1X
With Hawaii's 1994 gubernatorial race underway, Jerry Burris and Chuck Freedman spend an hour dissecting who actually shapes political discourse — candidates, press, or public. Burris, drawing on conversations across the state, says the overriding theme is powerlessness: residents feel unable to control costs, government responsiveness, or their own time. Freedman calls for candidates to articulate hard choices with measurable yardsticks rather than image-making and campaign poetry, and offers sovereignty's impact on non-Hawaiians and the future of green space in Ewa as examples of issues deserving direct answers. Both agree the media and candidates have trained voters to accept vagueness. Their sharpest exchange concerns press performance: a caller charges the Advertiser with soft coverage of the Inouye campaign allegations and the Kakaako redevelopment; Burris defends the paper's record while acknowledging some misses. A financial planner calls to report that clients in their 40s and 50s are drawing up mainland retirement plans, citing both cost of living and a sense that their children have no future in Hawaii. Other callers raise insurance reform, water rights, and the case for a constitutional convention. Freedman closes with guarded pessimism; Burris with cautious hope.
Transcript
Read or download the full transcript (.txt). Speaker labels were assigned automatically and may contain errors.