JEANNETTE CATSOULIS, NYT, October 4, 2006:

â??A â??what went wrong?â?? documentary bristling with answers, â??So Goes the Nationâ?? is a clear-eyed and utterly ruthless dissection of the battle for Ohio in the months leading up to the 2004 presidential election. Zeroing in on the strategic decisions of both major parties, the directors, James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo, illuminate not only the putative blunders of the Kerry-Edwards campaign but also the larger difficulties of the Democratic Party itself. Itâ??s not pretty, but it is instructive.

â??Facing in President Bush an incumbent burdened by a 48 percent approval rating and an unpopular war in Iraq, Senator John Kerry had â??probably 20 different ways he could have won,â?? says the former Clinton adviser Paul Begala. â??And he refused to execute on any of them.â??
Instead, the campaign is shown juggling multiple messages and lacking a cohesive field strategy. (One particularly painful sequence for Democrats contrasts the door-to-door efforts of volunteers from both camps.) Fatally ignoring both the accusations of the Swift Boat Veterans and the concerns of so-called values voters, Senator Kerry watches as his every misstep is recycled into a Republican attack ad.

â??Meanwhile, over at the Bush-Cheney campaign, Republicans are fashioning a clear message of steadfastness versus â??flip-floppingâ?? and repeating it with terrifying efficiency. Backed by Reaganesque images of the president chopping wood on his Texas ranch, the campaign cannily exploits fears of terrorism and same-sex marriage to encourage â??passive Republicansâ?? to join the cause. They do, and the rest is history. But instead of assuming a fetal position, Democrats might consider â??... So Goes the Nationâ?? less as the opening of an old wound and more as a manual for 2008.â??

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