"It's there for leverage, so that we can lock down performance standards." "You don't toss around their right to collective bargaining like a poker chip." "If we don't, they won't budge." "Has Marty Spinella seen this?" "Not in the version I showed him." " So you lied to his face?" " No." "I revised the parameters of my promise." "Which is lying." "Which is politics." "The sort you're well-versed in, Bob." "Here's some politics for you." "I allow this to go to the floor," "I get murdered next election." "This is coming from the President." "Last time I checked, I was still a Democrat, Frank, and you were, too." "Are you telling me the President isn't?" "Because he's acting a hell of a lot like a Republican." "I thought Bob was on our team." "Just sit him down with the President." "Ten minutes." "We won't touch collective bargaining." "Are you interested in my advice on this, or you just want me to deliver the message?" "I'm always interested in your advice, Frank." "Birch is right." "You're going to burn a lot of bridges." "The President should at least sit down with him and let him make his case." "You tell Bob I'm happy to schedule a meeting with the President once he's set a date to put this bill on the floor." "The President can fuck himself." "This is the platform." "It's what he ran on." "I don't give a shit what he ran on." "He can't steamroll the House." "And don't forget, you work for me, Frank, not him." "If he wants something on the floor, he's gonna have to talk to me directly." "I know you take a lot of pride in your manhood, Bob, and it's impressive, but as big as it is, Linda can still shut the door on it." "Tell Vasquez the bill is dead." "That's not the first time he's pulled that stunt on me." "Probably should have held my tongue, but I just couldn't resist the chance to see him shrivel." "Good morning." "Frank." "Mr. President." "Linda." "Let's strike the anti-collective bargaining provision from the bill." "Linda and I have talked it over, and I think she's right on this." "Tell Bob he can come by tomorrow afternoon." "Sir, respectfully, I do not think you should give him the satisfaction." "Well, give me a reason." "Makes us appear weak." "This is an opportunity for you to establish your supremacy." "We should seize it." "But without Birch's cooperation, we're fighting an uphill battle before we even get the bill to the floor." "Frank, we discussed this." "Sir, if you give in now," "Birch will walk all over you for the next four years." "I can get this bill on the House floor as is." "I promise you." "All right, Frank." "Show me what you can do." "Thank you, Mr. President." "That was her trying to take credit for my idea." "Advice she wouldn't take from me." "Unacceptable." "I will not allow her to sell my goods when she cuts me out of the profits." "I specifically told her no interviews." "She disobeyed me, not just once." "At least eight times in the past month." "She stays, Tom." "She has no respect for my authority, Margaret." "I said she stays." "There are rules." "There's a way of doing things." "If I have a reporter who won't listen..." "Two freshmen girls are moving into their dorm room together." "One of them's from Georgia, one of them's from Connecticut." "Girl from Connecticut's helping her mother put up curtains." "Girl from Georgia turns to them and says, "Hi." "Where y'all from?"" "Girl from Connecticut says, "We're from a place" ""where we know not to end a sentence with a preposition. "" "Girl from Georgia says, "Beg my pardon." ""Where y'all from..." ""Cunt?"" "You heard that one before?" "A version of it." "With softer language." "Tom, we don't need people who follow the rules." "We need people with personality." "We want Zoe's face, her energy." "We want to get her on TV as much as possible." "It helps us cut through the noise." "See what I'm saying?" "I hear you, Margaret." "Thank you, Tom." "Thank you." "Come in." "Oh, I thought..." "I wanted to say hi to Evelyn." "Evelyn?" "This was her office." "I don't think she works here anymore." " Oh." " Gillian Cole." "I came on board a couple weeks ago." "Gillian." "WorldWell." " Yeah." " I've heard great things." "Remy Danton." "You work with Claire?" "In a way." " Hello, Remy." " Claire." "I see you've met Gillian." "Yes, just now." "She's doing fantastic work for us, as you can see." "Red is completed wells, green, potential sites, yellow, approved sites, and blue are the filtration centers." "Nice." "So you liking it here?" "Yeah." "My staff and I are loving it." "Claire's opened a lot of doors for us." "Sounds like Claire." "Shall we head to my office?" " Gillian, nice to meet you." " Nice to meet you." "What happened?" "Things got complicated." "SanCorp was in a difficult situation." "I would have thought you'd step up when things were difficult, not hold the donation hostage." "Well, things are less complicated now." "The donation is back on the table." "I had to fire