Alexandra Pelosi Captures Campaign Process

[Rose Siding]

NEW YORK - From the moment she met John Kerry (news - web sites), filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi knew she wouldn't be making "Journeys with John." "She's going to lampoon all of us. She's going to have us all do stupid things," Kerry said more than a year ago when first approached by the camcorder-toting Pelosi. Teresa Heinz Kerry looked on as if a skunk had waddled across the room.

But Pelosi, who profiled candidate George W. Bush in 2000, wasn't looking for the star of a sequel. She went back to the campaign trail more to expose a dysfunctional process than a particular candidate. The quickly edited film "Diary of a Political Tourist" premieres Monday at 8 p.m. EDT/PDT on HBO.

Pelosi's documentary "Journeys with George" depicted a goofy but endearing Bush in backstage moments four years ago.
...........
Whatever you think of his politics, Bush is a movie star, Pelosi said. Kerry isn't.

"I don't think if I spent six more months on his lap was he going to reveal any more than he did," she said. "He was who he was. I wasn't going to crack the code of understanding John Kerry."

It didn't happen during the depths of Kerry's campaign — when Pelosi impudently asked, "Are you a dead man walking?" — or its heights, when the filmmaker tried for weeks to land a one-on-one interview with the presumptive nominee.
.........
"I'm not the one who is eating fried Twinkies at the Iowa state fair," she said. "This is what these guys do, and I just thought people should see what they do."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=494&ncid=696&e=6&u=/ap/20041010/ap_en_tv/ap_on_tv_political_tourist

[demokatgurrl]

1. Presumably she's no relation to Nancy. n/t

[grasswire]

3. Nancy's daughter.

Otherwise she wouldn't get the kind of access she does.

[Reverend_Smitty]

4. Actually she's Nancy Pelosi's daughter

In her first documentary "Journeys with George" she addressed that, and said something to the effect. While GWB is a good guy and all, I still voted for Gore

[saracat]

8. Are you saying "GWB was a good guy" Or are you attributing that to

Pelosi? (the filmaker)

[Reverend_Smitty]

9. I was saying what she said...

I do not consider GWB a good guy

[saracat]

10. Didn"t think So. LOL!

[Rose Siding]

5. She's her daughter

snip>
"This is how you know you've arrived," narrator Pelosi said. "The Clintons arrive, and they want to talk about somebody other than themselves."

That line made mom wince.

[grasswire]

2. she left critical parts of Bush film...

...on the cutting room floor. So what's with her? Can't she find something else to do with her skills than trade on her mother's profession?

[Rose Siding]

6. Suddenly, this year of ALL years,

when there were NINE dem candidates and NO repub primary race...NOW is the time to expose all the ridiculous things surrounding politics.

She's a climber.

[speedoo]

7. She should try doing a "documentary" in Iraq or maybe in Chechnya.

Or maybe spend a couple of weeks with a family that's struggling to survive right here in the USA.

She's no journalist, she's a phony trading on her mother's name. No better than those who do videos that end up on Access Hollywood, etc.

I think people are more interested in understanding the problems we are facing than in her silly worthless shit.

[demgrrrll]

11. Can't stand her. She didn't even realize how Bush played her during

her documentary. At the end it was obvious when he said goodbye that he meant goodbye. Kind of laughed at her like woo hoo fooled you now I'm the President and I wouldn't wipe my feet on you. Yea, he''s a good guy and she's just brimming with insight. He needed her to make him look as good as possible, he accomplished his purpose and he was through with her. I think she is a twit.

[TrogL]

12. fried Twinkies??

:puke:

[Democat]

13. She likes to insult Democrats and defend Bush

Fucking idiot. This is not the time for her ego, when the future of the country is at stake.

She should do her "look at me" bullshit after the election.

[mitchum]

14. Spoiled brat "filmmaker" Pelosi is a bush shill

FUCK HER AND HER AMATEURISH LITTLE HOME MOVIES

[Kool Kitty]

15. There is one exchange that should be of

particular interest that takes place in this film. Ms. Pelosi talks with Peter King, a republican congressman from NY (and a particularly odious one, IMO), and he says the following in response to Pelosi asking if he is worried about the election-"He's already won (meaning W, of course). All that's left to do is count up the votes, and we'll take care of that." Yikes. (I heard this clip today on Rachel Maddow's (sp?) show on Air America this afternoon. Rachel has a Sunday afternoon show that will air until the election. It's good.)

[NAO]

16. Pelosi is Perpetrating the Problem while Claiming to Expose It

I've seen the article. It isn't uplifting. Pelosi is buying into the whole media-glitz movie-star mentality even as she claims to expose it.

She talks about her time with Kerry, and about the absence of goofy things or sound bytes. Did she discuss policies with Kerry? Did she ask him about the fundamental philosophical differences between himself and the other Democratic candidates or between himself and Bush? Did she ask him about how he would govern if he was elected president? Did she ask him to explain his views on justice and how it is instantiated in good laws and good government?

If she did, she did not mention it in the article or cover it in the film. Instead, she chooses to cover the insipid banter she had with George W. Bush at a barbecue.

Pelosi talks about her goal: "more to expose a dysfunctional process than a particular candidate". She choose to do a film exposing the process, rather than choosing to do a film that could contribute to the process in a constructive way. She could have done something to inform us of the issues and to set an example to the media of what they should be focused on in political correspondence. She did not.

Pelosi says, "I don't think if I spent six more months on his lap was he going to reveal any more than he did," she said. "He was who he was. I wasn't going to crack the code of understanding John Kerry."

Well, in six months she could have come to a detailed understanding of Kerry's positions, even if she could not "understand him" personally. Why would a political media correspondent even THINK their job is to understand a candidate's personal life? Pelosi is both victim and perpetrator of the mentality she exposes, and her film is as much a symptom as a critique of the problem with the media.

Two thumbs down. I had considered buying "Journey's with George". After reading this article, I wouldn't take it for free.