The 1970 Election in Hawaii

Abstract

JEFUSING to meet his opponents in debate on issues, and declaring that any damn fool can take stands,' incumbent Governor John H. Burns rode the crest of his half hour TV special, Catch a Wave, to a third-term election victory. His expensively packaged campaign, converting seemingly personal liabilities into political virtues, and comparable public relations efforts of a number of other major office seekers at selling themselves, have left in their wake as a policy matter the sense of need for reexamining Hawaii's election campaign laws. For the political observer, they have also raised the question of when issues, if at all, win elections.