American Crossroads: Bush Years I
A documentary-style, first-person political thriller that begins with the 2000 recount and follows a new DC insider through 9/11, Afghanistan, and the Iraq drumbeat. Your choices shape your political identity and the alliances you carry into the next administration.
Opening Chapter
December 2000 felt like a month that could not decide if it wanted to freeze or thaw. The air over Washington was sharp, the kind that turns coffee lukewarm before you finish a sentence. I arrived with a duffel bag, a borrowed blazer, and a thin folder of papers that said I belonged to a transition that had not yet fully arrived.
Everyone in the city spoke in Florida coordinates. Palm Beach, Miami-Dade, Broward. Someone had taped a map to the wall in the volunteer office, the counties circled in red pen like targets on a range. I learned the words fast: butterfly ballot, hanging chad, overvote, undervote. The television in the corner looped the same grainy shot of workers peering at perforated paper. It felt absurd that the presidency could hinge on the texture of cardboard.
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