Running Against Dick!
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00:00:00 I still remember that night.
00:00:22 It was July 11th, 1979.
00:00:25 I was six years old, was lying on the open terrace on top of my house in New Delhi.
00:00:30 My eyes wide open looking at the clear sky, stars sparkling, looking out for the streaming
00:00:36 line of fire.
00:00:37 Skylab, the manned space station, had to be dismantled and was falling into the earth.
00:00:43 I was both afraid and hopeful that it would fall near my house so I can see it.
00:00:49 It never did.
00:00:50 I vowed to come to the United States of America and build a spaceship like the ones you see
00:00:55 in Star Trek.
00:00:57 I never became a rocket scientist, but I got into movie making instead where it's much
00:01:02 easier to be a rocket scientist, thanks to Jerry Bruckheimer.
00:01:06 I finally arrived in America a few years ago.
00:01:11 One of the things that always intrigued me about the United States is that being the
00:01:15 largest democracy in the world, it had only two parties, the Democrats and the Republicans.
00:01:21 Now I was from India where we had a party for every flavor of ice cream you can buy
00:01:25 at Baskin Robbins.
00:01:27 Not that that was better, but why only two?
00:01:31 Are there only two points of view in the world?
00:01:34 It would continue to wrack my brain for the longest time until I met it.
00:01:59 Now we can make changes, reprint so if everything is correct then we'll get a good percentage
00:02:23 of the votes.
00:02:49 I'm running against Dick Gephardt and Democratic primary.
00:03:18 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:03:46 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:03:48 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:03:49 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:03:50 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:03:51 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:03:52 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:03:53 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:03:54 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:03:55 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:03:56 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:03:57 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:03:58 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:03:59 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:04:00 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:04:01 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:04:02 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:04:03 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:04:04 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:04:05 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:04:06 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:04:07 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:04:08 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:04:09 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:04:10 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:04:11 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:04:37 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:05:06 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:05:17 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:05:18 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:05:19 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:05:20 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:05:21 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:05:22 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:05:23 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:05:24 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:05:25 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:05:26 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:05:27 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:05:28 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:05:29 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:05:30 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:05:31 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:05:32 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:05:33 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:05:34 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:05:35 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:05:36 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:05:37 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:05:38 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:05:39 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:05:40 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:05:41 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:05:42 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:05:43 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:05:44 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:05:45 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:05:46 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:05:47 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:05:48 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:05:49 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:05:50 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:05:51 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:05:52 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:05:53 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:05:54 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:05:55 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:05:56 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:05:57 I'm running against the Democrats.
00:05:58 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:05:59 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:06:06 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:06:07 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:06:08 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:06:09 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:06:10 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:06:11 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:06:12 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:06:13 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:06:14 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:06:15 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:06:16 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:06:17 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:06:18 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:06:19 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:06:20 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:06:21 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:06:22 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:06:23 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:06:24 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:06:25 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:06:26 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:06:27 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:06:28 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:06:29 I'm running against Hillary Clinton.
00:06:30 I think maybe he ought to have a bake sale next week.
00:06:33 I thought we could maybe get Dan to base jump off the Eads bridge with a Speedo that says
00:06:40 "Vote Byington" on the back.
00:06:42 You know, and getting you to film it, and then we release that to the media.
00:06:47 You know, something that gets free publicity.
00:06:50 Thank you all for coming to the volunteer barbecue for my campaign.
00:06:56 I've made my announcement publicly this past Thursday for the first time.
00:07:01 Actually, no, about two weeks ago.
00:07:03 But enjoy the food and everything.
00:07:06 The reason why I'm wearing this hat is because I'm working hard for myself and I think you
00:07:09 all should work hard for yourself as well.
00:07:11 I'm not going to relate to my neighbor as a competitor for some type of government handout,
00:07:15 grant, or program.
00:07:16 Anyway, a couple of my neighbors stopped by.
00:07:19 But I have this sheet here, if you want, write your name, phone number, email address.
00:07:26 Or your address, if you'd like to volunteer my campaign anyway.
00:07:31 So just continue eating.
00:07:33 If you want to ask me any questions or anything, I'll be around.
00:07:36 I have a question, sir.
00:07:37 Who's your girlfriend?
00:07:38 Where?
00:07:39 And what are your intentions?
00:07:40 Yeah, that's right.
00:07:41 My intentions on what?
00:07:48 I've been asked to assist Dan with his campaign in a management form.
00:07:54 I haven't decided whether I'm going to do that or not.
00:07:56 I wanted to come out and meet some of his friends.
00:08:00 So throughout meeting some of them today, I'm not quite certain I want the job.
00:08:06 What will it take for Dan to win this war, or this fight against big politicians?
00:08:13 About two and a half million dollars.
00:08:16 Well, it's, uh, I'm very ticked about dogs and dead people voting.
00:08:29 That's a main issue.
00:08:32 This is Mike Steger, another hopeful, unfunded, running in the Republican primaries against
00:08:38 party-endorsed Ms. Katherine Enns.
00:08:41 He is a one-man campaign crew.
00:08:43 They're not doing anything about it that's crooked, okay?
00:08:46 And that's fixed.
00:08:48 So I say all we've got to do is merge the voter database in the city and the county
00:08:53 with the driver's license.
00:08:54 Put a "V" on the driver's license.
00:08:55 If you're a non-driver, you get the non-driver's card.
00:09:00 Fixed.
00:09:01 Okay?
00:09:02 And then I'm going to do something that Thomas Jefferson would do if he was around today.
00:09:07 I'm going to return control of the government to the public.
00:09:11 Okay?
00:09:12 Pretty monumental task.
00:09:13 Pretty worthy task.
00:09:14 Okay?
00:09:15 Sounds like a challenge to me.
00:09:16 So I don't even want to go to Washington.
00:09:17 I'll do two-way teleconference secure.
00:09:18 Okay?
00:09:19 I don't really need to go out there.
00:09:20 I've been to Washington before.
00:09:25 Now before Mike can talk about going to Washington, he had to beat Ms. Enns in the primaries,
00:09:30 who was party-endorsed and was relatively well-funded.
00:09:32 Oh, that's becoming a breeze now.
00:09:36 I've got 23 years' experience in federal government.
00:09:39 Why am I running against the incumbent, Richard Gephardt?
00:09:43 Because I can do a better job.
00:09:44 I've got 23 years' federal government experience.
00:09:47 For Mike, this was personal.
00:09:49 Some time ago, he had caught some people falsifying documents, and he complained to Dick Gephardt.
00:09:54 And he answered me like he'd answer anybody in the district.
00:09:59 He said it's an administrative matter.
00:10:01 He told me I was on my own.
00:10:04 Okay?
00:10:05 He said, "You've exhausted your administrative options."
00:10:09 To which I say, "No, I haven't.
00:10:13 Gephardt, you're fired."
00:10:17 It seemed to me that Mike Steger was planning too far ahead.
00:10:21 Mike Bram, on the other hand, was gunning for Dick Gephardt in the Democratic primary.
00:10:26 To me, it seemed like an uphill battle.
00:10:28 But then, what do I know?
00:10:29 For about 20 years, so it's time for the individuals to stand up and try to get our country back.
00:10:37 The country right now is like Rome.
00:10:38 The reason a lot of people don't know why Rome collapsed, it was financial.
00:10:45 The idea of represent is to represent the beliefs and the backgrounds of the people
00:10:53 of your area, not go around the nation raising money and then run for president.
00:10:59 Now, this is an area up here, like I said earlier, that will vote for him.
00:11:04 To campaign here really does not do any good because you can talk all day long and the
00:11:10 people will not listen to you because they've already decided, they don't care, they have
00:11:15 it in their minds, and they will vote for him.
00:11:19 Not only that, but they will vote Democrat.
00:11:22 They will never vote Republican.
00:11:23 They've always voted Democrat, always will vote Democrat.
00:11:27 You have to go against Dick Gebhardt as a Democrat and you have to do it in the primary.
00:11:36 There was a little thing in the press the last week about a fax that she sent me.
00:11:42 Maybe you saw it.
00:11:45 Some of the Republicans thought that was cute.
00:11:48 Well, what I want to say to my friends in the Republican party is eat your heart out.
00:11:58 I get faxes from Barbara Streisand, they get faxes from Rush Limbaugh and Pat Robertson.
00:12:06 A lawyer by training, like many other politicians, Dick Gebhardt was first elected to the US
00:12:10 Congress in 1976 and has been undefeated ever since.
00:12:15 At the onset, it did not seem likely that this race would pose a challenge.
00:12:20 In the past, he had raised 2-3 million dollars in each campaign and this was going to be
00:12:24 no different.
00:12:26 So why is he so invincible?
00:12:27 He's done an awful lot.
00:12:31 You can watch him on television.
00:12:32 He's here, he's there.
00:12:34 I was born in DeSoto, Missouri.
00:12:36 I ran Highway 21 a lot and he had 21 into a four-lane highway and he's going to continue
00:12:44 to make it the rest of the way to DeSoto, Missouri.
