One of the tasks of 'American Candidates' was to mobilize support in the communities were they stopped.

In Charlottesville, Virginia, this included participating in a Town Hall meeting, recruiting volunteers and mobilizing voter support. In the process, many candidates garnered the assistance not only of locals but nationally based organizations as well. Bruce Friedrich, for example, was assisted by automated calls from his PETA network [Friedrich is director of vegan campaigns at People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals] and Lisa Witter was assisted by an email sent out to MoveOn subscribers [Witter is Executive Vice President and General Manager of Fenton Communications, which includes Moveon.org and America Radio as her clients (Anita Chabria, PR Week, June 14, 2004)]

Locally, Park Gillespie mobilized the AIA, Richard Mack received assistance from the Libertarians, Lisa Witter received assistance from the Director of Development of the AIDS/HIV services group and employees of ZoCaLo, and Keith Boykin received assistance from the Al Weed Campaign.

Advocacy and political groups were of many minds with regard to participation in the series. Albemarle County Democratic Chair Fred Hudson never became clear how it would "assist the County Party in its effort to contribute to a victory for Al Weed in Congress and John Kerry for the White House" while SUUVA and CWA labor organizer Jan Cornell lamented "I surely wish as much energy could be put into the firing of George Bush as was put into this show locally."

On June 20, 2004 an endorsement for Lisa Witter could be found on cvilledems.org, the web site for the Charlottesville Democratic Committee, noting she "is a finalist (one of only two Democrats) in Showtime's new reality TV show called 'American Candidate.' She needs your help today, Monday June 21st, in Charlottesville to stay in the race against a group of horribly right-wing candidates."

However, according to Charlottesville Democratic Chair Lloyd Snook, "There was no action taken by the Charlottesville Democratic Executive Committee, or any other entity of which I am aware to endorse Lisa Witter. In fact, the only discussion that any of us had was one-on-one, concluding that the whole idea for the show rated so high on the "Stupid-o-meter" that we would just ignore it." (electronic mail, June 26, 2004)

Republican Youth Majority member Ryan Ford likes "the premise to engage the average person in politics" but believes "the show is very biased towards the liberal ideology." He adds that "the candidates casted enhanced the stereotype that Republicans are only older white Christian males."

Virginia Organizing Director Joe Szakos said, "I think [American Candidate] goes to the worst part of the political discourse - I want to know what's happening, and they were more into secrecy. I'm concerned with being involved in this whole thing, because you know, you're being taped for two hours, and one flip comment and that's all that gets on the air." He adds, "For VOP with this whole situation, the question is, how much time and energy do we use and what do we get out of it? I'm afraid it's real easy to abuse a community. So they were calling us, before they came here. And when I asked the producers, 'what do we get out of it?' I stopped getting phone calls."

Charlottesville Free Clinic Director Erika Viccellio, said prior to the event, American Candiate producers did ask if the Free Clinic "could help with individual campaigns. "And I told them that I was a little bothered by that, that we could not endorse any individual candidate -- in a real election or in this one -- as a non-profit organization. So I'm counting on them -- that the taping with Joyce [Riley] is handled in a fair way, and that it doesn't look like we're endorsing her, when the show airs".

UVa. Pride member Wendy Repass, whose question was selected at the Town Hall meeting by the series for discussion, saw participation as an opportunity to reach a larger audience with her message about the Gay Marriage Backlash and the HB751 passed by the Virginia General Assembly. VERM member Karen Waters saw the series as an "opportunity to raise the idea of citizen invovement in the electoral process" and says that "American Candidate packages and markets civic engagement to an otherwise uninterested public, and that could be a good thing." Former mayor and Charlottesville city council member David Toscano said, "I felt it was important to support a progressive in order to send a message that substantial numbers of us seek alternatives to the political policies and culture emanating from the White House."

Al Weed Campaign Manager Dave Mills says he saw participation in the series as an opportunity for national exposure for the campaign... If American Candidate stays true to what he thinks is "their mission to focus on issues, then it could be a good thing" ...that the more serious the candidates appear [when the show airs] the more benefit there will be [for the political process].

Radio Talk Show Host Rabbi Shmuley Boteach said, "I support American Candidate because anything that raises the level of reality TV ... most of these shows are just a sewer of misogyny and disgusting practices. And I think anything that helps people understand the political process is a good thing."

