The Good Fight

Yes, dear reader, that is your author, Jason C. Klamm, with an almost brand-new copy of Walter Mondale's recently-released "The Good Fight," his political autobiography. Yes, that's me standing in Barnes & Noble with said book. But it's not exactly what it seems. It's actually the end of a very long story.

Let me preface the tale I'm about to tell with a sincere statement. Those of you who have read my blogs know that I have a passion for this office and - though I like to have fun with the quirkier elements - I have a deep respect for the office's place in American history. If I didn't, I wouldn't be writing a blog, book and documentary about that office, nor would I use them to make the argument that this is a highly integral office. So I can be sincere, as I will be now: Walter Mondale is one of the most important Vice Presidents we've ever had, and he changed the office massively, all for the better.

For nearly the last two years, Matt and I have been endeavoring to get Vice President Mondale to agree to an interview for the documentary. Originally, his office was concerned, perhaps understandably, about the comedic bent of Vice-Precedence. Maybe he was worried about being cornered, afraid it would turn unexpectedly into a to-be comic interview a la The Daily Show. Nevertheless, we explained to Mr. Mondale that we respect the office and have been using humor simply to tell the story. At one point, almost two years ago, he was ready to go, but his availability changed when a trip to Japan got in the way. After years of serving under President Clinton as Ambassador to Japan, it's not hard to see why he might want to get away from the cold Minneapolis winter to enjoy the comfort and respect Japan (rightfully) bestows upon him during his visits.

So we waited, hoping to approach again when we thought Mondale might be available. After all, if we could make a strong argument for our film and raise the capital for me to fly out to Minneapolis (Matt's HQ for the last two years, hence the fortuitous proximity to Mondale) to co-direct and co-interview, this would be a major accomplishment. Since 2006, we've been struggling to get a sitting or former VP who never became President (of which only four are still living) to sit down for an interview to help get an insider's perspective on the office - the ultimate perspective, really. Needless to say, we saw no harm in checking back in with Walter Mondale.

So we did. And on June 21, 2010 - two years after Matt's move to Minneapolis - we got an unexpected, but welcome, surprise:

Subject: RE: Request for Interview with Vice-President Mondale.
Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2010 11:58:22 -0500

Matt,

Mr. Mondale would be happy to meet with you. However, he can't do it this summer. Any chance, sometime in the fall would work?

Matt's response spoke for both of us:

Wanted you to see this for yourself. Major accomplishment. So happy I can barely contain myself!

WOOOHOO!

Well, his response as directed to me. I'm sure he was more professional in his direct reply to Mondale's secretary. Later that week, things started to get solid.

Subject: RE: REPLY-Request for Interview with Vice-President Mondale.
Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2010 11:07:07 -0500

Matt,

September 11-21 does not work.

October 5-7 does not work

October 26 - November 9 does not work

How about if we schedule it sometime the week of October 18 in the morning here in Mpls.?

So we did, and Mondale's secretary penciled us in. Matt and I were ecstatic, to say the least. We had a date set. Though things were rough here in LA and in Minneapolis (Matt and I don't make a living blogging about the Vice Presidency), the plan was for me to fly out as soon as I could afford it. We started immediately putting out the feelers for crews, connecting with everyone we knew. Even though it took us awhile, we found ourselves a dedicated local Minneapolis crew, made up of fresh film students and two experienced instructors, all who were set to give us their time, lend us their equipment and expertise, and - for the film students - get their first taste of working on a feature documentary film.

After some further rough patches (my day job laying off 20% of its workers, me included), we quickly recovered, and were lucky enough to have our wonderful followers on Facebook donate $150, which came to exactly half of what we needed to get me out to Minneapolis at the last minute - to be exact, October 5, leaving this landmark interview less than two weeks away, on the 18th. I dug deep into my pockets and pulled out the difference, and received my confirmation happily. It wasn't easy financially, but the decision was an easy one to make - Mondale was a landmark Vice President, and the story of his Vice Presidency needed to come from his mouth.