00:12:48 He's wavered on most major issues throughout his life.
00:12:53 Abortion, tax reform.
00:12:56 A more generous interpretation of the events may say that he had a sincere, genuine change
00:13:04 of heart.
00:13:05 I don't really find that to be the case.
00:13:07 I think that as he aspired to the Democratic nomination for president in 1988, he changed
00:13:13 his position on abortion.
00:13:15 He changed his position on gun control.
00:13:17 He changed his position on a variety of issues.
00:13:20 Okay, if that's the case, how do you explain this?
00:13:25 And Mr. Gebhardt, if he was terrible or bad, would he have been in there for 20 some odd
00:13:32 years?
00:13:34 People can't be wrong that long.
00:13:37 He has access to a national Democratic fundraising base.
00:13:42 These national donors are able to give him $2 million for each election cycle.
00:13:47 The second reason is that as the district has changed demographically and as the voting
00:13:52 pattern to the district has changed over the last 10 or 15 years, Gebhardt has skillfully
00:13:58 been able to take the lead in redistricting every 10 years.
00:14:03 Gebhardt's original political base is here in the heart of the south side of the city
00:14:08 of St. Louis.
00:14:09 In the redistricting after the year 2000, after the census came out, Gebhardt, whose
00:14:15 district used to, the lines used to end here, he took territory, even though his population
00:14:21 in his district had been moving this way, he decided to make sure his district went
00:14:26 upwards.
00:14:27 Because this swath of people here, there's two types of people.
00:14:30 There's African Americans who are disproportionately Democratic, and there's white progressives.
00:14:37 Because of the complexity, the sophistication of redistricting software, state legislatures
00:14:44 are able to mold their districts to make sure that they are not going to face a strong challenger.
00:14:50 I caught up with Dan a week after the barbecue to find out what kind of success he had had.
00:14:55 The results, let's just say, were less than optimal.
00:14:58 A lot of people I noticed at this barbecue will sit there and they'll bitch to the cows
00:15:03 come home and they'll talk about how it's the blacks fault, the poor guys fault, the
00:15:07 rich guys fault, some politicians fault, but then when you ask them to volunteer, maybe
00:15:10 put a yard sign in their yard, they act like they're doing you a big friggin' favor.
00:15:14 It's like, pal, you know, contribute a little bit.
00:15:15 I'm not asking you for a lot.
00:15:17 Can you pass out ten flyers?
00:15:21 You have no problem woofing down my hot dogs, that's for sure.
00:15:24 My strategy is, and if I can afford it, I want to get billboards, I want to buy billboards.
00:15:29 But I thought about putting something like, do it for the kids, in parentheses, and then
00:15:35 Byington.
00:15:36 You know, and then it'll say pay for Byington for Congress.
00:15:39 Or I'm just a common man.
00:15:42 I like the common, or, you know, I like the common, I'm a common man, you're a common
00:15:46 man.
00:15:47 Won't you be a common man?
00:15:50 Dan heard on the radio that we were going to have a Gephardt sighting in St. Louis.
00:15:55 So we rushed to see him in person.
00:15:58 He's pretty much been a career politician for the last 26 years.
00:16:01 I thought, you know, I'd get some good tips from him.
00:16:05 Well, what?
00:16:07 This is awesome.
00:16:10 This is awesome.
00:16:13 Dick Gephardt.
00:16:15 Thank you.
00:16:17 Thank you.
00:16:19 Thank you very much.
00:16:22 I want to congratulate the mayors, the park board members, farmer mayors, and mostly the
00:16:32 citizens of this great community for having the generosity and the foresight and the good
00:16:40 citizenship to invest in a wonderful facility like this.
00:16:46 This center, to me, is a family center.
00:16:52 So we finally got to see Dick Gephardt in person.
00:16:55 This was the man Dan was going to debate against.
00:16:59 Gephardt clearly knew how to talk a lot without really saying anything, but making people
00:17:04 feel good.
00:17:05 Looking at the novices who were running in the race, it was getting pretty apparent to
00:17:09 me that this was going to be one bloodbath.
00:17:12 Ready? On the count of three. One, two, three.
00:17:16 [applause]
00:17:19 [music]
00:17:32 [music]
00:17:51 Hey, Joe. What's going on, man?
00:17:53 Hello, Dan.
00:17:54 Hey, how's it going?
00:17:55 Fine, and you?
00:17:56 Good, good.
00:17:57 That book you gave me was really fascinating.
00:17:59 Fascinating, isn't it?
00:18:00 Yeah.
00:18:01 I read it in a hot tub one time.
00:18:02 [laughter]
00:18:04 Excellent.
00:18:05 Would you like to be in a role of campaign manager?
00:18:09 Do you think that seems like something that would interest you?
00:18:11 Yeah.
00:18:12 Like with Carvel or doing campaigns?
00:18:15 Mm-hmm.
00:18:16 First step is the signs.
00:18:17 I think the slogan, "Buy into buy into."
00:18:19 Right.
00:18:20 It's different. It's easy.
00:18:22 You might want to use one of these.
00:18:24 They don't even put the rates in here.
00:18:26 As an attack billboard.
00:18:28 The attack ones would be totally different,
00:18:30 and I could put my little thing on small print,
00:18:32 but it'll say something that Gephardt said, like--
00:18:35 Like, "Gephardt sucks."
00:18:37 Radio, Internet, billboards, flyers, yard signs, and guest appearances.
00:18:43 That's it. That's all I'm going to be doing for campaigning.
00:18:46 That's enough, as long as we do a lot of it.
00:18:49 They say that your treasurer should be--
00:18:53 Like, in your case, it should be a pro-life Republican woman.
00:19:02 How do you find that? Just run an ad or something?
00:19:04 I don't know. You have to find--
00:19:07 They say it should be the opposite of your candidate
00:19:10 to try and bring other people into the campaign.
00:19:17 Not a lot of congressmen make a local quirky documentary,
00:19:21 and it's turning out really, really good, the footage and the film.
00:19:24 There's a lot of WGNU radio.
00:19:26 I think that'd be a good start to catapult when you talk about getting news coverage.
00:19:31 How are we going to raise money? What's your thoughts?
00:19:33 What's your budget? What are you going to spend?
00:19:36 What I think I need is about 50 grand to do everything I want to do.
00:19:40 And that's what--
00:19:43 You think it's $150,000?
00:19:45 Yeah, I'm going to put a 1 in front of it.
00:19:47 And that's our goal.
00:19:48 Are there any demons that are going to come to haunt us from your past?
00:19:54 Well, let me tell you something. I have no police record.
00:19:57 I'm a single guy, so I'll at least have a date and meet women.
00:20:01 I haven't had the chance to write, but I've probably, in the last 2 to 3 years,
00:20:05 probably slept with 20 different women.
00:20:07 Uh-huh.
00:20:09 [laughter]
00:20:12 A couple of girls wanted to video-date me, and I said, "No, no, no, no."
00:20:18 Yeah, yeah, all right.
00:20:20 And then I have smoked hemp, beef and hemp. That's about it.
00:20:24 That's the only thing--so all those things--
00:20:26 And you liked it.
00:20:27 Yeah, and I liked it. And I inhaled.
00:20:29 But all those things, I'm acting on.
00:20:31 [laughter]
00:20:32 I'll tell you when you're fucking up.
00:20:34 Yeah.
00:20:35 I'll help protect you from yourself.
00:20:39 Winning November 5th.
00:20:40 Right.
00:20:41 What I've got to do--and just think of it like that.
00:20:43 I'm a grunt. I'm out there in the--I'm out there in the trenches.
00:20:46 Right.
00:20:47 That's the one way I can approach it.
00:20:49 Dan looked far and wide for a suitable treasurer.
00:20:56 He finally convinced my girlfriend to sign up.
00:20:59 The only problem? She was neither Republican nor pro-life.
00:21:04 It's like I just need someone who's appointed or designated as a treasurer.
00:21:08 Right.
00:21:09 Let's see this.
00:21:11 Goodness gracious. This looks like a really fun ring.
00:21:15 Isn't that crazy, though? Don't you think that could be--
00:21:18 Yeah, it's pretty crazy, yeah.
00:21:20 It's crazy.
00:21:25 [laughter]
00:21:26 Here's some more stuff.
00:21:27 What have I done? I don't know about this.
00:21:29 Oh, my God.
00:21:31 I just thought it would be fun, but it doesn't look like it now.
00:21:35 [laughter]
00:21:36 Okay, I got you as a treasurer. You signed on.
00:21:39 I didn't have you sign anything official or nothing.
00:21:41 I'm going to get a PO box with an address.
00:21:44 I'm going to call the FEC and ask questions.
00:21:46 I'm going to start raising funds to put into a bank account that we will both open jointly.
00:21:51 Okay.
00:21:53 Well, thank you for--
00:21:56 You're welcome.
00:21:57 Thank you, too.
00:21:58 You're very welcome.
00:21:59 Good official handshake.
00:22:01 You're saying that now, your finances will be all screwed up.
00:22:04 I have my own new wardrobe.
00:22:06 It is getting close to the primaries.
