Happy Election Day. Let’s hope that it goes smoothly, and that it’s a credit to American democracy.
In the meantime: If you’re sitting around and need a distraction (you did vote, yes? And there’s still time to volunteer for a candidate or party you prefer), how about some television or a movie? Here are five of my favorite Election Day movies:
• “Hail the Conquering Hero.” From 1944, and Preston Sturges, one of the best comic political directors in U.S. history. Perhaps not quite as great as “Sullivan’s Travels,” but more focused on an election. Sturges depicts a much different, and much healthier, politics than Frank Capra did; more cynical, perhaps, but also more democratic.
• “Bulworth.” Warren Beatty’s 1998 take on electoral politics, race and much else is far more Capra-influenced than I’d like, but my general sense is that there’s a lot of good in with the not-so-good. Besides: The central joke — that Beatty is perpetually wide awake — is really, really funny.
• “The Candidate.” Even more than “Bulworth,” this one makes no sense at all unless we’re fully aware that the lead character is just Robert Redford. Fortunately, Redford is terrific, and most of the film is excellent fun. It also has one of the best depictions of Election Day ever — from 1972, it’s exactly what the process felt like during the peak of the “neutral” media and the three-network era. It also captures the consulting business when political parties were weak and electioneering was up for grabs, rather than being firmly placed within the party network.
• “Gangs of New York.” Martin Scorsese’s 2002 movie has a great 19th-century Election Day, Tammany-style — along with an unfortunately timely reminder that there’s a whole lot more to democracy than a successful election. A good one for thinking about the relationship between politics and violence.
• “Citizen Kane.” You know it’s Orson Welles, 1941. And why not? If nothing else, for the iconic bit where they have to give up on “Kane Elected” and run “Fraud At Polls!” instead.
But wait there’s more! So many TV shows have great Election Day episodes, certainly including “The Wire” and “Deadwood,” both of which have interesting and complex views of politics and democracy. But assuming we’re not going to binge-watch them before the polls start closing, I’ll offer a few simpler recommendations. I like the “Upstairs, Downstairs” episode in which James Bellamy tries being a politician and, naturally, fails miserably. And then there’s always the Monty Python election-returns sketch featuring the Sensible and Silly parties. But my top pick would be the “Mary Tyler Moore Show” episode in which a snowstorm prevents the newsroom from getting any election returns — along with the “Columbo” in which Jackie Cooper is a candidate who kills his campaign manager. Hope that doesn’t happen anywhere today!
1. Matt Glassman on why elections matter.
2. Stefan Wojcik, Ryan Kennedy, and David Lazer at Mischiefs of Faction with a comparative look at US elections.
3. Brittany Anlar at the Monkey Cage on young politicians and social media.
4. Larry Diamond on the danger to US democracy.
5. Here at Bloomberg Opinion, Thomas Geoghegan on an agenda for election-law reform.
6. Jennifer Bendery on how House Democrats are preparing for the election and its aftermath.
7. And Reid Wilson on former Republican National Committee staffers backing Joe Biden. There are two big stories of this era that I think the news media never really figured out how to tell. One is that Donald Trump has been a steadily unpopular president. The other is that many previously loyal Republicans, including many people who worked directly with the president, now oppose him. Both of these are extraordinary and really unprecedented; neither story as a whole really came across.
Bloomberg
