It’s amazing how quickly Neil Abercrombie exited center stage. One day he’s chief executive of the state of Hawaii, the next day you don’t see him around much.

Of course, he lost his re-election bid Aug. 9. Badly.

Now, one of these four聽men hope to聽take the reins from the governor this fall: Democrat David Ige, Republican Duke Aiona, independent Mufi Hannemann or聽Libertarian Jeff Davis.

Davis is a long shot. The flier that I saw聽advertising the聽West Oahu Economic Development Association gubernatorial forum Tuesday didn’t even mention him, though he was part of the program.

Then again, voters who so easily dumped a Democratic Party incumbent in a primary may be very serious about a big聽change in leadership. Whoever wins 鈥� Mufi, David, Duke or Jeff 鈥� 聽it will represent a departure from Neil.

We’ll get to what the Fab Four had to say about the challenges and opportunities for the part of Oahu that runs from Waipahu to Makaha 鈥� the main topic of the WOEDA forum 鈥� but first a little news regarding聽their positions on same-sex marriage.

With the exception of Davis, who seemed disappointed聽by a聽question asking whether same-sex marriage “is behind us,” the other three candidates had more solid answers聽regarding聽the controversial 2013 legislation.

Law of the Land?

Aiona, who served as lieutenant governor under a governor who vetoed civil unions, said the legislation is now the law of the land. He does not propose to overturn it,听but he said same-sex marriage is still an issue “in hearts and minds,” both here and across the聽nation.

Aiona said he sees no “finality” to the issue: “It will always聽be something discussed.” The U.S. Supreme Court would ultimately rule on the聽matter, he said, something he called “unfortunate” because it will be nine unelected people. (Aiona is a former judge.)

Hannemann said, if elected governor, he would swear to uphold the law.聽But he would not have called a special session on same-sex marriage, as Abercrombie did. His basic philosophy is that “the voices of the people need to be heard.”

Like Aiona, Hannemann would have preferred the question be put on the ballot. He made an聽analogy to rail, an issue for which he led the charge as Honolulu mayor but a priority聽he said he would have abandoned had voters elected to kill it. (They did not.) Hannemann also said it was important to respect and tolerate diversity.

Ige pointed聽out that he was the only candidate to have voted on the matter, and he voted yes. He reiterated his support for extending the same benefits that straight聽couples have to gay couples and said the legislation struck a balance聽by protecting the rights of clergy and churches who opposed gay marriage.

But Ige also said that democracy allows for continual challenges to constitutions and laws, suggesting that if enough people聽want to change things, it’s “always a possibility” that laws 鈥� presumably including same-sex marriage 鈥� could change.

Ige is the giant聽killer, the man who did what seemed impossible by beating Abercrombie in a huge landslide.

Back to Davis. He called the question of whether the state had put same-sex marriage behind it “divisive.” His solution was for everyone to take “one step forward” to “the middle” and聽“with aloha.”

Some more news: Hannemann wants to take away the zoning power聽of the Hawaii Community Development Authority and give聽it to the city. He said the city could do a better job of zoning for more affordable housing, and he called HCDA’s control over things a “big puka” in the聽city’s necessary聽purview. Let HCDA instead focus on infrastructure in Kakaako and developing Kalaeloa, where area residents are clamoring for a racetrack.

Elephants in the Room

This was the first general election gubernatorial forum where all four candidates participated. Ige pulled out of a Grassroot Institute of Hawaii forum聽Friday, citing problems with the institute’s videotaping guidelines.

It was not a debate. The candidates were not allowed to rebut or challenge one another, though it was clear some wished for the opportunity. (Hannemann, for example, took a shot at Aiona, noting that Gov. Linda Lingle pushed for the Hawaii Superferry without first obtaining聽the necessary聽environmental impact statement.)

Freer exchanges of ideas聽may come in later forums, but credit goes to WOEDA for sponsoring Tuesday’s forum and to聽 for broadcasting it live. (It will rebroadcast several times next week on Channel 49.)

