Life in the Bubble

Filmmaker and journalist Alexandra Pelosi films President George W. Bush

           The documentary “Journeys with George” made by Alexandra Pelosi chronicles the unique bond between the media and a presidential candidate while on the campaign trail together. Pelosi working as a producer for the broadcast news network NBC covered the campaign of George W. Bush. She traveled with a group of journalists, or traveling press corps, following the candidate as we won the nomination and eventually the presidency. The documentary reveals a part of the campaign that is rarely seen, the relationship between a candidate and his press corps.

First, I must say that I was completely unaware of the time that the media spends with a candidate. In many cases shown in the film, the media and candidate share planes and buses. This offers a great amount of time in which the candidate gets to know the various people in the traveling press corps and vice versa. The documentary makes it clear that many people in the press corps became very fond of President Bush. As one journalist suggested they get “weak in the knees” whenever Bush makes his way to the back of the plane. I find this fascinating because many of these people did not believe that President Bush would win the election and did not vote for him. It shows the complexities of the relationship between the media and a candidate. 

Pelosi and Bush discuss the ballot

A great moment in the film is when the documentaries creator, Alexandra Pelosi, receives her ballot for the Republican nominee. She shares an intimate moment with President Bush in which they discuss how the ballot works. Pelosi explains that because she is a registered Democrat her vote would not affect the amount of delegates the candidate would receive at the convention. President Bush then explains that he does not care and that he wants a “clear victory”, he even gives Pelosi a kiss on the cheek in order to gain her vote. The scene concludes with Pelosi giving her vote to Bill Bradley. A perfect scene to sum up the idea that the media can get a close as possible to candidates, begin to like them but in the end not even vote for them. It proves that the candidate must be cordial to his traveling press corps in order to have relationships with the news networks and subsequently stay relevant in the media.

The documentary also reveals the tribulation with being a part of a traveling press core or as is was sometimes referred to a pack of journalists. The journalists see it as living in a bubble. For about a year these people travel together following a single candidate trying to win the most important position in the whole country. They witness firsthand the struggles of the candidate as well as the accomplishments. The idea of living in a bubble comes from the fact that the journalists essentially re-live the same thing every day while on the campaign trail. They go to speeches or events, write their reports or send in their sound bites, eat the same food, and repeat the next say. They are also relatively unaware of how the news they create affects the outside world. They are completely engulfed in the campaign and the candidate they follow.

Republican National Convention 2000

 Overall, the documentary paints a unique picture of the relationship between a candidate and the media. There is a close bond but one that is built not on a trust but on the fact that one job depends on the other. For example, a candidate would find it difficult to get elected to office without the support of the media. Similarly a journalist depends on the candidate they follow to be elected to ensure that they are continued to be assigned to the story. This relationship is complex and interesting. The documentary reveals this part of the campaign that we normally are kept away from. The result is an entertaining film that also educates the viewer with such details of the presidential campaign.