In 2020, Ideas Actually Matter to Voters

The film is striking for 2020 due to its portrayal of Hart as a policy-focused candidate, someone uninterested in the “frippery” of campaign politics.  Striking, because the 2020 campaign seems to be much-less about the serious contrasts between this season’s “front runners” when it comes to policy than it is about image and style.

It was starkly summed up by “The Late Show Host” Stephen Colbert’s post-DNC monologue, in which he admitted that this election was about contrasts (Joe Biden overcoming challenges and having suffered in life, with President Trump, according to Colbert, never having to suffer), and essentially said that Biden’s acceptance speech was the “grown-up version of the college essay.”

The problem, of course, is that elections are not mere “college applications”—and to make that comparison undercuts the seriousness not only of the quadrennial presidential election, but the paramount importance of this election!  It’s not about which candidate has suffered more or overcome more challenges… it’s about which candidate is offering policies that a particular voter supports!