With polarization in the limelight, political figures from across the ideological spectrum are banding together to create a film on fighting political division.
Meghan McCain, a conservative panelist on ABC’s The View, and Van Jones, who served in former President Barack Obama’s administration, have joined forces to produce The Reunited States, a feature documentary promoting depolarization.
The Dark Star Pictures film, which was released to a virtual audience on Friday, is billed as a “powerful and deeply moving documentary about people who have dedicated their lives to depolarization.”
“What I love about this film is that it shows us that no matter where you are on the political spectrum — right, left, or center — there is a path forward together,” said McCain in a testimonial. “The Reunited States gives us something we all need right now: hope.“
Jones agreed, pointing to the urgency of the moment and asking people to unify amid the heightened partisanship.
“As this last election has shown, we’re still a nation deeply divided. What makes The Reunited States so powerful is that it shows us what it means to ‘bridge the divide,’” he said. “It reminds us that we all have a role to play in reuniting the country.”
The Reunited States follows the stories of four everyday Americans from differing political perspectives. Susan Bro, the mother of the woman who was killed at the 2017 rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, who has since become an activist; independent politician Greg Orman, who ran unsuccessfully to become governor of Kansas in 2014; Millennial Action Project founder and CEO Steven Olikara; and Republican political operative-turned-Undivided Nation founder and CEO David Leaverton share their stories in the feature film.
Not all the participants have always been advocates for healing political divides. In a Face the Nation segment dedicated to the one-year anniversary of the Charlottesville rally, Bro spoke out forcefully against reconciling political differences too quickly.
“If you rush to heal, if you rush to everybody grab each other and sing kumbaya, then we’ve accomplished nothing, and we will be right back here in a few years,” she said on CBS News.
Jones and McCain have both previously expressed willingness to work across the political aisle. While Jones worked with the Trump administration to get passed criminal justice reform measures, McCain has signaled support for President Biden. Her mother, Cindy McCain, also broke party ranks and endorsed Biden in the 2020 presidential contest.
The Reunited States was adapted from The Reunited States of America: How We Can Bridge the Partisan Divide, a book written by Mark Gerzon in 2016. The feature documentary will be released to on-demand platforms on Feb. 9.