00:22:08 While Catherine Enns was still evading my calls and Dick Gephardt was nowhere to be seen,
00:22:14 I met up with Mike Steger, who was on his campaign trail.
00:22:17 Let me describe for you the flavor of representation under Gephardt.
00:22:21 The MSD plant here in Lime with burnin' poop.
00:22:26 There's little kids that live around here every day and breathe this burnin' poop every day.
00:22:33 When I'm elected, I'm going to have a wash, put it on the top of this tower, a spray,
00:22:40 and then I'm going to do something about the tanks so that the little kids don't breathe this burnin' poop every day.
00:22:47 I want to put my office in the building where I used to work at.
00:22:51 Here are the defense mapping.
00:22:53 And if the Air Force will let me, I'll let them open up that building for Boy Scout and Girl Scout camp,
00:23:00 the only Boy Scout and Girl Scout camp in South City.
00:23:04 [sound of water running]
00:23:08 Right now, I've just got to get through the primaries.
00:23:12 And after the primaries, things will pick up.
00:23:15 [sound of water running]
00:23:19 Because they don't want funds getting locked in.
00:23:23 [sound of water running]
00:23:29 And this installation board, you can put it on the windshield of your car.
00:23:33 [sound of water running]
00:23:39 Got a lot of base and a lot of people understand, except for where I'm coming from.
00:23:44 [sound of water running]
00:23:52 When I stop, they come and say, "What are you going to do? What are you going to do?"
00:23:58 [sound of water running]
00:24:03 I am pretty impressed with Mike Steger's determination,
00:24:06 but is this an efficient way to reach out to 700,000 people in the district?
00:24:11 Michael Bram, on the other hand, was running around the district trying to get endorsements from local Democratic wards.
00:24:18 I went to their ward meetings where Dick and his representatives did not show up,
00:24:22 and you have to show up to get an endorsement, which they did not, and he was endorsed anyway.
00:24:28 That also goes with this area here, the 15th ward in the city.
00:24:38 Same thing. Dick and his representatives don't show up, I show up, you have to show up to be considered for an endorsement,
00:24:45 he gets endorsed anyway.
00:24:47 So not only do we have problems up at the federal level, we have problems at the local level.
00:24:52 I hope that I win. If not, the website stays up.
00:24:58 I'm going to keep letting people know, informing them of the truth.
00:25:03 [no audio]
00:25:06 It is the day before the primaries.
00:25:09 Mike Steger's one-man campaign crew is in full force.
00:25:13 Whether it will be enough to beat Kathy Enns is another matter.
00:25:17 All I got to do is beat Enns. I think she already gave up.
00:25:24 Get involved with every high-tech project the government's got, bring those projects into the district.
00:25:29 That means business, jobs, opportunity, P.S., get part of U.R. Fired.
00:25:36 Didn't you say that already?
00:25:38 [no audio]
00:25:41 They burn the poop 24 hours a day.
00:25:47 All little kids have to breathe burning poop.
00:26:02 My Teamster Union dad went to his grave knowing that Gephardt tried to screw him.
00:26:10 Blood feud.
00:26:18 A buck for the board and however much for the paint.
00:26:23 [no audio]
00:26:39 My South County Journal thing, I said, "I want to be a representative, not a dictator."
00:26:44 And they quoted that.
00:26:46 And I said, "Hey, I'm against dogs and dead people voting.
00:26:48 We're going to merge the voter database in the city and county with the driver's license."
00:26:52 You know what Mayor Daley says, "Vote early, vote often."
00:26:55 [laughter]
00:26:57 [no audio]
00:26:59 [no audio]
00:27:11 It's like driving a boat bored through mulch.
00:27:14 It is mulch.
00:27:16 [no audio]
00:27:31 50 feet.
00:27:33 [no audio]
00:28:00 The primaries ended with no upsets.
00:28:03 As expected, Mike Brahm had lost to Dick Gephardt.
00:28:06 [no audio]
00:28:10 All right, we got to put him back.
00:28:13 You tear Pat his head.
00:28:17 All right, say bye-bye.
00:28:18 Bye-bye, Brahm.
00:28:20 Campaign ended raw, very nice.
00:28:23 26.5% of the vote.
00:28:26 Received over 16,000 votes.
00:28:29 That's more than the 13,000 that the Republican candidate,
00:28:34 Catherine Enns, who received 13,000, will face Dick Gephardt in the general election.
00:28:39 But, of course, we have the media bias again.
00:28:43 Five days after the election, and there's a picture of Dick Gephardt getting free press on the front page.
00:28:50 Also in the paper, if you read, it talks that Gephardt pummeled Mike Brahm.
00:28:58 And Enns breezed past computer consultant Mike Steger.
00:29:05 If you look at the percentages from the state, Catherine Enns did get 58%, and Mike Steger got 41%.
00:29:14 I don't call that a breeze.
00:29:16 And 26% to 73% is not a slaughter.
00:29:21 Now the paper also reports that Gephardt got nearly 80% of the vote.
00:29:27 Well, he didn't get 80% of the vote.
00:29:30 Now in St. Louis County, yes, I did get 3,822 votes, which is about 20%.
00:29:39 I did pull higher percentages.
00:29:41 But the paper does not show that.
00:29:44 That was the county.
00:29:45 They are giving a perception that that was the total everywhere.
00:29:53 The train that's going by right now is Burlington Northern.
00:29:59 It's a track that goes into St. Louis, comes up from Memphis.
00:30:02 It will probably be carrying nuclear waste through here very soon.
00:30:06 Dick Gephardt shows up in the area, says, "Oh, no, waste is not going to go through.
00:30:10 Waste is not going to go through."
00:30:12 It's going through.
00:30:13 It was started back in 1987.
00:30:15 He was House Majority Leader.
00:30:16 He could have killed it.
00:30:17 He could have killed all the appropriations for Yucca Mountain.
00:30:20 He did not do that.
00:30:21 The only way for people to take this country back is they have to stand up.
00:30:26 They have to say, "Hey, that's it."
00:30:29 And the only way they can do it peacefully is by voting.
00:30:33 He has not had somebody run against him in the primary for many, many, many years.
00:30:38 So this was very interesting to see that large of a turnout for me
00:30:41 when the media won't even put my picture in the paper.
00:30:45 They won't put my picture on TV.
00:30:48 And basically, nobody knew who I was.
00:30:52 So that begs the question, what about the media?
00:30:56 Is it not supposed to be fair and balanced, as some would say?
00:31:00 Radio plays a greater role than ever.
00:31:03 Time on the air is paid for by all parties and distributed evenly among them,
00:31:07 giving the party in office no advantage over its opponents.
00:31:11 Most of the mainstream media only focus on official sources.
00:31:16 Who are the official sources?
00:31:18 Of course, the Democrats and the Republicans.
00:31:20 And they are colluding to keep independent voices, like the Green Party,
00:31:24 out of the electoral process.
00:31:26 It is so hard to get information.
00:31:28 I just want to know who believes what.
00:31:31 What do you think the role of the media is in this whole election process?
00:31:35 To sell newspapers and TVs, TV ads.
00:31:39 Hello from the anchor desk.
00:31:41 [laughter]
00:31:42 [music]
00:31:45 Good morning again.
00:31:46 It's 6.30 now on this Monday, January 3rd,
00:31:48 and here's what's happening in the news this morning.
00:31:50 This story about two Tennessee boys who need to eat squirrel meat
00:31:54 might sound a little nutty, but it is true.
00:31:57 Folks all over Morgan County, Tennessee, have been out hunting squirrels today.
00:32:01 Been hard trying to find foods that are high in protein,
00:32:04 and we got the idea of squirrel.
00:32:06 Journalists can be eyes for the world, often risking their lives.
00:32:10 But that's another story.
00:32:12 That's the story we want to hear.
00:32:13 For who?
00:32:14 We tried. We're using all sorts of French.
00:32:16 I thought Maurice Chevalier might sneak in here, but oh, I said it.
00:32:19 I'm going to sneak off to Jacques E. Penet.
00:32:21 [laughter]
00:32:24 What's on your time mark?
00:32:27 That's Bugs and Daffy and Wile E. Coyote.
00:32:32 This was for sale in the post office.
00:32:35 $1.3 trillion.
00:32:39 Make this holiday season a time of giving.
00:32:41 Come on, join us.
00:32:42 If you want to fall out of debt.
00:32:45 Nice Friday, nice Friday. Sit, Friday, sit.
00:32:48 All right, let's go up to Chopper 2 right now.
00:32:50 Show you what's happening.
00:32:51 Some serious clowning around going on today.
00:32:54 [laughter]
00:33:05 Yeah, they told me where to stand, where to stand, and I'm doing okay this morning.
00:33:08 And put it, quote, a cheap publicity stunt, and again, quote, a classic case of media manipulation.
00:33:17 Media.
00:33:18 Media.
00:33:19 Media manipulation.
00:33:21 That is the news this morning. Now let's head back to Brian and Jane.
00:33:24 This was when we were invading.
