Honolulu's $3.7 billion mass-transit project, whether it makes the November ballot or not, will likely be a measuring stick in the mayor's race and could spill into many City Council and state House and Senate campaigns this fall.

But what about the presidential election?

Michelle Salbedo, a customer care representative who lives in Waialua, said it probably would matter to her what U.S. Sen. Barack Obama and U.S. Sen. John McCain think of the project.

"I think it's going to be good for the economy and take a little bit of the cars off the road," Salbedo said.

In interviews over the past few weeks, many voters said they want to know how the presidential candidates would approach what would be the largest public-works project in state history, but are split over whether it will have much influence on how they vote.

Corey Christopher, a computer network engineer who lives in Manoa, called rail the defining issue of the mayor's race and said it would help determine how he votes for City Council and state House. But he said rail, which he opposes, is a local issue that would not figure into his vote for president.

"You have to look at the big picture. What's going on in the whole country supercedes," he said. "Look at the damage that's been done in the last eight years. It makes rail seem like small potatoes."

Voters choose presidential candidates for many reasons, from public-policy positions to life experiences to simply gut feelings about character, and local questions like mass transit rarely enter into national politics.

Yet candidates often have the most meaningful connections with voters when they can speak to — or are even aware — of local challenges such as traffic congestion. Their answers can also provide insight on how they would handle issues such as transportation and alternative energy if elected.

'MILILANI TOWN'

Obama, an Illinois Democrat who was born in Hawai'i and graduated from Punahou School, endorsed the city's mass-transit project last February in interviews with local reporters before the party's caucuses. At a private fundraiser Tuesday night at the Kahala Hotel & Resort, he mentioned the project in the context of infrastructure improvements that could help the nation's economy.

"We can reinvest in our infrastructure. We can do something so that traveling out to Mililani town is not such a burden," he said, as some in the audience shouted in support for rail. "We got a rail system I hear being talked about here in Hawai'i. But think about it. Think about it. We could build high-speed rail lines all across America, put people back to work. Rebuild our roads. Rebuild our bridges. Rebuild our water lines, creating not only an economic stimulus now but making ourselves more competitive into the future."

McCain, an Arizona Republican, said "the first step in any consideration of light rail or any other transportation system for the City and County of Honolulu is to let the people have a voice."

His stand is similar to Gov. Linda Lingle, a Republican, who signed a petition to put the rail question on the ballot but has not taken a position on the project.

McCain, in a statement to The Advertiser through his campaign, said he "believes we must not look to the federal government to solve all problems, or fund all solutions. Energy problems create entrepreneurial opportunities and to some extent we must allow the marketplace to create new solutions.

"Our nation's future security and prosperity depends on the next president making the hard choices that will break our nation's strategic dependence on foreign sources of energy and will ensure our economic prosperity by meeting tomorrow's demands for a clean energy portfolio."

McCain supports offshore oil drilling and other domestic oil and gas exploration as part of an "all of the above" energy policy that includes federal investments in alternative energy. For example, he has proposed a $300 million prize for the development of a more practical and efficient battery for electric cars.

Obama had opposed offshore drilling but has said recently that he would consider it as part of a compromise energy package.

Obama would also have the federal government invest in private clean and alternative energy efforts and have an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He also favors a windfall profits tax on the oil industry to help pay for emergency energy rebates for families having trouble with higher energy costs.

PRESIDENTIAL ALLY

A Circuit Court judge ruled last week that the city clerk should count the petitions collected by the group Stop Rail Now to place the mass-transit project on the November ballot. The city clerk had previously refused to accept the petitions because she said they were turned in too late to qualify for the ballot. The City Council is also considering charter amendments that would put the mass-transit project and a potential transit authority before voters.

The city's blueprint for mass transit assumes the federal government would cover $700 million of the cost, with an increase in the local general-excise tax paying for most of the project. During a tour of the project route last March, U.S. Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said the government could come through with up to $900 million.

Securing the federal money will likely depend more on the city's relationship with the Federal Transit Administration and the effectiveness of the state's congressional delegation than who occupies the White House, since the project would roll out over a decade, but city officials and others believe that having a presidential ally would help.

"I think whenever the chief executive of the government — if he were supportive — I think that's reflected in the general attitude of his appointees as well. So I think it would be very helpful," said Wayne Yoshioka, director of city's Department of Transportation Services.

U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawai'i, who serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said the president could help set the tone.

"I think that having a president who has that kind of perspective — and who says mass transit to move people using (less) oil — I think that's a good thing. It would make a difference. Certainly it would help," said Hirono, who has endorsed Obama.

Honolulu City Councilman Charles Djou, a rail critic, said Obama's and McCain's positions on mass transit provide far more insight into their approaches to government than to the future of the project.

"It does give Hawai'i voters an insight into and help them distinguish between Obama and McCain. But, I think, it's not, per se, in terms of Honolulu's rail project, but about how they look at government," said Djou, a Republican who has endorsed McCain. "I think it's very clear Obama is much readier to have a large, expansive government than John McCain is."

Karen Sasaki, a receptionist who lives in Mo'ili'ili, is concerned the mass-transit project will further increase local taxes and believes the project would not benefit her even though she lives near one end of the planned route. She said rail will definitely be an issue in her choices for mayor and City Council.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann, rail's main advocate, is being challenged by City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi, who prefers a rubber-tire-on-concrete option, and University of Hawai'i-Manoa engineering professor Panos Prevedouros, an active rail opponent who doubts the city's ridership and congestion reduction estimates.

But Sasaki said the presidential election, for her, is at a different level and that she will be influenced more by Obama's and McCain's thoughts on national issues.

"I don't know what they could do to convince people. I don't know if it would make a difference," she said of the candidate's opinions on rail. "I wouldn't hold that against them."