"♪ you can get it if you really want ♪" "♪ you can get it if you really want ♪" "♪ you can get it if you really want ♪" "♪ but you must try, try and try, try and try ♪" "♪ you'll succeed at last" "♪ Listen" "♪ persecution, you must fear" "♪ win or lose, you've got to get your share ♪" "♪ got your mind set on a dream" "♪ you can get it now, hard it may seem now ♪" "♪ you can get it if you really want ♪" "♪ you can get it if you really want ♪" "♪ you can get it if you really want ♪" "♪ but you must try, try and try, try and try ♪" "♪ you'll succeed at last" "♪ And I know it" "♪ listen" "♪ Rome was not built in a day" "♪ opposition will come your way ♪" "♪ but the harder the battle, you see ♪" "♪ leads to sweeter victory, yeah ♪" "♪ you can get it if you really want ♪" "♪ you can get it if you really want ♪" "♪ you can get it if you really want ♪" "♪ but you must try, try and try, try and try ♪" "♪ you'll succeed at last" " Governor... we are not, not, not going to be explaining." "When we're explaining, we're losing." "Now, we'll protect you from this bullshit." "We will attack, attack and attack again." "i" " This is Paul Turner, former presidential aide and the guy for politicians in trouble." "He's called the master of disaster." " But I need Sophia by your side." " I've got the, uh," "Vermont gov." "Calling." "...and this is me," "Kerstin Rhee, his assistant." "I learned more in my first week with Paul on how it all really works than in four years of college." " All right, O.K." "I'll call you later." "You... don't worry." "Just, just don't." " Thank you." " Hey, listen." " I didn't have much." "Absent father, mother with two low-paying jobs and my sister" "Mary, my big sister, who always dreamed of becoming a doctor." "But, hard as my mother worked, she couldn't keep up the payments on our little house." "And one day the bank came and foreclosed on us." "i" " Larry Becker was born to run for office." "He's taken on the wall street banks, who in return, have declared jihad against him." "And he's in a bare-knuckled reelection campaign against a crazy ex-baseball player." " First we moved into a homeless shelter, but that wasn't safe." "Eventually we found a tiny one-bedroom apartment-- the three of us." " The press will most likely have questions about Afghan troop levels, the Travis base closing, levies, the budget debates-- just blow through those questions and pivot to our message of the day." " All right, great." "Got it." "Thank you guys." "Ah." "All right, show time." "i" " Stephen Green is the real deal." "War hero, cares, actually knows the facts and he's cruising for reelection against" "Duff Campbell, who has none of those things, but duff does have good hair and unlimited money, which is the mother's milk of all politics." " My mama struggled day and night, but it wasn't enough." "Eventually, my, my sister Mary, she had to quit high school, get a job as a waitress." "Both of them working just to provide me with some food, clothing and a roof over" " What do you say about" "Campbell's charge that you're" " What is the air force going to do about the Travis base closing?" " As a former" "Navy seal, what do you think of the way they handled it?" " Gas prices are at a record high, companies are making enormous profits-- what's your response?" " O.K., guys, these are great questions, I'm going to get to all these, but my primary purpose here today is to talk about our most precious natural resource, which is our children." "We now live in a country where over two-thirds of the population is overweight." "Now 90% of our middle schools no longer have daily gym classes." " At night I'd hear my mama come home from her late shift at the tanning plant." "As I lay there in bed..." "I could hear my mama cry." "And I ask you, how is it possible that a country that can afford to bail out the wall street banks to the tune of over" "$2 trillion-- trillion-- how could that country not afford to have those same banks from taking away the American dream from so many hard-working" "Americans?" "It's just not right!" " This is a crisis." "And it's a crisis that we owe it to our children to solve." "And the time to solve it is now." " ..." "Afghan troop levels, senator!" " Hey, Reed?" "Hey." "Why don't you go fishing for the three-day weekend, we'll dump the divorce news after five on Friday by tipping the A.P. To the legal filings on an embargoed basis." "They'll play on the wires after seven, it's the perfect time for a document dump." "All right, talk to you later." "He'll live." " Whoo!" " Ca-ching!" "Money shot-- message of the day." " This one's yours, all right?" "Oh, God!" " Sir, are you O.K.?" " Yeah, I'm all right." "All right!" "Come on!" " Same thing?" " Yes, yes." " Now, as I stand here in the governor's house-- the people's house" " I am using the power of this house to help keep the people of Kentucky in their houses." "Today I am sending a bill to the" "State Senate that offers real and solid protection from the kind of cruel foreclosures that my mama and so many hard-working Kentuckians have been forced to endure." "And I'm asking for you to back me on this." "It's... it's fair, it's decent and it is right!" "...you don't have to do that-- you're an aide, not a waitress." " It's my pleasure." "And can I ask you something?" " Of course." " How much of that story you just told is true?" " Helena..." "One hundred percent." " Really?" " Aw..." "Come here." " Room 1600?" " You're tawny?" " To the rescue." "1600?" " Down the hall to your left." "Hey, could you be a bit more obvious?" " I thought he was getting a masseuse, not some starlet playing a masseuse." " Hey, she and her company were vetted." "She had the recs." " Yeah." "She has the killer bod, that's the only rec that counts." "You know, come to think of it, my back feels stiff too." " Yeah, that's not the only thing, you jerk." " In Kentucky, we're going to the mattresses." " I've got some ideas on the statement." " Well, they'd better be good because if he goes down, it's gonna be a four-day school week there, minimum wage will drop to 75 cents an hour, you'll be able to light the" "Kentucky rivers on fire." " How late are we?" " Real time or Paul time?" "Exactly on time." "How do you know this person?" " She's my law school roommate's sister." "But the object is to get in, get out and get back to the" "Kentucky mess." " Max!" "Julia!" " Yes?" " Get me Paul." "Get him now." " Senator, let's just go through this bit by bit." "What are we talking about here?" " She's claiming that we did it." " Well, did what?" "A happy ending, or..." " More." "I'm sure she thinks it'll get her a bigger check." "Look man, I am dying because of your photo op and now I'm dying because of this fucking psycho." " And what kind of masseuse is this, like a masseuse-masseuse or an escort?" " Julia got her from the speaker of the assembly!" " We're in room five." " O.K., how many people know about this?" " Just us." "Come on man, this is-- this could be a career killer." " O.K., I need 15 minutes here-- make it 10-- and I'm on this." " Look out the door:" "Malnourished children, aids rampant, people looking for decent jobs-- or any job for that matter." "The victims of an education system horribly broken, and hope, something in extremely short supply." " I completely agree and I can only imagine what it's like to try to run this every year." "And next year, you're going to have even less money for this clinic." "So in terms of fund-raising," "I think I should put you in touch with some deep pocket guys in Woodside, Pacific Heights," "Internet do-good-er" " I want to run for governor." " Excuse me?" " I want to run for governor." " Well, I guess that's one way to solve your problem." "O.K., do you mind if I ask you why?" " For nine years, I have worked 12, 14 hours a day here, seeing what's working in our society and more importantly, what isn't." "And I'm not just a physician, I" " I'm really sorry." " What do you want me to tell" " nothing from children's?" "O.K., we're going to have to road trip it." "Get in their faces, guilt them into the transplant." "And ask the O.R. nurses when" "Chris Anderson gets out of his last surgery." " Sure." "Dim sum on the way back?" " Perfect, thanks." "Sorry." "My life." "Anyway..." "I'm not just a physician, I also do community organizing, a job qualification that didn't hurt our president." "And uh, not to sound too immodest, but I think I can make people's lives better." " Look, forgive me." "You're Dan's sister and I love him and you seem like a very nice person yourself, but I gotta tell you, and I think as a doctor you'll understand when" "I say this, you need to have your head examined." "I mean, seriously, because this is insane." " Running a free clinic with what the state gives me, that's insane too." " O.K., um, all right, we had something that came up, so I don't have a ton of time, but let me just walk you through this." "If you are ballsy enough or crazy enough to do this, I can promise you an unending barrage of innuendo, vitriol and lies." "Everything will be on the public record, from the dope that you smoked in the 11th grade, to the blow you did with your girlfriends during your college lesbian experimentation period." "There's not one moment of your past that will not be scrutinized in excruciating detail." " Done?" " Not yet." "After that all comes out and more, the facts will be twisted, stomped and exaggerated to the point that you will no longer recognize them." "And if that doesn't do it, new facts will be made up so they can destroy you." " Done?" " Not yet." "And then they'll say-- and, I'll say it right now-- what the hell qualifications do you have to be governor?" " In my job, I work with every sort of person, a giant array of problems." "I run a team that daily produces real, tangible results." "I see our problems up close, and" "I