00:33:27 We were going into Yugoslavia, and I was really upset about some stuff.
00:33:33 I was watching and I was like, watching how they would, like the local newscasters would talk about, you know,
00:33:40 they'd briefly introduce a few serious issues with these stern looks on their faces,
00:33:44 and then like immediately they'd be, you know, they'd be cutting up and making jokes and stuff.
00:33:49 And I was just like, how can anybody take it seriously, the real news, because there is some substance there.
00:33:57 How can they take it seriously if, like, these newscasters are just total clowns, you know?
00:34:02 When you're trying to win your market share by providing entertainment, then you've lost your focus on the news.
00:34:12 After this small response in getting volunteers and raising funds, Dan seemed really frustrated the next time I saw him.
00:34:20 No one from the Libertarian Party has called me and said, okay, here, we're going to help you with fundraising or nothing like that.
00:34:27 And I'm not really blaming him, but I was kind of feeling frustrated because I was like, man, am I really to,
00:34:32 am I willing to waste all this time and energy, because really that's all you have.
00:34:37 The only independent right now is a guy from Vermont named Bernie Sanders, who's a socialist, actually,
00:34:44 and Vermont's quite a quirky state politically.
00:34:47 I would bet my life savings that Dan Byington will not be able to win this seat.
00:34:53 Why do you vote Democratic?
00:34:55 It's a party that my father, mother, and sister all vote for, and that's the only way that I can go.
00:35:01 Which party do you generally vote for?
00:35:04 Republican.
00:35:05 It's just, in general, they seem more conservative than the Democrats.
00:35:13 Could you define conservative? What are the things that are conservative?
00:35:18 All that seem to me...
00:35:23 As a labor man and as a working man, I have to vote Democratic.
00:35:27 Democrat.
00:35:28 Why do you vote Democratic?
00:35:30 Because they're a little more liberal.
00:35:34 What have they specifically done?
00:35:36 I really don't know. I just, where I was brought up, to vote Democratic.
00:35:43 Republican, the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer, so I want to be on the rich side.
00:35:50 My parents are both Democrats, so I was raised a Democrat.
00:35:56 God first, love of country, family, traditional things.
00:36:01 Republicans, the people who have been elected so far, have they kept the promises that you've been promised as a voter?
00:36:10 Well, it doesn't make any difference.
00:36:13 I support them, and I would, that's my thing.
00:36:20 I am starting to get the idea now. The two-party system works something like this.
00:36:26 This is America. God bless America.
00:36:37 One, two, three, four!
00:36:39 [Screaming]
00:36:43 Land of the free and the home of the brave. Land of the free and the home of the brave.
00:36:47 America!
00:36:49 Hey America, I'm the better choice. I am for the poor people. Vote for me.
00:36:55 No, no, I'm the better choice. Nobody gets free money, and I'll protect you all with big bombs.
00:37:05 This is stupid. I will protect you all. Black people, yellow people, brown people, gay people.
00:37:14 I will protect you from the man.
00:37:17 Don't be an idiot. I'll let you keep your guns so you can be safe. Ha ha, jackass.
00:37:24 Guns kill, guns kill.
00:37:28 What about pro-choice? Or if you keep your kids, I'll pay you. Ha ha, take that.
00:37:37 He's taking away all my votes. Holy Jesus. I'm fucked. That's it. Jesus. I present to you, Jesus.
00:37:49 Vote for me.
00:37:59 No, vote for me.
00:38:00 Vote for me.
00:38:01 No, vote for me.
00:38:03 No, yellow people.
00:38:05 Jackass, vote for me.
00:38:07 Hey guys, I'm an independent. Why don't we debate issues? You guys want to debate me?
00:38:16 Ha, I bet you I'll kick y'all's ass. You don't know who you're up against.
00:38:32 Hey, you guys don't play fair.
00:38:54 Because we will probably never change to proportional representation, and we can only elect one person,
00:39:01 that indicates that we'll always have two parties coming to the median voter, trying to get that median voter.
00:39:08 Additionally, they'll be able to raise so much money through their connections in Washington with political action committees,
00:39:14 through their connections back home with businesses in the district,
00:39:17 and also through the franking privilege, the fact that they can send as much mail as they want as congressmen for free.
00:39:25 The barriers, the obstacles, are almost insurmountable.
00:39:29 We've been certified by the Missouri Secretary of State. Greens are on the ballot.
00:39:39 We're running, I believe, nine candidates statewide.
00:39:43 The Green Party probably would be very aligned with my values, but I feel I'd be throwing my vote away.
00:39:51 You don't have to have a two-party system to run a country. You've got to be able to listen to opposition.
00:39:59 And the two-party system is too much intertwined with each other.
00:40:04 If you got me a map of the 435 districts, in 400 of the races, I would tell you, I could tell you who will win 400 of those with utmost certainty,
00:40:17 so much so that I would bet, again, my life savings, I would bet my home on it.
00:40:22 I think it's a money game. It's a money game. It takes a lot of money to get into politics.
00:40:30 And Democrats and Republicans, they got it all.
00:40:34 Money is the mother's milk of American politics.
00:40:44 If you don't have money, and you can't raise money, you almost have no shot of getting there.
00:40:49 Hello, money, you're our honey, you're our everything.
00:40:57 You're our shadow, you're our battle, you're our everything.
00:41:06 The main reason that it's hard to run as a third-party candidate is money, pure and simple.
00:41:12 Estimates are that my Democratic and Republican opponents in this Senate race here in Missouri will spend 5 to 10 million dollars each on their campaigns.
00:41:23 5 to 10 million dollars.
00:41:25 But without money or the possibility of raising it, it doesn't seem like a possible dream in this society these days.
00:41:39 That frightens me. That frightens me a lot.
00:41:42 Hello, money, you're our honey, you're our everything.
00:41:50 You're our shadow, you're our battle, you're our everything.
00:41:59 You're in season, you're the reason your people go down.
00:42:08 You're our shelter, you're our help desk.
00:42:12 I don't think our forefathers could have ever predicted the strong lobbyists that we have over there,
00:42:18 who pretty much dictate public policy and tell politicians where to spend their money.
00:42:23 And if the politicians don't go with them, fine, you just don't get any campaign contribution.
00:42:34 And they stole, they stole all your second chances.
00:42:43 And they stole, they stole all your second chances.
00:42:51 I finally got the message from Republican candidate Ms. N's office that I was afraid of.
00:43:01 Yes, this is Carl Hendrickson from Representative Kathy M's candidate for Congress office.
00:43:09 You called last week about us participating in a documentary that you're doing.
00:43:16 I've discussed it with the staff and with Representative M's also,
00:43:22 and we just wouldn't be able to do it at this time.
00:43:25 I'm sorry, and we wish you the best of luck with your program.
00:43:28 Yes, Mr. Hendrickson? Hi, this is Shrikant Chalapa.
00:43:32 I had been requesting an interview with Ms. N's,
00:43:37 and I think I got a message from you about a couple of weeks back or so.
00:43:42 Would it be possible for me to kind of just follow her on her campaign trail,
00:43:53 maybe a couple of days or something, between now and November?
00:43:56 I mean, if she can do an online interview, I can at least capture that kind of footage,
00:44:00 because I'm really trying to capture how the campaigns are run and stuff like that.
00:44:04 Okay. Alright. Bye.
00:44:09 Editing. Editing Radio Free St. Louis. I am Chuck Norman,
00:44:18 which is actually going to be part of my campaign.
00:44:22 Hopefully I'll be able to, maybe I might even sell tickets, whatever it shows, and raise money.
00:44:28 I guess pretty much all the topics I wanted to cover I have covered,
00:44:39 because I mean, at this particular point, I'm just continuing to fill out surveys and pass out flyers,
00:44:44 and I guess if I can just, if you can kind of help me get spots to speak in front of
00:44:49 and work with these guys and get a speech, I'll show up wherever I can,
00:44:52 as long as it's not Monday through Friday 9 to 5.
00:44:55 Don't we have a debate?
00:44:57 No, the League of Women Voters originally were going to have a debate, and I talked to them,
00:45:00 and they said they're not having a debate this year.
00:45:02 Oh, so now we don't have a debate. No, I hadn't heard that.
00:45:05 So I was kind of disappointed about that.
00:45:08 Hello, sir. How much? I'm passing out flyers too today.
00:45:14 Who are you? Dan Bynson for Congress.
00:45:17 What's your party? That's me, Libertarian.
00:45:21 Oh, Libertarian, you got to get schooled, man.
00:45:23 I'm going down to the League.
00:45:24 Should we legalize marijuana for us guys, man?
00:45:26 I think marijuana should be, I think there should be laws,
00:45:29 I think the drug laws are not working in this country.
00:45:32 The only criticism I have about you guys is that you want to privatize the forest.
00:45:38 I can't do that.
00:45:39 Privatize what?
00:45:40 The forest, the National Forest.
00:45:41 Oh, the forest.
00:45:42 My buddy's running for Senator, you know, Green Party.
00:45:48 Yeah.
00:45:49 Romano, Dan Romano.
00:45:50 Okay.