Which brings me to the photo above. I bought the book the night before I bought my non-refundable airline ticket, at the local Barnes & Noble, a day before it was supposed to be on the shelves. I say local, when I actually had to drive a few miles down the street to find a Barnes & Noble that knew where to find their copies of "The Good Fight." The photo of a bearded yours truly, holding that book, sadly, was taken just last night. And no, I hadn't lost my original copy. This was the very same copy I purchased less than two weeks ago, excited at the prospect of interviewing my first Vice President.

Let me explain.

Yesterday - Friday - as I was prepping for my early Saturday flight to Minneapolis, I received a call from Matt. "Jason, I have horrible news," Matt said, not one to ease a person into bad news. "I just got off the phone with Vice President Mondale, and he's not happy with the comedy aspect. He's not going to do the interview." My heart sank. From the very beginning, the Vice President was aware that a film entitled "Vice-Precedence: Being Number Two in the White House" had a comedic edge to it. Now, after all of this effort, volunteered time, and donated money, he decided to change his mind - and all because of the word "comedy." Matt explained to him, on the phone, that we take the office seriously - that, in fact, we've been working on this film for almost five years, out of our own pocket the entire time, because we respect this office. It didn't change his mind.

Why? We can't be certain. Mondale recently appeared in Al Franken's film "God Spoke," which was filled with humor - but Franken respected Mondale, as we do. On November 22, Mondale will interview with A Prairie Home Companion's Garrison Keillor, who, as his audience will attest, does a humorous show, and can still show respect. He laughed with Today Show host Amy Robach, who (all due respect) knows what I can almost guarantee is next to nothing about the Vice Presidency, which Matt and I have been studying for the last five years, becoming two of the country's few Vice Presidential experts.

Whatever his reasoning, this turn of events sent me packing - or unpacking, as it were. Two non-refundable tickets, to and from Minneapolis, and one brand-new hardcover copy of a memoir that I absolutely had to read in preparation for the trip were enough to leave me wondering why I ever began this journey in the first place. Four years ago, when Matt proposed the idea to me, I was skeptical, but when the stories were revealed to me and we realized these stories had never been told on film, we knew we had something - something really good.

We're going to move forward, if much slower now, due to the resources that were lost in the shuffle, but the momentum is there. The story can still be told. Even if it takes us another five years - which it well could - we will finish this project, hopefully one day having the honor to ask Vice President Mondale personally about his life's work helping those people who "are hurtin'" (to quote Mondale from The Today Show), and how he changed the office we are so passionate about for the better. Maybe he'll even sign my deck of cards from Mondale's Air Force Two. We can only hope.

As always, thank you for your support (and in this case, your financial support as well), and good Vice-Presidenting.

- Jason C. Klamm

Gerrymandering-The Movie!

Hey Vice-Precedence Fans. I've talked here before about other documentary films that have been made as we keep on trying to make VICE-PRECEDENCE. However, a new documentary coming out in wider release and has been seen at festivals around the country has a major connection to VICE-PRECEDENCE.

Its GERRYMANDERING by director/writer Jeff Reichert. The films synopsis on IMDb describes the film this way:

A wake-up-call documentary that exposes the hidden history of our country's redistricting wars, mapping battles that take place out of public scrutiny but that shape the electoral landscape of American politics for decades at time, posing a threat not just to democrats and republicans, but democracy as a whole.

The film examines the history of the practice of Gerrymandering, named after Vice-President Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts whose picture is here on the blog. Its funny, because his name is pronounced with the hard "G" so technically its been mispronounced for over 200 years. The film interviews all sorts of politicians, from Howard Dean to Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Gerrymandering has been a bipartisan dirty political trick for 200 years, as the film shows with the story of how President Obama used it to put upper-class whites into his mostly black Chicago South Side area to get elected to the Senate. Along with Tom DeLays attempts to gerrymander Texas in 2005, driving state Democrats to hide in a motel in Oklahoma to prevent it happening, leading Samuel Issacharoff, a professor at NYU School of Law, to quote his daughter about the absurdity of the affair:

"While there are a lot of reasons middle aged men might be sneaking off to a motel, until now redistricting has not been one of them."

