Battleground (2012) s01e06 Episode Script

1
[CHATTERING]
- Good morning.
- Good morning.
- I'm just the messenger.
- Is this about the polls?
No, but we did go down a little bit.
Margin of error.
It's all about Milwaukee, Ben.
If we get our voters out in Madison,
Rudy's gotta get hers in Milwaukee.
Election days are all about
who wants it more.
You think Rudy's campaign's
out this early?
About that.
Someone super-glued all our locks.
Rudy's campaign wants to play.
Good morning.
LINDSEY: Hey.
TAK: Nail polish remover?
No.
Anybody want some Thai food?
No?
- Thank you very much.
BEN: Tak? I found this if you wanna--?
Take it easy, He-Man.
Now, it takes a very gentle touch.
You wanna be careful
not to break the locking mechanism.
And voilĂ .
Sometimes you also want to go
with a more aggressive approach.
We can all thank the Rudy campaign
by kicking their ass.
Just 12 more hours, Ben.
[CHATTERING]
KJ: We can move it. Try another place.
- Are there too many books?
I mean, does this say she's well-read
or she just reads airport books all day?
KJ:
Can you read the titles?
- And let's lose Rising Sun.
- Can we see it from back here?
- Thank you, Lindsey.
- Reverend Giles from Milwaukee
wanted to speak to you.
He's in your office.
TAK:
Really? This should be interesting.
- What do you think he wants?
- Don't know. We're gonna find out.
KJ:
Isn't he a Rudy supporter?
It's North Milwaukee,
endorsements are always fluid up there.
You and Cole wanna sit in?
Cole left a message
on the voicemail, he's still sick.
[PHONE BUZZES]
- Really? Odd. Are you in?
- No, I should take this.
Teamwork.
- Reverend.
- Hey, Tak. How you doing?
Thank you so much for stopping in.
I am feeling like 6 p.m.
can't come soon enough. Ha, ha.
How's the north side?
Good. Good.
You know, we're opening up another
youth center near Marquette.
- That's wonderful. Doing God's work.
- Yeah.
Hey, thanks again
for coming to the dinner.
Of course. We had a blast.
Would've been nice to have your support,
but I understand.
- Ha, ha, ha. What, it's a black thing, right?
- I didn't say it.
Heh, heh. Of course not.
You know,
we would've endorsed you if we could.
And we will support you
if you're in the general.
Well, we'll be there.
It's close.
We hear things are tight right now.
You might need a little help today.
Come on, Reverend,
your congregation's voting for Rudy.
Well, that's if they vote.
Most of the people in our wards
need rides to the polls.
I know.
We got a lot on our plate,
things slip through the cracks.
- A lot on your plate.
- Yeah.
Been trying to raise funds for the
basketball court at the new youth center.
How close are you to your goal?
About 10,000 short.
- That's close.
- Yeah. Real close.
I wish I could help you out.
- Good luck raising the money.
- Hey, thanks again.
- Yeah.
- Good luck to you in the primary.
Oh, we think we'll be okay in Milwaukee.
You haven't seen the news yet.
- What happened?
- It was at an off-ramp in Milwaukee.
Some of our supporters
got into a screaming match
with people from the Rudy campaign.
And a fight broke out,
police were called.
- Is there video?
- Yeah, it's making the rounds.
Racial?
Nothing racial was said, thank God,
but the two people fighting
were white and African-American.
The images are bad.
On election day,
you were worried about one thing:
Acts of God.
Anything that happens that you
can't control that affects the voters.
We had an act of God.
The morning shows
are gonna ask about it.
You know, "It was an unfortunate event,
but physical violence has no place
in my campaign."
Don't let them steer it back towards race.
It'll kill us.
- We got two things.
- Yeah. Momentum.
You can see it, you can feel it,
it's happening.
And Washington.
It's broken, we need to fix it,
we need to send a message
to Washington.
- No details.
- Very little.
Election days are all about feelings,
not specifics.
LINDSEY: Wausau's ready in 30 seconds.
- Okay, great.
Ben'll have the anchors' names
just below the camera.
Use them in every answer.
Voters like it when you know
their local news people.
SAMUELS:
Mary, I haven't seen the footage,
but I'm sure my opponent would
join me in condemning what happened.
We're not gonna get anywhere
by yelling.
Tom, there is a real excitement out there.
I feel like we have the momentum.
People really feel like we're gonna
change things in Washington.
- Ooh, a double.
- Very difficult.
SAMUELS:
That is a good point, Monica.
The people of Wisconsin are tired
of the bickering in Washington.
What we all want are solutions.
- Thank you guys for having me.
- And we're out.
SAMUELS:
Ah. Thank God.
My words don't even sound
like words anymore.
Blah, blah, blah, Nancy.
Blah, blah, broken.
KJ:
You were awesome.
You win tonight, you can talk about policy
all you want tomorrow.
What time are we voting at the church?
Oh, damn it. We gotta get going.
We are doing a meet and greet
at Mickies before the news vans show up.
And then we'll have a gaggle
after we vote.
Do we have anything prepared?
