Battleground (2012) s01e07 Episode Script

1
The night of the primary was
one of the happiest days of my life.
Uh
We had absolutely no idea
what we were now up against.
Yeah, it was David versus Goliath.
[CHANTING] Stop killing babies.
Stop killing babies.
Uh-oh.
They discovered my Ponzi scheme.
They're protesting our new neighbors.
It's a women's clinic,
abortion counseling.
That's not good for us.
- Also there's a guy from the--
MAN: You Tak Davis?
That's my maiden name. Yeah.
Dave Bishop, Health Department.
I have an order here for an inspection
of this property.
- For?
- Code violations.
Oh, if it's about our meth lab,
that burned down.
Do I have permission
to search the premises?
Permission granted.
Thank you.
Any messages?
Yes, Michael Corboy's on the phone
right now.
Great. I will take it in my office.
- Taco.
- Not my name.
Right.
Wondering if I might take
some personal time this afternoon.
TAK:
Yes.
- Giving a speech.
- You can go.
My old alma mater.
- Take the day.
- Thanks, buddy. I'll make you proud.
Videotape it.
- Corboy.
CORBOY: Tic Tac.
Really could have used your help
on the primary there, bud.
Man, you won by 2000 votes.
That's a Tak Davis landslide.
Still could have used you.
Yeah, well, Makers has
a very strong following
in the African-American community.
He can't just come out against Rudy.
I know. How's he's doing?
He's better. Still tired.
Well, hope his family's all right.
Hey, listen, man. We're ready.
Good. Good.
The blogs were talking about him not
endorsing because of the nurses' dinner.
Oh, God, let it go, man.
He couldn't care less.
Look, we understand why you guys went,
all right?
No, he'd like to endorse you later today
if that's okay with everyone.
Of course.
I'll come by after lunch
and we can hammer out the details.
Perfect. All right, talk to you then.
[TAK RAPS ON WINDOW]
Good news. Where's Cole?
Still out. What's up?
- I was hoping to tell both of you.
- What's up?
Makers is gonna endorse us.
- What? Really?
- Yes. Yes. Yes.
- That's fantastic.
- We should tell Samuels.
We should use it to soften her look
for the general.
We should do that too.
DAVE:
Here you go.
Oh, I didn't get you anything.
What is this?
DAVE:
Citation.
The microwave and the coffee-making
machine are used for food preparation
which you are not zoned for.
TAK: Fifteen hundred dollars?
- I'm afraid so.
I'll be back next week to see that
all the violations have been rectified.
I think Truman Capote just gave me
a citation.
Creighton was the governor
for 12 years
and he ran
a very powerful political machine.
When you ran against him, you ran against
every government agency in the state.
Yeah.
- Is it bad?
- Is it bad?
Usually I have about six to eight messages
when I come in.
MACHINE:
You have 28 messages.
JIM: Hey, Tak, it's Jim Malley here
from Malley Motors.
Hey, this is hard for me,
but I'm gonna have to take down
the campaign posters, the Samuels signs
from the front window.
BOB:
Bob Capecci, you can keep the money.
We only ask that you remove our names
from the website.
WOMAN 1: We're all over here
at the Jefferson housing project
and the housing supervisor
has threatened to call the police
if we hang any more
campaign literature.
WOMAN 2: Three of our biggest
advertisers have already walked,
and I really can't stand to lose any more
circulation over this,
even if you all have run
a hell of a campaign. Hope you unders--
Welcome to the majors.
I'm really looking forward
to visiting the school today.
[WHISPERING]
I know, I know. I'm just reconfirming.
[IN NORMAL VOICE]
Okay, bye.
[SIGHS]
Big day.
Mmm.
Big, big day.
Giving a speech at my alma mater
this afternoon.
It's alumni day.
You graduated?
- Elementary school.
- You graduated?
With honors.
And they want me to come in,
rap about the campaign. You know, life.
You're really gonna have an impact
on those kids.
You think?
Probably.
You gotta give back.
I'm like a farmer.
My job is to grow young minds.
So these students are like little seedlings
and I'm the fertilizer.
SARAH [OVER MACHINE]:
Hey, Tak. It's Sarah.
I just wanted to
congratulate you on the win.
Um, the girls would love it if you would
come down for their school carnival.
Uh, yeah, I think that's it. Bye.
What's up?
Cole quit.
Are you serious?
Well, he was very polite about it,
but he's not renewing his contract
for the general.
What happened?
George, I don't know.
It's your job to know what happened,
Tak.
You've gotta run a tighter ship
around here.
I understand that--
- Hey, is this a bad time?
- Yep.
I just heard what happened.
That's a huge blow, guys.
Last time we spoke,
everything was great.
Do we need a new speechwriter?
Tak?
- I'll talk to him later.
- Go away, Jordan.
JORDAN:
Yes, sir.
I don't know.
Once every 45 minutes or so.
TAK: You knew.
- Sometimes I just make my own crap up.
KJ: About?
- Don't bullshit me.
You knew about Cole
the night of the primary.
I was hoping
he would change his mind.
