[The 90’s Election Specials raw: Barg, Torr, Pixer]

Raw footage for the 90's Election Specials. This tape features interviews with Barbara Barg, Diane Torr, Francis Fox Pixer, author of "Why Americans Don't Vote."

00:00Copy video clip URL Black.

00:14Copy video clip URL Barbara Barg sits near a drum set and says that it’s not popularity that gets candidates elected, rather, she says that people are elected who help maintain a “denial system.” Videomaker Laura Flanders questions Barg about the arts.

04:22Copy video clip URL The tape cuts, Barg talks about primaries, which she calls the “Mister America” pageant. “It has nothing to do with real issues or real leadership or real interest in human issues… it’s simply getting that crown and those flowers.” Just as the public does not have much of a choice when it comes to Miss America, there is not much that differentiates between candidates for president.

06:15Copy video clip URL Tape cuts to a shot of Barg’s mirror (“This is only a reflection, you are elsewhere”), and other little quotes and photos on her wall. Barg, now standing in a studio with Diane Torr, continues to talk about the presidency, and scandals.

08:26Copy video clip URL Diane Torr holds up a picture to show her male alter ego. She shows Flanders photos of herself dressed up as a man. They comment that people would be more likely to vote for the male version of Torr, though they would be more likely to believe the woman.

11:18Copy video clip URL Barg and Torr emphasize performance as an essential aspect of politics. Torr proposes the idea of putting women in politics dressed as men in order to compete.

14:18Copy video clip URL Tape cuts to Francis Fox Pixer, author of “Why Americans Don’t Vote,” sitting at a kitchen table. She talks about voter registration in the ’80s, an effort by conservatives to register people in more rural areas. However, other more liberal groups began to use this tactic as well. Registration could be manipulated to encourage supporters of specific candidates to register. Pixer then talks about an effort that she is involved in to provide the opportunity to register to vote along with other state services.

20:50Copy video clip URL Pixer has said that Republicans do not support this measure, and Flanders questions how it could be opposed. Pixer says Republicans say that this would open the way to fraud, would cost too much, or that enough people are voting already, all of which Pixer counters.

23:21Copy video clip URL Tape cuts, Pixer talks about the middle class, and the political ignorance of poverty. “They have effectively been shut out of the political system, and then they are blamed for being apathetic.” She says the system is rigged to prevent certain people from voting.

26:14Copy video clip URL End of tape.