think that I can bring people together to accomplish things-- good things." " Good things?" " Yes." " Excuse me." "This isn't a high school service club, O.K.?" "Getting elected isn't the" "Harvard-Yale debate society where the best argument carries the day." "These are steel cage death matches." "And even if you win-- which, with all due respect, would be laughable-- they will hobble you." "They will shatter you." "The process itself will change you in ways that you cannot even possibly imagine." "Is that what you want?" "And is that what you want for you, for your family?" "Do you have a family?" " I'm a single mom." "I have a six-year-old son." " What about the kid's dad?" " Irrelevant." " Not if you're going to do this." "Nothing will be irrelevant." "Despite this being the bluest state in the country, it still knocked down gay marriage and the legalization of pot." "Over half of the people in the state self-identify as born-agains or regular church goers-- not exactly the profile of someone who's going to be voting for you." "This is a blood sport, O.K.?" "I have worked for men who were shot at in Vietnam and the campaign literally broke them down to tears." "A man I loved-- who America loved-- with the Navy cross and two purple hearts, sat crying on my living room couch because of what the press said about him and his family." "You're too good a person for this." "Look..." "To win in politics, you have got to be the person who's willing to bring a gun to a knife fight." " Is this your usual pep talk?" " No." " Well, that's good, I guess." " No, this one's for friends and family-- usually it's worse." " Hmm." " She wants to be governor." "Oh, man." " I liked her." "She was cool and sharp and seemed like she really wanted it." " Well, I want to play shortstop for the giants, but it's not gonna happen in this lifetime." "...O.K." "Jimmy, you want to start us off?" " This is our friend tawny" "Shearson-- courtesy of YouTube-- at her massage school graduation picnic." " So she is an actual masseuse, this is not a set-up?" " Licensed and with six years experience." " Oh, that sucks." " But with other experience too." "She had the misfortune of being arrested twice for prostitution." "The first time she pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation, the other time, charges were dropped." " O.K., so we're not dealing with the virgin Mary here." " Exactly, and you, sir, are a war hero who served your country in the freezing mountains of" "Afghanistan while she was selling her pussy at the Beverly hills hotel." "So if it becomes her word against yours, you should be" "O.K., that's the good news." " O.K., tell me the bad news." " She's a pro and you're on her massage table in your boxers." "That's our bogey." " Do we know what she's asking for?" " Two million." " Oh, forget that." "Jimmy, could you bring up the next thing?" "We just threw this together, probably a little early, but we had to know." "You want to know why you're up seven points?" "This is why." "Soccer moms, 35 to 45, these are your people." " No way would I believe him." " And if she had a shady past and was a known and proven liar?" " I don't know." "Someone who looks like that?" "He's still a guy." " Guys do what they're gonna do." " And how about if someone told you that he was in a state of semi-consciousness because of all the pain, and that's why he didn't realize how bad it might look, him being in there with her?" " If my husband said something like that, not only would I think that he a cheating jerk, but that he can't make up a halfway decent lie." " O.K., they were my people." " If I told you that because of a war injury, sometimes he takes strong pain medication which makes him drowsy and that's why this happened?" " Well, that's 10% better, but 90% pure lame-o." "Come on." "Really." " They love you when you're talking about smaller class sizes, but not so much when you're trying to explain away a quickie with tawny." " I am such an idiot." " You are anything but." "But you got caught up in some nasty shit." "We're going to figure out a way to get you out of it." " How is she going to spill it?" " She's got some kinda in this asshole they brought in to run KXSF" " Roger Fillmore-- he's practically smacking his lips on this one." "Not to mention his riding-high tea party pals." "This is their wet dream." " So what are they waiting for?" " She's teed it up, but hasn't given the deliverables." "This is straight-up pay to play." "And even if we do pay, Roger is still probably going to run with it." " O.K., look, we're going to figure out a way to inoculate you against this and we're going to dig up the shit on this girl." "What do you think is the best" " Carl Ludwig at KCOP loves us." " Or Maggie Darcy?" " I have two words for you." "Peaches o'Dell." " Hey." " Hey." " Can I buy you another coffee?" " No thanks, I've got enough to last me all night which, at the rate you're dumping your garbage on me, is where I'm going to be again." " You did a great job with that tawny mug shot." " She's a ho." " She's a ho with a story." " Yeah, well, like all of us." " How much did it cost you?" " Nothing." "I did a little thing for an interpol guy running a buttoncam video on a dot-com gazillionare." " A thing?" " A thing." "You don't wanna know, trust me." "And..." "I got you a little present." " This wouldn't have anything to do with health-related issues, would it?" " Try everything." "Your buddy in Kentucky-- the ex-left fielder for the" "Baltimore orioles, no less-- guess what?" "He's mortal." " I'm heartbroken." " Yeah, me too." "Who would have thunk it?" "Leagues-while-you-were-a-pussy- in-the-peace-corp, arrogant prick fuck." " And this is solid?" " Platinum." " Actually seen, or talked about?" " What do you take me for?" " As our friend the gipper always said," ""doveryai, no proveryai."" "Trust, but verify." " O.K." "Well, no pro-pro-pro-- look at it." " Wow." " Yeah." "You can kiss me if you like." " Irregular heartbeat." "He's had it for years." "And one of the great truisms of the game is when voters start to worry about a candidate's health..." "It is a gigantic numbers suck." "But I can't exactly tell a local news honey I just happened to sneak a peek at Perkins' medical records." " Well, no, I mean, not like that." " How, then?" " It's all about how you frame the narrative." "Look, this is a race about leadership." "One guy is using his position in the State Senate..." "To conduct a completely meritless witch-hunt against a man who has served the public his entire adult life, a man who works for the state of" "Kentucky 24/7." "Look..." "look what time we're talking now." "It's what, it's 3:15 in the morning your time." " Yeah." " What you do..." "Is incredibly difficult." "It requires tremendous strength and stamina." " Yeah, you're fucking telling me." "Trying to get my anti-foreclosure thing..." "Through this wing-nut legislature is like trying to run a Red Sox flag up in yankee stadium." " How's it going?" " Ah, you know, two steps forward, one-and-a-half back." "And not to sound like some kinda ad you guys do, but my mama could've used something like this..." "And if these assholes want a fight, they're going to get a fight." " And it's an incredibly difficult fight, right?" "And look, all we're doing is asking the voters to compare the two candidates' health records and make an informed choice." "I mean, you're going to release everything you have, right?" "I mean, and is there anything in there that I need to be worried about?" " Nothing." " Really nothing?" " Trust me." "Despite decades of avoiding the gym like that's where you get dengue fever, I have-- probably unfairly-- been dealt a pretty good hand." " I'm going to have my guy look it over anyway." "And then when we do release it, every day, at every stop through every news cycle, we hammer him to release his." " What if he doesn't go for it?" " Well, that's exactly what we want." "More than anything else, it's the refusal to release that creates the story." "Look..." "Campaigns always come down to one thing above all else:" "Who do you trust?" "And by not releasing, that causes people to lose trust." "And once you've lost the public trust, you're a dead man walking." " Better him than me." " And that's just then we get some credible third parties down there to just pound him..." "Ask him, "has he ever failed a steroids tests?"" "You think Roger clemens on steroids was a big story?" "How about a guy running for governor on the juice?" "And the nurses are with us..." "Big time." "We get them out there, picketing his fucking office every week and then we get our blog buddies to float a story that he may be suffering from some sort of" "S.T.D. And then we put the flyers on the windshield at the churches and then we follow that up with a killer push poll." " Well, that's nice, considering he's got none of those things." " Well, maybe he has and maybe he hasn't." "We're just asking questions." "Look, your guy loves to talk about hitting major league pitching?" "Well, politics is the N.F.L." "And we're gonna hit him helmet to helmet." " Let's say he does release them and people feel sorry for him?" "Then I just look like some kind of a jerk for bringing it up." " You didn't know what was in it!" "You're as surprised as he was an all-star baseball player, for Christ's sake." "Of course, you feel for him..." "And you'll keep him in yours and" "Sophia's prayers, but what you're more interested in is who's best qualified to lead a state that nobody could possibly care about more than you." " Got it." "Crazy times, man." "Hey, is it true Stephen green got a hummer from a pro?" " Where did you hear that?" " I heard it." " Come on." " One of green's guys did the, uh, the webb race with one of mine." "That makes my stuff look like a walk in the park." "Was she hot?" " I can neither confirm