Four years ago, this country was gearing up to elect Team Obama-Biden or Team McCain-Palin. Four years ago there were flag pins, Bill Ayers and lipsticked pigs instead of Big Bird, Bain and bayonets. Four years ago, Mitt Romney was a blip on the election trail and the U.S. was toppling into one of the largest economic downturns in history. And four years ago, the David Minor Theater (DMT) opened at 5th and Pearl St., bringing film and libations to Eugene. Friday, Nov. 2, the theater will host a “Re-election Party” to mark the conclusion of that crucial first term.

“We wanted to thank everyone in Eugene for allowing us to be open for four years,” DMT owner Josh Goldfarb says. “We’re still open and still running strong.” The theater was named after a late friend of the Goldfarbs’, David Minor, a 27-year-old Eugenean who was hit by a car while cycling in the summer of 2008. To commemorate the four-year milestone and rev up for the Nov. 6 elections, DMT will be screening The Campaign, a spoof of congressional elections starring Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis. The film, while clumsy and heavy-handed, has enough redeeming scenes (especially if accompanied with a pint) that remind you what a circus the political machine is. Ferrell’s performance as the democratic incumbent Cam Brady feels a little recycled, but the porcine and mustachioed Galifianakis brings political buffoonery to a new level with too-tight cardigans and religious platitudes (his character, Marty Huggins, declares Jesus Christ to be the “greatest American who has ever lived”). 

One of the funniest lines in the film is so funny because it veers disturbingly close to the hyperbolic zingers we’ve heard during the 2012 election cycle: While stumping, Brady accuses Huggins of owning “Chinese” dogs (two pugs named Poundcake and Muffins). Following the event, an angry voter taps on Huggin’s car window and screams, “Get some American dogs, you commie!” The pugs are soon replaced with a chocolate lab and golden retriever (“the two highest polling dogs”).

In addition to the screening, DMT will be offering beer specials, prizes and $2 admission. So what does the DMT platform include for its next theatrical term? In early November, they will be unveiling a ticket window and new furniture in Theater 1. Goldfarb says he would also like to keep expanding their food and drink options (they added Divine Cupcake to the menu this summer). Rather than announcing who it’s backing in the presidential election, DMT announced its own more hyper-local endorsement: “We would like to endorse Eugene’s first downtown movie theater pub,” Goldfarb says in reference to the new Bijou downtown cinema.

The Campaign screens 7:30 pm and 9:30 pm, Nov. 2, at David Minor Theater; $2. All ticket proceeds go to the David Minor Memorial Fund.