So Goes the Nation

In the 2004 presidential election, Ohio became the state that decided who would lead the nation for the next four years; throughout the campaign, both George W. Bush and John Kerry realized it was a key "swing state" which could go to either candidate, and they devoted much of their time and resources to bringing in the vote in the Buckeye state. The controversies of the 2000 election led many to suspect that voter fraud could be a possibility, and many were watchful for tampering of voting machines or registration rolls. Filmmakers James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo brought their cameras to Ohio for the final weeks of the election, and ...So Goes the Nation is a documentary which offers a detailed look at both Bush and Kerry's campaign staffs as they make the final push toward victory or defeat. While examining the possibilities of election tampering, ...So Goes the Nation primarily concerns itself with the differences between the campaign styles of the candidates and how their behind-the-scenes staffs struggles to swing voters to their man, with Kerry concentrating on domestic issues of economics, health, and security while Bush spoke of the war on terror and Kerry's alleged "flip flopping" and service record in Vietnam. ...So Goes the Nation received its World Premiere at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival.