His Democratic rivals are nonetheless vanquished by future primaries, with only gadfly Jerry Brown proving a nuisance. Clinton next battles Bush Sr. and feisty zillionaire Ross Perot, but the Clinton team is confident. They smell victory.
How I felt about it. As a document of an important winning Presidential campaign, The War Room is of great interest to historians, political scientists, and political strategists. As a movie, The War Room is competently made and edited, although one wonders about the destiny of the mountain of documentary footage undoubtedly left on the cutting room floor. Hopefully, it was given to the Clinton library rather than tossed out with the garbage.
The two-term Clinton Presidency had its ups and downs. Scandal, as presaged by the Flowers and draft-dodging controversies, eventually afflicted Clinton, leading to his impeachment by congress. Clinton the man could not resist fleeting temptation, but the nation understood and forgave his weaknesses. The more his political opponents pressed his scandals, the higher his approval rating went.
More troubling for me is how quickly his campaign promises were abandoned. The national health car plan foundered. Clinton became more conservative as his terms continued, because that's where believed the political center was. Thus, welfare was reformed in a way that trimmed benefits. Clinton's eventual shift to the right probably disappointed many of his biggest supporters and workers from his campaign of 1992.
Back to The War Room. There are two stars here. One is James Carville, a brash Southerner committed fully to his candidate. He is charismatic and enthusiastic, but his effectiveness is in question. For example, he makes much to do over a Brazilian printing of Bush promotional material, which comes to nothing.
Less entertaining, but perhaps more interesting, is the other star, George Stephanopolous. He is an impossibly young and short man who overdresses in casual settings. George pitches stories and concocts strategy, and appears to be the power behind the campaign, while Carville is the office staff front man with the bluster.
Left out of the story are the Clintons themselves, both long-term politicians who know all about campaigns. They're mostly out of the movie because they know better than to allow filmmakers to follow them around. Good for them.