"I love it when traffic is bad," she says with a smile. "That's when they all have to stop and look at my sign."

Like thousands of other people statewide, Muhlestein is participating in a Hawai'i tradition: roadside sign waving for political candidates.

Love it or hate it, nobody can ignore it. Candidates say it's an essential part of being elected. Sign wavers say it's participatory democracy at its best. Drivers say — well, they honk, smile, wave, gesture or sometimes scream.

For Muhlestein, whose father, Dickie Nelson, is running for a seat on the Office of Hawaiian Affairs board of trustees, it's the only way to communicate with voters when you're running a campaign without a budget.

"We've got really great ideas, but we're all volunteers and don't have any money, so it's really important to get exposure any way you can," Muhlestein said. "That's why I'm out here."

The conventional wisdom on political campaigns in Hawai'i, from Congress down to the school board, is that nobody gets elected because of sign waving, but nobody gets elected without it. Even a political "lock" like U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye was seen out sign waving one recent morning.

Consultants say that standing along a noisy, hot roadside in the early morning or late afternoon sends a message: I care enough to be here. A sign waver doesn't make any promises, get to bad-mouth an opponent, or even look particularly good. But consider the alternative:

"If you don't sign wave, people are going to wonder why not," says John White, a coordinator in Duke Bainum's campaign for mayor. "People expect it. If you're not out there, they'll wonder if you really care. It's a tradition that you have to uphold. It would be very difficult to win without it."

"Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if there wasn't any sign waving, but I can't really picture it," agreed Gail Haraguchi, a grassroots coordinator for Mufi Hannemann.

It wasn't always so.

The sign-waving tradition in Hawai'i is widely considered to date only to 1968, when Charles Campbell, a little-known educator and candidate for the Honolulu City Council, used sign-waving high school students to attract attention to his campaign.

Campbell finished second in the race that year and went on to a long career on the council and in the state House of Representatives.

"One of the reasons that roadside practice has become so popular is that candidates, both rich and poor, want to identify with what the practice symbolizes in the minds of most voters — an honest candidate who is not controlled by financially powerful forces," Campbell wrote in a handbook he authored for other sign wavers just a few years later.

Sign wavers say the experience can be joyful, tedious, fulfilling, frustrating and many more things. Most say they do it out of a sense of concern and conviction, the first thing you can do beyond voting to help change the political landscape in Hawai'i.

"It's more than just a show of support. It's something that can really make a difference," said Mike Yee, an environmental consultant from East Honolulu who has been out four or five times this year to support Hannemann.

Veteran sign wavers like Paul Chang, who has been out on the streets about a dozen times this year to support Bainum and three other candidates, said it takes a little effort but the rewards are worth it.

"It's a little like going out to exercise," said Chang, a service representative for the Carpenters Union. "You don't always feel like doing it after work, but once you get going, you feel the benefits."

For most sign wavers, the rewards come in the form of smiles, shakas and — best of all — a beeping horn from a passing motorist. Drivers tend to be the most boisterous in the Waipahu, Mililani and 'Ewa areas and wave the most in urban Honolulu, according to several veterans.

"Getting that little toot from someone driving by is the best you can hope for," Muhlestein said.

Both mayoral campaigns this year have highly organized structures, including phone trees, to turn out sign wavers on demand. Each day, both sides have six to eight groups of sign-waving volunteers assigned to regional areas from Hawai'i Kai to the North Shore.

Larger groups of up to 200 volunteers also can be assembled for statement-making appearances, like the groups that were gathered side-by-side outside KITV television studios Tuesday night, when the candidates were debating inside.

"A lot of people really believe in a candidate and this is one way to bring them together to help," Haraguchi said.

"Sessions are generally limited to less than two hours. That's about the limit that people can stand before they get really tired or bored."

Advice from the regulars: Pick spots that have high traffic volume and plenty of parking, wear good shoes, bring lots of water and change your hand position on the sign frequently.

"Generally, the reception is so heartfelt that it really brings people together," Haraguchi said.

Of course, not every honking horn is filled with aloha.

Sign waving became so popular so fast in the 1970s that it created a backlash from people worried about pedestrian safety or the "visual pollution" that the signs caused.

The anger culminated in a Maui County ordinance and then a state law prohibiting hand-held signs. Both laws were struck down in federal court by judges who ruled that the laws impinged on a sign waver's freedom of expression.

Even so, resentment lingers. An Advertiser readers' survey about sign waving in 1996 drew more than 100 responses, with opponents outnumbering supporters two to one. A sampling of the responses:

• "Hate 'em. Distracting to driving. Insincere on wavers' part. Doesn't make for intelligent, informed choices."

• "Anyone who has nothing more to do than stand in the rain with a silly smile, waving a sign, is hardly fit to represent me in government."

• "Looks cheap. Please, let's have some class and dignity. Maybe then the politicians will have some, too."

This year's sign wavers admit they encounter occasional negativity like that but try to not let it bother them.

"I figure they're just angry for being trapped in high traffic," Muhlestein said.

"The good thing is they pass by in three seconds," Haraguchi added.

Nobody takes it personally, said Mike Freitas, a 57-year-old Hannemann supporter from Makakilo who was standing shoulder to shoulder Tuesday along South King Street with 42-year-old Patrick Gomes, a sign-waving Bainum backer from Nanakuli.

"We're all going to be living on the same island next week after the election is over," Freitas said. "Maybe in a couple more weeks we'll be at a meeting on the Leeward Coast together holding signs for the same issue together."