she is not going to reinvent herself for this campaign. She is who she is.

"And I think that's the biggest challenge. I faced it when I went from being a mayor and then running for governor, because everyone wants to tell you how to change your hair, change your clothing, speak in sound bites instead of such long paragraphs, maybe consider this issue in a different way. It's just a lot of advice that comes your way. And you can imagine at that level the intensity and the magnitude of the amount of advice.

"And I think to keep to who you are is a big challenge."