In their first time on a stage together as mayoral candidates, Kirk Caldwell, Peter Carlisle and Ben Cayetano quickly established their roles.

Caldwell talked details and played up his hands-dirty management style. Carlisle threw shakas and shared his vision for the distant future. Cayetano shot from his hip, firing barbs not only at his opponents but at revered U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye — who Cayetano said is “out of touch.”

The 75-minute debate was part of a “pupus and politics” gathering at the Plaza Club downtown Wednesday night, and was attended by between 100 and 150 local business leaders and other Honolulu power players. It wasn’t open to the general public and wasn’t broadcast live on television.

Unsurprisingly, the controversial Honolulu rail project became a major focal point of debate. Cayetano opposes the project, while Caldwell and Carlisle support it, and rail was the starting point for some of the night’s sharpest exchanges. But other spats came out of nowhere.

On the subject of the cumbersome building permit process and clearing red tape for small businesses, Carlisle challenged Cayetano’s assertion that the current system is a “joke” because you get better treatment if you know the guys handling the paperwork for the city.

“If you have any facts or names of people who you can just call up and get things done just by calling up the building permit process and they’re committing a crime, you let me know and I’ll take care of it,” Carlisle shot back. “But before you make an accusation of that, you’d better have the facts to back it up, sir.”

(Speaking of facts, Civil Beat will be Fact Checking statements by candidates this year. The first one from Wednesday night’s debate is already in progress: FACT CHECK — Caldwell: Carlisle Raised Property Tax Rates)

Later, responding to a question from moderator Steve Petranik of Hawaii Business Magazine about his motivations for getting into public service, Cayetano, a two-term governor, downplayed Caldwell’s experience as a state representative and city managing director.

“You have never made a hard decision in your life,” Cayetano said, drawing some laughter from the crowd.

“None of us in this room may have been governor like Ben here,” Caldwell responded, “but I know that every single one of us in this room has made hard decisions in our life. I’ve made hard decisions. It’s insulting to think that because you weren’t governor that you didn’t make hard decisions.”

The fireworks generally involved Cayetano, for a few reasons. First, he was the most likely to say something sharp about an opponent. Second, he’s the early frontrunner after polls have shown him with a large lead. And third, Caldwell and Carlisle showed little interest in going after each other.

Example: About 30 minutes into the debate, each candidate was given the opportunity to ask one question of each of his opponents.

Cayetano asked both rail supporters what they’d do if the project ran out of money — a scenario Caldwell described as a “boogeyman” conjured up to scare voters. Carlisle asked Cayetano if both Inouye and Honolulu-born President Barack Obama are misguided in their support for rail, leading to quite possibly the juiciest quote of the night.

“Senator Inouye has been listening to the government. He’s never listened to the people,” Cayetano said. “Senator Inouye is up at the 30,000-foot level, dealing with national and international affairs. The senator should take time to go down to McDonald’s and talk to the retirees. … He’s out of touch, as far as I’m concerned. I respect Senator Inouye. He’s done a lot for our country and for our state, but you shouldn’t defer to him. Respect him, but not defer. What are you guys, potted plants? You’re elected to make decisions.”

Carlisle asked Caldwell if he thinks Inouye will be able to secure money for rail. That’s a comparative softball because of Caldwell’s support for rail and his well-known experience working for Inouye.

And when it came time for Caldwell’s questions for his opponents, he played the role of the underdog by attempting to squeeze a promise of three televised, open-to-the-public debates. Just like in the recent spat between Ed Case and Mazie Hirono over the debate schedule, the candidate behind in the polls generally needs the free exposure of a debate to make up ground.

Cayetano balked at having more than 10 to 20 people in the room, and Carlisle said he’d leave debate negotiations to Bert Kobayashi, a leading Honolulu attorney whose firm handles rail litigation and who has hosted a Carlisle fundraiser at his home.

Other patterns emerged.

Caldwell took every opportunity to bring up his daughter Maya, who’ll graduate from high school soon and go away to college. Carlisle took every opportunity to bring up technology and energy, referring to Honolulu as “a city in motion.”

And Cayetano took every opportunity to bring up the city’s failing infrastructure. He somehow turned questions about citizens’ health issues, including obesity, and providing jobs to young people so they don’t have to move away into questions about the aging roads, sewers and water system.

Those patterns, roles and rhythms are just now being established. With three months left and many more opportunities to compare the candidates, voters will become familiar with them before the Aug. 11 primary election.

UPDATE: Peter Boylan, deputy chief of staff for Inouye, sent us this email Thursday morning in response to Cayetano’s remarks: “Comments that mean-spirited and negative really don’t deserve a response. No comment.”