By Laurie Au

Before the Sept. 20 primary election, the three front runners for Honolulu mayor only met in one debate at the Hawaii Theatre.

City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi and former opponent, University of Hawaii at Manoa engineering professor Panos Prevedouros (now her campaign’s senior adviser for infrastructure) made cheeky comments at public appearances together, noting that Mayor Mufi Hannemann would hardly attend community meetings or forums.

After Hannemann’s failure to win the primary election outright, it gave the public more time and opportunity to see Hannemann and Kobayashi side-by-side together.

Or maybe not.

Hannemann and Kobayashi have only one scheduled live debate before the Nov. 4 general election on Oct. 28 at the Hawaii Theatre again hosted by KGMB9 News.

Several ethnic chamber of commerces had talked to the campaigns about a lunch forum scheduled for next week, but that will not happen because of scheduling conflicts.

KHON2 attempted to set up a live mayoral debate in its studio on Oct. 23 without an audience. But plans fell through because of “the Hannemann campaign and Kobayashi campaign could not come to an agreement on a date for the event,” KHON News Director Lori Silva wrote in an e-mail to the Star-Bulletin.

Both campaigns said recently they had agreed to KHON2 debate. It is unclear what was the scheduling conflict. (KHON2 has scheduled a debate on on the city’s mass transit solutions that night.)

The only other forum the two candidates attended was a private gathering in front of a small group of business community members.

Hannemann frequently boasts that he loves debates and wouldn’t shy away from one. In the Sept. 10 debate, Kobayashi showed another side of herself and came out strong against Hannemann.

Hannemann’s campaign has less to gain by agreeing to a debate, which would give Kobayashi free exposure in a campaign with little money to run paid advertisements.

In a debate, both candidates would likely have to defend themselves as both campaigns shift into attack mode with less than three weeks left until the election. But this time, without Prevedouros there as the third candidate, Kobayashi would have to stand firm against Hannemann, a formidable debater, in their last of few one-on-one appearances.

By B.J. Reyes

“Good Morning America” has been on the road the past few weeks, doing a series called 50 States, 50 Days, traveling to every state to take a closer look at local issues and see how the presidential campaigns are resonating across the country.

Hawaii gets its turn Sunday.

Our media partner, KITV, recently talked to GMA Weekend anchor Bill Weir, who says the piece will feature the state’s unprecedented interest in the presidential race due to Hawaii-born candidate Barack Obama.

Weir also sat down with our own Richard Borreca, dean of the Hawaii Capitol Press Corps, to talk about a range of local topics from the sovereignty movement and the Honolulu mayor’s race to light rail and the proposed Constitutional Convention.

GMA Weekend airs 5 a.m. Sunday on KITV.

By B.J. Reyes

AP Photo

Welcome to the Star-Bulletin’s Political Radar live blog chat for the third and final debate between Barack Obama and John McCain.

Here goes!

>>> CLICK HERE TO PARTICIPATE <<<

If you’re looking for the debate on TV:

KGMB: Live now, rebroadcast at 8 p.m.
KHET: Live now, rebroadcast at 9:30 p.m.
KHNL: Live now
KHON: Delayed at 7 p.m. or after the NLCS
KITV: Live now, rebroadcast at 8 p.m.

We’ll be watching the debate on CNN.

By B.J. Reyes

With just under three weeks left before decision day, Barack Obama and John McCain are having their third and final debate tonight at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY.

AP Photo

Here at the Star-Bulletin’s Political Radar, we are going to try an experiment in interactive-ness.

We have invited a few local Democrats and Republicans, as well as a handful of political analysts, to send us their thoughts, comments and general reaction as the debate goes on. We will post them here and we invite your comments on the debate as well.

Come back to the Political Radar blog at 3 p.m. to take part in our forum!

By Laurie Au

Mayoral candidate Ann Kobayashi announced today her new transit plan to counter Mayor Mufi Hannemann’s proposed $4 billion rail transit plan. Read more about it in Wednesday’s Star-Bulletin.

There are lots of parts to this plan, which will likely get more vetted and criticized by Hannemann’s campaign in the last three weeks leading to the Nov. 4 general election.

There’s the funding issue. Kobayashi doubts Hannemann’s transit plans can get the $900 million promised by a ranking U.S. Representative. Hannemann doubts Kobayashi’s plan can qualify to receive funding from the state’s general excise tax, calling it an elevated highway.

And there’s the flip-flopping issue. Hannemann’s campaign is calling Kobayashi’s plan a reincarnation of a 2004 Bus Rapid Transit plan by former Mayor Jeremy Harris that she opposed.

Here are zip files of images the Kobayashi campaign released to the media today on her proposed transit system.

kobayashi-transit-plan1.zip

kobayashi-transit-plan2.zip

kobayashi-transit-plan3.zip

By B.J. Reyes

With two weeks to go before Election Day, a look at various polls shows Barack Obama slightly ahead of John McCain.

As Gov. Linda Lingle hits the campaign trail to stump for McCain and running mate Sarah Palin, she sees some similarities to her own political life.