Gerrymandering is basically, a political maneuver used by incumbents to retain power by designing districts to create an advantage for the ruling party-no matter how impractical they may be or ridiculous they may look.

In 1812 near the end of Gerrys second term as Governor of Massachusetts, at a time of partisanship that makes today's political struggles look like a meeting of Lutheran housewives in a church basement for coffee and cake. Gerrys party-the Democratic-Republicans, passed a devious redistricting measure, to make sure they would retain their iron-fist grip on the State senate. Governor Gerry signed the bill, and in response, the opposition party of Federalists ripped Gerry to shreds. Famous painter Gilbert Stuart drew a political cartoon for a newspaper, turning the district into a dragon surrounding the state, and likened it to a salamander. The papers editor Benjamin Russell chortled, "Better say a gerrymander.", and the name was picked up by the opposition Federalists to mock the squiggly, salamander-like shape of Essex County and Gerrys political corruption. The term has been used ever since.

Not only is it a good sign that a documentary like this can be made, sure the guy who made it is a former publicity manager for Magnolia Pictures, so he has lots of Hollywood connections, but, still, it shows the American public is interested in docs about American history and politics. So I will be making an effort to see GERRYMANDERING with the hopes that it will make some film investors interested in VICE-PRECDENCE as well.

Click Here to see the IMDB page for the film.

Don't forget! Our on-camera interview with former Vice-President WALTER MONDALE is in less than a month, and we still really need your financial support to fly Jason to Fritz and to hire a crew. You can donate here:


Thanks VICE-PRECEDENCE fans!

Matt Saxe

A Question Of Legacies and Quayles.

In America we have no official aristocracy. The Founders didn't want any American lords or dukes or even knights popping up in American society after they were gone. On this, both Republicans and Democrats can completely agree on as it says clearly in the Constitution: "No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States." The country had just fought a war against a King and many of his generals had been lords and such. They didn't want Americans setting themselves up with titles and literally "lording" it up over other Americans. Americans have always been wary of titles -- Washington had been called "His Excellency" while serving as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army -- but its hard to say if he liked the title or not. When Lincoln was addressed with this same title by General McClellan at their meetings he hated it. Congressmen mocked Vice-President Adams when he presented them with a list of titles to address the President with because he found "Mr. President" too informal for the position -- leading him to be called "His Rotundity" and a reputation for being a would be monarchist -- this against the most fiery of Revolutionaries!

Sometimes I wonder if it would have been better if the Founders had just created some kind of honorific title that could be given to any American for services rendered in some way -- like knighthoods and damehoods are still in England-- for everything ranging from work in government to the arts to science and even livestock raising as the British Crown does -- that were just titles themselves, and didn't have any privileges so that Americans would stop looking for dynasties and people to give titles to. I don't see what harm it could do, but the American in me does find it a tiny bit elitist, but at the same time, it would also be kind of fun--imagine Sir and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. or Lady Helen Keller. They both have a nice ring to them. Even if it was just a title with nothing else attached to it. For some reason Americans are always looking for legacies and dynasties. In sports, Hollywood, and of course in politics and I think part of the reason for it is because we have no honorifics.

In sports fans love when their teams are called dynasties. Because it usually means they've won a lot of championships. The New York Yankees are of course a great example of this. Other teams have dynasties as well-and naturally they are sometimes given titles, such as the Cincinnati Reds-"Big Red Machine" or the Pittsburgh Steelers-"Steel Curtain" teams. Every sport has them -- from the Lakers and Celtics in basketball to Bear Bryants teams at Alabama (my personal favorite) and lists can go on and on. Sports reporters are always eager to find a new dynasty--as evidenced just this year when Alabama after not winning a title in 18 years after winning the National Championship in college football found themselves a week later on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the cover screaming-DYNASTY. And thats just with one title!

