Film about Ohio 2004 claims Bush campaign run by pros, Kerry's by amateurs

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT: Is There a Hit Film in the Battle for Ohio?
By DAVID M. HALBFINGER
Published: November 10, 2005


....To the lengthening list of political films vying for the attention of a polarized public, James D. Stern - a serious Hollywood financier and Broadway producer who dabbles at directing his own movies - hopes to add one that looks squarely at the 2004 presidential campaign between President Bush and Senator John Kerry....

***

While it lacks the partisanship and personality of Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11," the as-yet-untitled picture relies on a dispassionate, journalistic delivery - Mr. Stern's liberal leanings notwithstanding - to provide concise, pointed and even funny answers to anyone still wondering how Mr. Bush managed to defeat Mr. Kerry.

About 13 months ago, Mr. Stern and a partner, Adam Del Deo, dispatched 15 camera crews across Ohio to chronicle the final days of the house-to-house struggle between Republican and Democratic political organizers in the most critical battleground state in the country.

The resulting film, which the co-directors are still polishing in hopes of getting it accepted by the Sundance Film Festival, shows Republican campaigners functioning like a well-oiled machine and Democrats looking incapable of ordering lunch, let alone organizing a major get-out-the-vote operation. These scenes, interspersed with interviews with top strategists for both the Bush and the Kerry campaigns - with the glaring exceptions of Karl Rove and Bob Shrum - by and large leave the impression that the Bush campaign was run by major-league professionals and the Kerry campaign by bush-league amateurs.

One sequence is particularly memorable: After Tad Devine, a top Kerry consultant, is quoted earnestly explaining the Democrats' strategic decision to appeal to swing voters, or "persuadables," an unshaven young Democratic operative is shown knocking on doors of these supposed persuadables in Ohio. When a young man eating his breakfast says he is leaning to the Republican side, the hapless organizer meekly asks, "Can I persuade you otherwise?" but has nothing more to add as the door shuts in his face....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/10/movies/10ohio.html

[barbaraann]

1. The only thing Republicans have is campaigning because

they don't want to govern well. They are selling a faulty product so they have to have great marketing.

[lutefisk]

2. The Republicans' ethics make La Cosa Nostra look good

The Republicans' willingness to say (and apparently do) anything to "win" has allowed them to roll over other political parties that are still guided by a certain level of morality, legality, and ethics. They are by and large conmen.

The Bush campaign (and ongoing propaganda machine)is run by professional conmen. Eventually, if they get too bold, conmen get caught.

[PunkPop]

3. So true

The genius of Republicans lies in their joining of politics and proven marketing techniques.

Just like products, if you can sell crap to people that they don't really need, you can certainly sell clunkers like Reagan, Bush, Delay, etc, etc, etc.

[PDJane]

5. Unfortunately,

The tactics in Ohio and Florida and other places also pointed to a corrupt and racist ethic.

[FreedomAngel82]

10. Exactly

They put all this time and effort into campaigning but they can't do shit other wise as a whole with the country. I'm sure there are individual republicans who are okay smaller wise but all you have to do is look at the past. Who did all the messing up and who did the cleaning up? I think things are changing though with democrats and we're learning on what works and what doesn't. :) Why else do all they do is work on campaigning? That's all they know how to do.

[ET Awful]

4. I say it should be edited to replace "pros" with "crooks" and

"amateurs" with "people with a modicum of integrity".

[second edition]

9. Absolutely! n/t

[second edition]

6. The repubs had four years to plan for Bush's reelection,

And planning they were. Big time. They had reports that even detailed everything right down to the eating habits of certain demographics groups. They infiltrated churches and had the right wing radio media, the msm and the Secretary of State in Ohio in place and running Bush's reelection campaign.
Kerry's people had something like five months to plan and organize the grassroots efforts,train and coordinate volunteers and keep an eye on the goings on of the independent political groups. They had to do battle with the media for attention and to get a message out.
I can't imagine this film being anything but a biased load of crap.

[NYCGirl]

11. Biased even though it's made by a person with long time Democratic

bona fides?

[blm]

7. RNC runs like the Village of Stepford. The Dems are hampered with their

innate humanity.

[seabeyond]

8. re SPEAK: bush run by liars and cheats, kerry run by integrity

gonna let them phrase a democratic accomplishment as failure. or are you going to call em on it

[guruoo]

12. Mirrors my own experience in TN

'...Republican campaigners functioning like a well-oiled machine and Democrats looking incapable of ordering lunch, let alone organizing a major get-out-the-vote operation.'

This pretty much sums up my experience here in middle Tennessee.
The problems had their basis in the general lack of planning by the local party, and the 'old guard' who seemed at times to be more concerned with protecting their personal turf than winning elections.
There were times when it felt as though we were having to start from scratch every day.
Fortunately, this old guard is gone now, replaced by younger, hardcore activists that know how to think outside the old school box.

[DeepModem Mom]

13. Thanks so much for relating your personal experience --

and your news that things seem to be looking up.