Some historical context that might be helpful prior to watching. Prior to Clinton's victory, these were the recent the Democrat's presidential outcomes:

- 1988: lost by 8% to a low charisma candidate (George H.W. Bush)
- 1984: lost by 18% to a Hollywood actor (Reagan)
- 1980: lost by 9% to same
- 1976: won but by only 2% with an inspiring candidate (Carter) against an incumbent no one voted for in the first place (Ford)
- 1972: lost by 23%

Right or wrong, Americans flat out did not want anything further left than the neo-liberal third way at that point. And campaign managers do not work or win the world of hypothetical human beings.

This doesn't change that Clinton as a person is pretty scummy person (see Hitchen's "No One Left to Lie To") or that he happily sold out the working poor for the sake of his enormous ego.

But no one else in the Dem primaries even came close to Clinton's charisma or had any real chance of winning. And a second term of George H.W. Bush was going to be worse, not better than what Clinton did.

So at the time, this documentary was the story of some really scrappy political operators that finally got the Dems a win. YMMV.