00:45:51 He's running for that. He's a friend of mine.
00:45:53 I'll probably see him today. We're actually going down to a police protest.
00:45:55 So far.
00:45:56 Anyway, man, it was nice meeting you. What is your name?
00:45:58 Lefty Flowerchild. That's my real legal name.
00:46:00 Lefty Flowerchild?
00:46:01 Yeah, right. That's my legal name. I had to change it.
00:46:02 Okay, well, hey, give me a call if you know anyone who's interested in helping out a third party.
00:46:07 We've sustained a huge loss with the cancellation of the League of Women Voters' Debate.
00:46:11 That's a huge setback.
00:46:16 And what's our symbol?
00:46:18 Isn't it a donkey?
00:46:20 That's Democrats.
00:46:22 No.
00:46:23 It's a blunt.
00:46:24 It's a donkey.
00:46:25 It's a donkey.
00:46:26 It's a libertarian.
00:46:27 Or a mule.
00:46:28 I thought it was a blunt.
00:46:29 A blunt.
00:46:30 A big old spleen.
00:46:31 What? You're saying it's a donkey and that's the libertarian?
00:46:35 In Missouri, it is. Yeah, it's a donkey or a mule.
00:46:38 So what are some things that you guys are doing? Because I have no idea.
00:46:42 Tomorrow I'm passing out flyers after work.
00:46:45 Okay, Saturday?
00:46:46 Saturday from 2 to 4 down at the Arch.
00:46:48 And that's when it's downtown? 2 to what?
00:46:50 2 to 4 at the Arch.
00:46:51 Okay, now, did you want to do a different type of flyer for that?
00:46:54 Yeah, I was thinking maybe--
00:46:55 And do we need to get that done so I can get it done tomorrow?
00:46:58 The Tibble League, I'm going to premiere the film, which you saw it.
00:47:01 It wasn't a completed project, but it will be totally complete.
00:47:05 I'm premiering that on October 15th.
00:47:07 What do you like the way he portrayed himself in his film?
00:47:11 Your one and a half minutes of sound bite from that entire film is pretty hard edge.
00:47:18 But it's done.
00:47:20 Right.
00:47:21 And whatever happens, happens.
00:47:23 So I agree with that because we're going to do that.
00:47:25 Small stuff.
00:47:27 War based, what do you mean?
00:47:29 I mean, you've got to give me something.
00:47:32 He's good, war bad.
00:47:33 I'll tell you what, what's the Greens' policy?
00:47:35 You should not exchange an 18-year-old's life for an oil price.
00:47:43 You know what I mean?
00:47:44 I'm not nervous about Iraq lobbing a bomb over from Iraq.
00:47:48 I'm nervous about some terrorist waltzing through the borders.
00:47:51 It'll probably happen in two years.
00:47:53 Some terrorist just waltzing through the borders with a bomb in a briefcase.
00:47:59 And he just puts it somewhere in Kaboom.
00:48:01 That's the biggest threat.
00:48:03 And our foreign policy should be that where we don't meddle in anybody's business unless they--
00:48:07 Absolutely.
00:48:08 You know.
00:48:09 And that is a large reason why we're hated in a lot of parts of the world.
00:48:13 We're everywhere.
00:48:14 We're trying to be the world's policeman.
00:48:16 And sometimes we come down on the wrong side.
00:48:21 The war drums had started beating out of Washington,
00:48:24 and a resolution authorizing war was on the table.
00:48:28 Third party voices were in the forefront opposing war.
00:48:32 Why war?
00:48:33 Why Iraq?
00:48:34 And why now?
00:48:37 To the neocons, 9/11 was a godsend.
00:48:41 Like a dying vampire that has been given a transfusion of human blood.
00:48:48 We don't have to look very far to see the influence of the money tower dragging us into war.
00:48:55 ExxonMobil, the oil majors, British Petroleum,
00:48:59 Halliburton, Dick Cheney's home company,
00:49:02 the burgeoning Homeland Security industry that profits from government efforts to spy on us.
00:49:09 The whole military-industrial complex is now becoming the only growth sector in an economy dragged down by war, fear, and crushing taxation.
00:49:21 What you can do, get on the phone tomorrow morning.
00:49:26 Call your congressman.
00:49:28 Who is the congressional representative from this district?
00:49:32 I blame Gephardt.
00:49:34 It's Gephardt!
00:49:36 Who will not say that?
00:49:37 You've got to work hard to get this business going.
00:49:41 [applause]
00:49:45 [music]
00:49:52 [music]
00:49:59 [applause]
00:50:01 My name is Digger, also known as Daniel Romano, and I am running as the Green candidate for the U.S. Senate.
00:50:09 [applause]
00:50:12 The Green Party has come out consistently against this war.
00:50:16 George W. Bush should look at himself. You know, I hear him talking about how he's appalled how Saddam gassed the Kurdish people back in 1988.
00:50:27 Well, George W. Bush, where the hell were you back in 1988, and why weren't you saying anything about it back then?
00:50:36 What's the matter? Are you too drunk at the time?
00:50:39 I'm Tamara Millay, and I'm the Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate.
00:50:43 I'm not going to take much of your time, and I'm not going to ask you for your vote today.
00:50:49 I'm here instead to stand in solidarity with all Americas, Libertarians, yes, but Greens, Democrats, and Republicans, too, who oppose the terrible...
00:51:00 [applause]
00:51:06 Hello, my name is Daniel. My name is Daniel Beinstein. I'm running as a Libertarian candidate for Congress.
00:51:11 There's not much that I can add that has not been said today.
00:51:16 But when I hear the stories about the veterans who are over in Iraq, stuff that you don't see in the news, or the media doesn't cover,
00:51:25 the destruction that the Persian Gulf War has left behind, where all we seem to be driven towards is the only solution for our familiars' crisis is war, it bothers me.
00:51:39 I'm going to have to go apply a little suntan lotion to my forehead. My hair's kind of thinning out, and I've got a good suntan, but anyway...
00:51:46 He needs to practice. I think he wasn't prepared, and he was nervous. That's what I think.
00:51:52 But it was his first time out, and now he's got experience under his belt.
00:51:58 And I think, like, when I said the joke about the suntan or whatever, I don't know what I was thinking, but that's what I was thinking, really,
00:52:03 because it was like, man, my head was starting to really burn up, because some of those people talked and talked and talked.
00:52:09 And I was just nervous as shit. And I know that I have to have something prepared now when I go in there.
00:52:17 The war resolution passed overwhelmingly in the Congress, with the House approving it 296 to 133 and the Senate 77 to 23.
00:52:28 This past Saturday, I went and talked in front of a peace group, and I just didn't feel as if I was prepared enough.
00:52:38 And why do you feel you're qualified for this office?
00:52:42 I'm not a lawyer. I mean, I'm actually a Missourian. I live in Missouri, and I think that the people of Missouri deserve a candidate who really doesn't want to be a career politician.
00:52:52 Well, my name is Carl Schlanger, and for the campaign for Dan Byington, I'm just trying to help out with the words when it comes to perhaps doing commercials, helping him with speeches.
00:53:06 While Dan was having a tough time finding places to speak, the third-party candidates in the tightly contested Missouri Senate race hit limelight for once.
00:53:16 What I am saying is that these elections matter. It's bigger than us up here. I mean, there are people in this state, tens of thousands of them, seniors, I've met them in the 30 senior centers and independent living centers I went to, who need prescription drug coverage.
00:53:33 I remember the first Gulf War. We were told about what, oh, the third biggest army in the world and what a threat he was, and they turned out to be a second-rate army.
00:53:41 Thomas Jefferson specifically wrote some of the most important documents. I think we all probably have a fond place in our heart for them, except maybe John Ashcroft.
00:53:51 Getting the job done, that's what it's about serving in the United States Senate.
00:53:57 The Green Party is not taking away votes from any other party, because no other party owns those votes. The voters own those votes.
00:54:05 I would not doubt your patriotism, nor would I doubt the patriotism of any member of the United States Senate, Republican or Democrat, and I don't want you to doubt mine again.
00:54:16 Actually, I'm very pleased to say that the media have done a great job reporting on my positions when they have talked about me. I've noticed no inaccuracies.
00:54:26 Once the media gives us a little bit of attention and lets the public know what we stand for, it seems like we get a lot more that people are really very interested in our message.
00:54:34 I've been asked, you know, people, "Why are you running for the Senate, the U.S. Senate, as a third-party candidate? Don't you know that this is a two-party system?"
00:54:46 My reply to that is, "That's right, it's a two-party system, and we need a second party."
00:54:53 I am getting involved in politics because there's two things I think we really need to address as Americans, and that's, one, our health care system, and two, taxes.
00:55:02 I think our health care system, I mean, looking out here, I guess by a show of hands, do any of you remember doctors making house calls?
00:55:10 [laughter]
00:55:13 Okay, what happened to that?
00:55:16 I'm quite positive you could call the IRS with one question, and if you talk to four different people, you get four different answers.
00:55:26 So in reality, what you need to do, we need to reform the tax process, and people need to at least say this. Not a lot of politicians even mention this stuff.
