A Good Campaign

Watch the TRAILER For A GOOD CAMPAIGN.

A GOOD CAMPAIGN is a documentary by Gerard Matthews and Kathryn Francis Tucker.

The film follows Clarke Tucker, his campaign staff, his family, and friends in the final days of a heated congressional race. Though the odds are stacked against him from the outset, we see the young candidate handle the challenges of the race with heart, determination, and dignity. Tucker was hoping to be part of the blue wave that took back the US House after two years of Trump in 2018, but it proved too much of an ask for the voters in Arkansas’s 2nd Congressional District. 

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So what makes this campaign relevant more than five years later? The filmmakers say the political climate has become so divisive that it’s easy to forget that actual people run these races. They wanted to focus on the human side of politics and create a film that Arkansans from both sides of the aisle could enjoy. A GOOD CAMPAIGN takes a look at a changing district. Once a Democratic stronghold, recent changes to district boundaries make it all the more difficult for Democrats to hold a congressional office in Arkansas for the foreseeable future.

“Running for office is hard work,” said Clarke Tucker. “It goes without saying that you can change lives by winning elective office and serving, and that’s obviously the goal, but I’ve come to learn that you can change lives just through the campaign as well. Gerard and my sister did an amazing job of capturing that feeling, in terms of the last few days of the race. It’s emotional for me to watch how many people contributed their hearts and souls to that campaign.”

“We were interested in following an idealistic young candidate on the biggest day of his political life,” Matthews says. “So, we got that and everything you think would come with it, but we also got a portrait of a shifting political landscape. Democrats can't win here anymore, not even Tucker, who has a great record, bipartisan allies in the legislature, and who ran a solid campaign.”

“I was so moved and inspired by the grassroots campaign that Clarke and the staff built from the ground up, and the courage, dignity, and heart that went into it,” said Kathryn Tucker. “As both a filmmaker and the sister of the candidate, I felt I had a unique perspective on the day-to-day of what candidates and their families go through when they run for office. I felt that this was an important story to tell and remember because we so often demonize politicians. Stories like this one remind us that we can’t paint all politicians with the same broad stroke brush - some politicians are just fellow human beings that feel things just like you and I do and purely want to serve their constituents.”