Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?

"I wouldn't give you two cents for all your fancy rules if, behind them, they didn't have a little bit of plain, ordinary, everyday kindness and a little looking out for the other fella, too."  Jefferson Smith, from Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

Here is something to think about.  Given that Hillary Clinton has more money than any other Democratic candidate and the backing of most of the political heavyweights, she will most likely be her party's nominee for President of the United States in 2008.  If she wins, she would naturally seek re-election in 2012. On the Republican side, Governor Jeb Bush, given that Florida is a toss up state and offers 27 electoral votes, he will more than likely be the Presidential or Vice-Presidential candidate for his party in at least one of the next three election cycles.  For almost a third of a century, citizens when they walked into the voter's booth during Presidential cycles, have had a Bush or a Clinton somewhere on the executive ticket.  In other words, in 2012, there will be people getting their AARP card who have never gotten a chance to not vote for or against one of these two families. Is this modern Windsor/Tudor grudge match good for democracy?  More concerning, is this an example of the reality that we are not a government of and for the people, but rather an oligarchy backed by large corporations?

Even though almost every candidate likes to pretend that they are just like you and me, if you check the background of most candidates running for the office of governor or senator, you will find that they either have an Ivy League education or are from a politically well-connected family.  It is why the Senate is known as the Millionaire's Club, with at least 40 of our Representatives having net worths in the 7 figures and above category.  Their wealth's range from Skull and Bones' John Kerry with $163,626,399, not including his wife's half a billion dollar ketchup fortune, down to Iowa's own Charles Grassley who could certainly use the $1,016,024 that he has, to buy a replacement vehicle for that beater he proudly claims to drive.  In our 435 member House of Representatives, things are a little better.  One hundred twenty-three of these members crosses this magic threshold.  Most of these men came from upper class families to begin with.  To put this in perspective, in a nation of 300 million, less than 1 percent of us, 2.5 million, will ever join that club and most of those only on paper. Can men and women who have never had to worry about bills, and have financial ties to the credit and insurance industries, truly represent the average Joe and Jane?

One of the most cherished myths of our country is the common man who goes to Washington to fight for truth and justice.  This myth dates back to Andrew Jackson and Davy Crockett, men who formed their identity on the frontier, not in elite boarding schools of the east and Europe.  It is why 5 of our Commanders and Chiefs emphasized that they were born in log cabins (Jackson, Fillmore, Buchanan, Lincoln, Garfield), why blue bloods like Theodore Roosevelt and George W. Bush have emphasized their cowboy images, why Richard Nixon talked about his father being a poor lime rancher, why Jimmy Carter emphasized being a peanut farmer, and why Bill Clinton proudly told Americans that he came from a little town called Hope.  This mythos was such a part of the American experience that in 1939 director Frank Capra made a film called Mr. Smith Goes to Washington starring Jimmy Stewart as Jefferson Smith, a Boy Scout leader, who is asked to fill the remaining term of a deceased Senator by the flip of a coin.  Once in Washington, Smith battles corruption to help those who need help.  While seen as naïve by today's standards, it was such a powerful statement of American ideals that the film was banned in Nazi Germany, Falangist Spain, and Fascist Italy.  When the Germans occupied France and implemented a ban on American films, one Paris theater owner proudly showed the film non-stop until the ban took effect 30 days later. 

Documentary director, Frank Popper (The Lounge People), asks if this myth is still possible in America.  In 2004, he went to the American heartland of Missouri to follow around a 29-year-old, part-time political science instructor at Washington University named Jeff Smith who was seeking the Democratic nomination to fill the seat of former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt who was retiring after 28 years in the Congress.  Standing in Smith's way is lightweight Russ Carahan, the son of one of Missouri's most powerful political families.  The Carahan name in Missouri is similar to the Kennedy name in Massachusetts. With the Carahan's deep pockets, team of political advisors, and fundraising connections, Russ starts out with an early 40-point lead over his unknown opponent. Smith, on the other hand, has almost no capital and is surrounded by a cast of political nobodies.  The press doesn't take his candidacy seriously, the political establishment sees him as a joke, and even his own family has their doubts.  Yet, Jeff has powerful ideals and is able to build a grassroots insurgency of nearly 500 volunteers and becomes very popular with the youth.  Can Jeff catch the unbeatable Carahan? Can substance beat cash and power?  Did young Mr. Smith make it to Washington?

For a documentary, this is a suspenseful movie.  If you don't know the conclusion, it is a great political horserace to watch, a David versus Goliath tale that will have you on the edge of your seat. (As a political junkie, I knew the conclusion of the race but still found it interesting.)  More importantly, this film looks at how we elect our politicians.  If you enjoyed documentaries like The Corporation, The Grounded Truth, or Why We Fight, you will love this movie.

I have a very cynical friend who is an elitist Wall Street type.  Being guys we show that we like each other by digging at each other and arguing, particularly about politics. Over the last few years, I have raged about Republican corruption, about how corporations have stolen Iraqi rebuilding money, and graft and corruption seems common place to the point where politicians aren't even leaving $20 on the dresser after what they do to the taxpayer. His retort is always that the Democrats are no better.  Maybe he is right.  For the last few years, we have lived in a Karl Rove world where he or she who spends the most money usually wins.  It does not matter that the poor are getting poorer, the middle class is shaking out, that the globe is a little hotter, that millions of Americans go without insurance, or that a major American city disappeared due to governmental laziness and apathy.  It seems that who wins is the one who can make the best commercials, figures out the best buzz words, or can raise the most money.  I cannot be that cynical.  I cannot give up on an ideal that made America great, even if it is a lost cause.  As Jefferson Smith said, there are causes worth fighting for because of just one plain simple rule: Love thy neighbor. I cannot accept that this is a Tom DeLay, Jack Abramoff, Duke Cunningham, or Karl Rove America. I still believe that there are Jefferson Smith's out there.

Verdict: A Great Documentary