Mrs. America (2020) s01e09 Episode Script

1
I was pregnant,
and I was scared.
(coughing, inhales)
This is my deathbed confession.
[clock ticking]
[pens scribbling]
[papers rustling]
- Five minutes!
[clank]
[indistinct conversations]
[footsteps approach]
- Here. Do you want a light?
- Oh. Thank you.
- What kind of law are you
planning to specialize in?
- Oh, constitutional. And you?
- Oh, I didn't take the bar.
You don't think practicing law
runs contrary to your preachings
on a woman's proper place?
Nice disguise, Mrs. Schlafly.
- I didn't have time
to fix my hair.
- I'm with the "Tribune."
- I have raised six children.
I can do whatever I want.
I've always said that women
can do whatever they want.
[camera shutter clicking]
["A Fifth of Beethoven"
by Walter Murphy playing]
[engine turns off,
keys jangle]
[dog barking in distance]
[bird calling]
[whirring]
[indistinct conversations]
[telephone ringing]
[laughter]
- Oh, yes.
- [baby crying]
- Uh-huh.
Well, if I were you,
and I had a choice,
I'd come to my gala,
'cause it'll be pleasant,
lovely, nice people,
and you'll have a good time.
[lowered voice]
I think "The New York Times"
is gonna cover us.
[normal voice] Well,
I'm sure we could fit you in,
but I would need confirmation.
Thank you.
- You put Lottie and I at
tables with a bunch of nobodies.
- Hmm?
- You've put
- Oh, you're
the distinguished guests.
I just have to, uh,
spread you around
like, uh,
cherries in a fruit salad.
- But I wanted to be
at the same table
as Senator Helms
so he could sign my book.
He wrote the forward.
- Oh, one of his aides
wrote that.
- Well, then we better make sure
to introduce you to him
at the gala.
- Alice.
- Thought I'd stop by
to see if I can help
with any last-minute planning.
- Well, I wasn't sure
you'd be coming at all.
- Of course I am, and Buck, too.
- You haven't been around much
all year.
- I'm sorry. I've just been
so busy with grandma duty,
but I have typed up
all the names
of the new representatives
for this year's ERA vote.
- I cannot believe we have
to push this boulder up
for another three years.
- How can I help?
- Why don't you start
by typing up
the press release for the gala?
Hmm?
- Sure.
- How are the grandkids?
- Uh, a handful.
[laughter]
Well, you know. Boys.
"The women's libbers are
rewarded with an extension
"of the ERA deadline despite
our pro-family rally in Houston
being twice as big as"
Are you sure the crowd
at our rally was twice as big?
- Yes.
- Definitely.
I should know. I was at both.
- It didn't feel
that much bigger.
- Satan's destructive forces are
so strong and well-financed.
It's easy to get confused.
- [baby crying]
- [Eric laughing]
[giggles]
- Eric! Come back here!
- [baby wailing]
- Oh, no, you forgot to find
a seat for Pamela and Kevin.
- Oh, uh, they can't make it.
- Oh, you've worked so hard
for seven years.
You deserve to celebrate.
- Kevin didn't wanna spend
the money, so
- Well, maybe we could
figure something out.
You should talk to him.
- Phyllis says that
a man needs to feel like
the king of his castle.
Otherwise, they act out.
- [baby fussing and crying]
- You told her that?
- [baby cries]
- Well, you don't marry a man
to reform him.
- I've been trying to take
the time to let him know
how much I need him.
It's all about
a positive mental attitude.
- [baby continues wailing]
- There are going to be
some fun surprises at the gala.
- I'm looking forward to it.
- Are you?
- [scoffs] What do you mean?
- Phyllis is
so kind and trusting.
She doesn't see what's going on,
but I do.
- What are you talking about?
- Loyalty.
- You're questioning my loyalty?
- I can tell your heart
isn't in the fight.
I always said to Phyllis
you'd get bored
and drop off eventually.
- My commitment
has never changed.