Any idea why?
Wanna talk in the conference room?
- KJ--
- Hey, mics.
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]
--(bleep) kidding me?
JD: Calm down.
- Unbelievable.
Unbelievable!
What the (bleep)?
Are you (bleep) kidding me?
From now on, you stick to the campaign
and not our (bleep) personal lives.
JD: Okay. Yeah.
- You got it?
- You got it?
JD: Yeah.
Fine.
Man, Tak nearly lost it.
I had to use some Tukong Moosul on him.
It's a Korean Special Forces
fighting technique.
I guess Cole couldn't handle
the pressure either, you know.
Took me five whole campaigns
before I found my groove.
Cole seems like a big loss for us.
Well, yes and no.
I mean, necessity is
the father of invention.
I've been talking to Tak
about grabbing the reigns myself.
Didn't know you wrote, Jordan.
My blog about Firefly versus Farscape
got over 200 comments.
That is a lot of comments.
Yeah.
If I can nail this speech
at the school today,
he's gonna see he's got an ace
in his bullpen, you know?
LINDSEY:
Mm-hm.
I think that's why he wants you to film it,
Lindsey.
- Me?
- Yeah.
LINDSEY:
Okay.
Wear something nice.
"Wear something nice."
Like cargo sweats.
- Five pockets. Yeah.
- No less.
[BOTH CHUCKLE]
Well, you know, he has a point.
I thought we were joking.
I thought we were joking.
- What was the joke?
- I don't know.
CORBOY:
Hi, first door on the right? Thank you.
- Tic Tac.
- Hey, Corboy. Good to see you.
- Good to see you too.
- Thanks for stopping by.
Absolutely, absolutely.
- This is it? This is where it all happens?
- It's where it all goes down.
So tell me, what's it like
living in an aquarium?
Well, they feed us from above, so
I can tell.
[TAK CHUCKLES]
Hey, Tak, congrats again, man.
You guys ran a great campaign.
Thanks. I appreciate that.
You guys did too.
Thank you.
It would have been really tough
to beat you.
Yeah.
I guess we'll never know
who would have won.
So how does 4:00 today sound?
Sounds great. We'll do it out front?
Actually, have you ever heard
of the Sandler Wetlands?
- Sure.
- The senator used to fish there as a boy,
so he thought it'd be the perfect place
to end his career.
Great. Samuels fought to save
the wetlands, so it works out for both of us.
Perfect.
Catchy.
It's no "Makers makes it happen."
JTM. Hey.
- Hey. You brought Ben along.
BEN: Hi.
Yep, I needed
to use Ben's camera phone.
Great. Great.
And we thought we could be
your entourage.
Yeah, okay, good call. Good call.
- How are you doing?
- Zen.
All right, we're in Room 106
if you wanna go set up.
Need a few moments,
kind of get my head into game mode.
Mm-hm. What are you listening to?
- St. Crispin's Day speech.
LINDSEY: What?
Henry V.
They have nothing to do with us,
they're our neighbors.
How can you run that as a story?
That doesn't matter.
KJ, Ali.
Okay, so if a pot dispensary opens up
next to your station then that's a story?
Okay, you run your story.
Here's our official comment:
The clinic has nothing to do with us
and this is a bullshit story.
ALI: Creighton's got a link on his site
to a video of the protesters.
It does look like they're protesting us.
Every time I look over there,
there's new people.
They switch on the hour.
If you were worried
about babies being killed,
would you be like,
"It's 10:01, I'm done"?
Maybe it's a job.
Maybe.
Ali, do me a favor, see what you can get
on a All God's Children group.
- On it.
- And check out the clinic too.
Their location is specific.
Agreed.
I should have warned you that Cole
was upset about the thing.
No, it's my fault, I (bleep) up.
He's a good guy. I wish he could be here
for the endorsement.
Yeah, I sent the stuff over
to the Makers' campaign.
They were really nice.
They all want jobs.
We're going to the bar
after the endorsement. It's trivia night.
- Oh, I'm undefeated.
- You are.
- But I can't. I think I'm going to Chicago.
- Things getting better?
Yeah. She's talking to me,
so that's better.
Good. Good.
- Yeah. Yeah.
- Cool.
I have some calls to make
before the endorsement.
Right.
Okay, I think we'll just begin.
We're supposed to have
three guests today
to talk about their jobs
and responsibilities.
Mr. Gleason is a professional violinist
with the Madison Symphony.
- And Miss Ivey owns a dairy farm.
- Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.
Pardon. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.
Excuse me, sorry.
- We also have--
- Tardy as ever.
Jordan T. Mosley, President of
Strategic Political Strategy Planning
for the Deirdre Samuels campaign
for senate
and interim campaign speechwriter.
PECK: Let's--
- As a kid,
I knew I had every avenue open to me.
And then Makers will introduce you
and you'll walk up the podium.
I feel like
I should be swimming upstream.
We want you to look more feminine
for the endorsement.
Lighten the image.
Less lesbian, more Onassis?
No. Just softer.
- George?
- I think you'll look great no matter what.
