Sunday, January 24, 2016

Previewing The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth


Mark Halperin, John Heilemann, and Mark McKinnon of The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth

I was one of the few people over the summer who did not get too worried over the rise of Trump because I always assumed the people who supported him would not bother to show up when voting started and when the field narrow, someone else would emerge because Trump reached his ceiling in support. Now that we are just days before the first caucus, I am starting to worry. Not that I am beginning to think President Trump is a possibility, but the alternatives at the top of the pols are not much better. Seriously, the four people on top of the polls right now are a reality star, a socialist, a wife of an ex-president, and a Canadian; all of which would be pretty disastrous for this country.

Yet, no matter how depressing this election cycle gets, I still find myself flipping over to the twenty-four hour news channels for the latest poll numbers and candidate interviews. Showtime is getting into the political silly season with the premiere of The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth. It claims to be a real time documentary of this years political race (there is a time stamp of twenty-two days before the Iowa Caucasus in the first episode) so there is plenty of birther talk tonight. The show is produced in cooperation with Bloomberg Politic (of course it is hard not to remember the namesake of the company just tested the waters of a third party run recently) and featuring Bloomberg Politics managing editors Mark Halperin and John Heilemann and noted campaign strategist and media advisor Mark McKinnon.

Tonight's episode focuses on the "three outsiders," Ted Cruz, Bernie Sanders, and Donald Trump, in the race. Insteringly enough, the guy who seems to never turn down an interview invitation because he is always on television (despite claiming to hate the media), Trump does not get a sit down interview in the episode. There really in nothing much new in terms of the politics side, if you have been even mildly following the elections, you have heard every soundbite already. The only new I leaned is that Bernie plays monster with his grandchildren, a scene that will either humanize the socialist or scare people even more.

The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth airs Sundays at 8:00 on Showtime.

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