nor deny the story." " Yeah, yeah, yeah." "Was she hot?" " Allegedly, very." "...hey, peaches!" " Really, you're coming to me?" " Always." " Oh, come on." "When I'm looking my worst?" " Your worst is a thousand times better than most people's best." "Weren't you a miss-something?" "Nebraska?" " Arizona." " Arizona." " Miss Arizona." "Some of us had to get ahead without the fancy schools." " Hey, while you were polishing your tiara, I was busting my ass on construction sites up in Minnesota." " Oh, please." "Didn't you go to Harvard law or something?" "Sounds kind of silver-spoony to me." " Try wooden spoon." "My dad was a building trades union steward." "That's how I got all my cushy jobs lugging lumber up four flights of stairs." " Well, you've got me without the glam, and as much as I do enjoy seeing you, I don't think you came all the way across town to check me out in my sweaty gear." " I have a story for you." " Oh, stop it." " I hear that CNN may be bringing you to D.C. to try you out nationally?" " Well, it could be." " Well, this could help." " Paul, whatever you've got for me, it cannot be as good as what" "I'm getting from Campbell's guys which, as I understand it, involves a tasty treat from a smokin' hot masseuse." " Well, peaches, of course we're gonna deny that." " We are talking about a united states senator and a purple heart winner with a documented history of a bad back-- injured, I might add, in service of this country." " Right, and John F. Kennedy had a bad back, but it didn't stop him from fucking" "Marilyn Monroe." " This is no Marilyn." " No, Marilyn was a secret." "And not this baby." "She is hot and she is mine-o-mine." " O.K., look." "Like everything else, there's another side to this." "And I thought that you and I might be able to work something out." " Hmm." "Not friggin' likely." " O.K." " What?" " I have a friend, who tells me that your newest anchor Connie" "Connor went to a bachelorette party in Vegas a few years back." " And?" " Things got pretty wild." " Oh, yeah!" "O.K." "O.K., your friends are good." "These on the net?" " Not yet." "So... some room service?" " Mmm." " Am I going to love this?" " Do you love me?" " Deeply." "No, show me the spot first." " I used to on a mission in Afghanistan, my helicopter was shot down." "Both of my legs and four ribs were broken." "The enemy came to finish us off, but the young officer that I was transporting single-handedly fought off an entire squad of" "Taliban until reinforcements could arrive." "I didn't think I'd make it through that night." "And when the rescue choppers finally came, that same officer carried me over a quarter mile on his back." "By all accounts," "I should be dead." "But I'm not, thanks to one man." "Stephen green fought for me with everything he had." "And now he's fighting just as hard for all of California's families." "i" " I was so very proud to serve with captain Johnny" "Duncan-- a true American hero." "I'm Stephen green and I approve this message." " Yeah, it's for that new cruiser, which costs more than an aircraft carrier did when I was coming up." " Well, somebody will get rich on it." " Yeah, you know, I got a feeling it doesn't even do what the uh, Navy says it's supposed to do, but you try to find real data on it?" "I mean, good luck." "Thank you." " You have a call to make." "Mandy Denton." " Sounds vaguely familiar." " She runs commercials for Campbell." " Oh, God." "Those cloying, what, "I believe how a guy treats his family,"" "those "Mr. family values till you want to retch," those ads?" " Yeah, that's her." " Good night." " You know what they're doing, right?" "The more they pound family values, they're just laying track for you-know-who." " Scum." " First class." "But it turns out that Mandy not only makes the commercials for Campbell, she also makes his bed." "It's all one big happy family-- along with Roger Fillmore, down at KXSF-- but he's really just a mouthpiece for Campbell and his 90 million bucks he's got earmarked to bury you." " Yeah, family values." "What's Roger actually got?" " He's trying to swiftboat you." "He's got all his guys meeting with anybody and everybody you ever served with." " Yeah?" "Happy hunting." "What's Mandy's story?" " She's good at what she does." "She's got two kids at home, the husband's a dot-com guy." "I don't think he knows." "So..." " O.K., Roger?" "I want you to blow that asshole up." "This Mandy thing, kill it." "She's a civilian." " What is it?" " Talking points for the governor on his budget." " And what do you know about that?" " Six weeks ago, not much." " O.K., but you can fake it." " Yeah, it's nothing." "My parents think that I'm taking some time off before applying to med school." "And remember, you're not" "Samantha, but a guy named Sam." " Oh, thanks." " You're welcome." "Don't be pissed." " Oh, my God." " Hey, Paul." " Hey, it's not too late to call you, is it?" " Ah, no." " Do you remember the, uh..." " Hi, Paul." " ...football player who was wanting to run for mayor of San Diego?" " Tony Blanchard." " Right, right..." "Right, and doesn't he have a book coming out?" "i" " First and goal, something like that." " Let's get him in here." " O.K." " O.K., so, ah, 89." "You wanna push it?" "8-9, perfect." "Thank you." "Hmm." "You and me, lunch." " O.K." " Want pizza, yeah?" "O.K." "We're going to have to wait just a second, honey." "Come on." "Hello." "Hey, guys." "...petitions from people who want me to run." " Did you have every junkie in the mission sign these?" " No." "O.K., yes." "But I also got architects, other physicians, waitresses, delivery guys, teachers, painters." " O.K., look, I have no doubt those people love you." "But you also need the farmers in the central valley, the soccer moms in Concord and the second and third generation latinos in" "San Bernardino to love you too." "Not to mention the golf crowd in" "Santa Barbara." " Hey, I was raised in" "Santa Barbara." "My dad was a doctor there" " O.K., well, great, but that's not gonna help you with your druggy friends." "And then the other side of that, your parents' friends don't want to know about the dirty needle crowd." "And here's the cold reality:" "You have no name recognition." "So how the hell are you going" " that's what the web's for." "There has to be a million people willing to pay $10 for real change." "Boom-- there's $10 million for you." " California has more local media markets than any state in the union." "It costs $2.5 million a week for a statewide media buy." "$10 million?" "Try multiplying that by five just to get into the game." " O.K., then I'll get four that's only 10% of the state to pay $10." "You got 40." "You know, I gotta, I gotta believe that one in 10 people will think for the price of two frappuccinos, they'll finally get a governor who will really change things." " O.K., I get it." "I'm sure you would be a great governor." "But I'm in the business of winning." " I thought you were in the business of helping." " Helping people who can win." " Hello?" " Would you just, would you, would you just help me?" "Would you, would you think about it?" " Kentucky." "He loved the talking points." " I have thought about it." "I'm sorry." "Hey, hey... no." " Come on, buddy, we gotta go." " For a girl born in seoul, she's sure got that Kentucky thing down..." " Thank you." " Right?" "I think it's going to move the numbers... a little." " Gimme a break!" " What?" " Look." " I played professional baseball for 15 years and was fortunate enough to make the" "American league all-star team six times and later, I shared in the highest honor in team sports-- winning the world series." "And after that amazing season," "I came home to serve in our" "State Senate, where I stood up for small businesses, cutting your taxes and cracking down on bloated pensions for overpaid and underworked bureaucrats." "But the greatest honor I could ever have is going to bat for all of Kentucky as your governor." "I'm Justin Perkins, and I approve this message." " Oy." " Yeah, right?" " Now, I don't have an F.B.I." "Badge, but I know blackmail when" "I see it." " As I'm sure you can understand, we see it rather differently." "My client has suffered enormous emotional damage." "Imagine, you're hired to do a job, you do it exceptionally well for six years, then suddenly out of the blue, you're hit on by a united states senator." " Senator green has a completely different recollection of these events and with all due respect, if it comes down to his word against your client's," "I think we both know who wins." " You're a bit overconfident." "Do you have any idea what faces your boss if he doesn't settle this case?" "A legal colonoscopy without anesthesia." " O.K., I want to know what you want." " Finally!" "What I want is a check-  sweetheart, please." "Let me handle this." "What Ms. Shearson wants is three things: $3 million." "What your clients wants-  wasn't it two million?" " It was two, until your boss accused my client of extortion-- a million dollar costly mistake." " Look, even if we were to pay that outrageous amount, what guarantee do we have that we still wouldn't hear this story from peaches o'Dell or any of your other media buddies?" " Paul, I keep my promises." "How do you think I built this law firm?" " O.K." "All right." "This is what I'm prepared to offer you." "And I really want you to think because this is as high as it will ever get." "Zero." "That's my offer." " Well, I guess we're going to be hearing a lot more about a particular senator." "Now, Paul, I want you to understand this is not a threat." " You don't have much to go on." "On our side:" "A sterling silver reputation." "Your side:" "Multiple prostitution arrests." "But we have something that you don't have." "We have a lab report from a forensic lab in" "Mountain view." "It shows tawny's shirt." " You want to guess what's on