A week earlier than expected, on Friday the 22nd Next Friday the 29th, the Plaza Theater (Ponce & Highland) will be starting a one-week run of Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore, a political documentary that looks pretty entertaining even if "not so flaccid to utter" title-wise. From the co-producer,

We follow the 2004 Missouri Democratic primary to replace retiring 28-year veteran and former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt. It's told from inside the campaign of Jeff Smith, a 29-year old adjunct political science prof who embarked on a quixotic bid against Russ Carnahan, scion of Missouri's most powerful political dynasty. As one analyst says: "The Carnahan name is to Missouri what the Kennedy name is to Massachusetts."

Jeff was endorsed by DFA and one of the original Dean Dozen. Howard Dean appears in the film. I was one of the founders of the DFA chapter in St. Louis. The movie is a graphic illustration of the message of DFA that every voter and every race matters. If we get involved we hold the power to take back our country.

I'm going to go ahead and spoil the end for you: Jeff lost in '04, and he just lost this year again [oops, my bad]. But the story is still sufficiently entertaining and inspiring as to earn these kudos from a Republican blogger in Missouri:

Let me be the first [Missouri Republican blogger at least] to predict that this movie will attain cult status among the political crowd. When it’s released on DVD, it will join “The War Room” and “Primary Colors” as the movies that campaign volunteers and staff watch over and over as they prepare mailings and staple yard signs. Like the others, it has a number of “I’ve been there” moments that we can all relate to — hearing voters offer unsolicited, condescending suggestions; riding in a carful of staffers, each of whom is chatting on his own cell phone; and watching the people who should be coming out for you in a primary getting weak-kneed when you need them the most.
...
PEOPLE WHO WILL LIKE THIS MOVIE: Anyone who has ever worked in a campaign or run for office.

PEOPLE WHO WILL NOT LIKE THIS MOVIE: Anyone with the last name Carnahan.

How 'bout it, Ultimate Canvassers? Finish off a day of canvassing with some drinks at the Righteous Room and then the "Rudy" of our particular sport?