Several things have struck me about the reports coming from the blogosphere, and I'd say that they are all positive, and provide much material to work with in the lead up to November. This is a little rough, but I'm a former media studies graduate and this movie has me shaking off the rust.
Briefly - the biggest surprise to me is the amount of youth I keep reading about. I'm actually a little disappointed to say that, because it really shouldn't come as a surprise.
If the Draft meme can get put into play again, that should scare anyone who didn't vote in 2000 because they were too young off their butts.
On the fencers really have had the debate redefined, and if some things do NOT enter the common language of the upcoming debates that will not help Bush. For instance, if Bush never has to answer `What were you thinking for those 7 minutes?' during the debates these people will feel robbed and will not be satisfied. Victory: Kerry. [I won't be satisfied with anything less than a follow up of: `Did it occur to you that since you appearance was publicly known, and America was under attack that by staying there for that long you placed all of those children in jeopardy had they chosen to attack you?' But I digress] Someone should ask him in a town hall if he's improved his golf drive. The buffoonery he pulled should leave him skewered for campaigning to `restore integrity.' This is strong stuff, and we haven't even touched the body count questions yet. This movie has put these questions front and center - it's our job to keep them there. Remember: the public has a short memory and this is lose-lose for Bush. Dodging these questions won't help, answering them will hurt even more. Victory: Kerry.
Republican converts will be harder to gauge. Yesterday I was having a business lunch with 3 conservative, religious guys. We all get along because we have a sense of humor and nice people are nice people. Eventually F911 came up. I was surprised that one of them had already tried to see it and had been turned away because of sellouts. Now he REALLY wants to see it. The 2nd guy was planning to see it but not this weekend, while the last one adamantly refused to support it, much less give it a listen. Honestly I was expecting this final reaction from all 3, so I felt someone had done my work for me and know Darrin well enough to know I won't get him to see it until the other two have. That's my own experience on that front, which if repeated enough COULD be cracks in the base, but we'll see. Skeptical at best.
I realized coming out of the theater yesterday that if we had a 3rd party candidate a la Perot in 1992, this movie would help him the most because the Democratic Party took a credibility beating at the beginning with the footage from the senate. This led me to wonder about the 55% who voted in 1992. If that turnout is matched this year, Bush is toast. That needs to be the focus of work done on top of F911: bring out those who otherwise don't vote. We need 10% of the stay at homes to turn out because of this film, and they won't vote for Bush.
Week 1 Sunday Summation: remind the kids about the draft, get them to see the film. They'll work on their Republican parents for us, as I've read more than one report about adults who otherwise wouldn't have seen the film were talked into it by their kids.
Don't worry about directly engaging Republicans; they are making their way to the theaters themselves. Let's remember this is sobering for a lot of people, and an in your face `I told you so!' isn't going to build a bridge - and there's going to be a lot of opportunities to do so. Building bridges will bring the votes.
Finally, we must bring the uncensored footage of George Bush into the national debate: the 7 minutes, the golfing, his `base' comments etc. Making sure those questions float out there until the election - that needs to be done. That should encourage mobilization of the stay at homes.
Oh, this is good......a state or two will be put into play here. I'm sure of it.