half my staff." "Now you can hire them back." "SanCorp is prepared to double its initial commitment." "$1.5 million, lump sum, this quarter." " Why?" " Public relations." "Same as before." "And what do they want from Francis?" "Things are square with Frank." "We're only talking about the CWI." "But why double it?" "Because I said they should." "The more they give, the more you can do." "The more you can do, the better they look." "And that's why they hired Glendon Hill, to make them look good." "And they also hired you to get traction in Congress." "Not in this case." "We want a long-term partnership, Claire." "This is an investment in the future." "We're not attaching strings." "I'll think about it." "They'd really love to move quickly on this." "I said I'll think about it." "Madeleine, you have to email me this shit." "I need it in writing." "And with more than an hour's notice." "Yeah, I know that, but you have to understand we have a plan." "We have a way that we do this, and when you..." "Okay." "Fine." "Yeah." "Yeah." "Bye." "Madeleine has decided to have a spur-of-the-moment trip to Orlando with her latest eHarmony catch." " No heads-up, no warning." " The kids?" "They get out of school at 2:30." "I can do the Shipbuilder's meeting." " You sure?" " Yeah, it's just their public affairs team." "I'll brief you, and then you can call them tomorrow." " Go get your kids." " Mmm." "Hey." "Remy came by this morning." "To the office." "What does he want?" "The donation's back on the table." "They've doubled it to $1.5 million." "You said no, right?" "I didn't." "He doesn't want anything from you, Francis." "Come on, Claire." "You know better than that." "I specifically asked." "Maybe not right now, but look, I invented this guy, all right?" "It's a slippery slope." "Think of what I can do with this money." "I can hire back the people I let go." "I can help accelerate the funding for the projects that Gillian has brought in." "Let's find another way to raise the money." "But it's right there at my feet." "Claire, I have too much on my plate right now." "I can't have SanCorp breathing down my neck again." "I can't have Remy..." "Look, it is Remy." "He knows me too well." "It's dangerous." "Look at the bigger picture here." "I'm asking." "No." "You're not." "Claire." "I'll tell you what I told him." " Which was?" " I'll think about it." "I know there's been some tension, and I'm probably more to blame than you are." "But I'd like to put that behind us." "Zoe, you're going to be our new White House correspondent." "What about Janine?" "I promoted her to Midwest Bureau Chief." "She's okay with that?" "She wants to give up the White House?" "It's the decision I've made." "It's just that Janine has so much experience." "I thought you'd be more excited about this." "I'm sorry." "I just thought you brought me in here to..." "I don't know." " To fire you." " Maybe." "Water under the bridge." "We're starting over." "So are you ready to take this on?" "Can I think about it?" "People usually don't have to think about it when they're offered the White House, Zoe." "Just a day or two." "Janine is booked for a flight to Chicago on Friday." "I'll let you know before then." "I just need to..." "Thank you." "Thank you, Tom." "David Rasmussen is the majority leader, which means he's one step above me and one below Birch, which is akin to being between a very hungry wolf and a very quarrelsome sheep." "Let's see if he stays with the herd or joins the pack." "David." "You mind if I join you?" "Please." "A salad, huh?" "Yes." "I'm trying to take better care of myself." "Good man." "Diet?" "Diet, exercise, everything." "You ought to take better care of yourself, too." "Well, then they should stop serving such good pizza." "I'm not talking about the food." "I'm talking about Birch." "You are never going to be Speaker unless you do something about it." "I'm very satisfied where I am." " Oh, come on." " For the time being, yeah." "Time being never." "The only way you become Speaker is if Birch loses his district or retires, neither of which is going to happen before you and I have dentures." "I'm not happy where this conversation is going, Frank." "If you want it, and I know you do, there's a way." "Okay." "Right." "I can't..." "All you need is a simple majority." "218 votes." "We're going to get at least 205 out of the GOP, and after that, all you need is 13 Democrats." "You and I make two." "Are you out of your mind?" "Just consider it for a moment." "You want to collude with the Republicans?" "I don't want to, but I would if you become Speaker in the process." "Never been done before." "There's a first time for everything." "This is ridiculous." "The Republicans would love a chance to knock Bob down a peg or two." "And you want to help them?" "I want to help us." "Bob will not play ball with the White House." "Now, you're a reasonable man, David, and he's not." "You know what I am?" "I'm