In 2004, Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi was one of Mufi Hannemann's leading supporters in his mayoral win against Duke Bainum.

Before Hannemann was sworn in, I noted in a column how Kobayashi was used to getting her way as City Council budget chair and posed the question: Was there room for two alpha personalities at Honolulu Hale?

The relatively mild observation drew a call from Hannemann's brother, Gus, accusing me of having it in for the new mayor - my first inkling of the surprisingly thin skin we'd see from this administration.

The question, as it turned out, was on the mark.

Hannemann and Kobayashi butted heads often until a council reorganization partly engineered by the mayor ousted Kobayashi from the powerful budget seat and dumped her into the minority.

It left her little reason to stick around the council for another term, and she ended up opposing Hannemann for re-election - making a good enough showing in Saturday's primary to force him into a general election runoff that definitely wasn't the way the mayor planned to spend the fall.

Kobayashi isn't the only Hannemann ally from 2004 to turn adversary. Republican Sen. Sam Slom delivered Hannemann a key endorsement against Bainum, but he supported Panos Prevedouros this year and some Hannemann backers have referred to him "Sam Slum."

Kahuku businessman Joe Pickard headed Hannemann's 2004 transition committee and was the recipient of a controversial $1 million city transit contract, but now he's donating to Kobayashi.

Hannemann has also picked seemingly unnecessary fights with potential rival politicians like Gov. Linda Lingle and Senate President Colleen Hanabusa that have come back to bite him. Lingle gave encouragement to the Stop Rail Now petition and Hanabusa was a major force in persuading Kobayashi to run for mayor.

Hannemann's failure to finish off Kobayashi Saturday can be read partly as a reflection of voter concern about the smashmouth politics he's practiced for the last four years - one of Kobayashi's top issues.

Hannemann toned down the combativeness during the primary and ran a mostly high-road campaign, but he indicated Saturday night that he'll come out swinging in the general election.

There are certainly fair questions to be raised about Kobayashi's record; she led some of the most chaotic council budget deliberations ever and was better at tap-dancing than problem-solving on politically touchy matters like trash and bus fares.

But Hannemann will have to be careful about swinging wildly. There's a limit to how much you can get away with beating up a little 71-year-old woman - especially one who is tough and can take care of herself.

When the mayor sniffed in the primary debate that Kobayashi insulted his parents by accusing him of bullying, she smacked him right back by listing nasty things he'd said about her and deadpanning, "I'm sure my parents are not happy either."

Hannemann is the strong favorite Nov. 4. He beat Kobayashi by nearly 20 points in the primary, still has $2 million to spend and did well in 2004 among the tens of thousands of additional voters who came into the general election to vote for president.

But anything can happen in this political environment. At the least, being taken to a runoff forces Hannemann to focus on his own race instead of devoting himself to battling the anti-rail initiative and dulls his luster as the invincible Democratic star who can stroll into the governor's office or the U.S. Senate.

To fully restore his shine, he'll have to not only win, but approach the 61.7 percent of the vote Lingle got on O'ahu in 2006.

David Shapiro, a veteran Hawai'i journalist, can bereached by e-mail at dave@volcanicash.net. His columns are archived at www.volcanicash.net. Read his daily blog, Volcanic Ash, at www.volcanicash.honadvblogs.com.

David Shapiro, a veteran Hawai'i journalist, can be reached by e-mail at dave@volcanicash.net. His columns are archived at www.volcanicash.net. Read his daily blog at blogs.honoluluadvertiser.com.