[The 90’s Election Specials raw: George Grey #2]

Raw footage for The 90's election specials. This tape follows George Grey, Illinois campaign manager for independent presidential candidate Pat Buchanan. (Continued from a previous tape.)

00:00Copy video clip URL The tape opens in Buchanan’s campaign offices in Illinois, continuing from a previous tape. Grey takes care of a few things before jumping back into the interview. He speaks with colleagues about some of the work they’ve recently done. Volunteers man the phones and give Grey a few messages.

05:04Copy video clip URL Grey comments on how cheaply the Buchanan campaign has been run: “We’ve done a lot with like, nothing. I mean, it was like six or seven weeks before I even got paid myself… I was to the point where I was selling my furniture in my apartment just to like, pay the rent and the bills and stuff.” Grey expresses frustration with the national campaign’s lack of understanding of the sacrifices made by Grey and many other campaign employees. He then states that if the national campaign gave them more money, they could have done a lot more with the campaign. Grey eventually makes a call to the Regional Director of the Buchanan Campaign, Pat Mancuso.

08:18Copy video clip URL Grey takes a sip from his freshly opened can of Pepsi and begins to talk about what it is like to work with the national campaign. Grey cites the absurdity in the national campaign urging Grey to focus on the city of East St. Louis. Grey lives his own life on the edge while on the campaign. “Everything is iffy.” He and his fellow colleagues have even borrowed money from relatives. Grey has to send out every donation they get to the national campaign office, who doesn’t get the money back to them very quickly. Grey goes into detail about the Buchanan base, emphasizing that the base is fairly diverse.

15:38Copy video clip URL Grey introduces some of the volunteers with the Buchanan campaign. One woman states that she is not a fan of President George H.W. Bush’s economic policies and wanted to help the Buchanan campaign out in any way she could. Grey also talks about some of the other volunteers involved with the campaign, and then goes on to show the videomaker three large maps of the congressional districts in Illinois. Grey continues to tour the office, talking about the comfort in their current campaign strategy. He then talks about some of the Democratic candidates, of whom Jerry Brown is his favorite. Grey also says that Dan Quayle has little to no credibility and that he lacks commonality with the working class.

26:49Copy video clip URL Grey states that if Buchanan gets 30% or above in the polls, it will be considered a success. He goes on to talk about the tradition among top Republicans to play hardball in Illinois. “It’s almost like they’re throwing every roadblock and chair and everything in your way to keep outsiders or insurgents from playing the game and I think it’s mean spirited. I think it’s against the spirit of democracy, the basic tenants of principles of what we’re supposed to be about.”

32:00Copy video clip URL A pile of campaign buttons and stickers, and more general footage from around the office.

34:11Copy video clip URL End of tape.