External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Audacity of Democracy .
| The Audacity of Democracy | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Brad Mays |
| Written by | Brad Mays |
| Produced by | Brad Mays Lorenda Starfelt Steve Yeager |
| Starring | Darragh Murphy Kim Haas Tommy Christopher |
| Cinematography | Brad Mays Steve Yeager Lorenda Starfelt |
| Edited by | Brad Mays |
| Music by | Gus Mays |
Release date |
|
Running time | 118 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Audacity of Democracy is a 2009 American independent documentary film [1] [2] produced by Lorenda Starfelt and directed by Brad Mays for LightSong Films in North Hollywood. The film, which was shot in New York City, Washington, D.C.; Chicago, Illinois; Dallas and Austin, Texas; and Denver, Colorado is an in-depth look at the P.U.M.A. (People United Means Action) movement in general and one of its most controversial leaders, Darragh Murphy, in particular. [3]
Brad Mays quickly came under fire from various online pro-Obama blogs, citing conflict-of-interest due to the production having been financed by PUMA-Pac itself. A vociferously anti-PUMA site called StupidPumas posted a paged entitled Stupid Brad Mays, criticizing the filmmaker for not doing proper investigative work on the PUMA movement. [4] Mays acknowledged these concerns, while maintaining that the film would be an objective account of what he saw and heard during the Democratic primary. [5] About a week before the Democratic convention in Denver, all of Mays' camera equipment was stolen while en route to Chicago. Although most of the gear was eventually replaced, the crucial Chicago shoot was seriously compromised.
When Mays decided, for the sake of balance, to film interviews with internet journalist Tommy Christopher, [6] an outspoken critic of the PUMA movement, the rank and file of the PUMA movement quickly denounced the filmmaker, distancing themselves from the entire project. In multiple subsequent Blog-Radio interviews, Brad Mays has expressed extreme dissatisfaction with his film, revealing that he had not been allowed to complete shooting in the manner originally agreed to, adding that many of the PUMA members who had decided to switch their support to John McCain did not care for the way their new-found Republican leanings played onscreen. [7] [8] According to a WordPress.com announcement for the movie, "this two hour film offers a sympathetic yet unflinching look at a genuine grass-roots political action group determined, for good or ill, to change the course of American history." [9]
Citing alleged electoral malfeasance including caucus fraud on the part of rival candidate Barack Obama's juggernaut campaign, PUMA attempted, without success, to secure the Democratic Party's presidential nomination for their candidate of choice, Senator and former First Lady Hillary Clinton. [10]
The 2008 United States presidential election was the 56th quadrennial presidential election, held on November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator from Delaware, defeated the Republican ticket of John McCain, the senior senator from Arizona, and Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska. Obama became the first African American to be elected to the presidency, as well as being only the third sitting United States senator elected president, joining Warren G. Harding and John F. Kennedy. Meanwhile, this was only the second successful all-senator ticket since the 1960 election and is the only election where both major party nominees were sitting senators. This was the first election since 1952 in which neither the incumbent president nor vice president was on the ballot.
The 2008 Democratic National Convention was a quadrennial presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party where it adopted its national platform and officially nominated its candidates for president and vice president. The convention was held in Denver, Colorado, from August 25 to 28, 2008, at the Pepsi Center. Senator Barack Obama from Illinois gave his acceptance speech on August 28 at Invesco Field in what the party called an "Open Convention". Denver last hosted the Democratic National Convention in 1908. Obama became the party's first nonwhite nominee, and nominee of African descent, for president. Senator Joe Biden from Delaware was nominated for vice president.
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Ramona Martinez a member of the Democratic National Committee from Colorado for 16 years. A businesswoman and former president of the Denver City Council, Martinez has served on the DNC from 1992 to 2009. As a superdelegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention, Martinez has publicly supported Bill Richardson, and then Hillary Clinton. She was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2010.
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Alice J. Palmer was an American educator and politician who served as a member of the Illinois Senate. Known as a longtime progressive activist, Palmer represented the state's 13th Senate District from June 6, 1991, until January 8, 1997. At the time, the district spanned an economically diverse area and included the Chicago communities of Hyde Park, South Shore and Englewood.
"People United Means Action" was a political action committee in the United States that opposed the Democratic Party leadership and the nomination of Senator Barack Obama as the Democratic candidate for President in the 2008 presidential election. PUMA began as an effort by supporters of Obama's primary rival, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who believed that Clinton should have been the Democratic nominee. According to PUMA, "We [were] protesting the 2008 Presidential election because we refuse to support a nominee who was selected by the leadership rather than elected by the voters."
Senator John McCain, the Republican Party nominee, was endorsed or supported by some members of the Democratic Party and by some political figures holding liberal views in the 2008 United States presidential election. McCain Democrat and McCainocrat are terms applied to Democrats who supported McCain.
Shawn Robert Adolf, Tharin Robert Gartrell and Nathan Dwaine Johnson plotted to assassinate Barack Obama, then the 2008 Democratic Party presidential nominee. The trio allegedly planned to shoot Senator Obama with a high-powered rifle during the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.
Brad Mays is a multi award-winning independent filmmaker and stage director, living and working in Los Angeles, California.
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