In Hollywood, indeed, in acting throughout the ages, people love to see the children and grandchildren go on to great heights as well, all the way back to the Booths to today with the Barrymores with a legacy that goes back generations. Its the same in businesses-as in family businesses, the Hiltons, the Buschs', the Rockefellers are all dynasties in business, politics, and philanthropy, the list goes on and on.

In politics though, its especially interesting and attractive to Americans to look for dynasties. Why its hard to say, perhaps its simply because we have no official American nobility, but from almost the beginning of the American system of government people were interested and fascinated with dynasties that were in politics and public service -- even before the Revolution the Lees of Virginia were already a powerful and rich family and dynasty that was practically American nobility with all of them becoming successful in government and the military-serving in Virginia's House of Burgesses and as governors, the Continental Congress, in the American Army, and as ambassadors overseas, their legacy would go all the way thru the Civil War and they would be married to and connected to all of the great and powerful families of Virgina and the South. John Adams our second President was the father of our sixth President John Quincy Adams. William Henry Harrison was the 9th President of the United States, his grandfather had signed the Declaration of Independence, and he in turn was the grandfather of our 23rd President-Benjamin Harrison. Theodore Roosevelt was practically a father to his niece Eleanor who of course married her distant cousin Franklin. Together the Roosevelts were President for over 20 years thanks to FDR's 4 terms. The Kennedys are of course, practically Americas Royal Family. The Bush family has produced two Presidents. For a country with no official nobility, its interesting to see that in the history of our country, 4 families have held the title of our nations highest office multiple times. Not that different from a country with an official aristocracy is it?

So now a new family is trying to establish a dynasty -- the Quayles. As you may have seen in the news, just this week Ben Quayle, the son of J. Danforth "Dan" Quayle, former Vice-President of the United States under George H.W. Bush -- and a national joke for practically all four of those years -- won the Republican nomination for an open seat in Congress in Arizona where he lives. He defeated 9 other opponents, some who were seasoned political professionals. This was after he had been exposed for writing for a blog that was basically about nightlife and sex in the area in Arizona he lived in under a pseudonym from "Boogie Nights" where he wrote:

“My moral compass is so broken I can barely find the parking lot.”

and after he had called President Obama in one of his TV ads that he managed to pay for with the $1.3 million he raised from his dads connections:

"the worst President in history"

We reported both of these stories on the Vice-Precedence Facebook page that you can go and see for yourself. You can see the campaign ad where he says that about President Obama. And I mean-Really? Worse than Nixon who was forced to resign for being part of a criminal conspiracy? Worse than Harding who had a Cabinet full of criminals? Worse than James Buchanan who let the country fall apart into chaos and civil war? In only two years? Please.

Part of the reason he won has to be attributed to his name. He has practically no experience in government unless you count being a Congressional page experience. Its easy to remember, his dad was Vice-President of the United States. He's practically a lock to win in this heavily Republican area in Arizona. One things for sure, he knows he's in for a fight because of his name and its connection to tons of jokes-as evidenced in this quote:

“You build thick skin being a Quayle,”

He better have, because I'm sure his opponent will bring up that picture he had taken of himself with two kids who weren't his own, since he doesn't have any kids.

Is this the beginning of a new American dynasty? We'll see. Thanks for reading.

Matt Saxe

Scapegoating: The Hallmark of Public Policy

Hello, Vice-Presidenters. It's been awhile since the last regular post, what with our co-producing a show in the Minnesota Fringe Festival and the screenwriting opportunity I was recently thrown, but fear not - we are still here and loving every juicy VP tidbit, as you'll likely notice on our Facebook page, which we try to update as frequently as is possible.

Joe Biden (whose office is now considering a request for an interview, given VP Mondale's agreeing to interview) was the subject of much speculation in a recent Wall Street Journal article that asks the baseless question (that has been raised since Biden began his reign as VP) "Will Obama replace Biden in 2012?"

