I still can't understand why Pete
would wanna go into politics.
Maybe he wants to do something
to help his city.
Since when did a politician
wanna help anybody except himself?
- They're all crooks and liars.
- Oh, come on, Mark.
There's a lot of good, honest people
in public office.
Honest? You can't be honest.
You tell the truth,
you don't get elected.
Whose fault is that? The politician
or the people who vote for him?
Both. The people want the government
to be everything for them.
But they won't elect the guy who says
they're gonna have to pay for it.
I mean, we're getting to be like a
bunch of spoiled kids with bad parents.
Would you tell me why we're going
to your friend's
campaign headquarters to help?
Because Pete Nelson
is not a politician.
He's a cop who worked his way
through law school.
Thinks he can make a difference.
Man, you look in the dictionary
under the word "integrity,"
you'll find Pete's picture there.
Then he's running for mayor because
he wants to do something for his city.
- Isn't that what I just said?
- Yeah, one of us said it.
The other one said
he doesn't trust any politicians.
What are you listening to him for?
He doesn't even look like
a politician.
How would you know
what a politician looks like?
- Hey, Pete, how are you?
- Hey.
Oh, you always were good
at sneaking up on people.
Listen, I want you to meet
my friend Jonathan Smith.
Listen, we kind of work together
these days, if that's all right with you.
- Welcome aboard.
- Thank you.
I can use all the help I can get.
Come in, I'll show you around.
Where are you taking us?
To a smoke-filled room?
As a matter of fact, I am.
Except nobody smokes anymore.
Ann, look who I found
out on the street.
Mark Gordon. Oakland's finest.
- How you doing?
- Oh, I'm fine.
I'm so glad to see you.
I'd like you to meet
my campaign manager, Phil Schott.
Phil, this is Mark Gordon
and Jonathan Smith.
Our new advance men.
We've already got advance men,
professional advance men.
That's the problem. You professionals
treat me like I'm running for president.
Now, I can't even go to the bathroom
without a press release.
I've known Mark Gordon
for years.
He's a buddy, not a PR man.
Besides, if anyone
can keep his perspective under fire,
- it's Mark Gordon.
- Right.
Perspective doesn't win elections,
Pete.
Money wins elections.
Media exposure wins elections.
Advertising wins elections.
You'll have to forgive Phil.
He doesn't have much faith
in the voter.
I don't have much faith in anything,
except getting my candidate
up on the podium
with a smile on his face
come election night.
There is only one rule in politics,
that's to win.
Richard Osbourne knows that rule,
believe me.
Who's Richard Osbourne?
He's the enemy. Right, Dad?
Don't tell me this is Jeff.
Well, it'd better be or I've been feeding
the wrong boy all these years.
This is the guy who threw
the first pass you ever caught, son.
And now
he's All City Tight End, Mark.
- You're Mark Gordon?
- Yeah, that's right.
Well, I'll be.
The last time I saw you,
you were about this high.
I remember you
being a little bigger too.
Well, everybody changes
over the years.
Almost everybody.
I can't promise
to change the system overnight,
but I guarantee you
that if I'm elected mayor,
there will be enough books
in the schoolrooms
and the kids will be able to play
in their schoolyard without fear.
That's what the last mayor said.
Now, what makes you different?
The last mayor
didn't make you pay the price.
What price? Higher taxes?
I won't rule out higher taxes
if necessary.
Look, in Japan, teachers are in the
upper percent of the wage scale.
In the United States,
they're in the bottom percent.
But I'm talking about what you,
what you must pay as parents.
The best teacher in the world
is a parent.
The best crime prevention I know of
is the example
parents give their children at home.
You believe that Nelson?
First he won't rule out higher taxes,
then he wants the people
to solve their own problems.
You see, people want answers,
they don't want lectures.
Yeah, well,
whatever he's saying, it's working.
These overnight tracking polls
still have him
with higher integrity numbers
than you have and lower negatives.
Well, we'll see what Pete Nelson's
integrity numbers are
after we nail his father-in-law.