I'm the one who brought the ERA
to Phyllis' attention.
- You gathered everything
into a box.
That story is getting
a little old.
- I've always supported Phyllis
when things were simple
and clear,
when it was about protecting
our place in the home.
But somewhere along the way,
it's become
about something else.
- We are in the midst
of a conservative revolution.
After years of being ostracized
and discounted,
religious voices are being heard
in the political arena.
Did you really think
there'd be no casualties?
It's bigger than the ERA now.
[typewriter keys clacking,
indistinct conversations]
- [sighs] I serve at
the pleasure of the president.
I also serve five kids,
a husband, two cats, two dogs,
14 rabbits,
so it's not easy
to drop everything
and fly across the country.
- I had a chicken in the oven
when the call came.
- Aw.
- I was down the street
at Stan's,
but I am also very irritated.
- We've been pushing
the president to meet with us
for what, over a year?
Since Houston.
Nothing, and then all
of a sudden, one day's notice?
- That's how it goes.
We all made sacrifices.
This is important.
- There were 1,500 media groups
at our conference.
Then two men decided to have
a conversation,
and we were knocked
below the fold.
- Two menSadat and Begin.
Did you want to stand in the way
of peace in the Middle East?
- No, but I can't believe
we're getting peace
in the Middle East
before equal rights for women.
- You can't?
- We have nothing to show
for Houston.
- They did give us an extension
on the ERA deadline.
- Things move slowly
in Washington.
It takes at least two years
to implement any policy,
let alone laws
that benefit women.
It's too soon to get frustrated.
Let's get started.
- Do we assume Carter has
or hasn't read this beforehand?
- All: Hasn't.
- So I'll make
some introductory remarks.
Then each of you will take
a minute to brief the president
on our proposals to Congress.
We have to move fast.
We only have 15 minutes.
- 15 minutes for which part?
- Total.
- [scoffs]
- Would you rather we have
no meeting?
- 15 minutes isn't a meeting.
It's a photo op.
- Well, what am I supposed
to do?
- Cancel it.
Ask for a proper meeting.
- Canceling signals
that we expect real results.
We've spent two years coming up
with this plan of action.
Meanwhile, he's cutting
domestic programs
so he can increase
military spending.
- We should issue
a press release.
Say exactly that.
- I don't think we wanna
criticize our own president
in the press.
- Kissinger has been publicly
strong-arming Carter for weeks
to get asylum
for the Shah of Iran.
- This is how the boys do it.
- Rita, get me Ham Jordan!
- Please!
- I got you a present.
- [gasps]
How did you
- Ah, I can't divulge
my sources.
- Oh.
- Let's just say
a certain presidential candidate
is desperate for our support.
- Who? Crane?
- He sees Reagan
in his rearview mirror,
gaining speed,
but that tax amendment of his
was a breath of fresh air.
And I don't see him
drifting center.
- Yeah, the establishment, uh,
respects him,
but I-I think it's a long shot.
- Every true conservative is.
Phil Crane in the White House,
a Republican president
from Illinois.
Get ready for your appointment,
Mrs. Schlafly.
- Mrs. Schlafly, Esquire.
I was just sworn in.
- You gonna change
your stationery?
- Well, it's the only place
to put it.
I'm never gonna practice.
- I must say,
the way he looks at you,
it almost makes me want to
endorse Kemp.
- The way he looks at me?
- Mm.
- Oh!
Be still, my beating heart.
The index goes
from Saxby to
straight to Schlesinger.
- What?
[papers rustle]
- Here.
[thud]
- That was an oversight.
- Goldwater would never have won
that nomination without me.
- Because he wasn't a winner,
and we need to run a winner
this time,
and we will have our pick.
[clatter]
Think of everyone coming to D.C.
for this gala,
and we will hear
what they have to say.
- Mm-hmm?
- And then we will decide.
[laughs, kissing]
- Sowhen do you think is
the best time for us to declare
who we're going to, uhback?
- Mmafter Iowa.