They name his being "gaffe-prone" as the primary reason for their own speculation, as well as the expertise as such notables as Chris Matthews and "long time Hillary watcher" Howard Fineman at Newsweek, who suggest that Biden and Clinton essentially swap spots. Really? Newsweek?

I am not an expert political scientist, or an expert historian. I'm an expert on the Vice Presidency and its role in history and amongst other political powers. What I can tell you is this - no President, especially to change his tarnishing public image and popularity - would change VPs mid-stream to half-use an existing metaphor. At least not today. It's been done before (Lincoln and FDR both had VP changes for a number of reasons) but these were the days when public scrutiny was different. Changing VP meant a change in direction. Today, with rapid-fire, thoughtless analysis (see the Wall Street Journal), any such change - though it might please those who think they are political analysts because they can also use the word "gaffe" in a sentence - would be seen as weakness. Joe Biden is the very symbol of Obama's dedication to his choices - he lets Biden speak his mind. He could easily shut the man up, reign him in - Biden is the "tell it like it is" guy and Obama - well, frankly, he's resorted to it lately, too. He has little choice. He just uses fewer F-bombs.

Jason C. Klamm, B.A.

Game Changing

In researching the Vice Presidency, one thing becomes increasingly evident - that research is, at points, impossible. Even as an office so separated from power that analyzing the social & political environment of the era in which a VP served is occasionally unnecessary, finding some piece of evidence of the office changing is one of those things you dream of.

This is exactly why the office has been the subject of so many comedic books. When they aren't comedic, there's usually some biting criticism of the office and it's uselessness. This is why our book is aimed at using the comedic bent as a tool to see if we can discover something new about the office that this perspective allows us. Rather than looking for something funny to write about, we're treating all history as inherently comedic, to see what then stands out.

Admitting our bias - embracing it, even - aside, our perspectives are pretty clear. In general, we want to see the office become more useful, by law. At any time, no matter how much a Cheney or Biden might change the day-to-day function of the office, that function might just as easily go extinct with whomever holds the office next. Solidifying it by law - even by adding one or two functions beyond the existing one - would add some legitimacy to the office, and hold the Veep accountable for something, so that we could be certain our second-in-command was ready to lead.

What do you think the VP should be required to do, by law? Right now, he breaks tie votes in the Senate. Cheney and Biden have both taken roles of power, in their own way - but we wonder if any of those powers are worth putting in stone. Let us know on Blogger and Facebook - we'll cover your suggestions in a later blog.

On a quick side note, thanks to those who continue to support Fly Me to Fritz, to allow us to complete our Walter Mondale interview in October.

Thanks once again, and good Vice-Presidenting, as always.

-Jason C. Klamm, B.A.

Fly Me to Fritz

Dear Vice-Presidenters,

We here at Vice-Precedence have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity coming up on October 18th. As Matt previously reported, we will be interviewing former VP Walter "Fritz" Mondale - our first Vice Presidential interview. This is an amazing opportunity for the film, the book and the blog.

As many of you know, this is a project of passion, any expenses being out-of-pocket for the last 4 years. For instance, our sizzle reel for the documentary, which almost sold Vice-Precedence to The History Channel, was produced on less than a shoestring - perhaps the plastic caps at the end - for around $200, which was mostly for a wig and a gun. Needless to say, we do good work on very little money (if we do say so ourselves), but there are some things we can't do entirely on our own.

This is why we're asking you, the Vice-Precedence Fans loyal, to consider a donation to get me out to Minneapolis and to help us pay our minimal crew and to GET THIS DONE RIGHT. When we shot the sizzle reel, for instance, it was all shot on a 24p camera. Gorgeous though that was (and still is), we have to shoot on HD. Our sit-down with our oldest living VP would be wasted if we shot it on anything else.