Pratt, how are you
and the U.S. Attorney doing
on the Steelgrave case?
Of course he did inside trading
and he cheated on his taxes.
Nobody made that kind of money
by being honest.
That's what I'd like to hear. Yeah.
Don't let anybody know
where you got this idea.
- Dad.
- What?
Are we still going
to the game on Saturday?
What game?
The game between
Taft and Kennedy.
What, you want me to go watch
Nelson's kid b*at your school?
Jeff Nelson isn't that good.
We can b*at them.
"We? We?"
What are you talking about, "We?"
You didn't even make the team.
Sheila, I wanna go over
these debate notes.
Good idea.
Look, I think the harder we hit
the drug issue, the better.
I mean, it's headline stuff
every day now.
You can't go wrong.
Well, I wanna drop that bombshell
on Nelson tonight.
I thought you wanted
to save that one for a while.
Well, no, I think it's good timing
right now.
Because, look,
it got Ginsburg out in nothing flat.
How are you doing today?
There's seats right there for you.
How are you doing? Nice to see you
here. Follow these guys here.
- You're Richie Osbourne, aren't you?
- Yeah, what of it?
I'm Jeff Nelson.
I'm Pete Nelson's son.
Yeah, I know who you are.
- Hey, you go to Taft, don't you?
- Yeah.
- We play you guys Saturday.
- So what?
- That was Jeff Nelson?
- You know it was, Mom.
His picture's only in the paper
every other day.
We can't escape it.
It's in the news every day.
And both of you know
what I'm talking about.
What are you gonna do about the drug
problem in our city, Mr. Osbourne?
Warren, as district attorney
of this city for the last four years,
I've prosecuted more drug offenders
than anyone in the whole state.
Now, unlike my opponent,
I wholeheartedly endorse
the new procedures given to us
by the court and the police
to deal with the scum
who would poison our children.
Zero tolerance.
Searching trash, hot pursuit,
looking through school lockers.
I mean, finally,
we're getting the tools
to bring those who deal with dr*gs
to their knees.
Mr. Nelson.
There is no more pressing problem
in our society today than drug abuse.
When our children aren't safe from
dr*gs even in our elementary schools,
then it's time for drastic action.
But it's my opinion that action should
centre on education and interdiction,
not the hysterical tramplings
of our constitutional rights
as favoured by Mr. Osbourne.
Drug dealers have no rights.
That's the kind of demagogic rhetoric
that confuses the issue.
All American citizens have rights
until proven guilty of a crime.
That's what this country has fought
But what kind of message
are we sending our young people
when our own government
makes deals
with drug dealers
and foreign governments
while taking away the constitutional
rights of its own citizens?
That's exactly the kind of remark
I'd expect to hear
from a former drug user.
How did they get that?
Those are pretty serious charges,
Mr. Osbourne.
I don't make charges I can't back up.
I believe Mr. Osbourne
is alluding to a period
twenty years ago,
when I was in college.
If it weren't for people like you
in the ' s,
we wouldn't have
any drug addicts in the ' s.
I admit I smoked marijuana
when I was in Berkeley.
We all do things when we're young
that we aren't proud of.
If we didn't make mistakes,
we'd never learn.
I've tried to teach my own son
about the horror of dr*gs
including this nation's
most vicious k*ller, alcohol.
When you give your body
and your mind over to a chemical,
nothing good can happen.
And I promise you that drug dealers
and drug users will be prosecuted
just as vigorously
under a Nelson administration
as they would be
under my opponent's.
I'd also like to add
that if the DA's office wasn't so busy
rummaging through people's
they'd know that I worked for six years
in the Oakland Police Department
in the Narcotics Division.
My office is interested in truth
and justice, not excuses.
When it comes
to getting tough on crime,
you don't sound very much
like a cop.
Maybe that's why
you became a lawyer,
because you're interested
in defending criminals
instead of arresting them.
That's okay. That's okay.
- Good morning.
- Good morning, honey.