- All right, now you be careful
with my hair.
[chuckles]
- Uh, no need to apologize,
Mr. President.
No, no, thank you very much.
Uh, we look forward to it.
We got in for two hours.
- [gasps]
[laughter]
Were his jokes really
that funny?
- Oh, God, no, something about
Sadat at Camp David.
I had no idea, but you laugh.
[laughs]
- We should get going.
Stan's waiting in the car.
- You have to come back down
to D.C. in a couple of weeks.
- I have a meeting
with Kay Graham anyway.
- You're doing a piece
in the "Post"?
Isn't that your competition?
- I'm looking at buyers
for "Ms."
[sighs]
I can't keep it afloat.
I just hope she doesn't turn it
into another "McCall's."
[lighter clicks]
- "Ms." gave us a voice
when no one was listening.
Now look at us.
We have the ear
of the president.
[laughter]
- Ahh!
[Blondie's "Atomic" playing]
[laughter]
[applause]
- [amplified voice]
And now, ladies and gentlemen,
a very special performance.
Here to dazzle you
with their vocal stylings
Gloria Steinem and Bella Abzug!
[piano playing "Three Little
Maids from School Are We" tune]
[laughter]
- Two little feminists
are we
- Shrill as a feminist
can be
- Godless and man-less
and ornery-eeh
- Two little feminists
- We beg you to pass the ERA
[laughter]
- And take
our privileges away
[laughter]
- Except if you're lesbian
or gay
- Mm!
[laughter]
- Both: Two little feminists
[laughter]
- This feminist,
she will not marry
- Draft her
into the military
- Abortion was
also necessary
[laughter]
- Both:
Two little feminists
Two little feminists
[laughter continues]
- This feminist
from New York City
- Bane of
the Ways and Means Committee
- Lost her seat?
Oh, what a pity
- Both: Two little feminists
Two little feminists
[laughter]
[applause]
[song ends]
- [laughs] Whoo!
- Bravo!
[laughter and cheers]
[trumpets play fanfare]
- Please join me in welcoming
the woman of the hour
Mrs. Phyllis Schlafly!
[Verdi's "Triumphal March"
from "Aida in D Flat" playing]
[cheers and applause]
- [amplified voice]
Thank you.
Thank you, friends.
Thank you.
[music stops]
Welcome to the ERA Follies
of 1979!
[laughs]
[cheers and applause]
Okay. Thank you.
[cheers and applause subside]
The libbers thought
they had won a great victory
when they pressured Congress
and the White House
to grab them a crooked extension
to the ratification deadline.
But as far as I am concerned,
tonight is the night
on the original deadline
that the ERA dies
morally and constitutionally.
[cheers and applause]
And we are here to dance
on its grave.
[cheers and applause]
- [whistles]
[cheers and applause continue]
[applause subsides]
- This has been
a righteous battle,
and like the battle
for suffrage 50 years ago,
it had to be fought and won
by women.
[cheers and applause]
They say that women
are like teabags.
You don't know their strength
until they get into hot water.
[laughter]
And, ladies, we sure did reach
a boiling point.
[applause]
[applause subsides]
But when we saw that the devil
was using one little word
in that amendmentsex
to take away the rights of wives
and give them to the homosexuals
and to the abortionists,
we knew we had to fight back,
and we are winning,
because we have God on our side.
[loud cheering]
But tonight we celebrate
not only the end of the ERA
but the end of an era.
We stand on a precipice,
giving birth
to a new mighty movement,
a movement
that will lead America
back onto the right path,
and together,
we can take our country back.
[cheers and applause]
Now, my friends,
I would now like to thank
one very special person
the person who has been with me
since the beginning,
a person who has saved me
from the life of a working girl,
my coach, my cheerleader,
and my lover
my dear husband Fred,
thank you for letting me
come here tonight.
I love to say that because
it irritates the women's libbers
more than anything that I say.
[laughter]
Now those libbers love
to ask me,
"Who's looking
after your children?"