Where's Cole?
TAK: He's out sick.
But he's been sending stuff in.
Oh, no, I'll be fine.
Let him focus on the speeches for tonight.
TAK: He's only writing one.
You don't write the good one till you win.
Got it.
Tak. Seriously, how we doing?
I'm worried about Milwaukee.
Reverend Giles is willing to help, but
he wants 10 grand for a basketball court.
- Great. We should do it.
- No.
Possible blow-back
from suppressing the vote? No.
We're gonna need those voters
for the general.
KJ: We should go.
- Yeah, let me grab my phone.
- Hey, Tak, do you have a second?
- No, I don't.
A volunteer from the U
said this was on her front door.
Look.
"UW students are to be reminded that
voting has been extended an extra day."
Shit. People are gonna fall for this.
How many of these are there?
She asked around,
most students got one.
That's not good.
All right. Print up 10,000 of our knockers
with the right information
and get them on every door on campus.
We have to hit our projections there.
- We don't have volunteers.
- I don't care. You gotta make it happen.
Find a way.
JORDAN:
All right.
To the war room, kids.
SAMUELS:
Ah, indeed.
Good morning. Love it, Badger red.
We're gonna see you next week
at the game, yeah?
Good morning. Oh, you got a button.
Excellent. Excellent.
- Why aren't you guys in class?
- Uh
I'm kidding.
But you're gonna vote, right?
You're gonna vote?
See you at the polls.
Your brother went to school
with my mom.
- Who's your mom?
- Karen Sundquist.
She's Oh, swimmer.
Yeah. Well, she's great.
Ladies, I hope I'll see you at the polls
today and consider voting for me?
- Oh, I like you.
- Thank you. I appreciate that.
And I think we need more women
like you in Washington.
I agree with you.
I'll see you ladies in Washington, I hope.
Hi. Hey, are you gonna vote
for Deirdre Samuels?
Oh. How beautiful. Aw
I've got a problem with you.
You got all these people sitting
at home doing nothing,
and you want me to pay for them.
SAMUELS: What I'm talking about
is a marginal tax increase
on the top 2 percent of wage earners.
I don't know about you guys,
but I don't make $3 million a year.
I think I can get us a helicopter
for $300, about two hours.
We get four bags of flyers,
tie them to the bottom,
we get over the U, pull the rope,
boom, flyers float down.
Genius.
I'm a little worried
about the environmental impact.
- Rice paper.
- Double genius.
- Okay--
- What if we had professionals
- go door-to-door?
- Wait. Professionals?
Thai restaurants.
There is a Thai menu
on my door every day.
Yeah, mine too.
I bet if we call them up,
they'd help us out.
- They probably wouldn't cost a lot.
- I'll get the money out of petty cash.
You guys haven't even heard
my urinal idea.
- No time.
BEN: Sorry.
That's great.
- I would love to hear the urinal idea.
- Okay.
[CHATTERING]
MAN:
Hey. Here they come. Here they come.
- How you doing?
REPORTER 1: Who'd you vote for?
Oh, I can't remember. No, you know--
WOMAN:
I really wanted to wish you good luck.
- Thank you very much. Thank you.
- Yeah.
I voted for the candidate I think has
the best chance of winning in November.
These are tough times,
we need a tough candidate
who's gonna change
how they do things in Washington.
REPORTER 2: It's the fourth quarter.
You worried about being down in the polls?
Do the Packers give up?
When we're down in the fourth quarter,
Brett Favre finds a way to win.
Thanks, guys.
Thanks for coming out.
Make sure you guys get out and vote.
- Brett Favre?
- I know. I know.
We are trying to win in Green Bay.
I'm sorry,
I just forgot the new quarterback's name.
So you said the starting quarterback
for the Vikings?
I'm not perfect, Tak.
- Aaron Rodgers.
- Right. Yeah. That's right.
Okay, you guys
take these
and go all the way down this block.
Ben, hiring those Thai delivery guys
was genius.
We put up knockers all over campus
with the right info
and we still had time to make it
to the rally.
God, it was stressful and exhausting
and great.
All I remember was the great.
Um
So I've been thinking
about getting contacts.
- That's a terrible idea, Ben.
- Heh, heh.
I mean, my glasses keep on slipping
and, you know, maybe I'd
- Maybe I'd
- Look cooler?
- Something like that, yeah.
- Heh, heh, heh.
Well, let's see.
- Let's just see.
- Oh--
- No. Don't.
- I All over.
Untuck your shirt.
What do you think?
It's, uh, different?
- It's great. I love it.
- I hate it.
- I hate it.
- I also hate it.
[LAUGHS]
- This is not you.
- No.
I like these glasses
and that you tuck your shirt in.
I like Ben.
I like you.
VOLUNTEER:
Hey, you guys hit Summit Avenue yet?
LINDSEY: No, not yet.
- Not yet.
Did you get in a fight?
- Yeah.
- Heh.
WOMAN [ON TV]:
Some are calling it a misstep
for the senator out of Madison.
When asked about her low poll numbers,
Senator Deirdre Samuels said:
"Our campaign is like the Packers.
