Red State

Documentary filmmaker Michael Shea could not comprehend how President Bush won re-election in 2004. But rather than bemoan the fact, he set out to discover why voters (especially those in the so-called “red states”) continued to support a presidency that appeared, in Shea's view, to fail at everything it sought to accomplish. To his credit, Shea provides Bush-supporters with a fair and open platform to voice their views (the bulk of the interviewees hail from the Deep South), with many launching into attacks on liberal politics and perceived anti-patriotic sentiment among those who differ from the White House line. Obviously, the film is already dated—Bush's popularity numbers plummeted dramatically following his second inauguration and the 2006 midterm elections confirmed a national dissatisfaction with White House policies. Red State also seems to ignore the fact that the Bush re-election was not exactly a landslide—Bush only won 51% of the national popular vote, the lowest percentage ever received by an incumbent seeking re-election, and in many red states the president's margin of victory was extremely slim. Nonetheless, the film offers a refreshing and candid examination (Shea wisely avoids the Michael Moore approach of making people appear foolish) of what propelled voters to re-elect the president. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)