And I say, "I'll show mine
if you show me yours."
[laughter]
So please give a hand
to my life's work
my six jewels,
John, Bruce, Roger, Liza,
Andy, Anne.
Fred.
[cheers and applause]
Thank you.
Thanks.
[cheers and applause continue]
Thank you. [chuckles]
["Amazing Grace" instrumental
playing]
Did you get the crowd?
One more.
Make like you're singing.
Ahh
- Ahh
[camera shutter clicks]
- [under breath]
Lose the book, Rosemary.
Ahh
- Ahh
- Ahh
Do you like my Bella?
Is she loud enough?
- She isn't as loud
as you think.
She's actually quite funny.
- Mm.
I see you, uh, invited a few
of Reagan's people tonight
Orrin, Jerry, Jesse.
- Oh, no, no, no.
Tonight's not about politics.
It's about family.
- Well, I wouldn't miss it.
I pushed my flight to Iowa
to be here.
If I can win there,
I'm gonna rise out of the pack,
so I spend my days judging
corn on the cob eating contests.
But you know what?
Beats any day in the House.
- I can't get anything done
while Tip O'Neill is speaker.
- Mark Twain said it best
"Suppose I am a thief,
and suppose I am a congressman,
but I repeat myself."
- [both chuckle]
- You are gonna make me beg for
your mailing list, aren't you?
- Well, suppose you were
a thief.
- Suppose you were
a congressman.
- Well, I wouldn't mind, uh,
Ambassador to the U.N.
or, uh, Secretary of Defense.
- I can't think of a better way
to stick a dagger
through the heart of women's lib
than to nominate you
to my Cabinet.
- What about the rumors?
- What rumors?
- Oh, Phil.
Don't make me say it.
There are whispers
of a ménage à trois.
- Oh. Kennedy had hundreds of
women come to the White House,
and no one blinked.
- Yes, but Kennedy wasn't
running on family values.
- I'm offended that you think
Arlene would invite
a girl into our bed
who wasn't from a good family.
When it comes to the shootout,
I won't waver on the issues
just like
I never wavered on you.
[orchestra playing jazz version
of "How Great Thou Art"]
[cheers and applause]
[laughter]
- When Betty Ford came out
for the ERA,
I told Alyse,
"Stop spending all my money
running up the phone bill."
- And do you know what Phyllis
said when I told her that?
She said, "Oh, no, we're just
going to fight harder,"
and we did. We showed them.
- She's our miracle woman.
- Yeah.
- [chuckles]
- You know, Phyllis is right.
- [under breath] Easy.
- [exhales deeply]
It's a party.
[indistinct conversations]
[jazz instrumental playing]
[indistinct conversations
continue]
- We've come so far.
- [laughs]
You know, sometimes I forget
how to spell "Schlafly."
[laughter]
- Thank you.
- There's our Joan of Arc.
- Oh!
- Doesn't she work miracles?
- Now this is
my dear friend Alice,
who first told me
- Unless your husband's a jerk,
and then you're on your own.
- Oh, I think someone's had
a bit too much celebration.
- Pamela needed your support.
- Alice, this is really not
the time
- And the best you could do was
tell her to manage it better.
- Why don't you come with me
to the ladies' room?
- I don't wanna go with you
to the ladies' room.
I wanna know why
you said that to her.
- Well, uhKevin may not be
perfect, but he provides,
and she's never had to work
a day in her life.
- Oh. Lucky her.
- All right, I think people
have heard enough.
- When did you get so mean?
- Now I thought of all people,
you would be enjoying tonight,
after all of our hard work.
- Oh, don't.
- What?
- This is what you do.
- Alice.
- You change the subject
- People are looking at you.
- and you twist things up.
Do you even care about me
at all?
- Now I did all of this for you.
- You did all of this for me?
- So you would not feel
invisible.
- I have never felt
more invisible
than when I'm around you.
- Mrs. Schlafly!
Mrs. Schlafly,
we need to get you out of here.