- Your breakfast is on the table.
- Thank you.
Well, you ready
for the Taft game, son?
We better be.
The city championship's on the line.
I hope that little dust-up with Osbourne
on the marijuana issue last night
doesn't get a lot of tongues
wagging at school.
Most of the kids are pretty cool
about things like that, Dad.
You're still gonna get some flack,
you know that.
I can handle it.
Not easy
being in the public eye, is it?
- Dad, I said I can handle it.
- All right.
I gotta go. I don't wanna miss
geography class.
You mean you don't wanna miss
Tracy Clark before geography class.
Dad, when you're right, you're right.
- Bye, Mom.
- Bye.
I didn't want Jeff to see this.
"U.S. Attorney indicts financier.
Bill Steelgrave is accused
of insider trading and tax fraud.
Steelgrave, father-in-law
of mayoral candidate Pete Nelson,
will be indicted
in federal court next week."
Oh, God, now they're attacking
your father.
Welcome to the wonderful world
of politics.
Thanks.
There you go, Richie,
just like you like them.
Cut it. Is that good for you?
All right, that was fine.
Now we're gonna do
that walking sh*t.
Come on. Richie.
Come on, Richie, let's move it.
There we go, all right.
- One big happy family.
- Shut up.
- Stand up straight.
- I am.
Okay, dolly, zoom,
we're gonna keep it tight three.
Okay? We're all set.
Okay, now I want you
to start walking toward me.
Big smiles.
That's it.
How can the voters
resist this family?
And cut it.
We'll go one more time.
Okay, this time, I don't want you
to follow him the whole way.
Don't pan with him.
Let him walk up, okay?
Richard, these are the latest
tracking polls.
- These are the latest?
- Yeah, they're the overnights.
You're still points behind Nelson.
Twenty points with women.
The only group you're leading with
is white males over .
Well, these can't be right.
Nelson is an admitted drug user.
And his father-in-law is a crook.
Yeah, I can't figure it either,
but the numbers don't lie.
People must like him.
Or they don't like me.
Look at all these negatives.
They'd like you, Dad,
if you gave them a chance.
If you spent some more time
talking to them, like Nelson does.
What, are you a political consultant?
You can't even get into college, but you
know how to run a campaign, huh?
He was just trying to help, Richard.
Yeah, well, I don't want his help.
He can't help himself,
so how can I expect him to help me?
Mr. Osbourne, we're losing the light.
Yeah, we're losing the light.
We're losing the damn election.
Come on, let's get this over with.
Hey, Richie, come on.
Come on, please.
I hate wearing tuxedos.
I feel like a penguin in a straitjacket.
You mean you feel auk-ward?
What's funny?
Auk-ward, auk. A-U-K.
An auk. An auk,
it's a type of penguin.
It's a joke.
Oh, that's funny.
These just came across the wire
on the city news service.
Look at those numbers.
We've got that weasel Osbourne
by the short hairs.
Come on, you know I don't trust polls,
Phil.
Maybe you don't,
but these folks sure do.
May I have your attention, folks?
May I have your attention, folks?
I'd like to announce the results
of the latest mayoralty tracking poll
taken over the past hours.
Pete Nelson, percent.
Richard Osbourne, percent
with percent undecided.
- We got them now.
- Hey, don't be so sure.
Remember Thomas Dewey
would've been
the rd President of the United States
if candidates were elected by polls.
Come on, Jonathan,
don't be such a killjoy.
I'll tell you what, you don't
remind me of Thomas Dewey
and I won't remind you
of your auk-ward joke.
As I told you
at the start of the evening,
we're gonna keep
the speeches brief.
Thank you.
And to lead off the evening,
I'd like to introduce a young man
who I am sure knows Pete Nelson
better than any other man in this room.
He's a well-known gentleman
in his own right.
He's an honour student,
an All CityTight End
and a son to make any father proud.
Jeff Nelson.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
When my father asked me
to introduce him here this evening.
I was, well, I was very proud,
because, well, it gives me a chance
to be his son.