it?" " I don't think I want to." " D.N.A., in a stain, perfect match to your senator." "It seems as if your guy is being screwed again." "Mr. green, in the bedroom, with his happy little gun." " Why did he do it?" " Look, politicians are politicians because they have completely interrelated strengths and frailties." "They can be incredibly committed to truly changing the world and also be wildly self-destructive." " I'll take the first and pass on the second." " It's not so easy in the real world." "The qualities that make a star politician-- the need for the spotlight, the quest for power, the ability to use people then discard them when you're through with them-- is the exact same skill set that enables an" "FDR to create the new deal." "Saving the country and having multiple affairs." "Or eisenhower, liberate a continent and be carrying on an affair with his aide the or president Clinton presiding over an unprecedented period of peace and prosperity and then banging Monica Lewinsky." " To all of our detriment." "But is this that we gotta have or just something that we've just bought into?" " You don't get the outsized talent without the outsized weakness." "And look, this isn't a video game or a TV show." "This is the real thing." "People in power truly impact our lives." "You know, do they screw up?" "Are they perfect?" "Look." "Stephen green could be president, right?" "And he would be a great one." "Because of some blackmailing hooker, are we going to throw away all of the good that he's done, all of the good that he's gonna do?" " Yeah, but still." " When it gets like this, you just gotta get revved and ready and say:" "W.W.M.D." "What would machiavelli do?" " This better work, man." " Look at it this way:" "If it doesn't, I've got you back on the road to get in shape." " I'd rather be riding down that road on my harley." "A lot more fun." " What?" " What what?" "Looking at the new me, sweetheart." " Really?" " Don't sound so skeptical." "I used to be in pretty hey, I still am in reasonable shape... sorta." "Oh, come on." "What'd you bring 'em for?" "Hey!" " Tony Blanchard." "So nice to meet you, sir." " God." "The pleasure is all mine." "Tony Blanchard." "I used to watch you all the time, just in awe of your talent-- amazing." " Thank you, thank you." "I appreciate it, sir." "Thank you." "Hey, I hear you're going to be the next mayor of San Diego." " Oh... trying, hoping." " Where did you think I heard it from?" " Governor!" " Tony, over here!" " Just a few questions." "Governor, do you have any releasing his medical records later today?" " Just that it's long overdue." "We both, we both owe it to the voters to be completely up-front and open." "As you know, I released my records over two weeks ago." "But I think if you want to occupy this fine house, well, the voters have a right to know the state of their governor's health." " Is having Tony Blanchard with you today related to the release?" " Absolutely not." "This is one of the finest athletes this country has ever produced and when Tony offered to take time out of his busy schedule to come here, I jumped at the chance." "Not every day you get whooped by an all-pro." " Tony, what do you think of the governor as a jogging partner?" " I think, and let me stress think, that I can beat your governor today." "But if I'm in as half as good a shape as governor Becker is when I hit his age, I'll be one happy guy." " "His age."" "Get off, go, go long." "Want to join us?" " Not in these heels, but have a good run, governor." " Thanks, governor." " O.K., here we go." " Man, you are fast!" " Not as fast as you and Tony." " Cheers to that." " For state senator and gubernatorial candidate Justin" "Perkins, it was a major day indeed." "Perkins finally released his medical records this morning and as we've been reporting, they showed an irregular heartbeat." "All over the capitol and, in fact, the state, this has been topic number one." "And earlier the Perkins campaign made every effort to diminish the damage, including having his personal physician speak to reporters here at mercy hospital." " Thank you." "Welcome to mercy hospital." "I'm Dr. Ryan Johnson," "I'm senator Perkins' cardiologist and his attending physician." "Senator Perkins has arrhythmia, a condition commonly known as an irregular heartbeat, a condition shared by millions of Americans." "He is a former professional athlete, as everybody in" "Kentucky knows." "He is in superb health." "There will be no physical limitations for him because of this condition." " But what about the reports of steroids?" " Excuse me, one at a time," " why were his records not released earlier?" " I'll refer you to the campaign on that." "Again, he's in superb condition." "His arrhythmia will have no impact." " Any evidence of S.T.D.S?" " That's an offensive question that I won't be answering." " ...at the same time, our current governor had a different take on the day's events." " Let me begin by saying that the issue of a person's health is far more important than any political campaign, but this is really about the public trust." "If the public can't trust you to be up-front about your own health, then how can they trust you with the health of our state?" "Of course, Sophia and I will have state senator Perkins in our hearts and our prayers tonight, when it comes to his overcoming this very serious health problem." "...I think if you want to occupy this fine house, the voters have a right to know the state of their governor's health." " And later in the day," "Tony Blanchard spoke to a packed-to-the-rafters crowd at leland middle school and then afterward, signed autographs." "And for those lucky kids getting to meet our governor's all-pro jogging partner, it'll be a day they remember their entire lives." " Lucky!" " And we caught up with governor Becker as he attended a talk and book signing for football superstar Tony" "Blanchard at the pine valley mall." "...some rush there, governor!" " Well, I promised I'd come hear Tony speak, he's a good friend and I'm running a little late." "You know, like everyone else in" "America, I cheered when he made that unbelievable super bowl run and I'm cheering for him now that he's setting such a fine example for Kentucky's children." " Thanks for your time, governor." " Wow." " It's a Picasso." " Sure." "A Picasso." " The escalator was genius." " And you had the cameras everywhere they needed to be." "Just a great job." "It's great, a great job." " Thanks, sweetheart." "I owe you." "Well... that is it for jogging!" " No, no, no." "No, no, no, no, no, no." "Once a week, every week until the campaign ends." " What?" "Can't we just release some photos or something?" " Just one, because you and I are going to the Seville bar later." " The wine bar?" " The wine bar." " Seems a little upscale for you." " Upscale?" "Really, why?" "What do you mean?" " The girls keep their clothes on, for one thing." " Don't be so sure." " There's this waitress there named Lara." "Oh, my God, she's absolutely gorgeous." " Is she the new thing?" " Well, actually, she's more your type." " Why are we going to the Seville?" " O.K., Lara, who is becoming very tight with myself, has agreed to show some pictures." " Really?" " Yeah." " Clothed?" " Kinda, sorta." " Regarding... bite marks..." "Of a certain set of teeth..." "From a person of interest." "Regarding a certain fleshy part of the body." " What are you still doing here?" " You're here, boss." "Anyway I love this spot." " Love it?" " Swiftboat the swiftboaters, dude." "It's still rough, and my voice, but we'll get don in here tomorrow, if you like it." " Let's have a look." " Jimmy on computer:" "Imagine this:" "You attend" "Annapolis." "You play football there..." "And did so well, you had the chance to go on and play professionally." "But instead, you turned down the" "NFL and went to fight for your country." "Your leadership was recognized with the Navy cross and then, years later, someone begins knocking on the doors of those who served with you." " They came into my house and started asking me questions about Stephen green and all the bad things he had done when he was a lieutenant in my unit." "Bad things?" "There wasn't an officer in all of Afghanistan as respected as he was." " Yeah, they asked me the same thing, and every time I said something good about Stephen green, they wanted something bad." "This is the guy who put his body between us and the Taliban." "And what they're doing is un-American." "So I asked them to please leave my house." "Far too many of our friends are buried here." "And it shocks me that instead of honoring those that fought and died for this country, duff Campbell is spending his money looking for some kinda dirt that doesn't even exist on the finest officer I had the honor to serve under:" "Lieutenant Stephen green." " Fuck you, motherfucker!" " Ohh!" "That is a Rembrandt!" "Yeah!" "Yeah!" "Kerstin's still here?" " Yeah, she's on the roof." " Hey." " Hey." " You gonna jump?" " I should." " Is that the Stephen green stuff?" " No, it's not that." "Read." " "I first aspired to go to medical school when, as a small child, I would accompany my" "Uncle to his small pediatric clinic in seoul where he was a beloved figure"-- what is this?" " Well, that's my life." "The cliche of my life." "It's what you do when you're first generation American and your parents run a fruit market in the shadows of Berkeley." "They work, like, 15 hours a day, just so that one day, you can go to that very same college." " And become a surgeon." " Not just that." "I could be an internationally renowned concert pianist, or a" "Professor in electrical engineering." " But you ended up here." " I thought it was a good thing." " Well, I can't offer you a lab coat, but... the truth of it is, is that, as fucked up as things are and as bad as they may seem, that most people