My name is Joe McGovern. I recently drove 20,000 miles across the United States, through 35 states over 5 months to film my documentary, “The Other Side: A Liberal Democrat Explores Conservative America.” Accompanied by my dog, Charlie, I had one mission: To speak to conservatives of all stripes and truly get to know "the other side."
READ MORE: A Liberal Democrat Explores Conservative America and Lives to Tell About It
From California to New York, and most states in-between, I hit the road in October 2014 and conducted over 80 interviews with Republicans and conservatives from all walks of life. During my travels, I learned a few things:
- Conservatives and the issues themselves are far more complex than I thought, and inside of that complexity I found common ground, understanding, and even a respect for the conservative ideology.
- I’d never seen this complexity before because our political conversation is dominated by oversimplified talking points and hyperbole – from both sides.
- If we listen hard enough, we can dig down to the complexity hidden underneath the talking points and hyperbole and have positive, productive conversations with the other side that will actually move our country forward.
Teaming with IVN and the Foundation for Independent Voter Education (FIVE) in July 2015, I was able to raise over $50,000 to cover the travel and production costs necessary to complete the film. I am putting the final touches on the film now.
I will be sharing some previews of the video (see the latest above) over the next couple of months on IVN. I released the first video on July 7. Check it out here and stay tuned for more...