Brett Favre always finds a way to win."
Apparently she's counting on votes
out of Minnesota.
Good luck with that.
Next here at 10, Madison West
beats Memorial in a buzzer-beater
you have to see to believe.
That's not even the right quote.
You guys are killing me.
- Hey, how was the rally?
SAMUELS: Great.
Good-sized turnout. Surprising amount
of people from Thailand.
- That's our base.
- How we doing in Milwaukee?
Turnout's lower than expected,
which I think is good for us.
We're meeting our projections
in Green Bay,
meeting them in Madison.
- The last exits had us only down by two.
- Up north?
Harder to tell.
Beth said that there were lines in Wausau.
Which is
- Well, which is good.
- Anything I can do?
TAK:
Yup. Rest your voice.
Because tonight,
you're giving a speech no matter what.
How you feeling, Cole?
I, uh I saw you kiss him.
I watched the footage
of you kissing him.
- I don't know what--
- Stop. I saw it.
I saw it.
I'm sorry. I I didn't mean to
My whole body I couldn't breathe and--
- Cole.
- Just please, do not interrupt me.
When you fall in love with someone,
you hand that person an ax.
And I learned
be careful who you hand that ax to.
I'm gonna leave the campaign.
- Please don't do that.
- I'll send you guys the speech for tonight
and then I'm done.
So
- uh, good luck if you get to the general.
- Okay.
And good luck with everything else.
Okay.
[SOBBING]
[GROANS]
Go (bleep) yourselves.
LINDSEY: Hey, Tak?
TAK: Hey. Hey, you guys.
We're beating all our estimates
up on campus.
Great work. Really, great work.
[SPEAKING IN THAI]
Nailed it.
So I sent your instructions
to the reception hall and
I don't wanna finish my sentence.
Why did I have them spell out "victory"
with carrot sticks?
- Yeah.
- When you send instructions for an event,
you always wanna put a test
deep inside the notes
to see how carefully
they read the instructions.
If the carrots sticks don't say "victory,"
then the microphone might not work,
the lighting might be off,
something will have gone wrong.
- Ah. She bet that you had gone crazy.
- I did.
I have.
- I'm just right about this.
VOLUNTEER: Hey, guys. Polls closed.
- Would you like to do the honors?
- Yes, I would.
Two months ago,
we were 20 points down
and we were broke.
But because of all of your hard work,
and an okay candidate,
[CHUCKLING]
we are in this.
I don't know what'll happen tonight,
but I want to thank you guys
for your tireless, extremely hard work.
When you get your precinct updates,
hand them to the runner,
she'll bring them over to Lindsey,
she'll put them on the board.
And make sure
you double-check your numbers.
Nobody tell Senator Kerry
that he's the next president.
Because remember when he?
Everybody laugh or you're fired.
[VOLUNTEERS LAUGHING]
Get to work.
- I thought that was good.
- Tak, you're an old man.
KJ: How we doing?
- I'm an old man.
You regretting not helping
the Reverend out?
A little bit.
- It was the right call.
- Yeah.
Don't think I wasn't tempted though.
But the press would kill us
if we suppressed the vote.
- And it's wrong.
- Right, yeah. Right. That too.
- Are you okay?
- Yeah.
It looks like you've been crying.
It was just cold outside.
Okay.
MAN 1: Thank you.
MAN 2: Forty percent.
[CHATTERING]
WOMAN:
I need more pink sheets.
MAN 3: Have you talked
to Sarah recently? I'll call you.
- How about an update?
- Looking strong.
Started quite strong.
Madison, we exceeded our models,
we're fine up in Eau Claire,
we're waiting on Milwaukee.
How's the turnout in that north side?
Lower than expected.
- Great. Good. Good.
MAN 4: Yup.
Why do you ask?
Just curious. I know that's important.
KJ, do you have the hourlies
for the north side of Milwaukee?
Yeah.
They do better in the morning
or afternoon?
Morning.
Wow. Then they fell off a cliff.
[SIGHS]
What's up?
Looks like the Reverend found a donor.
Acts of God are uncontrollable.
Or expensive.
[CHATTERING]
Get them up there, thanks.
MAN:
No, I know. I know.
Tak. We just got this in.
Ben, TV.
George, get your wife.
We got new counties coming in.
With 52 percent
of the precincts reporting,
State Senator Samuels
is leading Grace Rudy by a slim margin.
Okay, we have just learned
that the race has been called.
We can now report
that State Senator Samuels
- has defeated Grace Rudy.
- Yeah!
[LAUGHING AND CHATTERING]
- You did it.
- We did it.
Good job.
KJ: We should get going to the hotel.
- Yeah.
Let's make it an early night, though, okay?
You need to get some sleep.
We need you on the radio at 6 a.m.
- I know. It's gonna be a lot of work.
- No, no, no.
What we just did was work.
Tomorrow starts a battle.
And it will be the toughest thing
you have ever done in your life.
- I'm ready.
- I know.
TAK:
Thank you, guys.
Nice work.
[PEOPLE CHATTERING]