really believe" "that leaders can make a difference." "If you're helping great leaders get in, aren't you doing a service?" " Yeah, I know, but..." " It doesn't fit the narrative." "The cliche that we work with every day." " Like being the daughter of outrageously hard-working Korean immigrants who one day goes off to Johns Hopkins medical school." " You broke out of your cliche." "I think that's a great thing." "Look... on election night, when your guy goes over the top, the feeling is un-fucking-believable." "It courses through your veins like nothing else." " See, that's what I want to do, I..." "I want to do what you do." "I want to make kings and queens, but I can't do what you do." " You can." "And you'll be better than I am." " No..." "I can't." " Then you'll be a great doctor..." "A Penelope-great doctor." "I'll write a letter of" "I'll get the vice-president of the United States to write a letter of recommendation for you." " I'm sorry, but thank you." "Thanks." " That photo probably cost him five grand." " For you." " You're kidding." " Not at all." "I go to meetings all the time and all I get from them is a headache." "Now, at least, you'll have something good to remember our little talk by." "Sit." " Well, hopefully we'll be able to provide a happy memory of our talk." " We can all use them, or more to the point, uh, your man" "Stephen green can." "Not happy times for our junior senator, huh, Paul?" " Well, I don't know about that." "He's up nine points in the latest field poll, he's got 16 major newspaper endorsements and more importantly, he's doing great things for the state." " Spare me." "We're in a no-spin zone here, Paul." "We both know that he's got a giant bull's-eye painted on his back and I have a huge fuckin' archer standing right behind him." " But you haven't fired." " I wanted to see what you had to offer first." " You're interested in our story?" " Of course." "We're fair." "We're balanced." "We're a news organization, for Christ's sake, Paul," " Well, I'm not sure that I agree with any of those claims." "Our story is that there is no story." "Nada." "Nothing." "Zilch." " Mmm." "That's too bad." "Then I guess we'll be hearing a lot more from miss Shearson." "It's horrible, what that poor girl experienced." " Something tells me she's going to be just fine." "I was hoping you would do me a personal favor." "I'd like you to kill any stories with her ridiculous claims." " You must be joking." " Not at all." "You see, I've recently become aware of a waitress at the" "Seville wine bar named Lara." "She tells a pretty incredible story." " I've never been there." " The story is, guy comes in, is drinking, he's interested." "He bites her ass in the bar." "Now, it's, it's-- that was my reaction as well." "So she tells her friend, who also works there, and it turns out, the same guy did the same thing to her too." " Really?" " And there's more." "Apparently the guy is so rich-- he was brought in to run a television station or something-- that both girls, looking for opportunities as people are wont to do in these tough economic times, take pictures..." " Hmm." " ...of the bite marks and what this guy did to them." "I thought you'd want to know." "I can have this story up on" "Gawker before I get back to my office." "Most of the major media outlets will probably pick it up." "Certainly the chronicle." "Maybe some other television stations?" "But I'm guessing, not here?" " Probably not." "This has been great." "Paul, best." " Thanks for the mug." " Absolutely." " Hey, guys." " I'd like you to meet Angela." " Hi." "Sorry, I was working all day, and Dimitris..." " What?" " He spent, like, half your company's budget on me tonight." " Just few drinks." "This girl can go toe-to-toe with the best." " You look familiar." " Very good, Jimmy!" "There's something in between your ears besides unlistenable punk." "Very nice." "O.K., now tell me, from where?" "And Paul's disqualified." "Oh, come on, nobody?" " The tawny video, orange bikini." " That's my girl." " It was red and it's my favorite." " Red, blue, yellow, who cares?" "You looked that fucking beautiful in it." " Thank you." " You're welcome." " O.K., Dimitris says that you are a proud graduate of the bay city school of massage therapy?" " She is the all-star graduate." "She has, she won like the, what, the president's award or the iron cross or something" " Hey." "Hi, I'm sorry." " Oh, my God!" " I'm sorry I'm late." " Oh, my God!" "I watch you all the time!" "You're peaches o'Dell!" "You're the best!" "You are very sweet to say that." "All I ever wanted to be when I was a little girl was a TV reporter and you did it." "Look at you." "And you're like, wow, you're here, like, right here, on the couch beside me!" " Angela went to school with tawny." " Oh?" "What is she like?" " Mean." " Oh." " Well, she's not always, but when she drinks, she gets that way." " Mm-hmm." " Um, pretty, tell her what you uh, told me about the Baja." " Oh, right, yeah." "We were out drinking and, well, something she did a lot of-- well, but to be honest, kind of something I did a lot of too-- and we'd had this crazy happy hour, where we did way too many" "Tequila shots at the Baja" "Cantina." "You know it?" "In venice?" " I don't." " It's awesome!" " O.K." " So when we left, we passed this rollerblading place and she picked up a pair of knee pads and she said, "these guys-- a ticket to Washington and this body and I'm golden!"" " Nice." " But how'd she end up in" "Sacramento?" " Oh, she had some thing with, like a politician dude that she thought was gonna go like a week, but then he got elected speaker of the assembly." "And when he moved his whole family up there, then he brought her up too." " Wow." " I kinda didn't think much" "I didn't think it was that big of a deal." "But then Dimitris..." " Yes, I did." " ...found me and it all came back." "Dimitris found me." " Would you be willing to tell this story on camera?" " You want me?" "Peaches o'Dell, you want to, you want to interview me?" " Yep." " Hell, yeah!" "Yeah!" "Yes." "Absolutely, I would, yes." " Thank you, thank you." "This is a story that needs to be heard." " Yeah." " Mm-hmm." "Yes." " Just keeping the media happy." " Fat and happy." " Fat?" "I don't think so." " Just be glad you're not on camera." "Do you know what I think?" " Hmm?" " I think you're running a con." " I bring you to the best Sushi restaurant in the town and this is the thanks I get?" " Are you?" " No hidden microphones or secret cameras?" " Wanna pat me down?" " Absolutely." " No." " I think we're surrounded by the con." ""Tax breaks for the rich will help the poor, diet drinks will help you lose 20 pounds and you snag the man of your dreams." "Paul, please give us the inside scoop, we promise we'll treat your guy fairly in the story."" " "And the guy you elect today will change your world tomorrow."" " You know the first race I ever ran was for my dad's childhood friend, Ron Gerace." "Great guy." "Just very little formal education, but smart and honest." "He was running for mayor against a corrupt asshole who had been in office forever and was considered unbeatable." "I was, like, 20 and had no experience, but a lot of energy and a lot of ideas, but really," "I didn't know shit." " Like now." " Even more so." " But what I did know was that if I worked hard enough and a miracle happened and Ron got in, that the world would somehow be a better place." " Did he win?" " He killed." "He was the best mayor" "Minneapolis ever had." "So, as corny as it sounds, if you believe, it happens." " So what do you believe?" " That if you get the right guy elected, you are so far into a place that is beyond running a campaign or reporting the news-- you are making the news, and that's what we dream of." "So, do I believe?" "Yeah, I believe." " Conning me?" " I am not." "It's the truth." "Straight up." "Swear to God." " Oh, yeah, right." "That'll be the day." "That... that is your God." "You believe in the God of BlackBerry." " Please, it's only a tool." " Right." "Then, don't answer it." "I dare you." "You love that thing more than" " well, that would be crazy." "What are you-- what the fuck!" " It's merely a tool." " What?" " We did a sweeps piece" "I know it looks really weird, but the rice will bring it back to life." " It better." " Hmm." " Oh, you have some right there." "There you go." " I'm not too much of a vapid beauty queen?" " I don't know." "Not too much of an overeducated," "BlackBerry-addicted guy running a con?" " Paul, where the hell are you?" "I've been emailing you every two minutes!" " You know, I had a long night." "I had meeting after meeting and then I just lost track of time." "And then I had a BlackBerry technical malfunction." "It works!" "Did you send it to the iPhone?" "I'll look at it there." "O.K." " And we just learned tonight that a local man claims his girlfriend is having an ongoing affair with the governor." "And he claims he has her diary to prove it." " Sounds like this is one explosive story." "And what was the governor's response?" " Well, nothing yet, Dani." "And to be fair, this just came in..." " This is terrible." "We need to get down there." "What's the first flight we can get?" " Oh, God." " Fuck a duck!" " No, honey-- you fucked an intern." "That's why we're all here." " Has anyone actually seen the diary?" " Hey, darlin'." " Do we even know that the diary's real?" " We don't and if it's electronic, that would be a huge break." "Is she a nutter?" " No, no." "She's solid." "I like her." "I mean, I, you know what I mean." " Paul, as much as I want to violently disagree with every single thing, every word, every syllable, my alleged husband says, that one thing is true." "She's the daughter of one of our professors." " And?" " And you're not going to kobe" "Bryant her, turn her into some sort of predatory slut." " We're just getting