You know, when I was younger,
my father worked as a policeman.
And at night,
he'd go to school to study law.
Now, that's not an easy task.
You know, but somehow,
he always found time for his family.
For Mom and for me.
He coached me in T-ball,
and then Pop Warner.
He loved sports.
But he always made sure
I kept them in perspective.
Made sure my education came first.
He taught me to love reading.
And he showed me how hard work
can give a person a sense of pride.
He taught me how to be a man.
Oh, he was rough on me
when he had to. Trust me.
He doesn't abide telling lies.
Mistakes he can understand,
but lies he won't put up with.
But I'll tell you one thing,
he was always gentle with me
when I was hurt.
I know this kind of thing
embarrasses you, Dad,
but it's your fault
for asking me to introduce you.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I give you the next mayor
and the best father
any kid could ever have, Pete Nelson.
- Jeff.
- Hey, morning, Mr. Lee.
I received a disturbing phone call
this morning.
A boy who said he was a student
here at Kennedy,
but who wouldn't give me his name,
told me you were selling marijuana
here at school.
What?
I'm afraid I'm gonna have to
search your locker, Jeff.
You're gonna search my locker
because of some
anonymous phone call?
That's right, son. I'm sorry.
I'll open it for you.
You know, I know as a parent
the pride a father has in his children.
I mean, my own son, Richie, is a
senior in high school like Jeff Nelson.
And my first reaction was,
there but for the grace of God go I.
Come on, turn the television off.
I don't wanna watch this hypocrite.
I also know as a parent
you have to talk to them.
You have to try to understand them.
I ask for one favour, one lousy favour,
turn off the television.
Mark, you were closer to the set
than I was.
This lousy motel
doesn't have remote control, you do.
I'm sorry, Jon.
This whole thing with Pete and Jeff
and the campaign.
I mean,
Pete would make a great mayor.
And I know Jeff
wasn't selling dr*gs in his school.
That kid hasn't touched
anything stronger than wheat germ.
Well, you're right about that.
It wasn't his.
I mean, all you gotta do
is look at him--
- It wasn't?
- No.
You know that for a fact?
Of course you know that for a fact.
Who was it? Who planted the stuff?
It was Osbourne, wasn't it?
- I can't tell you who it was.
- What do you mean you can't tell me?
You don't tell me
then Pete loses the election.
Not to mention
what's gonna happen to Jeff.
I can't tell you who it was
because I don't know.
Even if I did know,
we couldn't prove it.
Kid's innocent, he's being crucified.
We've gotta do something.
Now, it was Osbourne. You know
it was Osbourne, and I know it.
Now, I'm gonna do something
to prove that.
- Bye.
- Bye.
That was great.
Martha, let's get going.
There's no way we can keep
our heads in the sand any longer.
Working mothers make up more
and more of today's work force,
yet our city has only three
daycare centres in operation.
That's not only bad government,
it's bad politics.
- Pete. Pete.
- Excuse me.
- What is it?
- Daddy's in the hospital.
It's his heart again. Jeff went straight
over there. Can you come now?
I'm sorry, something's come up.
Family matter.
I have to go to the hospital.
Now you get that look off your face.
It'll take more than a little palpitation of
the ticker for me to cash in my chips.
- You got us worried, though.
- Well, stop worrying.
I'm not gonna kick off
until my name is cleared.
I'm not paying those lawyers
all that money
just to miss my day in court.
You wouldn't be in court
if it wasn't for me.
Dad, Pete's thinking about
giving up the race.
He what? Is that true?
We've talked about it.
Last couple of days
have been rough on everyone.
Rough, maybe.
Nobody ever said politics was easy.
I remember once,
reading about an English MP.
His name was Burke.
- Edmund Burke.
- Grandpa.
Edmund Burke was Irish
and he lived in the th century.
Irish, of course.
I'm glad to se that our schools
are teaching something
other than computer Ping-Pong.
Anyway, this Burke was a member
of one of the most corrupt
British Parliaments.
