PBS Documentary follows third party candidates

This from the "Metrowest Daily News":

Party crashing: Massachusetts filmmakers document the campaigns of third-party presidential candidates
By Chris Bergeron / News Staff Writer
Sunday, September 19, 2004

As the band plays "Hail to the Chief," the speaker of the House solemnly intones, "Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States...Michael Badnarik."

The next sound you'll hear is America's two-party system crashing down if that scenario occurs in the near future.

With the nation heading toward the polls, a provocative PBS special, "Crashing the Parties 2004," shows how third-party candidates like Badnarik and Ralph Nader are trying to change the way presidents are elected.

Over the last year, filmmakers for AWARD Productions followed four small-party candidates on cross-country campaigns to break the two-party monopoly on the White House.

The North Billerica company has made an informative documentary about candidates with issues instead of sound bites and the audacity to speak their minds without consultants checking the political polls at every turn.

"The goal for this (documentary) was to get the message out. I'm surprised there's no program out there that gives third-party candidates more than a mention," said co-director Al Ward. "Our goal is to introduce viewers to these candidates, which is probably the first and last time they're going to hear about them."

"Crashing the Parties" airs locally Thursday, Sept. 30, on WGBH (Channel 2), at 8 p.m. It premieres nationally on PBS Wednesday, Sept. 29, at 10 p.m. Check your local listings.

It's an enjoyable hour-long civics lesson taught by the sort of folks you'd meet at Town Meeting with the exception of the quixotic Nader who comes across as an egoistic idealist.

The film was co-directed by Ward, 36, and Peter Koziell, 31, who spent months traveling with several candidates, and written by Darren Garnick, 36, a former reporter for the Marlborough Enterprise.

The company's Rangeway Road studio is decorated with photographs of Joan Rivers, the Dalai Lama and Danny DeVito. A large wall map is covered with red lines showing the filmmakers' cross-country travels while shooting the film.

The documentary just might chronicle the presidential campaigns George Bush and John Kerry don't want you to see.

Third party candidates Badnarik (Libertarian), Nader (independent), David Cobb (Green Party) and Michael Peroutka (Constitution Party) chase votes in a parallel political universe that resembles Burkis Square in Framingham and Draper Park in Milford more than CNN-World or Larry King Land.

Starting last fall, the filmmakers decided to focus on third-party candidates who had an electoral chance of victory rather than the hundreds of "fringe" candidates who appear during the primary season.

The four presidential aspirants featured in the documentary share an opposition to the Iraq war and the two-party lock on the Oval Office, but little else.

A trio of Libertarian candidates campaign to eliminate federal involvement in virtually everything from regulation of guns and drugs to international human rights. The Constitution Party promotes a pro-life and state rights platform. The Green Party promises "real solutions" for the economy, health care and education.

Garnick credits low-budget spoilers "for addressing controversial issues mainstream candidates won't touch" like the use of medical marijauna.

Unlike their slickly-packaged major party counterparts, candidates like Badnarick and Peroutka rent subcompact cars, sleep over in supporters' homes and show up unannounced at malls, science fairs, gun shows and just about anywhere they might find voters with a pulse.

And they're not talking about John Kerry's Purple Hearts or George Bush's National Guard record.

Badnarik promises to "eliminate the IRS and get rid of the Food and Drug Administration." Cobb is leading a self-described "citizens' movement to challenge the corporate takeover of America." Peroutka opposes abortions, gay marriage and amnesty for illegal aliens.

Nader -- the nation's most reviled spoiler for what some say was tipping the last election to George Bush -- dismisses critics as "carpers and whiners."

The consumer activist reborn as gadfly candidate said he's still running because he's angry "this country belongs to only two parties."

On film, Nader appears both testy and passionate when he defends third-party candidacies as "a fundamental form of free speech" as American as the Constitution.

Bugged by reporters who suggest his candidacy wastes votes, Nader insists, "This is a cumulative effort to build a new political movement."

On film, pro-wrestler-turned-Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura effectively rebuts arguments Nader's Green Party candidacy cost Al Gore the presidency in 2000.

"If Gore won his own state of Tennessee or Bill Clinton's home state of Arkansas, the Democrats would've won," Ventura said.

At least one third-party candidate has planned a MetroWest visit. Badnarik was expected to campaign in Framingham Friday evening at Bickford's on Rte. 30.

On the campaign trail for weeks at a time, Koziell said he used a "fly-on-the-wall" approach to record candidates "doing what they do" in unguarded moments.

By winning candidates' confidence, the filmmakers were able to capture behind-the-scenes moments that were revealing and refreshing.

After home schooling his children with a scriptural reading, Peroutka shoots baskets with his sons. Moments after securing his party's nomination in a convention that resembles a junior high bake sale, Badnarik chokes back tears to tell supporters he can win the presidency.

Ward appreciates third-party candidates' "willingness to speak their minds."

"As filmmakers, it's great for us not to know what's going to happen next," he said.

Nader, however, remains an elusive figure.

Comfortable in the media spotlight, he never cultivates the "regular guy" openness of the other alterative party candidate.

The film never tries to imbue third-party subjects with a "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" pseudo-saintliness.

Libertarian candidate Gary Nolan rudely dismisses sincere questions. Another Libertarian, Aaron Russo, blathers on about his "marketing" credentials as a Hollywood producer. And Scott Whiteman, who does advance work for Peroutka, comes across as smarmy and self-satisfied as any major party operative.

The documentary effectively points out that a mishmash of state election laws complicate third-party presidential campaigns. Getting on Tennessee's ballot takes only 25 signature while California requires 150,000 names.

This November, Bay State voters will see Badnarik's and Cobb's names on the ballot with Bush and Kerry. Nader did not satisfy state requirements by submitting 10,000 signatures before the Aug. 3 deadline.

Founded by Ward in 1990, AWARD Productions produced two other PBS documentaries on third-party and "fringe" candidates, "Why Can't I Be President" in 1996 and "I'm on the Ballot" in 2000. A 2003 film, "Beyond Kittyhawk: New England's Pioneers of Flight," about local aviators, was nominated for a regional Emmy award. Over the last 14 years, the company has made hundreds of commercial films.

While "Crashing" captures quirky moments often lacking in major party campaigns, Ward's team came to respect their subjects' sincerity and idealism.

"Some people might think some candidates are amusing or don't have a chance but they're pushing toward a viable ultimate goal. I hope viewers realize the voters out there don't belong just to Bush or Kerry," said Ward. "It's dangerous to think there's only two parties and anybody who goes against them will be flattened. We hope we've got the message out."

zbox/ The Essentials:

"Crashing the Parties 2004" will be available from PBS Home Video by calling 877-PBS-SHOP or e-mailing [email protected].

Darren Garnick, Jesse Ventura and others will use clips from the film to examine third-party campaigns in a panel discussion at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, 79 JFK St., Cambridge, on Monday, Sept. 20, at 6 p.m.

The documentary will be screened in its entirety on Wednesday, Sept. 22, at 8 p.m., at the Coolidge Corner Theater in Brookline, followed by a question-and-answer period. Tickets are $6.

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