started here." " She may not be perfect, or even completely innocent," "I have no idea." "But you are not going to trash her." " Look, honey-  no, honey." "You guys trash her and I won't be there to do my stand-by-my-man thing and then you're really fucked." "Honey." "So what do we do?" " Sweetie, we have entered a deep, dark, unspinnable place." " Ah, it's nice to know no matter how bad things get, there's gonna be a naked girl on a pole to cheer you right up." " Try many, many girls, hi." "You object?" " Enjoying." " That's my girl." "There's a gentleman sitting across the way in a football Jersey." "That's the boyfriend." "His name is junior, believe it or not, junior Conway." "He's here all the time." " Don't get me wrong, I could stay here all day, but you've got to do better than that." " Patience, my friend, patience." " Junior?" "He sells coke to everyone:" "Girls, customers." "Shit, he probably even sells it to the cops that come in." " O.K., what about her?" " I did see her once." " And did junior there provide the refreshments?" " Yes and no." " What do you mean?" " One time we were all, like, three girls from the club, junior and a couple of his buddies-- we were at a frat party in Lexington, doing a bunch of junior's blow and he" "kept telling her to do it." " But she didn't want to do it?" " Not really." "She kept saying no and junior wouldn't let it go." "He was buggin' on it and he kept saying over and over," ""are you 22 or 62?" "Just go for it!"" " Did she do any?" " She did a tiny bit of the blow and then, five minutes later, she went home alone." "I mean, if I had to guess, that was probably the beginning of the end." "I mean, they're just so different." " Did you ever see her do the drugs again?" " I mean, I barely saw her" " It's go time." "It's do or die, but it's your call." " Sophia's going to go bat-shit." " You should look at this." "They've made a major ad buy." "It's about to hit." "A guy at the station slipped it to me." " Larry Becker wants us to give him another term as governor so he can a.) Continue to use the governor's office as his personal sex spa..." "B.) Use our tax dollars to pay the state troopers who guard him when he's on the prowl..." "Or c.) Convince you that a girl just out of high school really isn't the first mistress of" "Kentucky, so he can have four more years in office?" "Is this really the kind of man you would trust with your daughter?" "Or your state?" " I'm Justin Perkins." "And I'll restore dignity back to the governor's office." " I don't know where to fucking start." "And by the way, since when is 22 just out of high school?" " She could have been 32, they'd have used the same line." " Know what's weird?" "She's a good girl... really." " Well, the boyfriend is asshole central." "Dimitris already got him getting a 100k payday and double that if you go down." " Oh, fuck me." "Six months ago, the only way I could lose this thing was to get caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy." "Now this." " So what's it going to be?" "Sonny or Michael?" " Sonny." "Go nuclear." " Bloggers." " Yep." " TV reporters." " Yeah." " Talk show bloviaters and newspapers." "All of them." " Newspapers." " City, community, college." "I want all of our big guys and I want every newbie looking to break in." " O.K., they're set up." "Got it." "Background-- just follow the money, it leads straight back to Perkins." "...listen, I'm doing you this favor so you don't get you did all the legwork, but you definitely did not get this information from us." "...now this story is yours and yours only, but remember, whatever you do, don't source back to us." "...and remember this is embargoed for a seven A.M." "Online posting tomorrow." "But you're not giving this to because, let's face it, my blog drives the cable coverage." "All the insiders come to us first." " No, absolutely, you get the first pop." " This is going to be more when I heard about this story," "I had a blogasm." " Now you get multiple blogasms." " Perkins and his buddies are rat-fucking Kentucky." "...so we're talking about the" "Sunday edition above the fold, right?" " Right." " So I hear that you two are" "Kentucky's answer to woodward and Bernstein." " Who?" " Never mind." "But I am deep throat." " Hey, didn't you go to school with that major anchor in" "Lexington, Dani whatever?" " I competed against her." " Well, that's close enough." "But, if you slipped her the" " we're not exactly friends." " But you can call her, right?" " Paul." " I don't understand what's wrong." " Paul, shut up and fuck!" " It had been nearly a week since governor Becker last answered reporters' questions, but when he came out of church this morning, the governor was finally ready to speak to the media." " Governor, would you like to make a statement?" " Yes, I would." "Uh, more than anything, these charges are complete and utter fiction." "John Grisham could have written this, or better still," "Stephen king, because this has truly been a horror story for my family." "And this alleged diary the man claims to have is just more fiction, pure and simple." " And what about" "Helena St. John, the woman at the center of all of these charges?" " Well, Dani, Ms. St. John returned to her parents' home near Boston, where she was briefly seen yesterday." " Helena, over here, we have a question!" "Why are you denying the affair?" " Why did you do it," "Helena?" "Was all the sex consensual?" "Has the governor been in touch with you?" " Can we get" " Is the governor going to divorce his wife?" " Helena, are you in rehab now?" " Helena!" " And Ms. St. John also came up back home, when we caught up with the governor heading for a performance of the good Shepherd youth choir, run by Lexington police officers." " The lady in question is a good girl, who like so many fine people, from good families, fell into that terrible, terrible abyss of drugs." "I wish her all the luck in the world in getting her life together and I know that with assistance of clergy, she will be just fine and can become clean and sober once again." " That's good." "O.K." "Here's the spot Jimmy just cut." "We're running it at 2,000 points, heavy rotation for the next two weeks, major cable buy." "Lifetime, Ellen, just buying the shit out of the mom demo." " Some things are pretty darn expensive and it makes you wonder where all that money comes from." "The cost of incarcerating a cocaine dealer in Kentucky for" "15 months?" "$28,313." "The cost of a brand-new pickup:" "$34,201, which was purchased two days after claiming he had a diary for sale." "The cost of cocaine rehab for a month?" "$14,000." "The cost of wall street banks trying to ruin the reputation of a man who has served the commonwealth of Kentucky his entire adult life:" "Priceless." " Booyah, motherfucker!" " I owe you, man!" "But you better get your ass outta dodge." " Hey, next time you think about running for office, try France." "It's a better fit." "i" " Well, merci beaucoup." " Taxi'll be here in five." "So you also have the" " Paul." "You son of a bitch." "I can't fucking believe it." "Here." "When you graduated law school, you know where I was, right?" " Sure." "You were two years behind me." " Right, in the same class with your favorite pal." "I gotta tell you," "I have taken a lot." " I know you have." " I'm not sure you do." "My father was an artist who struggled his whole life to support us and he told me if I worked hard, got good grades, and got into Harvard, I could do whatever I wanted." "Guess what I did when" "I got there." "I fell for one Larry Lincoln" "Becker, who dragged me back to this godforsaken place." " Godforsaken?" " If you grew up in Brooklyn, absolutely." "You know, I've been a" "I've done my stand-by-your man thing for a guy who will fuck anyone-- anything-- in a skirt." "Honestly, it must be so confusing for him when those" "Scottish bagpipers come here to play." "But it was all between me and him, but now you go ahead and you drag this girl through the mud." "A girl with her whole life ahead of her?" "Is that what it's come to?" " Hey, she did the coke." " Big deal!" "Half of America has done a line once in their lives." " And she wasn't raped." "She was a completely willing participant." " Hardly." " She knew what the score was." " What the fuck, Paul?" "Is it worth it?" " Let me tell you what" "I'm doing." "I am playing to win, so that your guy gets another four years." "So that that asshole Perkins-- who is diametrically opposed to every single issue that you care about:" "Foreclosures, minimum wage, clean air and who doesn't so much as take a shit without first having it stamped and approved by wall street banks and the mega-mining and health care industries-- doesn't get to sit where" "Larry sits." " And doesn't it bother you?" "The way you get there?" "It's just you and me here, Paul." " Thought you'd never make it home." " Hi." " Hi." " Is that more Kentucky stuff?" " No." "Penelope's petitions." "And they're not just petitions." "I mean, they are, but there's also notes on them." " Oh, boy." " For example: "Best doctor" "I ever had."" ""Yes," followed by four exclamation points." ""I wish I could sign 10 times, because you are going to be 10 times better than what we got."" " And 10 times as likely to get slaughtered." " Why not Penelope?" "There's 101 reasons why she can't win." " Yeah, I know." "And they're all really good ones, but I just feel like if she won, this world would be a better place." "Not so?" "No?" " I didn't know you were in town." " Can I talk to you for a minute?" " Yeah, sure." "Look, I know that you're still upset about Helena, but..." "This is what happens." " Paul, Helena tried to commit suicide." "She took a container full of pills, but her mother found her." "It happened over the weekend." "They're keeping it quiet." "It's not in the media and won't be." "But her