So bad that many of the best men
would have nothing to do with politics.
And one day, his countrymen
were complaining to him
about the sorry state
of the parliament
and how the king was driving
their country to ruin.
Well, old Burke fixed these fellows
with a hard stare and said:
"For evil to triumph,
good men must do nothing."
Seems to me those words
mean as much today as they did then.
What do you think?
Maybe even more.
What are you doing?
Nothing.
Yes, you are. What are you doing?
I'm not doing anything.
Why don't you go ride your bike?
I know what you're doing.
You're looking for food.
Yeah, right.
You're a bum, aren't you?
No, I am not a bum.
Now why don't you go ride your trike?
If you're not a bum,
then why are you looking for food?
Look, I am not looking for food
and I am not a bum.
All right. All right.
You look like a bum.
Excuse me.
I'm looking for some rolling papers.
A friend of mine
said I could buy them here.
Sure, you can buy them here.
How many do you want?
One'll be fine.
I also need some tobacco.
We only sell pipe tobacco.
You sell cigarette rolling papers,
but you don't sell cigarette tobacco?
Right.
There's no law against it.
All the stores do it.
Everybody knows
what the papers are for.
- It'll be cents.
- You sell a lot of these?
Look, what's your game, mister?
You some kind of cop?
Actually, I'm a private investigator.
- You're a PI?
- Yeah.
I need some information
on this market sales slip.
- It's from two days ago.
- I know.
We got a magazine,
bag of potato chips,
packet of cigarette papers.
Hey, cigarette papers.
This guy smokes doobie too.
It says, "Charge," there on the slip,
but it doesn't say who charged it.
Well, I wasn't here two days ago,
but it'd be easy to find out.
All our charge customers
have these numbers.
All I'd have to do would be to...
Look it up.
And tell you this customer's name
is Osbourne.
Loma Linda Drive.
Thanks.
Hey, mister,
you forgot to pay for the papers.
I don't smoke.
This slip proves that somebody
in the Osbourne family,
probably Richie, bought a pack
of cigarette rolling papers
the day before Jeff was framed.
Where did you get this slip, Mark?
Where did you get it?
Osbourne trash.
I had a hunch about Osbourne.
Only way I could prove it
was to go through his trash.
With Osbourne's account number
on that slip,
all we have to do is point the reporters
in the right direction.
They'll find enough witnesses.
Are you sure, Mark,
this is Osbourne's?
The clerk wouldn't lie.
Not for bucks.
You mean, you bribed someone
for this information?
Give him a break, Pete.
He saved your kid's reputation,
not to mention the election.
What more do you want?
I can't wait to see the look
on Osbourne's face
when he finds out
we searched his trash.
Hoisted on his own petard.
I just can't believe Osbourne
would do something like this.
We have to give him a chance
to explain.
Explain?
His kid didn't think this scheme up
on his own.
I don't have to tell you, Pete,
if Osbourne had this on you,
he'd go straight to the press.
And I don't have to tell you,
I'm not Richard Osbourne.
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah.
Sheila, you know,
that's a swing of over points.
No, no, I'll play it very low-key
at the debate tonight.
Yes.
One father understanding
the pain of another.
Don't worry.
You know, I didn't just come to town
on a load of hay.
Sheila, we're in, you know that?
I'll see you tonight.
We're ready and the car's waiting.
Oh, that was Sheila,
just got the results of the latest poll.
Nelson is down by ten
and I'm up by .
So what do you think of that,
Mrs. Mayor?
It's wonderful.
That Nelson kid, I could kiss him,
that big speech he made
about his old man.
Well, he buried him.
I can't wait to get to that debate
tonight.
And you, you gotta stand up straight,
you gotta watch your posture.
You'll be the son of the next mayor.
Let's go.
Of course he's gonna win.
You've seen the polls.
No, no, we won't forget.
I will. I'll tell him.
Okay, bye.
Richie, get that, please.
Richie, I'd like to have a word
with your father if I could.
