A Decade of "Election"

"Election" is one of my favorite political films. It is flawless on so many levels. It absolutely nails it in terms of identifying how human nature is imperfect, how politicians are flawed human beings, and how the ideals of politics are muddied by the messy lives of fallible men and women. What I like about the film is that it isn't a "liberal film" or a "conservative film" but instead probes basic political truths through the simple prism of a high school election in Omaha, Nebraska.

"Election" as a film is a chestnut from a different era. The film came out in 1999 and is now 10 years old. 1999 seems like an eternity ago. Bill Clinton was president. The economy was booming and in danger of overheating. The U.S. government was running huge budget surpluses. A different place. A different time. Before 9/11. Before the bailouts. Before al-Qaeda became our mortal enemy. Before we had to take our shoes off at the airport. But despite all of these changes in our society over the past ten years, I find the message of "Election" even more convincing today. We do tend to flock toward the wealthy alpha-male jocks (Bush, Clinton, Obama) or the overachieving careerists (Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, Michelle Obama). We do have a problem with success in this country (characterized in the film by Jim McAllister's jealousy of Tracy Flick's rise to power). We do openly root for the insurgent political underdogs while also trampling their rights and insuring their quick demise from polite society. We do have a problem with discussing issues of class and sex and power openly in this country, so we hide behind distractions and force our peccadilloes into the closet (or into cedar chests where we store our quilts, much like Jim McAllister's illicit porn collection). But most of all, we do place too much hope in our fallible politicians, pinning our hopes and dreams onto mere mortal men and women. And then we inevitably become disappointed when these politicians disappoint or die unexpectedly or don't live up to expectations.

If I had to vote for any of the three candidates (Paul Metzler, Tracy Metzler, Tracy Flick), I would 100% cast a protest ballot in favor of Tracy Metzler. Tracy Metzler is the only candidate who had the brains and the moxy to tell the truth about the absurdities of the political process. As an overtaxed, fed up middle class American, I am in a Tammy Metzler state of mind about the inanities of the political process. As a society, we have had too many Tracy Flicks in office - all with their fancy Ivy League degrees - and look what they have wrought us: an out-of-control federal debt, an economy that screws over the working middle class, out-of-control Wall Street bankers that destroyed our economy, a bankrupt educational system that is good at pumping paychecks to the professional educational racket but doesn't push our students hard enough to strive and succeed. We have also been the recipient of a huge trade deficit, a bankrupt American auto industry, a bankrupt Social Security system, and a country that invests way too little in the things we need for a successful future. If this is the legacy of the Track Flick government in America, I am ready for a little Tammy Metzler government to shake things up. Who knows, perhaps one day we will get the Tammy Metzler government and be able to rid ourselves of a Fairy Tale government once and for all.