- What? What's going on?
[alarm ringing]
[lights clank, music stops]
- Man: [amplified voice]
Ladies and gentlemen,
please remain calm.
The ballroom will have to be
evacuated immediately.
[crowd murmuring]
[alarm continues ringing]
[siren wailing in distance,
police radio chatter]
- I heard it was a bomb.
- I heard it was a bomb threat.
- Did they find anything?
[sirens continue wailing]
- I don't know.
[sirens continue wailing]
[police radio chatter]
- How come nobody's
talking to you?
- Me? [chuckles]
Ah, no. I'm nobody.
- Ah. [chuckles]
Wellguess I'm nobody, too.
[indistinct conversations]
[police radio chatter]
- I told, uh, John to take
everyone back to the hotel.
- Mm-hmm.
- Did they find a bomb?
- Oh, it's probably just a bunch
of slobs
and poor lib losers
trying to ruin our fun.
- Oh, yeah.
- Thank you for saving
the flowers, though.
- A bomb threat?
That's really making it.
- I can't tell you how many
ladies have come up to me.
They scrounged together every
penny they could to come here.
Well, I believe they would walk
to the ends of the earth
for you.
- Oh, now
- [chuckles]
- We couldn't take off
without asking you
if Ron could count
on your support.
- Wellthere are a lot
of attractive candidates.
- Mm-hmm.
- Crane. Connolly.
- They can't beat Carter.
The economy's in the toilet.
Voters are craving
an antiestablishment outsider
like Reagan.
- Yes, but Ron did make
some mistakes four years ago
not fighting for delegates
in northern states.
- He's learned.
He's going to be making a lot
more in-person appearances.
- Mm-hmm.
- It helps connect him
to the voters. He comes across
as warm and optimistic.
Nancy suggested it.
- Nancy or her astrologer?
[laughter]
You're not worried
about his age?
Almost 70that's pretty old.
I don't know.
- Well,
he's no Margaret Thatcher,
but we get him in blue jeans
and a cowboy hat chopping wood,
it'll make Carter look like
an old lady.
- Hmm. I think we'll wait
until we see how he does
in Iowa and New Hampshire.
- Don't wait too long.
Ron rewards those who are loyal
early on.
- You know what? I don't think
we need to wait for a straw poll
to tell us that, uh,
Ron's a winner.
YouYou'll have our support.
Just, I think he needs
a catchy slogan.
"Together, a new beginning"
doesn't get me out of bed.
[laughter]
- Thank you.
- Did you see he blew Audrey
and me a kiss
across the Oval Office?
We didn't even vote for him.
- He was in a very good mood.
- Mm.
- He said he wouldn't stop
until the ERA was
What was the word he used?
- "Enshrined."
- Yeah, "enshrined."
I thought a little much,
but "enshrined
in the Constitution." We'll see.
- It felt like
a big step forward.
- We should ask Rosalynn Carter
to put in a few calls
to state senators in Florida
right before they vote
on the ERA. She got us Indiana.
- Excuse me. Mrs. Abzug?
- What's that?
- Just a note from one
of Carter's Georgia boys.
Fired?
- The president has decided
to replace you.
- What do you mean?
We just had a good meeting.
- Which you canceled
at the last minute
and then demanded
that the president reschedule,
and then to shout at him
- [loudly] I never shouted.
- As you just did.
- I spoke with feeling.
- A friend
at the Labor Department
also brought this press release
to our attention.
- That was never issued
to the media.
- And how would that
have looked?
Hmm? Like disloyalty.
- McGovern compares Carter
to Nixon
in "Harper's Magazine," and you
all turn the other cheek.
- George is a senator.
You were appointed
by the president
to run his commission
on women's issues.
- And I'm not about
to sit around smiling
while he does nothing
but pay lip service.
- We can't have the president
getting jerked around
by a bunch of women.
Makes him look weak.
- You've been gunning for me
ever since you pushed Mitch out.
