# HouseQuake > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/HouseQuake > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/HouseQuake.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HouseQuake > Source revision: 1351081469 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) For the song by Prince, see **Housequake**. ***HouseQuake*** is a 2009 [American](/source/Cinema_of_the_United_States) [documentary](/source/Documentary) film written and directed by Karen Elizabeth Price.[1][2][3] ## Synopsis This documentary film covers the Democratic Party's successful attempt to take control of the [United States House of Representatives](/source/United_States_House_of_Representatives) from Republicans in 2006. It focuses on the strategy employed by the [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee](/source/Democratic_Congressional_Campaign_Committee) Chairman Rep. [Rahm Emanuel](/source/Rahm_Emanuel) and follows Democratic challengers and Republican incumbents in seven races across the country through election night. The significant gains made by Democrats constituted a [wave election](/source/Wave_elections_in_the_United_States). Democrats subsequently lost control to Republicans in 2010. Emanuel became President [Barack Obama](/source/Barack_Obama)'s first Chief of Staff in 2009 and was elected [Mayor of Chicago](/source/Mayor_of_Chicago) in 2011. ## Subjects - [Naftali Bendavid](/source/Naftali_Bendavid) - [Donna Brazile](/source/Donna_Brazile) - [George Bush](/source/George_W._Bush) - [James Carville](/source/James_Carville) - [Wesley Clark](/source/Wesley_Clark) - [Emanuel Cleaver](/source/Emanuel_Cleaver) - [Bill Clinton](/source/Bill_Clinton) - [James Clyburn](/source/James_Clyburn) - [Charlie Cook](/source/Charlie_Cook) - [Tammy Duckworth](/source/Tammy_Duckworth) - [Brad Ellsworth](/source/Brad_Ellsworth) - [Rahm Emanuel](/source/Rahm_Emanuel) - [Diane Farrell](/source/Diane_Farrell) - [Newt Gingrich](/source/Newt_Gingrich) - [Stanley Greenberg](/source/Stanley_Greenberg) - [Baron Hill](/source/Baron_Hill_(politician)) - [John Hostettler](/source/John_Hostettler) - [Steny H. Hoyer](/source/Steny_H._Hoyer) - [Frank Luntz](/source/Frank_Luntz) - [Tim Mahoney](/source/Tim_Mahoney) - [John McCain](/source/John_McCain) - [Jerry McNerney](/source/Jerry_McNerney) - [Joe Negron](/source/Joe_Negron) - [Barack Obama](/source/Barack_Obama) - [Norman Ornstein](/source/Norman_Ornstein) - [Nancy Pelosi](/source/Nancy_Pelosi) - [Richard Pombo](/source/Richard_Pombo) - [Charles Rangel](/source/Charles_Rangel) - [Tom Reynolds](/source/George_W._Bush) - [Peter Roskam](/source/Peter_Roskam) - [Phyllis Schlafly](/source/Phyllis_Schlafly) - [Christopher Shays](/source/Christopher_Shays) - [Heath Shuler](/source/Heath_Shuler) - [Mike Sodrel](/source/Mike_Sodrel) - [Chris Van Hollen](/source/Chris_Van_Hollen) - [Richard Viguerie](/source/Richard_Viguerie) - [Josh Kurtz](/source/Josh_Kurtz) ## Reception *[The Washingtonian](/source/Washingtonian_(magazine))* Made note that the documentary "takes a behind-the-scenes look at how the Democrats made a comeback in 2006" by following and illustrating how [Rahm Emanuel](/source/Rahm_Emanuel) "orchestrated one of the country’s most historic congressional elections." The film opens by showing Emanuel's appointment as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and follows with a brief summation of what factors made the 2006 midterm elections important for the Democrats.[4] Political analyst [Bill Schneider](/source/Bill_Schneider_(journalist)) wrote in *[National Journal](/source/National_Journal)* that the film's most startling scene is not written for the film, but was a story told by author [Naftali Bendavid](/source/Naftali_Bendavid) when Bendavid "recounts an incident at the end of Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign, when staff members gathered to celebrate victory."[5] ## Recognition The film was a 2009 winner of the 'Directorial Discovery Award' at [Rhode Island International Film Festival](/source/Rhode_Island_International_Film_Festival).[6] ## References 1. Roberts, Roxanne & Argetsinger, Amy (October 20, 2009). ["Politicians and their auteur daughters"](https://archive.today/20140413033444/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/reliable-source/2009/10/rs-docfilm20.html). *[Washington Post](/source/Washington_Post)*. Archived from [the original](http://voices.washingtonpost.com/reliable-source/2009/10/rs-docfilm20.html) on April 13, 2014. Retrieved August 11, 2014. 1. Peter Baker (October 21, 2009). ["Emanuel at the Epicenter: Then and Now"](https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/us/politics/22baker.html?_r=3&). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. Retrieved August 11, 2014. 1. Johnson, Ted (May 16, 2010). ["Cheer Up to 2006"](https://variety.com/2010/biz/opinion/cheer-up-to-2006-39256/). [Variety](/source/Variety_(magazine)). Retrieved August 11, 2014. 1. Jameson, Kyle (October 23, 2009). ["Rewind: HouseQuake"](https://washingtonian.com/2009/10/23/rewind-housequake/). [The Washingtonian](/source/Washingtonian_(magazine)). Retrieved August 11, 2014. 1. Bill Schneider (October 31, 2009). ["The GOP's Hunger - Will 2010 be another 1994?"](http://www.nationaljournal.com/columns/political-pulse/the-gop-s-hunger-20091031). *[National Journal](/source/National_Journal)*. Retrieved August 11, 2014. 1. staff. ["Rhode Island International Film Festival 2009 awards"](http://www.film-festival.org/awards09.php). [Rhode Island International Film Festival](/source/Rhode_Island_International_Film_Festival). Retrieved August 11, 2014. ## External links - [Official website](http://www.housequakethefilm.com) - [*HouseQuake*](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1329367/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) at the [Internet Movie Database](/source/Internet_Movie_Database) - [*HouseQuake* at Brainstorm Media](http://brainmedia.net/films/housequake) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [HouseQuake](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HouseQuake) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HouseQuake?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.