But the similarities are not with the McCain camp.

In a meeting last week with the Star-Bulletin’s editorial board, Lingle recalled her 1998 race against then-Gov. Ben Cayetano.

“I was 10 points ahead a week before the election,” she said. “The other side made the point: She’s too risky. You don’t really know her. She hasn’t had the experience.”

Lingle lost by about 5,000 votes, a mere 2 percentage points.

Today, the arguments that were made against her eight years ago are exactly the points she will try to make against Obama.

“I kind of hear it the other way now,” she said. “Depending upon the financial situation on Election Day, people will be motivated by whether they feel it’s time to take a chance or not, because going with Sen. Obama, frankly, is taking a big chance, because he has no record, he hasn’t headed anything. He’s never been in a situation to make tough decisions.”

By Laurie Au

Aside from Mayor Mufi Hannemann’s continuing television and radio commercials, it was relatively quiet on the campaign trail for Honolulu mayor last week.

But this week, underdog City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi’s campaign hopes to build momentum in the last three weeks until the Nov. 4 general election — first with a “people power” fundraiser tonight and a major announcement for a new mass transit plan in a press conference tomorrow afternoon.

More than 400 supporters, including former Gov. Ben Cayetano and City Councilman Romy Cachola, attended Kobayashi’s second “Give What You Can” fundraiser tonight at Farrington High School. Kobayashi held a $100-a-plate fundraiser last week at Chai’s Island Bistro, and the campaign will hold another fundraiser on Oct. 18.

Hannemann’s campaign said last week it didn’t have any additional fundraisers scheduled before the general election. But as of the latest campaign reports, Hannemann still commands a huge advantage with $1.7 million as opposed to Kobayashi’s $2,000.

“I think it’s important for us to get the facts out,” said Kobayashi’s campaign manager, City Councilman Donovan Dela Cruz. “When you’re running against an incumbent with $2 million who’s flooding the airwaves, they’re trying to create the perception that the status quo is beneficial for the community.”

By B.J. Reyes

Just in time for Halloween, the Chicago Tribune is printing masks of your favorite political candidates.

Masks of the vice presidential nominees already are out, click here, with the visages of John McCain and Barack Obama slated for release later this week.

^^ Star-Bulletin reporter Richard Borreca interviews … Sarah Palin?

By B.J. Reyes

Fresh off her recent mainland swing to stump for the Republican presidential ticket of John McCain and Sarah Palin, Gov. Linda Lingle made the rounds to the local media yesterday to discuss her administration’s short- and long-term strategies for coping with the faltering economy.

Watch for a story on her five-point plan by Richard Borreca in tomorrow’s print editions of the Star-Bulletin.

Some blog readers had asked us to ask Lingle how she justified leaving on a political trip while the state faces a looming $900 million budget deficit.

“This is not a one-time event,” Lingle said. “This is something that’s going to be with us now for quite some time. So, again, we understood exactly what needed to be done. We had a plan in place – a long- and short-term plan.

“But I also feel very strongly that Sen. Obama’s plan for our country would devastate our economy in Hawaii, and I feel I have some obligation to do what I can to try and see that that doesn’t happen.”

Specifically, Lingle argues Obama’s proposal to increase taxes for those who make more than $250,000. would be detrimental to the state because many of Hawaii’s small businesses would fall under that threshhold.

“While I’m obviously cognizant of the ‘favorite son’ feeling toward Sen. Obama, this is not a sporting event where we’re supporting our quarterback that went to Washington–to the Redskins. This is about our life, our economy, our future as a state.”

By Laurie Au

Mayoral candidate Ann Kobayashi, expressing enthusiasm while announcing the endorsement of former opponent Panos Prevedouros, said she would unveil her new plans for mass transit in one week.

That was last week.

We’re still waiting.

Kobayashi told the Star-Bulletin earlier this week that she would reveal a new plan to solve Honolulu’s traffic woes at a 3 p.m. press conference today. At her headquarters this afternoon, campaign aides said the scheduled press conference wasn’t official and that she will likely not present the plan until next week.

“We’re still checking the numbers,” Kobayashi said today. “You know how the other side will react if our numbers are wrong.”

Kobayashi said the campaign is double-checking the figures for the estimated cost of her new proposal. Last week, Kobayashi declined to give out any details of a new transit plan. She would only say that is a hybrid of her preference of a sleeker “rubber-tire” bus system and Prevedouros’ proposal for toll roads to counter Mayor Mufi Hannemann’s planned $4 billion elevated rail transit system.

The Hannemann campaign prepared for Kobayashi’s big announcement by getting pro-rail advocates to call a news conference this morning even though no one outside Kobayashi’s campaign know any details yet.

“We don’t need to see their new plan,” said Justin Fanslau, campaign manager for “Vote Yes 4 Rail Now.” “It’s the same old tired thing that (anti-rail group) Stop Rail Now is introducing.”

But, it’s important to note that the only way for Kobayashi’s and Prevedouros’ transit plan to ever be implemented is if Oahu voters elect Kobayashi and reject a ballot question on the rail transit system.