a discreet man." "You're lucky for that." "I'm not going to mention this to Bob, but if you ever bring it up again," "I won't have a choice." "Looks like he opted for the herd." "Claire." "I'd like to put an order for the water filters and the well-digging equipment for the South Sudan project." "Can we talk about the budget?" " How much?" " $200,000." "For one project?" "I know it's a lot, but it'll be our flagship project in Africa, and we would be the first organization there to work on this scale." "I'd like to go over the specifics first." "I have the budget right here." "Let me just grab my messages, and then I'll come in to you." "Okay." "I'll be in my office." "Any calls while I was out?" "They're on the desk, and this came by messenger." "Adam." "It's Claire." "Yes." "I know." "It has." "No reason." "I was just thinking about you." "You're right." "It is a lie." "I do have a reason." "I need to use you." "The White House is where news goes to die." "Everything's canned." "These perfectly prepared statements..." "It's a prestigious job, Zoe." "Used to be, when I was in ninth grade." "Now it's a graveyard." "The only halfway interesting thing they do is throw a big dinner party once a year where they pat themselves on the back and rub shoulders with movie stars." "Who needs that?" "Every day since you started here, you've begged me to move you up, and now suddenly..." "My goal in life is not to climb up The Herald's ladder one rung at a time until I've got my own stationery." "Some of us value a career at a paper like this." "I'm sorry." "I didn't mean for that to come off..." "Well, it did, and you skipped a few rungs, by the way." "Do what you want to do, Zoe, but if you want me to be your cheerleader and say, "Yeah, turn it down," I won't." "I would have killed for that job when I first started here." "Put Fichner in the "leaning yes" column." "Don't you think he's a neutral?" "He hates Birch." "Yeah, but he owes Birch for the Ways and Means appointment." "Put him in "neutral." Who else?" "Ramirez as a neutral?" "Oh, this list is so shaky." "Any one of them leaks it to Bob..." "No, what we need is one name." "One person who can deliver 12." "The Black Caucus." "Womack." "What can we offer him?" "What does he need?" "Let me pull up his file." "Here we go." "McCuddin Airforce base employs 3,000 people in his district." "It's on the DOD's chopping block this year." "Who do we know on the BRAC commission?" "That's dangerous." "The trail leads back to us trying to influence the DOD or the BRAC." "No, no, no." "What we do is we close another base." "We leave enough money in the DOD's budget to keep Womack's base off the list." "What we need... ls someone we own." "Dad, I'm hungry." "Coming, buddy." "Here we go." "With cheese." "Without cheese." "Umm, Dad?" "Yeah." "That looks pretty disgusting." "Yeah, it looks disgusting." "It's not how it looks, it's how it tastes." "And a fork would be nice." "Shit." "Okay." "Hold on." "Hello." "Good evening, Mr. Russo." "There's a Mr. Underwood here to see you." "Uh..." "Okay." "Send him up." "Hi, there." " Hi." " Hi." "This is Kevin, this is Sarah." "Hi." "I'm Frank." "Nice to meet you both." " Do you work with Dad?" " I do." "Congressman Underwood is Daddy's boss." "I thought you didn't have a boss." "Everybody has a boss, sweetheart, even Congressmen." "Why don't you take your dinner and go into the bedroom?" " But I wanted to watch TV." " Go now." " Cute kids." " Yeah, I like them." "Can I get you a drink?" "No, I won't be here long." "Yeah." "Have a seat." "Thank you." "Is that a PS Vita?" "Uh..." "Which games does he have?" " All of them." " I have a console at home." "I play sometimes to relax." "I ought to get one of these for the car." "So, Peter, we need to close the shipyard in your district." "The BRAC hearing is tomorrow." "You won't put up your usual fight." "You have zero testimony to add." " I can't do that." " Yes, you can, Peter." "I spent months on that testimony." "I lobbied the commission." "My entire office..." "I'm sure you've done splendid work, but unfortunately, it can't come to fruition." " Why?" " Politics." "There's forces bigger than either of us at play here." "It's 12,000 jobs." "I know." "It's a shame." "Keeping that shipyard open is what got me elected." "Those people are my friends." "I'm not here to debate this, Peter." "The base will close." "The only question is, will you make it a swift death or a painful one?" "No way." "I won't sit on my hands." "I sympathize that this is gonna be difficult for you." "And I don't know how yet, but I will make it up to you, Peter." "I'm a powerful friend to have right now, perhaps your only friend, so don't defy me." "Love of family." "Most politicians are permanently chained to that slogan." "Family values." "But when you cozy up to hookers and I find out," "I will make that hypocrisy hurt." "Did you get the present I sent you?" "You wouldn't