Director Bio

Meet Director Jo Streit

My initial interest in documenting this story began in April of 1992 as I watched several friends quit their day jobs and, despite their lack of political experience, end up in high level positions in Perot's independent presidential campaign. At the time, I was fresh out of graduate school and working as a producer for a satellite television network in Dallas. Despite my own inexperience as a documentary filmmaker, I knew one thing for certain. I couldn't go back and capture these events later so I began traveling the country gathering footage of this historic grassroots movement.

I majored in journalism and political science at Texas A&M University, but making this film taught me more about the media and our democracy than I could have ever imagined. The United States advocates free and fair elections around the world, even sending our military abroad to enforce these standards. Yet at home these same principles are repeatedly violated. In the United States, independent and third party candidates are routinely denied ballot access, denied their right to participate in political debates, and marginalized or ignored by the mass media. It seems many Americans feel the challenges are too great to truly affect our government, but making this film demonstrated to me the power that average Americans do have to affect change and influence public policy. The political dialogue in 1992 was altered by the millions of Perot supporters who wanted the issues of the national debt and deficit on the agenda. Throughout our nation's history, it has been the active engagement of average Americans in the political process that has birthed our most significant reforms including the abolition of slavery, child labor laws, and the right to vote for women.

The interesting part of observing the journey of others is that sometimes it begins to mirror one's own. I was never a volunteer for the Perot campaigns nor am I a member of the Reform Party, but directing this documentary inspired me to advocate for the rights of all third parties to participate in our political system. The people in the film awed me with their good humor despite the frustrations. They, along with the hundreds of volunteers I met during the campaigns, inspired me to promote civic renewal in an age of apathy. As the founder of Common Cause rightly noted, "Democracy is not a spectator sport!"

Flirting with Power is both entertaining and educational. One of the things I learned from Ross Perot is that even serious issues can be addressed with humor. His example also reminded me that anger will not sustain us nor provide the long-term motivation necessary to reform the political system. We have to keep our hopes and humor alive in order to create a better future. Please email me your thoughts about the film as well as any insights you have on how we can revitalize civic pride.

We must make the state of our democracy relevant to American voters because more and more of us are opting not to vote. I challenge you to vote your conscience and to alter the dialogue about politics among your friends and family. Voting is as an opportunity to express who we really are and who we want to become as a nation. Voting one's conscience is never a wasted vote. In fact, voting is one of the greatest freedoms given to us and one that we must protect. If we allow ourselves to be manipulated into not expressing our true values through the political process, then rest assured that the moneyed interests will continue to bend government to their will. And we the people, along with our most pressing national problems, will continue to be ignored

Jo Streit is an award-winning producer with fourteen years of experience producing live interactive broadcasts, adult education and training video, and documentary films. She has worked with numerous Fortune 500 companies, governmental agencies, and world class foundations to facilitate learning. She received a Bachelor of Arts from Texas A&M University and a Master of Arts from the University of North Texas, where she was recognized as Outstanding Graduate Student and the recipient of the Phyllis George scholarship. She is the owner and president of Streit Productions, an independent production company based in Northern California.