I know this is probably an old topic but I just saw Return of the King last night...
...and being a politics nerd, started mapping out the parallels with the 2004 election race. Of course, my parallels are from a crazy kool aid kid Deanocrat worldview, so I'd be interested in hearing the parallels from Clarkies, "centrists," Kucinich-types, and Republicans.
MORDOR
Rove as Sauron
Clearly, Bush is not Sauron. I simply refuse to give him that much credit. See Jonathan Chait? It's not Bush Hatred, it's ROVE HATRED.
VRWC as the Nazgul
The right wing conspiracy and the Nazgul do share a certain "shrillness" in common. They both cannot handle the light. I find myself screaming and clutching my ears whenever FoxNews is on.
Freepers as Orcs
Hygiene alone merits this casting call.
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FELLOWSHIP
Gov. Dean as Aragorn
Insert your candidate of choice here, but I think there's a certain resonance to the Ranger from the North becoming the "King."
Al From as Denothor
The Lord Denethor, steward of Gondor, is famously sensitive about his temporary position of power and refuses to let it go, to the point of sending his own son to his certain doom to cement his power (and then atttempting to murder him).
of course, this makes...
Joe Lieberman as Boromir and John Kerry as Faramir
Morally compromised Joe and incapable John. I like Kerry so he gets the girl in the end.
Bill Clinton as Gandalf
Big Bill has yet to play any role yet, but after the primaries are decided, I think Bill is going to come out swinging for the Dem nominee. I think ultimately, the media and everyone else is waiting for Bill to play the "kingmaker" that he was not allowed to play in the 2000 race. Plus, clearly Gandalf doesn't inhale that Hobbit Weed.
The "anti-Dean" as Saruman
I'm sorry, but this role has yet to be cast. Clearly, corporate Media wants to see an "anti-Dean" emerge, and it serves Karl Rove's purposes to allow the anti-Dean to sap all of the strength of Dean through flanking attacks during the primaries. It may turn out to be Clark, who I otherwise like and respect very much: Saruman was a good wizard once, too.
Al Gore as Theoden
Seemingly sapped of vital strength during the 2000 campaign, eventually losing his home state during the election, emasculated by the media for his alleged procivities for polling and consultants... he reemerges during the Iraq Invasion as a new man, who heeds only his own counsel and shoots from the hip.
Okay, and they both have HOT daughters.
Chris Lehane as Wormtongue
He helped Gore lose in 2000 and clearly did nothing to help either Kerry or Clark craft their "anti-Dean" strategies. He advised Clark to abandon his netRoots and abandon Iowa. The man is clearly in league with Mordor.
Deaniacs as the Ents
Hfroom. Some of us Deaniacs were turning into just regular trees, until Dean awakened us.
Hillary Clinton as Galadriel
Is she evil? Is she good? She's powerful and kind of scary, but she helps the fellowship so she's okay in my book.
Dean's staff as Frodo, Sam, Pippin, and Merry
They are wacky, so so wacky... but they are all we've got.
Dick Morris as Gollum
Just had to get that one in there.
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Okay, so that's a Dean/Tolkien nerd's perspective. Who did I leave out? What's the view from the other side?
Most importantly--what is the parallel for the Ring that must be destroyed?