Part two of this two-part feature will appear on Friday
Mr. Smith Goes to Jefferson City and Mr. Popper Makes a Picture
Jeff Smith’s father enrolled him in a basketball league in North St. Louis so his son could learn from the best and one day play in the NBA. But Jeff didn’t just learn basketball: he also became aware of the vast racial divide characterizing St. Louis. He wondered why school was so different for his African-American friends and why the houses in the neighborhood were so impoverished. So began Jeff Smith’s passion for race relations in St. Louis and his journey into politics.
Smith, a 2002 recipient of the Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence, teaches American Electoral Politics here at Washingtong University. An animated, discussion-driven course, it covers everything from electoral theory to practical campaign skills. In 2004, Smith came close to defeating Russ Carnahan in a race for Dick Gephardt’s vacant Congressional seat and emerged victorious from this month’s Democratic Primary to win the fourth district seat on the Missouri Senate, a term he starts in January. And he’s a film celebrity, too.
“Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?” is a timely, entertaining documentary by local filmmaker Frank Popper about Smith’s Congressional campaign. The film’s title alludes to the cinematic Jefferson Smith, a character played by Jimmy Stewart in Frank Capra’s classic “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” A riveting documentary, Popper’s film captured the Audience Award at the Silverdocs Festival in Washington, D.C. and is now playing an extended engagement at the Tivoli Theater on the Delmar Loop.
Popper, a filmmaker for over twenty years, yearned to make a political documentary along the lines of “The War Room,” and his dream came to fruition after a chance encounter with Jeff Smith. He had heard rumors of this bright, young and energetic candidate for Gephardt’s seat. After introducing himself, Popper made his decision to make a film about this unlikely politician.
Origins of a candidate and a film – shared fears and visions
Originally from Olivette and a graduate of the University of North Carolina in African-American studies and political science, Smith returned to St. Louis to teach Black history in public schools. He was turned down because he lacked certification.
“Instead they hired me to evaluate the teachers that were certified,” Smith said.
With time, Smith’s attention turned to politics.
“I was extremely disturbed by the directions of the country and the state, and seeing what’s going on out there, you just start to think, ‘I love teaching this stuff and I want to have a broader impact on my community, and my state, and my country,'” Smith said. “It’s great to be able to affect fifteen people a semester, but you think about the possibilities [on a larger scale].”
Popper’s idea for a political documentary began with a similar concern about government leadership.
“The film grew out of anger for this administration – [it] goes beyond anything I’ve ever felt in my life. I can not believe the destruction [Bush] has brought upon us and the entire world,” Smith said.
Not active in politics beyond voting every four years, Popper lived several years in frustration. “The country seems to be asleep; why aren’t people waking up?” Smith said. “It dawned on me a couple of years later; it’s been the exact opposite. I have been asleep. While [progressives] were asleep, [conservatives] were building this incredible movement. It is positively frightening.”
Popper realized that, through film, he had the power to make a positive difference.
“If I can tell people the story about this guy, it will inject some meaningful debate into this country,” Popper said.
The process helped calm Popper’s discontent.
“I found that working on this documentary was very therapeutic for me. The camera was on Jeff Smith. and he was actually able to energize people from all walks of life behind one single point of view: a sane approach to public policy.”
Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?
Popper’s film follows Smith from early in the campaign to his eventual loss. Although the ending is revealed from the start, the film nevertheless draws the audience into the captivating narrative of a political campaign for a true underdog. Regardless of the audience’s political persuasion, the film invites one to consider the qualities we look for in our leaders and just how democratic the electoral process is.
The film imparts its themes without any narration.
“I strove to be as dispassionate as I possibly could,” Popper said.
In fact, he refuses to ascribe any specific theme or vision for the film beyond its title.
“There was nothing intentional about what we’d hope people would leave [with] from the film,” Popper said. “We just wanted to tell a good story. [The title] asks the audience to participate in what this film is about, and everyone brings their own answer to that. As a filmmaker, I can’t think of anything more meaningful or gratifying than that.”
In the opening shot we meet Jeff Smith, a candidate with no prior experience in national politics; essentially, an unknown name. He told his family and friends about his plans to run and virtually everyone agreed that he didn’t have the slightest chance at winning. Smith was running against a dynasty: Russ Carnahan was among the other nine democrats that filed for the primary.
For the politically uninitiated or those new to Missouri, the name Carnahan is like Kennedy in New England, or the Borg of “Star Trek.” Russ Carnahan was a state representative, his grandfather served in Congress, his father won a campaign even after his tragic death and his mother is a US senator. Carnahan had instant name recognition, powerful supporters and gobs of money.
Yet, despite the immense odds against Smith, he rapidly organized a “ragtag” team of supporters and mounted an astonishingly effective grassroots political campaign movement. Smith’s power of persuasion is best expressed in the film by Artie Harris, a refreshingly candid and often hilarious member of the Smith campaign team.
Harris relates the story of first meeting Smith:
“Are you kidding me? Harris said. “This guy is way too young-looking, short and high-voiced to run for Congress. But I talked to him for ten minutes and I said, this kid might just do it!”
Smith’s grassroots campaign strategy was five-pronged: one, door to door campaigning, where Smith himself knocked on doors for at least two hours each day; two, coffees hosted by supporters to introduce more people to vote for Smith and endorse his platform; three, an energetic young army of volunteers; four, massive use of yard signs; and five, direct mailing of campaign literature.
According to Smith, people had “moved away from an emphasis on door to door” [techniques] using more money, more TV ads and more impersonal communications. Hopefully we’ve changed that; grassroots is back in this city.”
His efforts paid off and Smith inched closer to Carnahan in the polls. People now paid attention to Jeff Smith, and even Carnahan reacted by mounting his own “grassroots” effort by hiring a consultant firm based in D.C.
At the end of the race, despite winning St. Louis City and County, Smith lost badly in the district’s two rural counties and fell just short of Carnahan overall, losing by 1,700 votes. Perhaps even more poignant than the revelation of Smith’s narrow defeat was the Black political establishment’s rejection of Smith, a candidate who had spent his life fighting for urban education and racial justice. In the campaign’s final days, Smith lost the endorsement of the African-American newspaper “The St. Louis American.” In the film, you can see the hurt on Smith’s face when he reads the headline: “Carnahan is the most prudent choice.”
Throughout the film, it is astounding how many people tell Smith to his face that they like him and his platform best, but they won’t vote for him because Carnahan is the sure horse. The frustration with this sentiment is expressed best by campaign manager Clay Haynes.
“They line up behind somebody who does not understand or comprehend their issues, who will not fight for their issues, for the sole reason that they think they might win,” Haynes said. “I am losing faith.”
Yet the film still ends ringing with optimism.
“There’s a lot of bad news out there, and political documentaries that share with everybody what they already know: things are going to hell in a hand basket,” Popper said. “People leave this [film] hopeful, [realizing] there is a way to beat the system and that hard work, good old-fashioned grassroots campaigning and a little ingenuity can actually make a difference.”
Matt Rubin
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