Dallas Video Festival 2008

The 2008 presidential race will be the most expensive election in U.S. history. Over 2 billion dollars could be spent campaigning before the November vote. Candidates have had to dish out colossal sums just to stay in the race for the White House. And the entire country has gotten caught up in the race, from your average everyday American to the most powerful figures in the U.S. The country’s special interest groups are gearing up for battle, from Hollywood players to Wall Street financiers to Texas oil tycoons. Barack Obama says he will not accept money from Washington lobbies and accuses his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, of bowing to special interests. Clinton has riposted that lobbyists are just ordinary Americans defending the people’s interests. Republican frontrunner John McCain has been swept up in the controversy. He has always presented himself as the party’s straight shooter when it comes to big money interests. And yet he is being supported by the same Texas oil companies that financed Bush senior’s campaign. But there’s a new thing in this year’s election: the Internet could make it possible for candidates to finally break free of the “generosity of corporate interests.” Barack Obama is the one who has had the most success with this so far. Thanks to wide support from “small” donors and Web canvassing, the democratic frontrunner has raised more money than any of his opponents. Our film will take a close-up look at this underground battle: a struggle between the American people, who want to chose their own president, and U.S. corporate groups, whose special interests often clash with those of ordinary citizens.