It's a bit like an extra who appears in a few scenes telling people, "Hey, go see my movie when it comes out."

Or like somebody who spots a famous person at the next table in a restaurant then saying they had dinner with so-and-so.

Maybe not that exaggerated, but the new Mufi Hannemann ads that show him hob-nobbing and glad-handing with Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama come off as, well, immodest.

Yes, Hannemann was co-chairman of Obama's Honolulu fundraiser during Obama's visit, and yes, he had the honor of introducing Obama at the big gathering at Ke'ehi Lagoon, but to turn his support for Hawai'i's clear presidential favorite into campaign commercials for himself? Talk about hitching your wagon to a star. Not since Ben Cayetano had Al Masini producing his inauguration floor show have we seen anything quite so flagrant in local politics. Good fun!

Adding to the cheekiness of the whole thing is that the quote from Obama was just the obligatory mahalo that a speaker gives to the person who just introduced him. He wasn't praising Hannemann out of the blue, he was thanking him for calling him up to the stage, like you'd say, "Mahalo to Uncle Chippy, the hardest working emcee in Kaka'ako."

Hannemann had just introduced Obama to the waiting crowd. Gave him a big buildup. Obama took the stage to cheers and, before thanking Hannemann, first introduced his wife. Then, he said, "I want to thank one of the best mayors in the country who has just made Honolulu even better than it was before: Mufi Hannemann." That's the quote in the ads.

The best part, though, is Obama doesn't quite say the mayor's last name the way everybody else says the mayor's last name. Obama doesn't mispronounce Hannemann, not really. But he makes it sound more like "Hanuman," the Hindu monkey king in the Ramayana epic.

It's a sure bet other candidates for local office across the country wish they had a sound bite of Obama saying their names funny for their campaign commercials. Pure gold. Who could resist working a little Obama magic into a local mayoral campaign?

Name dropping works best if the name you have to drop has star status. Who's Ann Kobayashi got for star power, Charles Djou?

Maybe it doesn't matter. Mufi Hannemann has become a love-him-or-hate-him kind of politician, and you have to wonder if anybody sitting on the fence will see these new campaign ads and go, "Hey, he's Obama's buddy! I going vote for him! Go Hanuman!"

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