really call it a present." "Well, more of a gentle reminder, maybe." "More heavy-handed than gentle, which surprised me." "It's not really your style, Francis." "But, yes." "I got it." "I like that one." "I do, too." "But the first one's better." "You think?" "Something special tomorrow?" "Adam Galloway's coming down from New York." "What for?" "Because I need some of his photographs for the silent auction at the gala next month." "You speak to Remy yet?" "I haven't." "If you want to look inviting, wear the black one." "Hello." "Oh..." "Okay." "Great." "Thanks." "Adam?" "How is it the world keeps spinning and you manage to stay ahead of it?" "David's on board with this?" "It was his idea." "Then why isn't he here?" "Well, we have to be careful until it's a done deal." " I don't know, Frank." " Think about it, Terry." "You could become the first African-American majority leader in the United States Congress." "Let's make some history." "You don't care about history." "You just wanted me because I can round up the votes." "I need the votes, and I do care about history, but most importantly, Terry, you know how to lead." "You're the head of the Black Caucus for a reason." "So David becomes speaker, I become majority leader..." "And I stay on as Whip." "Why don't you want majority leader for yourself?" "I'm satisfied where I am." "Maybe one day, when you become Speaker, you'll bump me up." "This is the sort of thing that there's no turning back." "I can throw a cherry on top." "McCuddin stays open." "How?" "You don't want to know how." "You just want the headline when you keep 3,000 jobs in your district." " 12 votes?" " 12 votes." "I can get you 10, probably 11." "It's so refreshing to work with someone who will throw a saddle on a gift horse rather than look it in the mouth." "That's nice." "Wow." "I found her in a village outside Amravati." "Her name was Tyala." "She died three weeks after I took that picture." "Oh, that's awful." "You can have them all if you like." "I love your hair short." "You have plans tonight?" "No." "Is Frank expecting you home?" "I'm sure he'll be home late." "Get dinner with me." "What time is your train?" "I don't book round-trip tickets." "It's going to be a while before I can leave." "What time will you be done?" "Probably around 8:00." "I'll pick a place, let you know." "Ah, David." "How are you, Joe?" "I'm behind you." "Let's do this." "Do what?" "Keep your cards close." "I like that." "Hi." "Yeah." "This is room 1214." "I'd like a bottle of the Weinbach, please." "Yeah." "Actually, could you make that two bottles?" "Thank you." "Sit down." "You're making me nervous." "You still smoke?" "From time to time, yes." "I quit." "These are an illusion." "You want?" "Sure." "What?" "Not now." "Okay." "I should go." "I just..." "assumed..." "I know." "We can't start this again." "When I end something, I end it." "So why'd you have me come all the way down from New York?" "It was a mistake." "I'm sorry, Adam." "I should've kept it business." "Side of you I like the least." "There are no mistakes, Claire." " Hi." " Hello." " More wine?" " Mmm-hmm." "How was your day?" " Good." " Adam well?" "He is." "We just had dinner." "Hmm." "I emailed Remy on the way home." "I told him I'm not taking the money." "Thank you." "I appreciate that this was not easy." "Well, we don't like easy, do we?" "All the evidence would suggest it." "Is it all right if the Holburns come over for dinner Wednesday night?" "I want Felicity to buy some tables for the gala." "Yeah, of course." "I'm going to need Congressmen and senators there." "You need to call in favors." "Done." "Not a few, a lot." "I'll start making calls in the morning." "Adam donated 10 photographs." "That was generous of him." "He's staying at the Mandarin." "And you?" "Here." "But the Proving Ground's importance stems far beyond its strategic geographic value." "APG's research and development of military materiel is central to our nation's counter-terrorism efforts." "The base houses research laboratories for preventative medicine as well as a wide variety of training grounds for military personnel." "APG is also a job creator." "It provides $400 million in payroll annually, and nearly $500 million in contracts." "Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today." "Any questions for the Congresswoman from Maryland?" "No." "Those in favor of removing the Aberdeen Proving Ground from the list of closures?" " Aye." " Aye." "So noted and removed." "Okay, we'll next consider the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard." "Would the congressman from Pennsylvania's first district like to offer testimony?" "I have no testimony to offer." "Yeah, but the difference that we're gonna make..." "Uh, Terry, let me call you right back." "Terry Womack?" "Possibly." "I've had three members of the Black Caucus tell me they're backing my play for the speakership." " Interesting." " I have a sense