Reply #5: 'Our Brand Is Crisis,'..... democracy takes a hit

[madfloridian]

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061124/ENT01/611240311/1036/ENT

"In "Our Brand Is Crisis," James Carville and his team of hotshot election strategists use all the tricks of their trade to sway the Bolivian presidency toward an unpopular candidate.

Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, or Goni, was well known to Bolivians during their 2002 election. He had led the country through much of the 1990s and, though well-regarded in the West for embracing a global economy, he was also seen by the mostly indigenous population as selling out jobs and natural resources. The movie offers a fly-on-the-wall look at the strategists at work, monitoring focus groups and crafting television ads that focused on the message that Goni was the only one who could keep the country from collapse.

The movie's title is a direct quote from their marketing game plan."

And the end result...

"Within months of winning the election, Goni, fearing assassination, relocated to America with his tail between his legs. Carville and Company, meanwhile, followed suit and are likely en route to another election, spreading democracy elsewhere around the globe -- for profit, of course."