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Aired: October 23, 1994 · Runtime: 1:01:40
With: Diane Chang (Editorial Page Editor, Honolulu Star-Bulletin); Dan Boylan (Professor of Political Science, University of Hawaii)
Guest host: Bruce Voss · Produced by Susie Roth
Bruce Voss hosts this look at political campaign advertising in the final weeks of the 1994 governor's race, joined by Diane Chang and Dan Boylan. With at least $7 million being spent and Cayetano, Fasi, and Saiki blanketing the airwaves, Boylan notes that roughly 30 percent of voters remain undecided. Chang calls Fasi's flat-tax promise misleading, noting it presses the right buttons without spelling out how a rate tied to federal income taxes would actually work. Boylan argues that Fasi and Saiki split the anti-establishment vote, effectively handing Cayetano a path to victory; he watches Cayetano walk through the race looking like a banker while the other two slug it out. The sharpest exchange turns on the corrupting role of money: Boylan argues that wealthy interests, not voters, ultimately decide elections, while Chang fears relentless negativity will drive people away from the polls altogether. Callers push for banning TV ads or capping spending; Boylan favors public financing, noting that roughly $14 million would give all four candidates — including Green Party candidate Kioni Dudley — equal footing on the airwaves.
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