Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story

I couldn't sleep one night and this documentary was on CBC Newsworld. The political career of Lee Atwater and how he helped Ronald Reagan and George Bush get to the White House is sobering stuff.

Atwater was a master at spin. He would use every dirty trick in the book to make the GOP's opponents in the elections look bad. Unscrupulous, underhanded, ruthless and unrelenting, he would do everything he could to undermine the opposition. He even would attack his own, such as Bob Dole. He would use the power of fear to get people to vote for the Republicans.

Despite all this, he still comes off as a charismatic, very likable, affable and cool guy. His love of blues music and the guitar just make you want to forgive him for his evil ways. He comes off as a true charismatic enigma.

A very interesting look at how the political machine worked in the 1980's and how easy it is to control people with words and images, Boogie Man is definitely worth a watch to see how Atwater manipulated the American people to see things his way.

American politics at it's most revealing, in "Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story", illuminating the most destructive forces at work in American politics over the last thirty years.

The media, candidates, personal friends and colleagues reveal a deeply troubled man, seeking power at all costs. Lee Atwater is a real bully in every sense of the word, using his somewhat smarmy southern charm to both make himself look like "every man", as well as, the candidates he represents.

At one point, the conservative political strategist, Mary Matalin defends Atwater as "brilliant" and appears sentimental about her colleague and his unethical approaches to politics. In every clip, quote and historical reference Lee Atwater appears to be the Devil himself. The scariest part of this film, is seeing Rove groomed to be Atwater's successor.

Rove can attribute every one of his devious political strategies to the mastermind evil genius of Lee Atwater. This film portrays the average American as a sentimentalist, carefully "played" at our most basic fears and prejudice.

Watch this film and share it with others, to awaken your consciousness to what is truthful and real in the dirty world of American politics. What you hear in the next campaign slogan, should be considered carefully, as a probable misrepresentation of the truth.

I expected this documentary to lean left. I expected it to show all of Lee Atwater's warts. I expected it to shine a harsh light on the dirty campaign tactics that define modern politics. However, I wasn't prepared for the severe leftward tilt of its content. Goodness, if only we had known how angelic Michael Dukakis was, we wouldn't have elected him president, we would have proclaimed him pope! Viewing this film it becomes obvious that his political views and poor campaign had absolutely nothing to do with his landslide defeat. It was all because of that awful man from South Carolina and the millions of sheep who were tricked into voting for the vice president! It's a shame there couldn't have been more balance instead of a litany of complaints from defeated opponents and a condemnation of many of the same tactics used by Democrats. I would have preferred a more rounded look at the man and of politics in general, where both sides have committed their share of bashing, scheming and pandering.

Terry McCauliff introduced this mind blowing film at the Democratic Convention. The Starz sponsored "Impact Film Festival 08" showed Boogie Man at both political conventions. That says everything about the conflicting legacy of Lee Atwater, presented with heart and humor in Boogie Man.

The filmmaker Stefan Forbes is brilliant in his storytelling. Where did he find those old clips of Atwater, in a creepy, sweaty trance.....performing funky blues on his electric guitar. Atwater's raw passion and his demons were in the room when he wailed into the mic. Bill Clinton playing saxophone looks darned angelic in comparison.

Forbes' bluesy, gritty music track is so intertwined throughout that is seems to ooze out of Lee Atwater's crazy pores.

When you see this film, you'll know what the Democrats need to do to get Barack and a new Congress elected in November. And beyond. I promise!

This is an investigative documentary about Republican operative Lee Atwater. He's a blues-playing hyper-competitive southerner from South Carolina rising to be GOP Chairman. Supposedly, he picked Republicans because of their inferior state and therefore greater opportunity to advance. He interns for Strom Thurmond. In 1973, he becomes the head of college Republicans with his protégé Karl Rove beating the expected winner by challenging every vote and handed the victory by George H.W. Bush. He is able to tap into southern white resentment using every trick possible as long as he gets the win. He is instrumental in Reagan and becomes the favorite hired hand of the Bushes. However it's George W. Bush that is his true soulmate. Both men have been in the rougher street-level world unlike the high class Bush family. He is unrelenting in his drive and remorseless to his enemies.

This is a damning indictment on politics and a compelling personal study. It's easy to understand the Democrats hating the man and his methods. It is more fascinating to hear it from his former Republican colleagues like Ed Rollins. That's behind the scenes from somebody who was actually behind the scenes. It probably needs to expand on his childhood. Of course, the right has bones to pick about this movie. It has a point of view and it's not a fluff piece of Lee. The funny thing is that Lee would probably be secretly proud of this assessment of his work while railing against it as all lies.