You work for Nelson, don't you?
What do you want?
Yeah, my name's Jonathan Smith.
Mr. Nelson asked me to come over
and try to arrange a meeting
with you tonight, privately,
before the debate.
He wants to see me now?
What about?
He's dropping out, right?
All I know is it's a private matter.
Anything that he wants to say
in front of me,
he can say in front of my family,
so if he's so anxious to see me,
you tell him to come here himself.
I'll tell him.
It's over, I guarantee it.
He knows it, he knows it.
He just wants to avoid that debate
because he knows it's a done deal.
Sheila, chill up the champagne.
Come on in.
Hi, Pete, what's on your mind?
This isn't easy for me, Richard.
Well, I'm sure it's not.
My campaign has found evidence
that leads us to conclude
that your son Richie
planted the marijuana and papers
in Jeff's locker.
Well, I know you're desperate,
but that's absurd.
This is a photocopy of a market receipt
charged to your account.
One of the items
is a pack of cigarette papers
like those found in Jeff's locker.
What do you mean, a photocopy?
How did you get my market receipt?
I'm afraid you can blame me for that.
I went through your trash.
You had your people
go into my trash?
You?
The protector of the Constitution?
You know,
I should sue you for slander.
You know, accusing me and my family
for setting up your drugged-out kid.
Why don't you ask your son
if he bought those papers?
I don't have to.
Richie?
The clerk will be able to identify you,
son. There's no use lying about it.
Richie?
Richie?
It's true. I planted the stuff.
I'll be happy
to let you speak first, Richard,
if you wanna clear the air.
But I have to warn you, if you don't say
anything about this matter,
I'll be forced to talk about it.
Not to hurt Richie,
but to redeem my own son's name.
I swear
I didn't know anything about this, Pete.
Yeah, I believe you.
Well, what we need now
is some serious damage control.
No, Sheila, what we need now
is for our family to talk, alone.
- We have a debate starting in a few--
- Get out.
Do you know what you've done?
Do you?
Do you know what you've done?
- I'm sorry.
- You're sorry.
You hear that, Liz? He's sorry.
He's cost me the election.
Why did you do it, Richie?
Why did he do it?
Because he's stupid, that's why.
It doesn't make any difference,
it's over.
Let him answer.
Why, Richie?
I wanted to do something
to help Dad.
Help me? Oh, help me.
Let him finish.
You were always making
such a big deal over Nelson's kid.
I knew you wished
you had a son like that.
And I hated him, because I knew.
So I did it.
So you'd win and wouldn't wanna
have a son like him.
I love you, Dad.
I'm sorry.
Please forgive me.
No, get away from me.
Richie.
Richie.
Even now, with your own son
begging for your love and mercy,
you can't stop being the candidate.
The hell with your son.
The election's the important thing.
What he did was wrong.
It was stupid.
Are you trying to justify it?
What Richie did he did out of pain.
Out of hurt.
He was desperate and tried to help
his father the only way he knew how.
Political hardball is what you'd call it.
Negative campaigning
taken to its logical conclusion
by a -year-old boy.
You seed an investigation
into Nelson's father-in-law.
Richie plants seeds
on Nelson's son.
There's a difference, Liz.
Maybe in degree, not in kind.
This conversation
is getting us nowhere.
I've got five minutes
to try to salvage my political career.
Your career. Always your career.
For years, I have listened
to you moralizing and speechifying
about justice and truth.
You know, the funny part is,
a part of me really believed that.
I should have known
why all these years,
you never had any time for your son.
He wasn't old enough to vote.
Welcome to the final
League of Women Voters' Debate
for this year's mayoral race.
Now, by mutual agreement,
Richard Osbourne
will be speaking first,
and then Pete Nelson.
Ladies and gentlemen,
District Attorney Richard Osbourne.
Warren.
Ladies and gentlemen, before I make
my introductory remarks,
I would like to relay some information
that I received
shortly before I came
on stage tonight.
