The Front Runner
Hugh Jackman stars as the charismatic politician Gary Hart in this thrilling drama following the rise and fall of Senator Hart, who captured the imagination of young voters and was considered the overwhelming front runner for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination. But his campaign was sidelined by the story of an extramarital relationship with Donna Rice. As tabloid journalism and political journalism merged for the first time, Senator Hart was forced to drop out of the race leaving a profound and lasting impact on American politics and the world stage. The film also stars Vera Farmiga, J.K. Simmons and Alfred Molina.
The Front Runner
The Front Runner isan emotionallyevocativesports dramathat manages toelevate its content with a deeply feltromanticthroughline.Seemingly ahead of its time, The Front Runner ends up being perfectly relevant material in today's social climate. The novel provides the opportunity for a movie set in the 70's or a film adaptation that takes place today. The book doesn't treat the characters merely as "gay", it treats them as human, which allows readers of all genders and orientations to engage in and relate to them.The Front Runner is an underdog sports story, a moving romance, and a socially relevant commentary on love and equality. It's a unique angle on both romance and sports, exploring the masculine ideal in both realms.The obstacles that initially keep the two main characters apart - age, profession, fear of being loved - are universally relatable and build up ample tension between them. It's a palpable, unforced dynamic that makes the reader desperately want them to get together. That's only the first hurdle in their burgeoning relationship. Facing down various stodgy athletic committees who disapprove of their lifestyle, dealing with public scrutiny during their rise to the Olympics, and confronting their own deep seated insecurities and issues make for a very rocky road ahead. Each little battle works as a satisfying baby step toward their ultimate dream of simply competing and being left alone like everyone else.With societyand nearly everyathletic committee working against them, it is aclassic underdog sports story blended witha movingromance in which each ofthese plotsbuilds toa trulymoving and unforgettable climax. SYNOPSIS
PRINCETON, NJ -- The wide-open battle for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination -- with nearly a three-way tie among Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, and Mitt Romney -- is quite different from the typical pattern observed in past Republican nomination contests. In Gallup polling since 1952, Republican Party nomination races always featured a clear front-runner at this stage of the campaign, and in almost all cases, that front-runner ultimately won the nomination.
Across these 10 elections, 2008 is the only year in which the eventual nominee, John McCain, achieved front-runner status relatively late in the campaign cycle. In the other nine, the nominee rose to the top of the pack in the year prior to the election, and in eight of those elections, the nominee was the front-runner by March.
1988: Vice President George H.W. Bush enjoyed strong front-runner status for his party's nomination throughout 1987. In January 1987, Bush led his most serious competitor, Dole, by 33% to 14%, and maintained a roughly 2-to-1 lead over Dole the rest of the year.
1980: Reagan's bid for the Republican nomination in 1976 paid off in 1979, when he emerged as the front-runner for the 1980 Republican nomination. Although George H.W. Bush came the closest to actually toppling Reagan in the early primaries, Reagan's closest competition in 1979 Gallup polls for support among Republicans nationwide came from Gerald Ford, who never formally entered the race. In January 1979, Reagan led Ford by 31% to 26%. Republicans' preferences for the two were about tied from May through July, but by August, Reagan was up, 36% to 22%, and he maintained a strong lead through the end of the year. When the 1979 trend is re-configured by substituting Ford supporters' second choice, Reagan's position looks even stronger -- he beat John Connally and Howard Baker by more than 20 points in each poll.
1968: Richard Nixon was a strong front-runner for the 1968 Republican presidential nomination from Gallup's first primary preference survey on the race in January 1967. In February, Nixon led George Romney, 41% to 31%. He continued to lead by about 10 to 15 percentage points through the spring, and by even greater margins later in the year after Romney blamed his one-time support for the Vietnam War on "brainwashing."
1964: Barry Goldwater did not lead his rivals for the 1964 Republican nod in Gallup's earliest 1963 polls. Rather, Nelson Rockefeller was the dominant Republican front-runner, as he was in a February poll, when he led Goldwater 45% to 19%. By mid-May, however, Goldwater established a slim lead, 35% to 30%, and continued to outpace Rockefeller into October. In November, Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. was added to Gallup's Republican trial heat polls, further splitting the race. This was followed by a bruising primary season that left Goldwater statistically tied with three other candidates in Gallup's final preference poll before the convention.
Winning a presidential nomination is never assured, and every eventual nominee encounters competition and threats of varying degrees on his or her way to the convention. However, looking retrospectively at the 10 open or competitive Republican races since 1952, early Republican front-runners have had very good odds, prevailing in 8 of these. Additionally, although Goldwater did not lead the earliest Gallup Republican preference polls in 1963, he was leading by the spring of that year and thus comes close to fitting the pattern. The only nominee to truly break the mold was McCain, running a distant second to Giuliani throughout 2007. However, by virtue of his strong second-place ranking by the time Giuliani dropped out of the race in late January, McCain was able to capitalize on Giuliani's departure (and endorsement), springing ahead of his remaining rivals.
History thus provides no guidelines for how today's highly fragmented Republican race might play out, or for when a strong front-runner is likely to emerge, or who it will be. If the race remains close throughout 2011, it may also create unfamiliar political and fundraising dynamics for the national party. As of today, Huckabee is supported by 18% of Republicans and Republican leaners, while Palin and Romney are each favored by 16%. However, it is quite possible one of the three, or perhaps a different candidate, will break out from the pack before too long, particularly given that some of these candidates may decide not to run. And as the field is clarified, certain candidates may benefit more than others.
THE FRONT RUNNER tells the true story of how former Colorado senator Gary Hart -- the titular front runner in the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination to run against then-vice president George H.W. Bush -- lost all campaign momentum after news broke about his alleged affair. A private but charismatic candidate, Hart (Hugh Jackman), along with his staff, is poised to capitalize on his double-digit polling advantage over fellow Democratic candidates and Bush himself, excited to become the first Democrat from out West to be on the presidential ticket. But then, in May 1987, newspaper reporters from the Miami Herald follow an anonymous tip that leads them to break a story about Hart's supposed affair with a young woman named Donna Rice (Sara Paxton), whom he met at a yacht party.
For those too young to remember him, Gary Hart was a two-term senator from Colorado who after a strong run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 decided to try again. In 1988, he was the front runner. In this recreation of that campaign, Hart (Hugh Jackman) wants to use his status to focus on the serious issues facing the nation. Handsome and charismatic, he attracts a lot of attention, and although he and his wife Lee (Vera Farmiga) have been separated, she agrees to play the supportive wife during the campaign. She and others are aware of his personal flaw of needing the attention and adoration of young women.
Some of my favorite features of the Front Runner includes its versatility between front/rear racks, its ever expanding carrying capacity and its flap lid closure with dual closure straps. When we designed the Front Runner (back in August 2014) we had the notion in mind of taking our Anything Pack design and converting it into a front rack bag. Voila, the Front Runner was born. What we didn't foresee was how versatile this compact rack bag would be. Our initial intention was to fill a need and a space up front. After years of use and abuse, we found that the Front Runner works equally as well as a rear rack bag (AKA Rear Runner). All you need are a set of Saddle Loops or a saddle with the loops already attached like most Touring Specific Saddles. 041b061a72