MOVIE REVIEW: "The Hope and the Change" by Citizen United Productions

This review is proof of God's all powerful sense of humor.  I've been in touch with the P.R. department at Citizens United for the past week to get my copy of "Occupy Unmasked."  For all that effort, last night I saw Citizens United's other new release, "the Hope and the Change."

This documentary is devastating to Barack Obama.  It chronicles the disillusionment and travails of a dozen or so 2008 Obama voters who will not vote for him a second time.  These are the voters who, in 2008, pulled Barack Obama across the finish line.

My biggest takeaway from the movie is the day-to-day struggle that life under Barack Obama has been for a substantial chunk of Obama's own voters.  While life has been (very) challenging for us all, for these 2008 Obama voters Obama's economic devastation is acute and unrelenting.  Comments like "I have never been more broke in my life," "I'm sick of only having ten dollars in my bank account," and "I am not seeing one ounce of benefit for all this debt" illustrate the economic calamity these 2008 Obama voters face.

For these 2008 Obama voters, Barack Obama's policies have been inexplicable and infuriating.  It started with the bailouts.  For these 2008 Obama voters, "bailing out car companies and banks surprised a lot of people."  Alongside the bailouts, "the stimulus was a shocker as well" because "I don't know where all this money is going," when, in reality, "we just printed more money."  Making matters worse, "I got really scared when I saw the Health Care package" since "the more I understood, the more I became concerned" when "there were better solutions" than this "tax on the middle class."  Obama's policies are divorced from these 2008 Obama voters' lives, but they understand they're getting stuck with the bill; "it's a complete hustle and we're the butt of the joke."  The anger is palpable.

For conservatives, it's important to understand that persuadable 2008 Obama voters aren't the morons or Jon Stewart's audience.  These are the folks Andrew Breitbart famously referred to as "Democrats by Osmosis."  Their family or social circle were Democrat, and they went along without thinking.  Most important, their underlying values are conservative.  Barack Obama has alienated the voters who pulled him across the finish line in 2008: "I work hard for what I have and I resent being told I have to give it to someone else."  In 2012, as Scott Rasmussen explained at RightOnline, we need to hammer results and record.  Over the longer term, however, we need to educate them to think ideologically.

On a personal note, I was struck by the section on National Security issues.  As regular readers know, I've been freaking out about National Security for the past couple months.  Persuadable 2008 Obama voters agree: "the United States is not respected the way it used to be" because Obama "has shown more weakness than strength."  For the record, all these interviews were conducted after the bin Laden raid but before our embassies were attacked.  For conservatives, this is a very encouraging sign.

For those of us who want to destroy the institutional left, "the Hope and the Change" is a priceless guide to the rest of this cycle and what comes next.  A substantial chunk of Barack Obama's 2008 voters do not share Obama's satanic values.  Persuadable Obama 2008 voters have conservative values, they just vote Democrat by default.  Between now and election day, hammer results; after election day, however, these folks need ideological education.  The good news is that these folks are very open to what we have to say, and "the Hope and the Change" is a fantastic guide for their concerns.

Author's note: Quotes are transcribed by hand; while a word or two might be off, the spirit is accurate.