LEWISBURG, Pa. - Maurice Brubaker probably wouldn't have gone to see "Fahrenheit 9/11" on his own. After all, he's the chairman of the Bush/Cheney campaign team in Union County.
But Brubaker found the offer at the Campus Theatre too good to pass up.
Brubaker was one of 40 Republicans to take advantage of the theater's offer of free admission Saturday. One Republican insisted on buying his own ticket.
"Part of me wishes that we would have sold out the theater," said Eric Faden, executive director of the nonprofit theater, who paid for the Republicans' tickets. "But this is what we wanted - we wanted people from all sides to see the movie so that there would be an informed debate."
That's why Brubaker came - and he didn't like what he saw.
"I don't think you can consider it a documentary, because I don't think both sides were represented," Brubaker said. "I don't think this movie would have been made if Al Gore had been elected president, and I don't think Al Gore could have stopped what happened on Sept. 11. I don't think anyone could."
Still, Brubaker said he's glad he saw the movie - and disappointed that more Republicans didn't come for the free showing. A month ago, before Michael Moore's documentary indictment of President George W. Bush was released, Brubaker hoped no one would see the movie.
"On the other hand," Brubaker said, "I think it's important to properly discuss the movie with Democrats who believe it."
That's also what brought sisters Courtney and Kelly Kerr - also Republicans - to the movie.
"I was interested in seeing what it was all about, but I didn't want to put my money toward it," said Kelly Kerr, a 24-year-old preschool teacher, who had planned to wait until the movie came out on video before seeing it. "When he made this offer, I thought it was a really good idea."
But even with admission free, the 500-seat theater looked empty with fewer than 50 seats filled. In addition to the 41 Republicans, eight other people went to the screening but did not show GOP identification and bought their own tickets.
Faden - down $280 - said he was happy with the turnout.
"For a film in its fourth week of release, in a small rural county, to have that many people show up is fantastic," Faden said.
Mary Wilt, 87, said she tried to get several Republican friends to come to the movie with her, but they all turned her down.
"I couldn't get anyone to go," said Wilt, a former county Republican Committee member now living in Danville. "Some of them said, 'You go see it and tell us what you think.' I wanted to see it anyway, but I thought this was a really good idea."
But she didn't think it was a very good movie - calling it "the dumbest thing I've ever seen."
Douglas Reed, an Army veteran and Lewisburg Republican, called the movie "thought-provoking" and "interesting," but thought it should have been more balanced.
"It had some good points, but I didn't always agree with the way those points were made," Reed said.
Despite Faden's effort, Republicans who've seen 'Fahrenheit 9/11" will probably remain a minority. A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll conducted July 8-11 found that only 4 percent of Republicans surveyed had seen the movie, compared with 10 percent of Democrats and independents. What's more, almost two-thirds of Republicans said they didn't want to see the movie.
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