If you can, please consider donating whatever you can to Fly Me to Fritz. The link is to a secure Paypal page that will prompt you to use whichever payment method you prefer.

As a way of thanking those who can donate, we're offering a number of incentives:
1. A thank you in the book and documentary.
2. A feature article about you and other donors on the blog.
3. We will take your questions for President Mondale and choose the best of the bunch.
4. A free copy of the book, on publication.

We want to thank all of our loyal readers and fans for all of your support, and hope you can see your way to donating just a little bit to helping the first documentary on the Vice Presidency get that much closer to completion.

Thanks again, and good Vice-Presidenting,

Jason C. Klamm, B.A.

Vice-Precedence to Interview VP Walter Mondale!

Vice-Precedence Fans we have BIG news.

We have been working on Vice-Precedence for a long time. We have had some great successes. Like our interview with Gore Vidal, the amazing praise from fans like you and especially from Mr. Paul Zaloom, and my meeting with Sarah Palin and the subsequent blog that got a lot of attention.

We have also had a lot of frustration and setbacks. There is no denying it. I have talked about it before. I don't want to repeat myself, except to say, along with the refusals from people for interviews, there has been the idiotic remarks from TV executives -- specifically the History Channel saying in early March of 08:

"It doesn't matter who McCain picks as his running mate, no one will care, everyone will be bored by the election by September. Plus our president hates comedy."

3 months later they're showing "The History of Comedy" hosted by Lewis Black and later in the year--everyone is talking about and is obsessed with Sarah Palin.

So you can probably guess how I feel about the History Channel.

After my divorce I made plans to see my daughter in Minnesota. On my first visit here I looked up former Vice-President Walter Mondales contact information. It actually wasn't that hard, just did a Google search as I recall. I spoke with his secretary right away. An interview was a possibility but not that year since the former VP would be spending most of that year in Japan, where he had been our Ambassador. They love him there. I was just happy to have established a link to his office and secretary, Lynda Pedersen.

After I moved here to be closer to my daughter after missing her so much, I wanted to try to schedule an official interview with VP Mondale. After some more polite conversations with Ms. Pedersen, and explaining what we want to do, I sent a formal request to his office:

Dear Mr. Vice-President,

My name is Matt Saxe, I live here in Minneapolis, and I am the creator/executive producer of the comic-documentary film "Vice-Precedence". After speaking with your assistant Mrs. Lynda Pedersen, I am formally asking if I could have the opportunity to interview you for our film.

I have been producing award-winning theatre and films for over 8 years. For the last four years my company has been working on a documentary film devoted to the Vice-Presidents who were never President, focusing on the unique and strange history of the office. As you know, there have been documentaries made on individual VP's, but never one devoted to the office as a whole.

We have already filmed a two-hour interview with Gore Vidal for the film, who called us "Better interviewers than Ken Burns." You would be the first Vice-President we have interviewed. Your own experiences as Vice-President and with Vice-President Humphrey would be invaluable to our film.

We are happy to fit our interview around whatever fits your schedule best. We would want to wait at least until next month so we can make the proper arrangements. We want you to be comfortable and completely at ease for the interview. Thank you very much for your consideration. I sincerely hope for the opportunity to meet and interview you. Please pass my thanks on to Mrs. Pederson for taking the time to talk with me, I truly appreciate it.

Best to you,
Matt Saxe
Banded Artists

Within a couple days I received the following reply:

Dear Matt:

I have talked to Mr. Mondale about your request for an interview for the comic-documentary film "Vice- Precedence." Unfortunately, Mr. Mondale is extremely busy this summer and has several trips out of the country and he just doesn't feel he would have the time to be interviewed by you. I will keep your request in mind and if things quiet down, I will be sure to give you a call. He wishes you all the best with your project.

Lynda

Lynda L. Pedersen
Executive Secretary to Walter F. Mondale

It was disappointing, but I understood, and it was so polite. I decided I need to let time go by and had so many other things to do for work, Vice-Precedence, plays, life, and Caitlin. So time passed.