mother called to tell me." "And I thought you should know too." " I had no idea it would..." "I didn't think it would play like this." " This is what happens." " Professor St. John, this is" "Paul Turner calling again, um," "I know it's a hard time for you and your family, but if you could give me a call at the number that I left earlier, that... that would be great." "Thank you." "Hello, Helena." "It's Paul Turner calling again." "Um, look, if you'd like me to stop calling you, just text me and I will." "O.K., thanks." " Please, I just need five minutes of your time." "Ple-- five minutes and I will go home, I promise." "Please." "I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am." "We never should have done it." "I never should have done it." " But you did." "Why?" "Why me?" " I dunno." "No..." "I do know." "What we do is like a military guy in Virginia piloting a drone over Afghanistan and launching a missile." "It seems like a video game and there aren't real people involved, and you hit the fire button and you're thinking," ""how'd we do?" "Did we hit it?"" "And sometimes we hit the target, and other times..." "We destroy the building with the red cross painted on the top." " It's not right." "It's so not right." "For years, after a bad day at school, I'd jump on that trampoline." "And I'd feel better, feel like I was free, floating in space." "But at some point, my mom would come out and tell me that I couldn't stay here all night." "The last thing that I wanted was to come back to earth." " And this is a big dose of coming back down to earth." " Giant dose." "And my dad teaches power and politics." "I should've known." " No." "Nobody really understands power." "I think that's why we all abuse it so easily." " I'm sorry, but that's just not good enough." "Actions have consequences." "And I think you do understand." " Hey." "You know better than that." " Oh, yes, I do." "Foreclosure stats and we're cutting the spot now." " Good... where's the big guy?" " You got me." " What's he doing, hiking the appalachian trail?" " Yeah, something like that." " We're talking about the most electronically connected dude on the planet." "Where the hell is he?" " I have no idea." "...hi, I'm so sorry for calling you so many times and I know you're really busy and I called you yesterday." " It's fine, really." " Um, you haven't heard from him yet, have you?" " I haven't, but if I do I'll call you or text you." "Are you O.K.?" " Just a little worried." " Well, I'll let you know if I do." "O.K., bye." " I think you need a shot." " That's my line." " This is what you're up against." "Trip Simmons:" "Internet tycoon who, after two grueling months teaching, is running as a public school teacher, albeit a public school teacher willing to spend" "$45 million, 95% of which is his own money." " Serious stuff." " If you happen to get past him in the primary, and that is a gigantic "if," this is who you will face:" "Hammering Hank" "Harrison, beloved television star and tea party hero, who is running as the outsider in this race in spite of having" "$65 million already in the bank and off-the-charts name recognition." " And what do we have?" " You." " I'm flattered." "But anything else?" " Us." " Are you sure you're up for this?" "No more appalachian trail walkabouts?" " You know, I actually was on the appalachian trail in Maine." " Well, welcome home." " So, Jimmy is going to be following you around 24/7." "He's going to be filming you." "We'll cut together some spots about who you are, what you're about, your commitment to service, your dedication to this office, that kind of thing." " And people are going to want to see this?" " We can only hope." " Thank you." "Thank you so much." "...in the words of the great" "Hubert Humphrey, "I am proud to be here today to represent the people who don't always have a voice."" "Those in the dawn of life, our children;" "Those in the shadows of life, our poor, and those in the dusk of life, our elderly." "I am proud to be here on behalf of those who work to make" "California work." "The people who build our houses, teach our children, care for our sick, put out the fires, protect our streets, cook our food, pick our fruit, drive the trucks and clean our offices." "I am here because we are all in this together when it comes to standing tall and standing strong to fight for the" "California dream." " Field poll." " Where are we?" " Still in the single digits, six percent." " Oy." " Oh, there's still time." " While they will protect wall street banks and lower taxes for corporations and millionaires, we will fight for jobs." " Can you do that again, but really emphasize, "we will fight for jobs"?" " While they will protect wall street banks and lower taxes for corporations and millionaires, we will fight for jobs." "And while they will complain about what is wrong in America, we will focus on what is right in America." "Today, our party, which has saved this nation from depression, from fascism, from racism, from corruption, is called upon to do it again." "This time to save the state from confusion and division, from the threat of eventual fiscal disaster and from those who lack the courage and vision to understand that we are all in this together." " A little higher." "Yeah, up... yep." " Now how is it?" " Perfect!" " What do you think?" " I think it's gonna be a knife fight in a phone booth." " Protein shakes." " Are you sure you're gay?" " Nope." " Then what the hell am I doing with peaches?" " Peaches?" "Peaches?" "Is this a thing or a fling?" " We need her." " We need her?" "What if I told you I was screwing some hair product reporter because we needed him?" "What would you say?" " Is he local or national?" " You would not!" "What?" " You gotta get here now!" " No, we'll be there, we'll be there in less than five." "We're in the mission now, we're on our way." " You're going to give them to me now, huh?" "You're going to give me 'cause I will cut your fucking throat, little girl." " Excuse me, excuse me!" "Hey, hey!" " You gonna give 'em to me now, little girl, huh?" " Put it down, stop!" "Ah!" " You too, Penelope?" "You going to fucking dis me too?" "Huh?" "Fucking dis me too!" " Hey, Tommy, Tommy, marisol is one of the sweetest, nicest people I have ever met." "She would never intentionally disrespect you." "And you know that, right?" " It's not true." " No, never." "We don't even have the pills you want, Tommy." " O.K., Tommy." "Give me the knife, O.K.?" "Please." " No, I need my meds." " I know." "Give me the knife." "Give me the knife, Tommy." "Please." "Give me the knife." " No!" " Give me the knife." " I can't." " Please." "Give me the knife." " I need my meds, Penelope!" "My meds, Penelope." " Are you O.K.?" " Yeah." " We should get you back inside." " Holy... shit." " I'm glad you're O.K." " I'm fine." " I'm glad." "I'm, um, so sorry." "Really, really, sorry, you know?" " Don't be sorry." "No, we're just glad that everyone's O.K. And that Jimmy called us." " Yeah, I mean, you were amazing out there." " Yeah." " Incredible." " No, no." "You see one of the biggest cliches about this neighborhood." "Normally it's not like this, really." "You're probably right." "If I can't even control my own little space, how can I control an entire state?" "Right?" " So this is what you've wrought:" "Facebook likes, 1.2 million and counting." "Number of YouTube views of you taking the knife away from the crazy person: 4,318,000." " And counting." "And watch this." " She's awesome." "She's really inspiring." " That lady is definitely walking the walk." " O.K., you cannot take that bandage off until the election." " It's been almost two weeks," "I think it's time." "You've got to give me at least another month." " I'll give you a week." " Sold." " What the fuck?" " What?" " Check it out." " Helping the homeless is nothing new for San Francisco." "We have a long history of it in our city." "But what is new is a program one of the volunteers here has started." " Exhale." " Ahh!" " Tawny Shearson is no ordinary volunteer." " Out." " She has started a special program for San" "Francisco's homeless children." " Well, the idea is why should only rich children get all the amazing benefits of yoga?" "These kids love it!" "They can't get enough of it." "And honestly, I can't get enough teaching them." " Tawny Shearson, a woman truly making a difference for those who need it most." "Rick Sanchez, KXSF news, at Saint Mary's church in the tenderloin." " O.K., so when she's not blackmailing us, she's running for Saint?" " Those guys are good." " Mandy Denton behind this?" " 100%." "And we violated the number one commandment in politics-- we had her down and we did not put in the shiv." "...all right, when you think of family, what are the first" " Love, protection, warmth." " Security, fun." " Caring." "A bond, support." " Strength as a unit." "Shelter." " That's good." "When we get back-- incoming." " Penelope Nelson runs this clinic." "The same Penelope Nelson who claims she's qualified to be your governor." "What she doesn't tell you is 28% of those who come here are not" "Americans, but illegal aliens." "And it's all funded by you." "You pay far too much in taxes already so that Penelope can spend your money on illegals?" "You work hard, you play by the rules, why doesn't she?" "Hank Harrison-- let's make" "California great again." " I'm Hank Harrison and with your help, we can take back our government." " That's good." " Now it's really incoming." "Tawny's lawyer." " Erik the red has scheduled a press conference with tawny tomorrow at six." " He'll call it off if we deliver him $2 million tomorrow at four." " Down a million." " It's still blackmail." " And the answer is still-  no fucking way!" " Good, good." "O.K." "Good, O.K." "All right." "First, tawny has a story, but so does peaches and her new" "BFF, Angela." "How