you've been disseminating some misinformation." "No." "I'm afraid it's you who are misinformed, David." "You don't have three members backing you." "You have 10." "I made it very clear I didn't want any part of this." "Yes, you made it crystal clear." "Then why are you telling people?" "Because they don't know you made it crystal clear." "I have to go to Bob with this." "He'll think you organized a coup, got cold feet, and are making me the scapegoat." "David, if I pick up this phone right now and leak this story," "Bob will have no choice but to drop you, even if he believes your version of events." "You wanna take a seat?" " Ah, Freddy?" " Yeah, Frank?" "You better make it a half order." "I got a big dinner tonight." "Sure thing." " Slaw?" "Uh-huh." "You got it." " Always." "Here you go." "So, what's the latest?" "You know, Frank." "Same old shit." "Almost got killed last weekend." " Here?" " No." "State fair down in Virginia." "Me and my brother hauling this smoker down there, and this fucking minivan had a fridge strapped on top." "A fridge strapped on top of a minivan, Frank." " That's stupid." " Well, that fridge slipped loose." "Boom!" "Right in front of us." "I had to swerve to the left." "Barely missed it." "But now that smoker is fishtailing, almost hit a hatchback in the next lane." "Swerved to the right." "Barely missed that, too." " Jesus" " Oh, man, it was real." "But, you know, that's why God gave us reflexes." "So we can move the fuck out of the way when a fridge come out of nowhere." "How are them ribs?" "You know how they are." "You know I like to hear it." "Perfection, Freddy." "Perfection." "You go on ahead, Frank." "Thank you, Freddy." "Well, this is a surprise." " You usually text." " Where are you?" "On the other side of the tracks trying to find the meaning of life." "Find anything for me?" "You mean anything newsworthy?" "I actually didn't call to badger you." "Yes, you did, but that's part of your charm." "No." "I wanted to tell you that" "I've been promoted to White House correspondent." "I'll have to travel with the press corps, be at briefings, but I can work around all that." "If you need me." "It won't change anything." "Oh, on the contrary." "This changes everything." "No." "I can be flexible." "I'm not interested in someone who's flexible," "I'm interested in someone who's available." "So you think I should turn it down?" "That's entirely up to you." "Well, I mean, it's not official yet." "I could..." "Oh, look, I've got to go, but call me, you know, if you find yourself available again." "You see, Freddy believes that if a fridge falls off a minivan, you better swerve out of its way." "I believe it's the fridge's job to swerve out of mine." "Hey, Janine..." "Keep walking, Zoe." "I really don't want to talk to you right now." "It's not like I asked him for it." "He just called me into his office, and..." "Oh, please." "You've been gunning for my job since the day you bounced in here with a lollipop in your mouth." "Congratulations." "I'll send you a bottle of champagne from the Middle West, wherever the fuck that is." "I'm gonna turn it down." "You don't have to leave." "Are you trying to rub this in or something?" "Please believe me." "You should be in the White House." "I don't want it." "I never did." "I was hoping we could go see Tom together." "I want him to know that we both..." "Get the fuck out of my face." "I'm asking." "For real." "I don't want the job." "Then you're an even bigger idiot than I thought you were." "Go." "Before I get violent." "Peter?" "Hello?" "Hi." "My name is Christina." "I work with your dad." " He's not here." " Where'd he go?" "I don't know." "He said he'd be back in a little while." "When was that?" "When he dropped us home from school." "He left his phone here." "Are you Dad's girlfriend?" "No." "No." "I work for your dad." "Then why do you have the keys to his apartment?" "Will you make us Pop-Tarts?" "It was just sublime, Claire." "Thank you." "I don't think I'll eat for a week." "Does that mean no room for dessert?" "I'd love to, but none for me." "Why don't you and I head downstairs for a little brandy and some cigars?" "Cubans?" "You don't think I smoke anything legal, do you?" "Dessert for you?" "No." "No, thanks." "But I will take a refill of this Chardonnay, though." "Of course." "This is almost out." "I'll grab another." "I hate how they just hit you like that with no warning." "You get night sweats, too?" "I, umm..." "This is very new to me." "Does Frank know?" "I haven't..." "We haven't..." "No." "I'm sorry." "We don't have to talk about this." "No." "It's fine." "I'm just..." "It's fine." "I feel better now." " Could I have a little bit more?" " Sure." "Just say when." "Charles is driving tonight, so..." "And when." " Cheers." " Cheers." "So, you mentioned, when you invited me, the CWI." "You're having a gala and launching some new..." "Yes, that's right." "We just brought on this