Looking Back on at Bush vs. Kerry

0 Comments POSTED: September 6, 2006 15:56 | By: Adam Del Deo
SO-GOES-THE-NATION.jpgWe just received word that one of the "stars" of our political documentary, a tireless grass roots campaigner for the Democrats by the name of Miles Gerety, will be attending the world premiere of our film, ".So Goes the Nation."  Miles actually drove all night from Connecticut to Ohio for those final crazy days of the campaign to try and tip the scales for the Democrats. We couldn't be happier to hear that Miles, as well his Republican counterpart Leslie Ghiz, will both be present at the World Premiere on Sept. 14th.  Not only did they pour every ounce of their blood into those last hours, but having both a Democratic and a Republican field worker present is a perfect representation of what the film tries to accomplish-showing the commitment and strategy of both sides of the American political world. The passion and commitment of Miles and Leslie make our movie really their movie.  

Additionally, the film is also the story of macro-level political strategy which, as we officially begin this elections political season (always the day after Labor Day) brings to mind a looming question: what new strategizing has each party done to win or retain seats?  Will the messages they are running on (funny-before working on this film we would have said "issues".  Now we say "messages" without batting an eye.), will those messages allow for a different outcome on this November 4th?

The Republicans are caught in a tricky balancing act - aligning themselves too closely with the President is dangerous due to his low approval ratings. Attacking "cut and run" Democrats, those who now want out of Iraq, sounds good, but with the increasingly negative perception of the war the GOP can't champion it as a success.  Out here in California, the environment is such an important issue that our Republican governor Schwarzenegger just struck a deal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.  Is this split from the old guard a sign of things to come, or are red states going to keep on shaking their heads at California's "crazies" and "retro-hippies?"  Will the consistent simplicity of the Republican message in 2004-"war on terror" and Dems always "flip-flopping"-work again?  Will the rehashing of same sex marriage get the Christian right to the polls in numbers significant enough to make a difference this time?  It seems like such a tactic will be harder to pull together in today's complicated political landscape.  But maybe that's us thinking like Democrats, the way the Democrats thought in 2004.  In the last campaign, as our film shows, the notion of selling voters on which "team" they wanted to play for ultimately trumped Kerry's focus on issues.  With Iraq still raging and people buying Priuses in droves, will the same be true now?  We can't think of a better time for our movie to come out than in the midst of this year's elections.

And the Dems.we wonder what they've learned in the past two years?  If they watch the 20/20 hindsight interviews in our documentary with figures like Terrence R. McAuliffe (Chairman of the Democratic party) and Tad Devine (part of the team with Bob Schrum that ran the Kerry Campaign), will the 2006 Dems be able to point at the screen and say, "Yes! Yes, we fixed that. The problem has been addressed, and we learned from our mistakes"?  And will the Republicans watching Ed Gillespie (Chairman of the Republican Party) and Mark McKinnon (chief strategist) sit back and say, "We have a hand they can't beat. because it's not about issues, it's about people"?

All the press coverage of strong numbers enjoyed by Democrats today is, in our view, still premature chatter.  This time of year in 2004, Kerry was looking pretty good too.  But just like two years ago, the 2006 election will be determined not only by who controls the issues, but also who controls the message.  We're proud that our movie sheds some light on how campaigns are strategized and fought, and hopefully will foment discussions around water coolers and wine.  Many recent documentaries are a bit like Congress itself, it seems-a lot of polarization and people's accusations without a lot of listening and considering.  Let's begin with some talk. And as the masters of presentation and manipulation work their craft on the U.S. public over the coming months, it's the perfect time to talk.

We look forward to meeting up with all the other great documentarians.  Safe travels to all.

James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo

Categories: Doc Blog

Tags: , ,

Share: Email Facebook Twitter DIGG MySpace Google Reedit stumbleupon del.icio.us RSS Permalink

Comments are closed

® Toronto International Film Festival is a registered trade-mark of Toronto International Film Festival Inc.
© 2009 Toronto International Film Festival Inc. All rights reserved.