00:55:34 I'll be over here with you in a second.
00:55:36 [applause]
00:55:39 The elections are drawing near, and Dan's campaign had little momentum. All bets are on his big movie premiere.
00:55:47 Fundraise, fundraise, fundraise. We're going against Ephardt. Who knows how much money he has? Let's just say a lot. And how much money does Dan have? None.
00:55:59 So in order to win, you need money.
00:56:03 Content of character. You know, character is a lot, and you have that, Dan.
00:56:09 Oh, thank you.
00:56:10 And I'm not just trying to boost you up as true. You have character. You're going to win.
00:56:13 Well, thank you. I appreciate it. I wish you were in my district, Jeannie.
00:56:16 I'm going to vote. I'm going to work for you anyway. I don't have to vote for you to campaign for you.
00:56:21 Dan, I called to tell you I need ten tickets on reserve.
00:56:25 Okay. If you would like to see the W. Ginny documentary, the first show is basically sold out.
00:56:32 We're at the Tivoli Theater today, beautiful Tivoli Theater, trying to organize our first fundraiser, where Dan will show his film, the Chuck Norman documentary, which has come off fabulously.
00:56:45 What if you only sell 120?
00:56:48 Well, then I'll pretty much lose about $1,500 off the whole thing. So that means my work is a cutout for me.
00:56:56 Right.
00:56:57 And I've got to start selling tickets. I've only got two weeks. I've got two weeks to do it.
00:57:01 The thing, Dan can contribute as much money as he wants to his own campaign. The film premiere is his film.
00:57:09 Right.
00:57:10 It's not necessarily a fundraiser, so whatever money he makes from that doesn't have to be counted.
00:57:15 We're going to need people to staff a booth. You want to set a table up and sell buttons and stickers, or do you want to give it away?
00:57:20 Yeah, absolutely.
00:57:21 All right. So who's going to do that?
00:57:23 I've got people who can do that.
00:57:25 Pretty girls are good for that.
00:57:26 Okay.
00:57:27 You know? Not the shootest.
00:57:30 I'm not getting anybody home. I've got one person, Gloria Parker. She said she'll put a yard sign in her yard.
00:57:39 I think what it is is a lot of people, you know, they think, "Why bother? I don't have a chance. I have no chance to win this election."
00:57:47 You know, I'm just pretty much like I have absolutely zip chance of winning.
00:57:52 The only way I'll win this election is if Gebhardt and Kathy Enns kicks the bucket.
00:57:57 Like, you know, I'm the only one on the ballot somehow, you know.
00:58:00 But even then, I mean, last time they voted a dead guy.
00:58:05 [dog barking]
00:58:10 I've got to go get my flyers out of the car, too.
00:58:12 Yeah.
00:58:13 You don't mind passing them around here?
00:58:14 No, I don't mind.
00:58:15 You paid me for ten--I just want to make sure everything's right--nine of them.
00:58:19 I owe you for five more.
00:58:21 So you owe me 50 bucks.
00:58:23 Yeah, I owe you 50.
00:58:24 Hey, Gary, what's up? This is Dan. I need you to give me a call ASAP.
00:58:29 I'm driving around and Gebhardt has yard signs and so does Kathy Enns all over the place, and I have none.
00:58:34 I need you to get me that design. You're supposed to email it to me, and I need to get these things up ASAP.
00:58:40 And there's my tickets.
00:58:41 Okay, good enough.
00:58:43 Well, thanks, Gloria. Thank you. And I look forward to seeing you at the premiere. That's going to be fun.
00:58:47 Okay, all right. And you don't have to inform me of anything. Just put it, and I know you'll be in here.
00:58:54 If I was with a thousand guys like you, I could win a campaign.
00:58:58 What's going on, man?
00:58:59 Not much. What are you up to, man?
00:59:01 Our rainbow festivals?
00:59:02 Yeah.
00:59:03 Libertarians from all over the country come there. They're cool as can be. They got tents.
00:59:08 They're sitting there. They'll be smoking with us. They'll do everything, man.
00:59:11 But when they start talking about privatizing the parks, everybody gets cool.
00:59:15 Are you right-handed?
00:59:16 Yeah.
00:59:17 Okay. Try to get in touch with the other side of your brain over here, your right mind.
00:59:22 It lets you be a people-like person, you know?
00:59:25 Yeah, that's pretty good. I think I'm going to start trying to do stuff like brush my teeth left-handed.
00:59:30 You'll see after a while. You'll start looking at things differently.
00:59:33 Why are you supporting Carnahan when Digger is running for Honest Park?
00:59:38 Digger's the one that scared me. I was with Digger at my house, and Digger let me off.
00:59:44 And I go, he goes, he goes, you know, Carnahan's running. He goes, he goes, I don't think she's going to make it.
00:59:50 She's got a weak campaign going on. I go, really? I go, darn it. I got scared.
00:59:54 And I left him, and about four or five days later, I came out with my sign.
00:59:58 So you would rather vote for Digger than her, but you're voting for her.
01:00:01 Well, no, Digger doesn't stand a chance. He knows it. Everybody knows it.
01:00:05 This is my mother-in-law, Olga.
01:00:08 Oh, I am a strong politician.
01:00:11 Dan's running against--well, he's in the--
01:00:15 Are you a Democrat?
01:00:16 No, I'm not a Democrat. As a matter of fact, they're making--
01:00:18 Oh, I don't know. I love him. Oh, give me some papers on you.
01:00:24 What are you going to do with them? No, don't give her any papers. She'll turn you in.
01:00:29 She's a Democrat. Why do you love her, though?
01:00:31 I'm not a strong Democrat.
01:00:34 Well, but why are you a Democrat?
01:00:36 Because my mother was.
01:00:38 There you go.
01:00:40 And the only Republican I did vote for was Eisenhower.
01:00:45 And you know why? He came from Massachusetts. I was working at the bank that day, and he waved to me.
01:00:52 So I waved back, and I voted for--
01:00:54 Hi, Harvey. Should we inject fire?
01:00:57 Hey, how's it going? Would you like a fire?
01:01:00 I'm running for Congress.
01:01:02 Oh, okay.
01:01:03 I figured, why not?
01:01:06 Why not?
01:01:07 Why not?
01:01:08 That's a good idea.
01:01:09 Put those with it.
01:01:10 All right, I will.
01:01:11 That's good thinking.
01:01:14 They take those.
01:01:15 Here you go. It's a haunted house.
01:01:19 Two dollars off.
01:01:21 And also, I'm running for Congress.
01:01:24 Are you really?
01:01:25 Yeah.
01:01:26 That was random. He's like, "Here's a haunted house, and I'm running for Congress."
01:01:30 What a novel idea, see? People aren't receptive to taking a political flyer,
01:01:35 but when you combine it with a free ticket to a haunted house, they take it all day long.
01:01:40 What about me?
01:01:41 What about me?
01:01:45 America!
01:01:48 He's ready for office.
01:01:50 I can see the grand opening of the WGNU.
01:01:56 It doesn't do you justice.
01:01:58 Really?
01:01:59 You look younger.
01:02:00 You look younger than I am.
01:02:01 Hey, cool, the yard signs.
01:02:03 Look at these yard signs, Joe.
01:02:07 Wow, those are great, man.
01:02:09 All 300 of them.
01:02:11 Those are both way there.
01:02:13 When I hit play, it should jump right to the beginning of the film.
01:02:22 Yeah!
01:02:24 Good job, Norman.
01:02:28 Thank you.
01:02:31 And I'm not going to rattle on much longer, but I am running for Congress.
01:02:35 If you want to ask me any questions, I'll be back here drinking coffee.
01:02:38 Other than that, enjoy the show. I'll let it speak for itself. Thank you.
01:02:44 I enjoyed it a lot. Excellent production values and very entertaining.
01:03:02 I loved it. I loved it.
01:03:05 This was the best film I've seen in 25 years. Patton was the last one.
01:03:11 Chuck, good seeing you. I'm glad you came.
01:03:13 Here's to happiness, Dan.
01:03:14 Thank you.
01:03:15 You did a great job on this thing. I can't give you enough praise.
01:03:18 Thank you. Thank you.
01:03:19 Well, I think a lot of people like the movie.
01:03:29 They like the movie, but it didn't go well as far as...
01:03:33 because it really put me in the hole.
01:03:35 I didn't really raise any money to put towards my campaign.
01:03:38 So total to pull the whole thing off was about $2,400.
01:03:44 I think with pre-sold tickets, tickets at the door and everything,
01:03:50 I may have sold around $1,800 worth of tickets.
01:03:54 So I actually figured I lost about $600.
01:03:57 I had one volunteer for the volunteer sign.
01:04:00 I had eight people sign up for yard signs, or what, six or seven?
01:04:05 And I had 40 people sign up for DVD and VHS sales.
01:04:08 I called all the local media, but none of them even returned my calls or anything like that.
01:04:13 So they're more interested in covering murders, drug arrests, crap like that.
01:04:21 So how are your speaking opportunities coming along?