The candidates took questions on education, homelessness, housing, rail development, government waste and transparency, economic stimulation and digital media. You can read, listen and watch elsewhere for the聽answers聽each gave. Many of them have already been covered and are available on the candidates websites and literature.

Here’s聽some other observations.

Ige is the giant聽killer, the man who did what seemed impossible by beating Abercrombie in a huge landslide. He has grown more comfortable in his public appearances, and he has honed his message through a long primary season. He will never be an exciting candidate, capable of moving crowds with his rhetoric. He’s an engineer from Pearl City, after all. He approaches government from the often dull legislative side. Yet, he is competent and, by dint of his primary victory and the fact that he is a Democrat, the frontrunner in this race.

Aiona is tan, rested and ready, as is sometimes said of candidates who lost big races but bided their time until they had another chance.

Hannemann is the experienced executive, the man who ran Honolulu and has a track record to prove it. He believes he would do a far better job than Ige in “bringing people to the table” and crafting solutions, since he’s already done it. He ran a terrible campaign for governor four years ago and an uninspired campaign for Congress two years ago. But he’s smart, passionate about governance and hungry to get back in the game.聽He聽appears as聽relaxed, focused and motivated as he was聽when he聽was first elected mayor, albeit narrowly, in 2004. It is very聽challenging to run as a third-party candidate without much financing, but Hannemann has thrown himself into it with renewed gusto.

Aiona is tan, rested and ready, as is sometimes said of candidates who lost big races but bided their time until they had another chance. His body language and confidence tell you he thinks this is his year, and he’s been getting good feedback about his chances across the state. Aiona聽is conversational and comfortable on stage and has relished his work as a coach and a substitute teacher over the past few years.聽Electing him and running mate Elwin Ahu, he said, would be a historic first: two Hawaiians in the top slots. Some聽polls and pundits have him 鈥� for now 鈥� winning on Nov. 4.

(It’s obvious that Hawaii Republicans believe the race is between Ige and Aiona. Shortly after the WOEDA forum,听Party Chairwoman Pat Saiki released a list of what she sees as evidence of Ige’s habit of “constantly saying one thing and doing another.”)

Hannemann is the experienced executive, the man who ran Honolulu聽and has a track record to prove it.

Davis is an unusual candidate, representing a聽non-mainstream party with little electoral success. He speaks too much in clich茅s, as聽when he complains that nobody wants to talk about the “elephant in the room,” meaning the fact that Hawaii imports nearly all of its food and energy needs. He repeats himself a lot (“elephant in the room,” “pay to play,” “solutions, solutions, solutions”), which detract from his message.聽But his message, detailed on a single piece of blue paper that he held up one too many聽times Tuesday, may appeal to many: that Hawaii has the highest cost of living, housing and聽electricity; that traffic sucks and homelessness is rising; that there is only so much room on an island. (When’s the last time you heard a politician bring up the topic of population control?)

Davis can ramble on, but he is smart and articulate and he cares about what he says. He deserves recognition for actually setting up a tent in Kakaako and camping out with homeless families to raise awareness. He’s got a point聽that a pay-to-play culture in which special interests money keeps flowing into the pockets of beholden politicians may be聽a big reason why we have some big聽problems.

Whether Davis will聽be invited to future gubernatorial forums, especially on network TV, remains to be seen. He certainly mixes up the status quo, though.

The Train Is Coming

A final point: The聽WOEDA forum was held at a school that wasn’t built聽just a few years ago, on a road that聽did not exist and near a rail line that had not begun to rise. There is nothing much else for miles around, and the brush fires burning on the Makakilo hillside聽are a reminder of just how rural much of West Oahu is.聽But it is聽changing.

Photographer PF Bentley and I ran into Hannemann before he entered the UH West Oahu ballroom, and I commented on how the rail was visibly progressing. The former mayor broke into song:

I hear the train a comin’
It’s rollin’ ’round the bend,
And I ain’t seen the sunshine,
Since, I don’t know when. …

Change is coming to Oahu and to Hawaii, and one of these four men will soon be the chief conductor.