Politics at the Box Office

"Boogie Man" is a new documentary about Lee Atwater, who played a major role in Ronald Reagan's elections in 1980 and 1984 and led George H.W. Bush's campaign in 1988. (Was that really 20 years ago?)

It's a documentary that anyone interested in presidential election campaigns, regardless of your own political perspective, will find interesting. Of course the documentarian has a point of view, but it doesn't overwhelm the film.

The film details Atwater's start in South Carolina, where he got a helping hand from Senator Strom Thurmond. It covers his involvement in the College Republicans (where the disputed 1973 election of Karl Rove as the Chairman of the College Republican National Committee was settled by then Republican National Committee Chair George Bush), assistance provided to Ronald Reagan in the 1980 crucial South Carolina primary and on to his affiliation with both Bushes who became President.

Aside from politics, the movie looks at Atwater the man, what drove him and eventually the brain tumor which ended his life in his early 40s.

Now that we're 4 weeks away from the next Presidential election it's timely to look at elections from the recent past and to ponder how those decisions will affect the decisions we're collectively making this time.

And on the topic of elections, I voted today. So any money candidates and ballot measures spend from here on out trying to influence my decisions is wasted. But I'm still going to watch tonight's Presidential Debate.