01:04:26 Well, I registered to speak at a community college. They returned my check.
01:04:32 Oh, your speeches are getting canceled too. So where do you go from here?
01:04:36 Well, I'm just going to put up as many yard signs as I can.
01:04:38 And I think what it is is when people go into the polls,
01:04:41 it's like they just look at a name they recognize.
01:04:44 Have you heard of Mr. Dan Byington?
01:04:47 No.
01:04:48 It's the Gephardt race. Probably Republican.
01:04:53 Have you heard of Mr. Dan Byington?
01:04:55 No.
01:04:56 Hi.
01:05:05 Hi. What are you trying to do?
01:05:07 I'm trying to run for Congress.
01:05:09 You're selling that house?
01:05:11 What?
01:05:12 You're selling that house?
01:05:14 I'm running for Congress.
01:05:19 I will be pumped into 318,000 homes, of which probably 10 people will watch this.
01:05:26 Because it's on local access.
01:05:28 This is my entree into the media exposure since third parties get literally no coverage by the press.
01:05:35 How's it sound? Pretty good?
01:05:37 Sounds good.
01:05:38 I mean, is it a good 30-second sound bite?
01:05:40 Yeah.
01:05:41 Just smile and be more relaxed. That's why we're just going through it.
01:05:45 Just don't be too harsh.
01:05:46 Okay.
01:05:47 My name is Daniel Byington.
01:05:50 My name is Daniel Byington.
01:05:52 My name is Daniel Byington, and I am running for the third district,
01:05:56 and I am running for the U.S. House of Representatives,
01:05:59 and I am running for the office of U.S. House of Representatives.
01:06:02 My name is Daniel Byington, and I'm...
01:06:05 If you believe the individual should have the right and responsibility to run their own life,
01:06:11 then vote for me on November 5th.
01:06:14 Daniel Byington.
01:06:15 [no audio]
01:06:21 This year, I don't think it's going to happen, but I do think Dan Byington can and will happen.
01:06:28 It may not be Dan Byington, by the way.
01:06:30 It may be another person doing the same thing he's doing now.
01:06:33 But we have to have people like Dan start this process.
01:06:37 [clapping]
01:06:43 That sign might get like six votes just by being there for a week or two.
01:06:48 [laughing]
01:06:52 [no audio]
01:06:53 We're protesting illegal immigration.
01:06:56 Okay, how does it affect you and the ordinary citizens?
01:06:59 Well, it keeps wages lower, takes people's jobs, increases crime, the security of the nation.
01:07:08 So here I am, an immigrant, filming a group opposing immigration.
01:07:13 I know Dan was running out of places to speak, but this...
01:07:17 We don't need it anymore. We've got 300 million people here.
01:07:19 Yeah, you want me to just go ahead and start?
01:07:21 I think that our nation is controlled by a single party which has disguised itself under two parties,
01:07:28 under two umbrellas named the Democrat and Republican Party.
01:07:33 For example, I believe that in regards to our foreign policy, we should remove all of our troops from overseas,
01:07:39 stop meddling in people's business, put our troops on our borders, and make it clear and simple.
01:07:44 You fuck--excuse me, you attack us, we will annihilate you and kick the U.N. out.
01:07:50 [no audio]
01:07:52 This is the only way out of the tyranny of the one-party system with Democrats as the heads and Republicans as the tails.
01:07:59 Mr. Byington has enough guts and courage to come out here with odds against him that are insurmountable,
01:08:06 and he's willing to make a point.
01:08:09 Mr. Gephardt had the audacity, even though he represents a working-class district,
01:08:15 that he should be more cognizant of their problems,
01:08:18 and it's a lot of his voters that are suffering, to offer blanket amnesty for all illegals in the United States,
01:08:25 millions of them.
01:08:27 He's in favor of high taxes, bringing in more immigrants,
01:08:32 deluding the white population of the 3rd District.
01:08:38 Pap Buchanan put it better than anyone else.
01:08:41 If the Democrats submitted a bill to burn down the Capitol building,
01:08:45 the Republicans would offer an alternative amendment to phase it in over three years.
01:08:49 I'm going to walk into Dick Gephardt's office, just see if I can get some information.
01:08:54 I just want to see if they're actually having a debate that maybe I didn't know about.
01:09:00 Yeah, 201.
01:09:04 In a way, I feel kind of off the hook, though, because being a congressman,
01:09:13 it almost feels like I'm going up against a Goliath,
01:09:16 where when I'm walking up the steps, I'm thinking, "It shouldn't be that way."
01:09:19 Have you heard of Mr. Dan Byington?
01:09:21 Dan Byington?
01:09:23 Byington?
01:09:25 I think he was a fighter pilot during World War II, wasn't he?
01:09:33 What do you think of this sign?
01:09:35 Him? He's all right. He's all right.
01:09:37 You've got to get out and get some work in, dude.
01:09:39 Who, Byington?
01:09:40 Byington.
01:09:41 Have you heard of Byington yet?
01:09:42 I heard of Byington a few times.
01:09:44 I see you signing up on Chippewa up there.
01:09:46 What do you think of Byington?
01:09:47 He's all right.
01:09:48 It's Byington, Dick Gephardt, and Kathy Enns in a race.
01:09:52 Kathy who? Enns?
01:09:57 Enns, right.
01:09:59 You've got to learn how to do this.
01:10:01 Get a campaign going, get out on the corner, get a sign.
01:10:06 You see that little beep beep there?
01:10:08 That's what that's about.
01:10:09 He came by and read "beep beep," he does that.
01:10:11 The other Democrats come by, they see it, they beep.
01:10:14 Republicans see it, they're quiet and go by.
01:10:17 I need to get a beep beep on my sign.
01:10:19 You've got to cheat every little way you can, like.
01:10:21 For sure.
01:10:23 Look, these people are honking.
01:10:25 Now, how do you know if these people are honking at my signs or your signs?
01:10:28 All you want to do is get recognized, don't you?
01:10:31 Well, I think that's what it's about.
01:10:33 You know what they're honking at?
01:10:34 They're honking because they had almost a war for a year now.
01:10:37 They had all that shit.
01:10:38 They just want to have some fun.
01:10:40 Anyway, man, it was good seeing you again.
01:10:42 Hey, thanks, man.
01:10:43 I think that guy beeped at me because he was looking right at my sign when he beeped.
01:10:46 Maybe, dude, I don't know.
01:10:49 That gentleman is a POW in Germany.
01:10:53 I'm actually running for Congress.
01:10:55 My name is Dan Bynton.
01:10:56 And on what ticket?
01:10:58 The Libertarian ticket.
01:10:59 Sorry.
01:11:00 What?
01:11:01 Good luck.
01:11:02 You're not a Libertarian.
01:11:03 So you're going to vote for me for Congress in the 3rd District?
01:11:05 Yeah, me and Janet, yeah.
01:11:07 All right, Mike. Well, I appreciate that.
01:11:09 Yeah, I'd like to see you--you know, you know, Gephardt's going to beat Enns by 10 percent or whatever.
01:11:13 He was at the opening of the swimming pool.
01:11:16 You know, shaking hands, getting photographed, 100 people carefully let in, you know.
01:11:21 It's silly, you know.
01:11:23 They got this 5-story tall water slide, you know.
01:11:28 You can see it from Kansas City.
01:11:30 They had--to get this swimming pool aquatic center, they had a bond issue, and they fell short.
01:11:37 So then they passed a tax increase, sales tax increase.
01:11:42 And back--at least at the time of the sales tax increase, they knew they were going broke.
01:11:48 And they could have scaled back on the swimming pool.
01:11:50 But no, you know, government wants to be everything to everybody.
01:11:54 It is two days before the election, and never saw Dick Gephardt again.
01:11:58 Meanwhile, Dan's only hope is to get more than 0.7 percent that the last Libertarian candidate got.
01:12:07 I'm getting ready to go.
01:12:09 I'm going to go into Gephardt's campaign headquarters here,
01:12:12 and I want to just ask volunteers who volunteer for the Democratic Party,
01:12:17 why do they volunteer for the Democratic Party?
01:12:19 Why are they volunteers?
01:12:21 So I'm going to go in here and see what--
01:12:23 Hi.
01:12:30 Hello.
01:12:31 What can we help you with?
01:12:32 Right now I'm standing outside of--I guess it's Richard Gephardt, my congressman,
01:12:36 his campaign headquarters.
01:12:39 Since I've had such a difficult time finding volunteers for my campaign,
01:12:43 I was kind of curious to know, why do people volunteer for a particular campaign,
01:12:48 and how come they do, how come they don't?
01:12:51 Whatever.
01:12:52 And that was something we wanted to ask, and nobody wanted to go on camera,
01:12:56 and they kind of kicked us out of the office.
01:12:58 Have you heard of Mr. Dan Byington?
01:13:01 Sure.
01:13:02 I don't believe in his agenda.
01:13:05 And I won't support him.
01:13:09 Dang it.
01:13:10 I've got to perfect that a little bit.
01:13:13 I hit it too hard and the staples keep popping out.
