Any list of Democratic convention highlights would have to include Hawaii Congressman Neil Abercrombie explaining what a "haole" is to a hootin' and hollerin' group of delegates, black and white, from Arkansas and Delaware.

That was the scene Thursday morning as those two states joined Hawaii for a pep talk from Maya Soetoro-Ng, Barack Obama's sister who has emerged as something of a family spokesman.

Abercombie, who has known the family since the 1960's and who attended Maya's wedding, was the warm-up act and introducer for Maya. His talk was vintage Abercrombie, a bit of stem-winding preacher style politics combined with a fair dose of emotion and humor.

"I'm Hawaii's answer to affirmative action," Abercrombie joked to an enthusiastic call-and-response choruses of "Yes!" from the other delegations. He went on to attack the "lies and distortions" of those who would portray Obama as too "exotic" or other-worldly for the American presidency.

"Hawaii? Exotic?" Abercrombie exclaimed. "Apparently not too exotic to have our Senior Senator, Daniel Inouye, get a Medal of Honor." Not too exotic, he added, to be the home state of the world's greatest athlete, Bryan Clay or the World Champion Little League team.

Abercombie's praise of Inouye was interesting since for a time there was a bit of a cooling between them as Abercrombie backed Obama and Inouye stood strong for Hillary Clinton.

Abercrombie spun emotional as he talked about the possible day when Obama is inaugurated as President -- a day that still requires a hard and in many ways uphill battle against Republican John McCain.

That swearing in, Abercrombie noted, would (if it happens) take place "fifty years after I met his Mom and Dad at the University of Hawaii."

Maya's presentation put a human face on her brother, who has taken on a distant, rock star quality in some ways.

To her, she said, he is primarily just her big brother who looked after her when they were growing up in Hawaii. That morning, she said, she hardly had time to say good by to him as she rushed off because he was "in the john" as she rushed out the door.

Maya said she knows Obama and his wife Michelle as regular people, sitting around the kitchen table, talking about kids and playing Scrabble. But that is changing, she admitted.

"Barack and Michelle are no longer themselves," she said. "And I don't always feel the sheer potency of their presence."

Maya said it has been an experience meeting celebrities, political figures and, of course, Obama's runningmate Joe Biden and his family.

"They look like a Ralph Lauren ad," she joked. "What a contrast to our family."

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