Perhaps it is easier to get 40,000 people to sign a petition than to get one person to run for mayor.

Because if so many people oppose Mayor Mufi Hannemann's stubborn push for rail then he should be voted out of office and an anti-rail mayor put in his place.

There is no anti-rail candidate for mayor. There is no opposition to Hannemann's candidacy, though there is lots of loud opposition to his decisions as mayor, particularly on the mass transit issue.

It would seem an obvious tactic to the "Stop Rail Now" efforts. If there's no Hannemann, the rail plans would pretty much stop. But instead of fielding or backing a challenger to Hannemann, rail opponents are trying to get a voter initiative on the ballot.

Vote for rail, vote against rail. Let the people decide. But at the same time, they'd be re-electing by default the politician who is looking at rail as a career-making project that will prove once and for all he can get the job done.

The filing deadline for Honolulu mayor is three months away. There is no one on the horizon to challenge Hannemann. Try to come up with a list of potential candidates. Charles Djou? He is gearing up for a congressional run in two years and besides, he doesn't have the Kalihi street-cred and hardscrabble story to win outside of his East Honolulu district.

To create a formidable candidate to challenge Hannemann in such a short amount of time would take a ton of money, a genius marketing campaign and more baby-kissing, O-bon dancing and house-to-house glad-handing than even a whole family of Gabbards could muster.

Anybody who steps into the mayor's race at this stage runs the risk of looking Randy Iwase-esque; so naive and lonely in his lackluster, undistinguished campaign against Linda Lingle for governor.

So is opposition to rail as widespread and heated as some would have us think?

Depends where you live.

If you sit in traffic to and from Kapolei every day, that's one thing. If you live in someplace like Hawai'i Kai or Kailua and are already paying extra taxes for a thing you'll never ride, that's another. If you live in Salt Lake and are considering which would be the lesser evil, an elevated train or an elevated freeway, well, you might want to have an elected leader make that decision for you.

The indecision of the electorate is fueled by the indecision of the politicians they have elected. The City Council has been hopelessly, miserably deadlocked.

Hannemann made his decision long ago. A vote against him is a vote against rail, but as of this point, there isn't anybody else to vote for.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.