Why Democratic filmmakers’ efforts in Ohio during the 2004 elections fell short.

BY FISHER STEVENS

Filmmaker Fisher Stevens.

In the 2004 election the country was so divided and its opposing political beliefs so entrenched that not even the might of celebrity could sway a skeptical electorate. Of course, that didn’t keep several leading actors and directors from giving it their all during the campaign in concerted as well as last-ditch efforts to register voters and convince them that their candidate was the man for the job. Among them, Fisher Stevens organized a bus tour with several leading actors that hit diners and high schools all over northern Ohio in an effort to Bring Ohio Back. Below, he reflects on the experience. — Reed Martin

A year before the election a political strategist I knew told me that ”it’s all going to come down to Ohio,“ which indeed it did, by 118,000 votes. Before John Kerry was even the Democratic candidate, I went to a bunch of meetings through MoveOn.org and ACT (America Comes Together), another really good group. They felt that the election was going to come down to Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania. I knew a couple of people from Ohio, and I got them together and decided to focus all my energies there because I felt that that would be the right place.

We organized a bus tour of film and TV actors to tour through Ohio and mobilized them on weekends during the campaign. We went on buses across the northeastern corridor to schools and diners, and we registered a lot of voters. We would bring locals with us who knew exactly what was going on in the state, and they would do most of the talking and just enlighten people with the truth.

I took actors who were very informed and who cared enough, obviously, to get on a plane and go to Ohio. We had our facts straight, and all we did was try to inform people about what Kerry’s and Bush’s records were. We didn’t just hand out John Kerry buttons, although we were obviously trying to persuade people to vote against Bush. And what we found was that Kerry really didn’t get the message out well. He was able to enunciate it a lot better as he got closer to Election Day, but at the beginning his message wasn’t reaching a lot of people.

I think activism is important, but what the Republicans did in Ohio in terms of activism by reaching out to the churches is the reason Bush got reelected. The activism that was going on on the other side was so much greater than we ever expected. We had no idea about their church activism and how powerful that was. It’s very public what MoveOn.org does, and it’s very public when Bruce Springsteen goes out to sing, but what’s not public is what’s going on in the communities and church groups.

The problem was that the Democratic strategy in Ohio was to win the northeastern part of the state by 225,000 votes. The Democratic Party truly believed that if they did that they would win the state. Well, they beat that projection, but what they didn’t expect was what was going on in the southern part of the state. The Republicans had done the same research, and if they could pull in a certain amount of voters in the southern part of the state, they could win Ohio. And they did it quietly and in a “stealth” fashion. It made me realize that, yeah, it’s great that you have all these actors and filmmakers raising awareness, but it’s going to take a lot more than that.

Part of what I learned by participating in Bring Ohio Back is that being a celebrity is great in terms of getting people to register to vote, but a lot of people aren’t swayed by what actors have to say. Being an actor doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to change people’s minds. What I’m trying to find a way to do next time is to find a way to penetrate people’s consciousness without simply beating them over the head with the messages we have thought of — “we” being the people of the other side. Bring Ohio Back is going to work toward getting Ohio to vote the other way in 2008 but it’s not going to be an easy task.

One reason I was so depressed after the election results came in was because obviously it did all come down to Ohio where we all spent so much time. If I had to do it all over again I think we probably should have started earlier, and I would have tried to infiltrate the southern part of the state, which we ignored. And I would have found a way to infiltrate the churches from the other side. There’s an incredible segment on Frontline called “The Jesus Factor.” It’s not partisan by any means, and it’s very informative about what makes George W. tick and where his philosophy comes from. What would be great is if somebody would do a church movie that shows you don’t have to be a Republican just because you go to church and believe in “family values.”

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