Educational Media Reviews Online

HouseQuake is the award winning story of the 2006 congressional election that brought Democrats into national power. It seemed after the 2004 election that the Democrats had been reduced to the status of a permanent minority party. Recognizing that the Democratic establishment needed shaking up, Nancy Pelosi and the leadership selected Rahm Emanuel to head the Democratic Congressional Committee. A controversial appointment, Emanuel had a reputation as “an assassin essentially, someone who would be ruthless.” Even Emanuel himself asserts that he has a “degenerative gene intensity level that other’s don’t have.”

Emanuel’s strategy was to encourage the party to select “non-traditional” political candidates such as Tammy Duckworth, a disabled Iraq war veteran, Heath Shuler, a former pro football player, and Brad Ellsworth, a sheriff from a small town in Indiana. Emanuel embarked on “relentless fundraising,” and pounded out the message that the nation needed change from the Bush presidency’s failed policies. His goal was winning at all costs. “It’s not like I had a preference for one geography over another, one ideology over another. I only cared about 15. That was the magic number. There were no sentiments in this. It was pure winning.”

Emanuel’s controversial tactics worked; the Democrats captured 31 additional seats in Congress, and in the process changed how politics plays out in the United States. HouseQuake is a fascinating look at nitty gritty details of electioneering. Crafted from footage of seven key House races and a mix of interviews with the famous and not so famous, this documentary gives an even handed analysis of the political process. Given that the nation is currently on the cusp of another midterm election, it will be interesting to see if the Republican Party co-opts Rahm Emanuel’s tactics and retakes the House of Representatives. Highly recommended for all audiences and a must-have for students of the political process.

HouseQuake comes with an online study guide.