01:13:17 My favorite sign up there is "Gephardt hasn't done dick for me or the 3rd District."
01:13:23 I'll give you four.
01:13:31 I'll give you this many.
01:13:32 That's fine.
01:13:33 But when you approach somebody, if you hand it to them and they read it,
01:13:35 they can just read it, and then after they read the information, just take it back.
01:13:38 And then you can just do that, and that way you can get more people than just ten.
01:13:42 You'll probably get 100 at the point.
01:13:44 That's really the name of the game, man, just getting your signs out there,
01:13:52 getting it where people see your name.
01:13:54 [music]
01:13:58 [music]
01:14:02 [music]
01:14:06 [music]
01:14:10 [music]
01:14:14 [music]
01:14:18 [music]
01:14:21 [music]
01:14:24 [music]
01:14:37 [music]
01:14:40 [music]
01:14:43 [music]
01:14:46 [music]
01:14:49 [music]
01:14:52 [music]
01:14:55 Suppose this is the night before a national election.
01:14:59 Suppose you sat in this room and saw and heard this.
01:15:03 [footsteps]
01:15:06 [footsteps]
01:15:09 I got a list of the St. Louis County, St. Louis City voting polls,
01:15:14 and I'm just going to go and put these signs up there.
01:15:18 Where's the campaign manager?
01:15:20 He's in Vegas right now.
01:15:23 Joe Grasso.
01:15:25 So there you have it.
01:15:28 Joe Grasso is in Vegas.
01:15:30 There were no big speeches, no $150,000, no billboards.
01:15:35 This sounded very familiar.
01:15:38 Afton Christian Church, 9625 Tesson Ferry Road.
01:15:43 This is the Afton Christian Church on Tesson Ferry Road,
01:15:47 and I don't see any signs.
01:15:49 [music]
01:15:52 Sign broke.
01:15:56 Goat Hillsboro.
01:15:58 [music]
01:16:02 Hillsboro, that's like a big thing.
01:16:05 Burnsville, that's all off like 55 Barnhart.
01:16:08 Yeah, here's another polling place.
01:16:11 [footsteps]
01:16:14 Two percent is good. Five percent would be better.
01:16:22 [music]
01:16:26 [music]
01:16:29 It is early morning of the first Tuesday in November.
01:16:38 This is an American city, for this is Election Day.
01:16:44 [music]
01:16:48 [music]
01:16:51 Oh man, thank God it is Election Day.
01:16:59 Have you heard of Dan Byington?
01:17:02 No, I haven't.
01:17:03 He's on WGNU.
01:17:05 I've heard of the radio station.
01:17:07 Have you heard of Dan Byington?
01:17:08 Yes, I have seen placards along the roadside.
01:17:11 That's about as far as my knowledge of him goes.
01:17:15 I consider myself a libertarian.
01:17:19 There's no reason to have a guy in Washington
01:17:22 making decisions that I can make
01:17:24 and hit a button on my internet and there it is.
01:17:28 People would raise their children to believe
01:17:31 that they're the government, not the guy you elect.
01:17:34 Who's going to go up there and he's going to take
01:17:36 all the money from the political action committees
01:17:38 and vote that way?
01:17:40 It's almost over.
01:17:41 Who needs that?
01:17:42 That's baloney.
01:17:45 I'm just going to do a lot of waving today.
01:17:47 I'm going to try to pass out flyers.
01:17:49 There's Joe Grasso down there.
01:17:51 He's a...
01:17:52 Shit, it's fine.
01:17:53 I can't walk down that way.
01:17:54 He caught me cross-dressing.
01:17:56 [laughter]
01:17:59 I didn't know you were coming today.
01:18:03 Here, Congressman Byington.
01:18:05 [panting]
01:18:07 They forced me into wearing the sandwich board, see?
01:18:09 They've got my children kidnapped, see?
01:18:11 I voted for you, though.
01:18:14 Yeah.
01:18:15 How come you're supporting Gephardt and Byington
01:18:17 at the same time?
01:18:18 Well, I'm not.
01:18:19 You're not?
01:18:20 No.
01:18:21 Okay, maybe my English is wrong.
01:18:23 They gave him a free sandwich to wear.
01:18:25 Yeah, yeah.
01:18:27 [laughter]
01:18:30 There was something going on with my political hopeful.
01:18:35 I'd be out there, and I will be out there today.
01:18:38 I'm helping a neighbor.
01:18:39 He had a problem filling this slot.
01:18:42 Um, have you heard of Mr. Dan Byington?
01:18:46 Is he related to Spring Byington?
01:18:49 No.
01:18:50 The actress?
01:18:51 No, I don't know him.
01:18:52 [laughter]
01:18:54 Peace, liberty, and justice.
01:19:05 Yes.
01:19:06 [laughter]
01:19:09 [music]
01:19:13 [gunshots]
01:19:17 Third District, I'm actually running this campaign.
01:19:19 [chatter]
01:19:22 So you're Libertarian.
01:19:24 [laughter]
01:19:25 Oh, I like it a lot.
01:19:27 It's me I'm running for governor.
01:19:28 If it's putting out that one extra sign that will help,
01:19:33 I'm going to do it.
01:19:36 [chatter]
01:19:38 I'm a little--I'm running for my own campaign.
01:19:40 Oh, okay.
01:19:41 I just got tired of--
01:19:43 Oh, thank you.
01:19:45 [chatter]
01:19:47 When it comes to a victory party,
01:19:48 do you want to go to Get Parks, Farnahans,
01:19:50 or play with grasshoppers, or Sam Rawls?
01:19:52 I got my own party to go to.
01:19:53 Oh, do you really?
01:19:54 It's not quite--it'll be a victory party.
01:19:56 I got an extra free sandwich.
01:19:57 Oh, okay.
01:19:58 [laughter]
01:19:59 [music]
01:20:03 That's it.
01:20:04 The last flyer.
01:20:05 I'm done.
01:20:06 [laughter]
01:20:09 If I am today, if I am now,
01:20:12 I'm 100% Libertarian right now.
01:20:15 If I got 1%, that's .30% better than the last candidate
01:20:20 to run in that district.
01:20:22 Probably not until 9, but maybe.
01:20:25 I know that probably both of our statewide candidates,
01:20:28 myself and Arnold Tremblay,
01:20:29 are going to get above the 2%,
01:20:31 so we're going to be cool for ballot access.
01:20:33 Great.
01:20:34 We really hope to retain ballot status after this election,
01:20:43 and one way to do that is to get 2% in a statewide election.
01:20:47 Have you seen your numbers?
01:20:49 They won't show to third-party candidates.
01:20:51 We know that Farnahan and Talent, between them right now,
01:20:55 are getting about 99%.
01:20:57 So there's a chance that we could still get the 2%.
01:21:01 I'm kind of wary of the posture that Libertarians
01:21:08 and the Greens are in of struggling even for a place on the ballot.
01:21:13 How do you feel now that it's almost over?
01:21:16 How do you feel about how you did?
01:21:18 I feel really good.
01:21:20 We talked about reparations.
01:21:22 We talked about so many issues like this genetic modification,
01:21:26 genetic modification of food.
01:21:28 So I feel really good about everything we've done,
01:21:31 and I think no matter what the results are in the polls,
01:21:37 we have a victory tonight.
01:21:39 Well, good work, man.
01:21:40 All this is mid-work for you.
01:21:42 2%!
01:21:44 58% for the incumbent Democrat.
01:21:49 His challenger, Republican Catherine Enns,
01:21:51 is polling in 40% of the vote right now.
01:21:53 It looks like 42% reporting in that race.
01:21:56 They're voting for a party.
01:21:58 If I was Republican, I would be 46%.
01:22:01 Instead, I'm a Libertarian.
01:22:03 They think I'm a wacko.
01:22:04 1%.
01:22:05 We're trying to save Social Security.
01:22:08 We're trying to get better jobs and better wages.
01:22:11 We're trying to improve this economy.
01:22:14 We're trying to get fair trade laws instead of unfair trade laws,
01:22:18 and to try to make this country greater and better than it's ever been.
01:22:23 Thank you, and God bless all of you.
01:22:25 I think what you've seen in this campaign
01:22:31 is the tremendous influence of special interest money.
01:22:35 We had campaigns where their candidate was backed up by the pharmaceutical companies,
01:22:42 by all kinds of special interests.
01:22:44 In some campaigns, they were spending $6 million on a House race,
01:22:49 and our candidate was hardly able to come up with $2 million.
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01:23:22 Politics is big business.
01:23:24 I mean, just one guy in a truck with 60 signs isn't going to accomplish a whole lot.
01:23:30 [laughter]
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01:23:53 Okay, so there was no nail-biting finish holding your breath
01:23:56 for your underdog high school team to come from behind to beat the frontrunner.
01:24:00 Dan or Mike may not have been the best candidates in the race.
01:24:04 But given the obstacles put forth in the electoral system,
01:24:07 the two-party organization, the media, special interests, and the amount of money,
01:24:11 it is doubtful that the best candidate will ever be found.
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