I'm sure you're all aware of the fact
that my opponent's son
was suspended from school last week.
Marijuana was found in his locker.
I have just been told
by my son, Richie,
that Jeff Nelson was the victim
of a cruel prank.
A prank that I sadly report
was perpetrated by my son.
I would like to take this opportunity
to apologise to my friend, Pete,
to his lovely wife, Ann,
and to his son.
I knew nothing of Richie's action,
and as difficult as it is for me,
I would just like to say
I take heart in the fact
that when we make a mistake,
we can learn from it.
I know that Richie
has already learned a great deal
from his error in judgement.
An error of a son trying to help
his father win an election.
But I know that I've learned
a great deal.
I have learned
that a father can only do his best,
that both of us,
both parent and child,
must be assume responsibility
for our deeds.
Now, I will stand by Richie,
as I've always done,
but I will not shield him
from his guilt.
A guilt that is his alone.
You're the DA.
Why don't you prosecute him?
Think how good that'd look
in the press.
"DA shows no favouritism,
convicts own son."
That should be worth ten points
in the election polls.
Obviously, my wife
is very distraught by this affair.
I'm sure you understand that.
Ladies and gentlemen, Pete Nelson.
Before I came here tonight,
I had a speech all prepared.
It was about the future of our city
and my role in that future.
But then listening to Richard,
I began to wonder
if the important thing
about this election,
indeed, all elections, isn't what
the politician can do for the citizen,
but what the citizen should do
for himself and his community.
Travelling our city
the past few months,
I haven't seen a lot of hope.
I've seen fear, I've seen cynicism
and I've seen apathy.
People ask why our country
has lost it's competitive edge.
Why its citizens
have lost their pride.
It's because politicians like myself
ask for your vote
by telling you
that everything will be all right.
By giving you the good news,
but not the bad.
By placating you, the voter,
not challenging you.
Every day,
I'm flooded with polling information
telling me what to do
to boost my numbers
with black women or white men.
That's my son-in-law.
Everything about politics today
is to appease and appeal
to the various voting groups.
Tell them what they wanna hear,
not what they need to hear.
Give it to us, Pete.
If this country is about freedom
and equality,
why do we have black polls
and white polls
and women's polls and age polls
and income polls?
What's he doing?
He's being a leader
instead of a politician.
Is that how you bring people together?
By separating them?
Well, I don't think so.
But campaign managers tell you
that you need the information
in order to know what promises
to make the different voting groups.
And that's how you win.
And winning is everything.
And don't worry about those promises
once you're elected,
because you don't
have to keep them.
The people are so used
to broken promises,
they don't care anymore.
Politics has become a game
packaged by Madison Avenue.
You wanna appeal to men,
they film you throwing a football.
You wanna appeal to women,
you kiss the babies.
And whatever you do, don't sweat.
Because sweating
is the kiss of death on television.
Well, I'm here to warn you
that if I'm elected mayor of this city,
I'm going to sweat,
because it's a tough job,
and you're gonna have to sweat too.
Because having a city
that you can be proud of is a tough job.
And in order to get that job done,
we're gonna have
to work together as a team
and stop thinking about ourselves.
I dream of a city with pride,
where people care about each other.
Not just with words,
but with actions.
We have to help the poor.
We have to educate our children.
We have to clean up
our environment.
And we have to make our streets
safe again for all our people.
But I can't promise you
all those things,
although my campaign manager
would like me to,
because it's not up to me.
It's up to us.
This is our city, this is our country.
And what happens to it
is up to all of us.
Thank you.
Heck of a speech he made tonight,
wasn't it?
Yeah, it sure was.
Think it could ever happen?
What?
You know, like what he was saying,
you know, people working together,
helping each other
to make this city, this country,
the kind of place it should be.
You think that could ever be?
I don't know.
It's like Pete said, it's up to all of us.
Yeah.
Hey, what are you doing
throwing your trash in the street?
Big deal. What do you care?
I care about you trashing up
this city.
That's what we got street cleaners for,
stupid.