brilliant young woman who's going to help us expand our efforts overseas." "Claire, I will save you the trouble." "Charles and I would be delighted to contribute." "Well, that's very generous of you, Felicity." "Well, you were such a darling, getting us tickets to the Jefferson Ball." "Oh, that was nothing." "It wasn't nothing." "It was..." "People in this town don't go out of their way to be nice to each other." "Fourteen years Charles and I have been here, and..." "Anyway, um..." "I'm grateful to have a friend." "How much do you need?" "Christina, what the fuck are you doing here?" "Shh!" "They're sleeping." "Peter." "Hey, kiddo Hey, Dad." "Would you take your brother downstairs?" "I'll be there in a second." "Okay." "Bye, Dad." "Bye." "Bye?" "Where they going?" "I'm taking them to their grandmother's." "I was able to get ahold of Madeleine, and I told her..." "Fuck." "You didn't tell her?" "No, I didn't." "But I should have." "I told her that you had to travel for work, which is the last time I ever lie for you." "Look." "What happened, Peter?" "I'm sorry about the BRAC hearing." "Fuck the BRAC hearing." "What about your kids?" "After I drop them off, I'm done." "I am no longer your girlfriend." "I no longer work for you." "No." "Hey, Christina..." "I don't want to hear it, Peter." "There's no excuse this time." "I don't have much time, Frank." "I'll make it short." " The President?" " No." "The speakership." "David's making a play." " What?" " He came to me for support." "My first thought was to tell you right away, but then my second thought was to ignore my first thought, because we have the votes, Bob." "If there had been a party revolt, I would've known about it." "We don't need the whole party to revolt." "We need 13..." "Thirteen Democrats, plus the other side of the aisle." "Are you out of your mind?" "People have been asking me that a lot lately." "I'm inclined to start saying yes." "Who are they, the 13?" "David and I are two, Terry Womack, and 10 members of the Black Caucus make another 11." "Is the President behind this?" "No." "He doesn't have a clue." "This was David's plan executed by me." "But there is an out for you, Bob." "I can sway Womack either way as long as you make him the next majority leader." "And..." "The Education Bill." "Now we're on the same page." "I can't do that." "You know I can't." "You're the Speaker, Bob." "You can do anything you'd like." "And I have to say, appointing the first" "African-American majority leader, why, that isn't a bad legacy to have." "I'm sorry." "I changed my mind." "I thought about it, and." "Thinking about it was what those two days were for." "And then I thought about it some more, and I realized I..." "Jesus Christ, you're fucking unbelievable." "Look, Tom, I appreciate the fact that you took a chance on me, but..." "No, I don't think you do." "I don't think you appreciate anything." "I think you're an ungrateful, self-entitled little..." "Little what?" "Little what, Tom?" "Say it." "Cunt." "You're a cunt." "What are you doing?" "Don't you dare..." "You don't even know what I'm typing." " Get out, Zoe." " Just a second." "I'm almost done." "Get out." "You're fired." "Whatever you have to tell yourself, Tom." "Get out!" "So should I press send?" "I think I should." "Call me whatever you want, but you should remember, these days, when you're talking to one person, you're talking to 1,000." "Well, you'll say you wanted to spend more time focusing on your home district." "You'll say Womack is the right man to fill your shoes." "You won't make waves." "You won't do interviews." "You'll suck it up and be a team player." "This was Frank's idea." "I told you he was gonna try to blame me on it." "Ask around." "Talk to Womack." "I did." "He said you came to him." "He's fucking lying, Bob!" "I would never..." "Shut up, David." "Do you understand how you're to behave when we make the announcement?" "And if I don't play along?" "Then the DCCC will pour everything it's got into your primary opponent's campaign next cycle." "We'll cleave you from the herd and watch you die in the wilderness." "Tell us now, David." "If you think it's best, Robert." "And just think, he could have been a wolf." "You made yourself available." "I quit." "Fuck that place." "It was a prison." "I'm free now." "Congratulations." "Where are you?" "In a car." "So am I." "Where you headed?" "Home." "So am I." "To your home or mine?" "Is that an invitation?" "It's whatever you want it to be." "You sound tipsy." "I am." "I just spent the last two hours drinking Long Island Iced Teas." "What's your address?" "Do your parents know you live like this?" "No." "They haven't visited." "Are you cared for?" "How do you mean?" "Do you have a man who cares for you?" "An older man." "No." "But you've been with older men before?" "Yes." "Then you know they hurt you, and after they hurt you," "they discard you." "You can't hurt me." "Take your heels off."