User Reviews

Whether following Ted Cruz (who is quite an impeccably skilled conservative politician in terms of how he handles questions and the knack for giving a well orchestrated answer) in Iowa as he tries to stunt the incredible (to me, frightening) momentum of Donald Trump (who opens his rallies with "Eye of the Tiger"!) or getting a more intimate look at Bernie Sanders, a devout socialist from Vermont who deeply cares of about the regular, average folks, "The Circus" is a clever idea to follow the mind-boggling 2015-2016 election campaigns for both the Republican and Democrat primaries. While Trump is shown as this perplexing, emerging political star causing anxieties to the Republican Party who didn't consider him a threat to them (a laughing stock who might earn some extra pub and then head back to New York to be a successful billionaire with lots of bluster and bark), Bloomberg political interviewers/broadcast journalists (with histories following presidential elections) Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, along with "strategist" Mark McKinnon (almost always shown with cowboy hat) decide to give Sanders and Cruz the brunt of the first episode's focus. Sanders does come across as authentic, and certainly not what one would expect could give the Washington Democratic machine behind Hillary Clinton fits, and conversations with his wife certainly humanize him as someone who cares for the working class. The veteran who offered his support to Bernie after finally receiving benefits (it took 30 years!) or the cancer-riddled farmer who was holding on to life just to vote for Bernie; these stories resonate far more than three little girls in Patriot flag uniforms singing in front of microphones to jazz up the crowd most likely because their parents encouraged them to do so. Cruz visiting a Christian book store in Iowa among other stops to spread his message of conservatism to small town folks and Bernie just getting off a subway train without some impressive entourage to offer his own political beliefs in front of a warehouse crowd firmly behind him (while his proud, loving wife looks on; this, I must say, tugged at my heart). The interviewers establishing how the attacks are ratcheting up against Bernie, and his response to them is a real hoot. What stands out to me is how our trio respond to the campaigns they are following. At this time I'm writing this, Cruz and Trump are in the midst of a Twitter war over how their wives are being depicted in the media! Circus, indeed!