Lee Atwater Response

The tactics and morals of Lee Atwater were scattered throughout the film. Before watching, I had never heard of Atwater or his impact in the construct of modern day politics. He became ruthless and inhumane when doing whatever it took to gain power and win against who ever challenged. It was very important to hear from those who's lives were hurt by the selfish gain of Atwater and there is no question his tactics left a negative imprint on politics. What confused me more than anything within the film was the portrayal of Atwater surrounding himself with people of different culture but then when it came to political gain, he put them on the spot to be feared and attacked. You can look at the "rape case" propaganda in different ways, one obviously being he targeted a black man with intent to blame and create racial fear, another being selecting a brutal current case that any man would have been put on the spot for orchestrating. Its society's perception which creates the untold truth behind it so all we can do is assume; in many cases. With that said, many of Atwater's actions cannot be justified or looked at in a positive way because of the pain and lies he spread. Whether he was honest or not within his final days, Atwater acknowledged his wrongs and it was meaningful to at least hear he reached out to apologize to those close to him who he hurt. If he hadn't become sick would he had noticed his fault and owned up to it?