Madison soundly rejected its incumbent mayor in the city primary in February, suggesting the voters want to move in a new direction of municipal governance.

But maybe not. After all, candidate Paul Soglin has been Madison’s mayor not once before but twice — an uncommon run that dates back to when he was a UW student in 1973.

The new hat is Dave Cieslewicz’s. He’s a green-thumbed lefty whose years as a policy advisor and lobbyist give him an image that’s more vanilla than coke. So Cieslewicz tries to carbonate his public appearances with a genuine brand of humor and a touch of fun-loving humility. This is his first time running for mayor.

Students will be pleased to know neither candidate plans to tear up State Street or supports a crackdown on drink specials or underage drinking at bars. Soglin prefers to focus on the dangers of excessive drinking and overcrowding at house parties, while Cieslewicz thinks downtown police stings waste valuable financial resources.

So what separates the two, other than age and experience? Transportation, for one.

Soglin wants to investigate ways to make use of Madison’s current public-transportation infrastructure, saying it would be unreasonable to reroute buses so they do not have to interrupt the State Street Mall. He thinks his idea about hybridizing the fuel system in Madison Metro vehicles can save the routes while providing a more pleasant downtown atmosphere.

Cieslewicz is more firmly invested in the city’s Transport 2020 program and advocates a mass rail system to provide a rapid alternative to the isthmus’s traffic bottleneck. He says he wants to connect communities, which also explains his plan for mandatory county-wide inclusionary zoning to allow low-income families housing opportunities all around Madison.

Soglin, on the other hand, would rather see selective inclusionary zoning in place to focus on areas that need more diversification. It would also allow him to keep condominium development out of student districts.

Soglin’s support base has shifted over the years. When he ran as an idealist student activist in the early ’70s, his hardline radical stance scared away financial interests. Now, as the ultimate municipal-policy insider, he has overwhelming corporate support.

But Soglin has changed in ways beyond trimming his mustache and mullet. While devoting his life to policy-making, he transformed into a kind of city-governance philosopher equipped with a scholar’s knowledge of urban planning. No one knows how to build a coalition of Madison’s business and activist interests like Soglin.

It’s not simply his experience advantage over Cieslewicz that makes Soglin the best choice; it is the way he has learned to anticipate his constituent audience and place that interest in the context of his wealth of city expertise.