Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (48732)	6/10/2004 11:15:06 AM
From: longnshort	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 89467

Prediction: the Clintons won't let Kerri win.

To: American Spirit who wrote (48732)	6/12/2004 3:19:37 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 89467

Film and Election Politics Cross in 'Fahrenheit 9/11' commondreams.org <<...Praising the film's artistic value, Weinstein said he had "shown the movie to people diametrically opposed to its politics who walked away questioning things." "I think it will have a huge influence on people's minds," said Weinstein, who also is a producer of upcoming Los Angeles and New York concerts to raise money for Kerry. "Fahrenheit 9/11" casts a deeply unfavorable light on Bush's handling of the Sept. 11 attacks and the Iraq war, ridiculing him and his top advisors with footage that catches them in embarrassing moments clearly not intended for public viewing. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz uses spit to comb his hair; Bush jovially asks news crews to watch him swing a golf club seconds after sternly calling on the world's nations "to do everything they can to stop terrorist killers." Moore, who closes the film with the message "Do Something," is unabashed about his hope that the film will help dislodge Bush as president. "I hope this country will be back in our hands in a very short period of time," he told hundreds of invited guests at a celebrity-jammed Beverly Hills screening of the film on Tuesday. The screening was part of an ambitious and unusually fast rollout to get the movie into at least 650 theaters on June 25—and possibly several hundred more. "Are we conducting this like a campaign? Yes, we are," Moore said Thursday. "But it's not a campaign for Kerry." How much influence the film might have is a matter of dispute. Bill Carrick, a Democratic campaign consultant, said its effect would be negligible. He likened it to the talk radio shows of Rush Limbaugh and other hosts whose listeners hold firm, unyielding opinions on Bush. "I don't think it's a place where you're going to persuade anybody — a Michael Moore movie," Carrick said. "The audience is too small. It's a self-selecting group of people." But in an election where turning out core constituencies could be crucial to both Kerry and Bush, others see the film as a potent tool for motivating Democrats — especially since Republicans are typically more reliable for showing up at the polls. "Feeling motivated, to the extent you make that extra effort to vote on your way home from work — that matters," said Thomas Hollihan, a communications professor at USC's Annenberg School for Communication. That potential is not lost on Moore, who plans to offer ticket discounts and prizes to newly registered voters who see the film or visit his Web site. "If it can encourage the people who belong to the largest political party in America, the non-voter party, to leave that party behind and do the very minimum of what every citizen should do on Nov. 2, then I hope that will be seen as a significant contribution to this country," he said. A main target of the film is younger voters, who tend to turn out in low numbers. Studies have shown that younger voters increasingly get election information from non-traditional campaign media, such as late-night television comedy shows and the Internet. "For younger people, who may or may not be all that interested in politics, these entertainment formats are a key way to bring them into the political discussion," said Stephen Farnsworth, a political scientist at Mary Washington College in Virginia...>>