All right, let's try the yellow.
But I wanted to make a difference
with my life.
- Let's get some questions.
- Oh, of course.
We all have questions.
What we need is answers.
Yeah, to be a leader,
you have to be an answer-er, right?
Consider the bee.
A hive structure.
All the drones answering to a queen.
But the queen also has to answer
to the drones.
Or else the honey don't get made.
Am I right or am I right? Heh.
They say that a honey bee
should not be capable of flight.
And yet it flies every day,
bringing pollen to bring new blooms
into this world.
Your minds are those blooms.
Your minds are flowers.
Ugh. Jordan.
He went on for 25 minutes.
The whole program was 30.
ALI:
Tak, I think I found it.
- The protesters?
- Yeah.
The All God's Children website was
registered two months ago
to Steven Cruise,
some rich guy in Oklahoma.
He's got a bunch of right-wing websites.
Political Fellowship,
Conservative Village
and Power of the Family,
which is a fake grassroots start-up.
Yep. Astroturf.
Gets better.
The clinic applied for a business license
the same day
that the website was registered.
- Look where the company's based.
- Oklahoma.
Winner, winner, Christian dinner.
Anything that directly links him
to Creighton?
No, I'm gonna check to see if any
of these companies are on his donor lists.
- I'll find something.
- Okay. Thank you.
Just doing my job.
I hate being right.
I'm gonna split the class
right down the middle, okay? Here. Here.
All right, you half,
you're gonna be the prisoners.
This half, you're gonna be the guards.
- I'm afraid we're out of time.
- This will be like two minutes, I swear.
Jordan Mosley.
Coolio.
Thank you all so much.
Uh, I'll be in the back with the pretty,
young girl.
[WHISPERS]
Girlfriend.
[IN NORMAL VOICE] If anyone wants to rap
after class. So thank you all so much.
Thank you, thank you.
Stay in school.
Thank you so much. Thank you. Remember
to vote. Thank you. Thank you so much.
Nice.
[CROWD CHATTERING]
MAKERS: Deirdre Samuels.
- Senator.
- We gave them quite a show, didn't we?
- We did.
Heh, heh. Listen, I know things
got a little rough between us.
I hope there are no hard feelings.
No hard feelings, sir.
Good. Politics is like dog fighting
without all the pretty dog-fighting outfits.
Heh, heh. Have you met my husband?
George Mosley.
MAKERS: Hello, George.
GEORGE: How are you doing, senator?
ALI:
How did it go at the school?
- He did change lives.
- Yep.
I wish I was there.
You guys don't have the address to the
Rudy campaign headquarters, do you?
Something North Spooner. What's up?
The women's clinic next door
applied for two permits.
One here
and one at 126 North Spooner.
LINDSEY:
That's it.
Strange.
Yeah.
Good afternoon, everybody.
Thank you very much
for coming out today.
I'd like to ask that everyone turn off
their cell phones and pagers.
Now, we're gonna start
with Senator Makers,
followed by State Senator Samuels.
And afterwards there will be a short Q&A.
Right now, it is my pleasure to introduce
to you three-time senator
for the great state of Wisconsin,
Senator Jack Makers.
- How about Conservative Village?
- Nope.
No donations.
Maybe he didn't donate to Creighton.
Have we checked
Makers' donation list?
Lindsey, check Makers for a group
called Power to the Family.
[CROWD CHEERS]
Thank you, Michael.
My dad used to say
the best part of finishing a chapter
is you get to read another one.
I've been proud to represent
the independent spirit
of this great state for a long time.
Power of the Family.
Yep, $34,000 two months ago.
Okay. Call Tak, he's being set up.
- Went straight to voice mail.
ALI: Text him.
Text KJ, text them both.
We must face the problems
of the 21st century
not as Republicans or Democrats,
but as people joined together
in a common struggle.
[WHISPERS]
Where is he going with this?
Now, during my recovery,
I found solace in the bible,
it gave me strength
and guided me on my path here today.
It's with God's blessing
that I make my decision today.
For those that stood by me
during my recovery, I thank you.
And for those that didn't,
never doubt the heart of a badger.
We need to go.
I've decided to re-enter the race
as an independent.
TAK:
We need to go right now.
[CROWD CHEERS]
Tak blamed himself.
He thought he should have seen it coming
from Corboy.
I don't know. We were all there.
We fell for it.
CROWD [CHANTS]: Makers makes it
happen. Makers makes it happen.
CORBOY:
Tak.
- No hard feelings, buddy.
- Classy.
Always so classy.
Gotta make it happen.
CROWD: Makers makes it happen.
Makers makes it happen.
NARRATOR:
Where has Senator Jack Makers been?
BOY:
Three, two, one.
Eighteen years of service
in the senate.
Grandpa?
And a proud veteran
of the Wisconsin National Guard.
Grandpa?
Graduated from
the University of Wisconsin.
Grandpa?
And a lifetime of commitment
to the great state of Wisconsin.
Grandpa.
I'm here grandson, and I always will be.
Never doubt the heart of a badger.
Senator Jack Makers.