is that going?" " All set." " Good." "And second, starting on the five o'clock news, we're launching a saturation buy of the downed helicopter spot with your war buddy." "Three, we are making your name and the word "family"" "synonymous." "Think Stephen green, think family." " Take all the things that family means and go from there." "Like love, warmth, strength, protection, support, caring." " And with each one of those, we do a photo and message of the day." " Like what?" " Well, let's start with the last one on the list:" "Caring." "As in caring for your children's future." "We've worked something up around your affordable college program, which I love, incidentally." " We'll send you to a school or something." " Fourth:" "Editorials." "Tawny's going to cry to every reporter with a laptop that you're a bad guy." "We get editorials saying that the last thing anybody needs in this economy is more lipstick and pig stories." "Everybody should be focusing on real issues that affect real Americans." " O.K., O.K., how about this:" "We suggest-- gently, but serve it on a silver platter-- that tawny is a complete distraction from real issues and let them hark back to when mark twain was a reporter here and that he could see through" "all the smoke and nonsense, like this smoke and nonsense." " Mark twain." "They love mark twain." "I love quoting mark twain." " Well, she actually uses zero fossil fuels and thus has zero emissions." "She can go at highway speeds, and what's more, she was built entirely by the class you see here." " Thank you all for coming." "This is tawny Shearson." " She's going to tell you quite a story about a woman wronged by a United States senator." " Senator, last month we went to the California solar challenge." " Mm-hmm." " And of the five finalists, we were the only public school there, but we won." "And what we're showing here is that what it takes to achieve in science isn't all about money." "It's about inventiveness and creativity and brain power." "All of which this class has in abundance." " Well, this is amazing." "This is truly amazing." "And I think I speak for myself, but I also think I speak for every senator when I say that we can learn a lot from" "Mr. Quinn's class." "It's truly amazing!" "Give yourselves a round of applause." " Thank you so much for coming." " Senator green, senator green." "Are you aware of the press conference tawny Shearson just gave?" "She's claiming you had an affair!" " I was just thinking about something that mark twain once said which is, "when in doubt, tell the truth."" "Well, here's the truth:" "I have a bad back." "I injured it in the service in Afghanistan." "And I receive physical therapy for that injury, including massages." "And during one of those massages, I crossed the line." "And, uh, here's some more truth:" "There is, there's no one to blame for this but me." "There is no excuse for what" "I did." "It was, it was wrong to do to my family, it was wrong to do to the people that I set an example for." "It was just plain wrong, period." "Now, I could stand up here and I could spin the facts and I could maybe fool some of you, but I believe that the people of" "California deserve better." "I think that we are all tired of the spin." "So, I am just here to offer my sincere apology." "And it is my hope that the citizens of California will forgive me for this mistake and will choose to reelect me." "I promise I will be your senator, and I will work tirelessly for the things that matter most to you, like classes taught by Matt Quinn here, where our children are truly inventing the future." "And to that end, I am proposing an oil company windfall profit tax with the revenue providing the funds for every student in" "America with a b-plus average and above to go to college!" "I'm prepared to do everything for you, as a not-perfect, but a truly dedicated man, who will always fight for you." " ...mission in Afghanistan when my helicopter was shot down." "Both of my legs and four ribs were broken." "The enemy came to finish us off, but the young officer that I was transporting single-handedly fought off an entire squad of" "Taliban until reinforcements could arrive." " Up, up, up!" "Senator, you have jumped five points!" "It is off the charts!" " Whoo!" " On the other hand, tawny is going to kick ass if she ever decides to open a chain of massage parlors." " Oh, sweet." "Tell him to check his email." "Jimmy just sent us all a present." " Check your email, we got something coming your way." " And then tawny went up to the Rollerblade guy and took two knee pads and she said," ""these guys-- a ticket to" "Washington and this body and I'm golden."" " How did that make you feel?" " Um... i" " Now that is room service." " Oh, my God." "Penelope's video just got five million views on YouTube." " You see, when you're doing" "God's work and you're at the right place at the right time, good things happen." " Best hundred bucks you ever spent." " What do you mean?" " What do you mean, what do I mean?" " What are you talking about?" "Does somebody want to tell me what's going on?" " It's O.K." " Oh, my God." "I just assumed that she told you." "Your girl here had me send the guy to the clinic." " You did what?" " O.K., in her defense, I gave the guy a hundred bucks, I told him to scream and wave the knife around a little." "In no way..." "Did I think that he was gonna take a hostage." "I didn't think that was" " you gave a junkie a knife?" " Yeah, well, in retrospect." " Meg Whitman spent 175 million-plus running for governor." "We spent a hundred dollars and took Penelope's name recognition from nonexistent to omnipresent." "Am I fired?" " You are a brilliant, beautiful woman." " What happened to the guy?" " He's doing 90 days." "I'll give him another $500 when he gets out." "He'll send me flowers for such a nice payday." "O.K., I'll give him a thousand." " As we've been reporting," "Stephen green had an easy reelection tonight, but the real story is right here." "In a gubernatorial race that's too tight to call between upstart candidate Penelope" "Nelson and Hollywood megastar" "Hank Harrison." " We have really done something incredible." "No matter what happens tonight, we have done something incredible." "It was a very steep hill to climb indeed." "Ms. Nelson is going to need a huge turnout in Los Angeles and the bay area if she has any hope of eating into Mr. Harrison's margins." "Again, very discouraging news for Ms. Nelson's campaign and her supporters." "Hank Harrison, one of the country's most popular television and movie stars, has been in the public eye for over three decades." "And with 76% of precincts reporting, if he can maintain that lead, he'll be our next governor." "We have just learned that Santa" "Barbara, San joaquin and" "Sacramento counties, all bellwether counties, have reported and all three have gone narrowly for Hank Harrison." "This is a devastating blow to" "Ms. Nelson's campaign." "Sacramento must also be particularly disappointing for her, as traditionally..." " You O.K.?" " Yeah, I'm O.K." " ..." "As goes" "Sacramento county, so goes" "California." "And we're still waiting for results from Los Angeles county and the bay area to come" "O.K." "We just got word, Los Angeles county has reported and Penelope" "Nelson is over the top." " Hey!" "Hey!" " My God!" " What an incredible victory for Penelope Nelson." "Penelope Nelson, who ran her campaign on passion and promise, but so very little money, will be the next governor..." " Un-fucking-believable." "Un-fucking-believable!" " Thank you!" "Thank you!" " Thank you, California!" " And at the governor's mansion earlier, this was the scene." " What a feeling!" " Nice!" "Hey!" " There she is!" " Thank you, thank you, thank you." "And you." "Thanks." " Wow!" " I think it's," ""wow, governor."" " Absolutely!" "Wow, governor!" " I got a lot of work to do." "And so do both of you." " Well, I'm losing her." "I'm losing her to medical school." "This is her swan song." " Actually, I'm gonna withdraw my apps." " Really?" " Really." " Well, I gotta get reelected in four years and I can't get stabbed twice, you know." " Oh, we'll think of something." " ♪ mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the lord ♪" "♪ he's trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored ♪" "♪ he hath loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword ♪" "♪ his truth is marching on" "♪ glory, glory, hallelujah" "♪ glory, glory, hallelujah" "♪ glory, glory, hallelujah" "♪ his truth is marching on" "♪ glory, glory, hallelujah" "♪ glory, glory, hallelujah" "♪ glory, glory, hallelujah" "♪ his truth is marching on" "♪ I've read a fiery gospel written burnished rows of steel ♪" "♪ as you deal with my contentment ♪" "♪ so with you, my grace shall deal ♪" "♪ let the hero born of woman crush the serpent with his heel ♪" "♪ since God is marching on" "♪ he has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat ♪" "♪ he is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment seat ♪" "♪ be swift my soul to answer him, be jubilant, my feet ♪" "♪ his truth is marching on" "♪ glory, glory, hallelujah" "♪ glory, glory, hallelujah" "♪ glory, glory, hallelujah" "♪ his truth is marching on" "♪ glory, glory, hallelujah" "♪ glory, glory, hallelujah" "♪ glory, glory, hallelujah" "♪ his truth is marching on" "♪ in the beauty of the lilies," "Christ was born across the sea ♪" "♪ with a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me ♪" "♪ as he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free ♪" "♪ while God is marching on" "♪ glory, glory, hallelujah" "♪ glory, glory, hallelujah" "♪ glory, glory, hallelujah" "♪ his truth is marching on" "♪ glory, glory, hallelujah" "♪ glory, glory, hallelujah" "♪ glory, glory, hallelujah" "♪ his truth is marching on" "♪ marching on" "♪ marching on" "♪ the truth is marching on"