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In other races across the country, particularly in tight ones, an endorsement from President Barack Obama might be greeted with a “thanks, but no thanks.”

But in Hawaii, where Obama was born and raised, a weekend e-mail announcing his support for fellow Democrat Colleen Hanabusa‘s campaign for Congress was met with an appreciative response.

“We’re very pleased and honored to have President Obama’s outspoken support,” Hanabusa campaign spokesman Richard Rapoza said in an e-mail of his own on Saturday. “Standing at the center of the debate on the direction our nation will take, he understands better than anyone what is at stake in this election.”

Obama’s approval ratings have dropped nationwide, and some Democratic congressional hopefuls might be trying to distance themselves from the president and his policies. But Obama remains a strong brand in the islands.

Neither Obama’s endorsement nor Hanabusa’s fundraising edge in July and August have done anything to tamp down Republican aspirations to hang onto the traditionally Democratic 1st Congressional District seat. It’s been held by Charles Djou since he won three-horse special election in May to replace Neil Abercrombie, who had stepped down to run for governor.

Monday morning, National Republican Congressional Committee Regional Press Secretary Joanna Burgos blasted out a statement titled “Analysts: Djou has advantage in race for Congress.”

In the announcement, Burgos quoted from the most recent analysis of the race by the self-described-nonpartisan . According to Burgos’ e-mail, the Sept. 24 installment of the “” (log-in required) included this nugget about Hawaii’s 1st Congressional District:

With only one candidate in the race against GOP Cong. Charles Djou, Democrats are extremely confident that State Sen. Colleen Hanabusa will take this seat back for their party. In fact, this is one of four seats nationally that Democrats count in their column as they assert Republicans actually need to win 43 seats for a majority. But not so fast. There is little evidence that voters are willing to throw Djou out of office after only a couple months on the job. A private Democratic poll showed the congressman leading by double digits. This race is not over, and Djou may even have the advantage.

The analysis didn’t tilt the for the race. As of Friday, the Djou-Hanabusa matchup was described as a “pure toss-up,” making it one of four Republican seats that’s most at risk in November’s election.

A poll that shows Djou up by double-digits in a district widely considered to be deep blue certainly caused our ears to perk up. So Civil Beat called two Democrats working closely with Hanabusa to see if there’s any truth to the rumor.

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Western Regional Press Secretary Andy Stone said he was not aware of such a poll, while Rapoza, the Hanabusa camapaign spokesman, said there have been a lot of polls floating around, but nothing like the one described by Rothenberg.

“I have not heard of any poll showing him with any substantial lead at all,” Rapoza told Civil Beat Monday. “If anything, what we’ve heard is that the trend is clearly in Colleen’s favor.”

In early August, Republicans leaked a survey conducted by a GOP pollster showing Djou with an early eight-point lead. With just five weeks remaining before election day, any private polls showing Djou with an edge — “substantial” or otherwise — could mean Democrats are counting on Obama’s endorsement to provide a much-needed boost.

Time will tell.

Here’s the full text of Obama’s e-mail endorsement, provided by the Hanabusa campaign:

In just 20 months, this movement has accomplished a tremendous amount.

But we couldn’t have done it without the Democrats in Congress who were willing to take a stand and fight for policies that would move America forward.

And with so much still left to be done, and too many families struggling to get by, we need to keep America moving forward — which means I need you to support Colleen Hanabusa for Congress.

Just like in 2008, you can make the difference this year.

You can go door to door to ask folks to support Colleen. You can make calls to voters in your area, and make sure they get to the polls. And you can spread the word about the importance of voting for Colleen Hanabusa to your family, friends, and neighbors.

With so much at stake right now, we cannot afford to let up — for one minute or one election.

With your help we developed our Vote 2010 strategy — and with your help, we’ll make sure to send Colleen Hanabusa to Washington to fight for you and your district, Hawaii’s 1st.

If Republicans win in November, their agenda is simple: take us backward to the failed policies of the last decade.

They would seek to repeal all the work we’ve done, and try to stop us from doing more.

They’ll fight to repeal health insurance reform that is ensuring a family with a sick child doesn’t worry about an insurance company denying them care when they need it most.

They’ll do everything they can to repeal Wall Street reform that puts you, the consumer, first and prevents big banks from irresponsibly gambling with our savings ever again.

And they’ll work to block our efforts to jump-start a clean-energy economy, reform our broken immigration system, and get more Americans back to work.

We cannot let that happen, and that’s why we all need to fight to get Colleen Hanabusa to Washington, to keep America — and Hawaii — moving forward:

Sign up to show your support for Colleen:

Thank you,

President Barack Obama