The Georgia Straight has devoted lots of coverage to the Vancouver mayoral race, which is what this paper should be doing.

However, I am under the impression that even though there are five politicians with a high public profile in this contest, it hasn't gotten the residents of Vancouver very excited. At least not yet.

Each camp's organizers are fully engaged, as are the media.

But all of the existing candidates with the exception of Betty Krawczyk of the Work Less Party operate within a relatively narrow ideological band.

As a result, it might not make a huge difference for the citizens who wins this contest.

Look at the three who were elected as NPA politicians. They're all very moderate free-enterprise politicians.

Mayor Sam Sullivan espoused a humane approach for dealing with drug addicts well before it became fashionable.

Coun. Peter Ladner was an early advocate of sustainability, even though he hasn't always voted that way.

Both have tried with middling success to put the brakes on the never-ending expansion of the Vancouver police department.

Park commissioner Al De Genova, who is seeking a Vision Vancouver nomination, once spoke out against the NPA having a candidate who opposed same-sex marriage.

De Genova also wanted an early end to the 2007 civic strike because he worried about kids not having access to community centres.

The two other Vision Vancouver mayoral candidates, Coun. Raymond Louie and NDP MLA Gregor Robertson, are also centrists.

Louie has been a strong supporter of most real-estate developments and increasing the size of the VPD.

Robertson, founder of the Happy Planet juice company, often speaks for the interest of small businesses.

There are some differences. Robertson stood up for tenants who were being displaced by real-estate developments in his constituency; the city took action to address his concerns.

Louie has called for more nonmarket and middle-income housing at Southeast False Creek and a ban on demolitions of SROs.

Louie has often (though not always) advanced the interests of the union movement, whereas Ladner and Sullivan have been more hostile to organized labour.

Louie also supported a bicycle trial on the Burrard Street Bridge, which the NPA politicians killed.

But on other issues that will have an effect on the citizens, the five are not that far apart. They might quibble about the ratio of business property taxes to residential property taxes, but the differences aren't that large.

If any of these five are elected, none is likely to speak disparagingly of the International Olympic Committee.

As far as I can determine, none has commented on the silence of the IOC in the face of Chinese repression in Tibet.

None of the five has suggested anything truly radical.

The mayor of Paris put free bikes in the city; the mayor of London imposed huge fees on cars travelling downtown. Will we see any policies like this in Vancouver after the 2008 election? Not likely.

None of the five will try something truly imaginative to curb traffic congestion, such as forcing all local businesses to charge parking fees to their staff, right up to the CEO.

None of the five is likely to repatriate a lane on a north-south road such as Main Street for the exclusive use of bicyclists. None will declare war on global warming in the manner of someone like former councillor Fred Bass.

None of the five made any serious efforts to stop the construction of the Canada Line at the outset, even though it was clear that this project would inevitably lead to higher transit fares across the system.

Now it costs $5 to travel by transit from Surrey to Vancouver.

Louie, Ladner, and Sullivan all voted to allow 600 slot machines at Hastings Park, and De Genova, as a park commissioner, did not bring a motion before his board to oppose this.

None of the five will likely try to impose property taxes on that big white elephant (which they never criticized at the outset) known as the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre expansion.

None of the five is likely to lead any protest marches on the legislature to demand a higher minimum wage for the working poor.

None of the five is likely to back any court challenges against the provincial government over its discriminatory policies toward single mothers, even though this city has no shortage of single mothers.

None of the five is going to offer any serious resistance to sharp increases in the size of the police department.

None of the five has criticized the Vancouver police board's habit of holding public meetings in the police station.

And none of the five is likely to become a champion of civil liberties during the 2010 Games in Vancouver.

That's why this is likely to continue to be a fairly boring contest.

Because in the end, this isn't really a race for the mayoralty of Vancouver.

It's a contest between the provincial Liberals and the provincial NDP to put the blandest face possible in charge of Vancouver City Hall.

The real prize is control of the provincial legislature, and the power to make laws regarding everything from labour relations to corporate taxes.

If there's an NDP moderate -- like Louie or Robertson -- it will help NDP Leader Carole James woo voters across the province in May, 2009.

If there's a free-enterprise moderate -- like Ladner or De Genova -- it will offer a similar boost to Premier Gordon Campbell.

When the stakes are this high, the citizens of Vancouver are going to have to get accustomed to sitting at the back of the bus.