Then on May 27th of this year after writing the Hubert Humphrey Birthday blog, I decided enough time had passed to send another request to his office. Also, in case you didn't know, Mr. Mondale was Humphreys Chief of Staff and successor as Senator of Minnesota and then to the Vice-Presidency and Democratic Presidential Nomination. Humphrey was his mentor and his career followed Humphreys almost exactly. So I decided the date seemed serendipitous to send another request.

So here it is:

Dear Ms. Pedersen,

This is Matt Saxe, of Banded Artist Productions. Last year I asked if it would be possible to schedule an interview with former Vice-President Mondale for my documentary film. At the time you informed me that Mr. Mondale was too busy to schedule something. I am hoping that this year we will be able to schedule it and decided that since today would be the 99th birthday of Mr. Mondales mentor and friend, the late Vice-President Humphrey, its an appropriate day to resend my request. Please pass this on to the Vice-President with my highest regards.

Thank you and Best to you,
Matt Saxe

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Banded Artists


Dear Mr. Vice-President,

My name is Matt Saxe and I am the creator/executive producer of the comic-documentary film "Vice-Precedence", and after speaking with your assistant Mrs. Lynda Pedersen last year, I am on this day, what would have been the 99th birthday of your mentor and friend, the late Vice-President Humphrey, again formally asking if I could have the opportunity to interview you for our film.

I have been producing award-winning theatre and films for over 8 years. For the last four years my company has been working on a documentary film devoted to the Vice-Presidents who were never President, focusing on the unique history of the office. As you know, there have been documentaries made on individual VP's, but never one devoted to the office as a whole.

We have already filmed a two-hour interview with Gore Vidal for the film, who called us "Better interviewers than Ken Burns." You would be the first Vice-President we have interviewed. Your own experiences as Vice-President and with Vice-President Humphrey would be invaluable to our film.

We are happy to fit our interview around whatever fits your schedule best. Thank you for your consideration. I sincerely hope for the opportunity to meet and interview you. Please pass my thanks on to Mrs. Pederson for taking the time to talk with me, I truly appreciate it.

Best to you,

Matt Saxe
Banded Artists
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A week later I received this:

Matt,

Mr. Mondale would be happy to meet with you. However, he can't do it this summer. Any chance, sometime in the fall would work?

Lynda

As the kids say: OMG!

After dancing around the room for about 15 minutes I called Jason to let him know the good news. It was one of the happiest phone calls I have ever made. We were both ecstatic.

After a flurry of emails dealing with the scheduling and all, we finally decided that the interview will take place in a conference room at Mr. Mondales law office on October 18th at 10AM. It will be our first interview with an actual VP. Not just any VP, but our oldest living VP and former Presidential candidate! Truly an American living legend. When Norm Coleman was forced to run against Mondale after the tragic death of Senator Paul Wellstone in a plane crash he said it was like

"...running against Mount Rushmore."

Well, now we're interviewing Mt. Rushmore. After all the refusals, it feels so amazing to have a true success. Its truly the biggest thing to happen for our film. Now we need your help. We are going to establish a fund thru PayPal to get Jason a ticket to come here to Minneapolis for the interview. We also need to find great HD equipment since we want this interview to be perfect. If all of you who LIKE us on Facebook give us just $5 to $8 or more...wow! We'd easily have enough to get Jason here and some for the equipment we want. We've never really asked for your help before, just to join our Facebook page. Which we still also want you to encourage people to do.

This interview can truly help make our film, because if VP Mondale has agreed to do it, then his fellow Democrats Al Gore and Joe Biden may agree to do it. And the Republicans won't want to be left out (and we don't want to leave them out -- we want to give people the WHOLE story) so VP's Quayle and Cheney might agree too. Please help us out. When we post the fund-raising page, please help us out and make whatever donations you can.

October 18th can't come soon enough for us.

Thanks Everyone.

Matt