Holly Hatcher, Director of Statewide Organizing for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, says about 'American Candidate', "Any attempt to engage more people (espcecially young people and people of color) in the political process is a good thing. It's something we should all work harder to achieve and I welcome anyone else who has a better idea to bring it to Charlottesville first."

As their efforts to turn out the vote progressed, each 'American Candidate' had to make choices about where to go and what events to attend.

On the day that votes were cast, three voting places were made available: two retail (one on the Downtown Mall and one at Barracks Road Shopping Center) and one academic (in front of Old Cabell Hall at the University of Virginia), each with its own type of traffic. Keith Boykin appeared to devote a significant amount of time at the University, in part, perhaps, because this may have represented his natural constituency, but also because of his campaign manager's observation that students seemed more likely to vote for the series when asked. My best guess is that all candidates hit all three polling places at one time or another.

Candidates were also invited to attend local events such as the Charlottesville Free Clinic Forum, where only one American Candidate, Joyce Riley, was present, and a class of the Sorensen Institute's College Leadership Program, where only American Candidates Keith Boykin and Park Gillespie were present. Candidates, of course, had to be strategic - deciding whether their presence, for whatever reason, was critical enough to take them away from glad-handing for votes.

Candidates were also affected by decisions made by the series itself such as: the decision to allow candidates under the age of 35 years of age to participate; the decision to use phone calls as a method of eliminating candidates in Allentown, Pennsylvania rather than Charlottesville, turning to paper ballots in Charlottesville; cancellation of scheduled community forums in Charlottesville [on abortion, gay marriage, and affirmative action], in favor of a more flexible approach to garnering votes; the decision the afternoon of the vote to extend the time the polls would close from 4 to 4:15 p.m. There were also restrictions on when candidates could use cell phones and computers and when they could campaign.

Much like true retail politics, efforts were made by candidates to shape their messages to particular constituencies and by the series itself to restrict the flow of information.

As the time to vote came to a close, Park Gillespie, for example, was asking for votes from both conservatives and liberals. Conservatives because he is a conservative. His argument for liberal votes was that robust discussion of issues would come to a halt without his presence on the program, as there would be no conservative voice.

Throughout the series, some candidates actively identified themselves with presidential candidates [Bruce Friedrich describes himself as a Ralph Nader supporter] and on the day of the Charlottesville vote, Lisa Witter asked for votes on the basis of being only one of two Democrats left in the show.

As someone covering the event, I hoped to get some feedback from the candidates about how successful they thought they had been in Charlottesville, and about what strategies they felt worked and did not work. I was also interested in their use of blogs. However, as of June 23, 2004, American Candidates were given instructions that they are under a "total press blackout" and are prohibited from talking about the show until further notice.

From the time candidates arrived on the University of Virginia campus, efforts were made by some members of the production to restrict the flow of information. On one occasion, I was told, for example, that they did not want pictures taken of the candidates as a group - because revealing who was eliminated would take away the surprise element for people who would end up watching the show. On another occasion, it was suggested that it might be illegal for me to take a picture of a candidate.

"Most participants in reality shows must sign agreements to keep the show's secrets and to allow the producers to use their pictures on television. But [in an earlier taping in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Producer Blake] Levin said 'American Candidate" officials realized this would be impossible to enforce in a news conference situation, so reporters were free to report anything they gathered at Wednesday's media event.'" (April Helmer, The Express-Times, June 17, 2004)

Now, there is a total press blackout.

Artistic Rerendering of American Candidate Bus, Courtesy of Boke, June 23, 2004 "The American Candidate Bus ... entering a wormhole as it leaves Charlottesville ..." (Boke, June 23, 2004)

Is this the restriction of flow of information the commercial equivalent of what we have seen from the White House? Will the series now turn to embedded reporters to get their message across? Guess we will have to wait and see...

According to Showtime, it's intention is to produce a fictional depiction of a presidential campaign entitled American Candidate. The "American Candidate series" will serve as social commentary on the American political system as well as political leadership and character in America in an "entertaining reality format," engaging the contestants in a realistic simulation. (FEC Advisory Opinion Number 2003-34, December 19, 2003).

Please send your thoughts about the American Candidate series to george@loper.org where the most representative comments will be placed on my web site with full attribution.

For more, see 'American Candidate: Index' for pieces about the American Candidate series on this web site.