[scoffs] Does the president
know about this?
- He approved it this morning.
[paper rustles]
- Before we met with him?
Give me time to
handle my departure quietly.
I don't want a fuss.
My husband's recovering
from a heart attack.
He doesn't need any stress.
- Well, if you're having
personal problems,
you shouldn't be heading
a committee anyway.
- [whispers] Please.
Let me resign.
- We might have already
mentioned it to Ed Walsh
and Terry Smith at the "Times."
- Hey.
Let's get you home.
- "Dear President Carter"
Stop.
"We have never seen eye to eye."
Stop.
"I would never have surrendered
the Canal zone
"or canceled production
of the B-1 bomber,
"but your decision
to fire Bella Abzug
is finally one I can support."
Uh-huh.
Would you read that back to
my secretary? Thank you so much.
It's Western Union.
- Hello?
Mm-hmm.
- What are those?
- Mm-hmm.
- Oh, these are
called floppy disks.
I was able to transfer
my entire mailing list
from the computer onto these.
- [scoffs] Well,
before you hand those over
to Governor Reagan, you should
ask that he be very clear
at the convention.
I don't wanna say
he abandoned us
on the ERA issue in '76,
butwe felt abandoned.
- It's not personal, Rosemary.
It's politics.
[telephone receiver clatters]
[buttons rattle]
[click]
[telephone buttons clicking]
Hello, Marion?
Yes, it's Phyllis Schlafly.
Uh, I'm calling to talk to you
about, uh, supporting
Governor Reagan's campaign.
[laughs]
[telephone rings]
[indistinct conversations]
- Oh, I only asked for Carmen.
The rest of y'all can go.
[telephone continues ringing]
Please, sit. [sighs]
All right. In this country,
we like to pride ourselves
on peaceful transfers of power,
so, Carmen, we will be holding
a press conference
to announce you are officially
the new presiding officer
of the commission
effectively immediately.
- With respect to the president
and committee
[paper rustles]
I resign.
[footsteps depart]
- Jill, you seem to be the only
professional in the room.
We're gonnaMm.
- I refuse to serve
on a commission
on which Bella Abzug
is not presiding.
I resign.
[paper rustles]
- You can't both resign.
- Like I haven't quit
the White House before.
[paper rustles]
- I resign.
[paper rustles]
- I resign.
- I resign.
- I resign.
[paper rustles]
- This your doing?
- I made some phone calls.
We are the ones that are going
to have a press conference.
We are going to tell
the American people
how disappointed we are
with the president's stand
on women's issues.
He is going to have to do
something for us
to get us to vote for him.
We're no longer
a captive audience.
- It was a show of solidarity.
Representatives of some
of the most powerful women's
organizations in the country
said they were going to resign
in support of Bella Abzug
officers of the
National Organization of Women,
the National Organization
of Business
and Professional Women,
and the League of Women Voters.
They had met at length
with President Carter yesterday
to present their position
on the issues.
Today, they felt deceived.
- The president's response
was not to the issues
we brought to him
but rather to use our co-chair,
Bella Abzug,
as a scapegoat in an effort
to suppress our independence.
[continues indistinctly]
- I'm heading out.
- Mm.
- Mmm. Maybe not.
- [chuckles]
- You should publish
all your recipes.
- Where?
- In a cookbook.
- [scoffs]
[chuckles]
Well, I can do a whole chapter
on ERA breads and pies.
- [laughs]
- Bye, Leonia.
- Bye!
[door closes]
- It's just Anne and your mother
for dinner tonight?
- Mm-hmm. That's right.
- When is Anne getting home?
- She's not home yet?
[foil rustling]
Anne's not back from school.
Oh, she must have
missed the bus again.
- Reagan just took the lead
over Anderson.
- Oh, shoot. Fred and I are
supposed to leave momentarily.
I can't be late. I don't know.
Mother, maybe, uh,
you could pick Anne up?
- I-I suppose I could.
- Well, she can't drive
to St. Louis now.
It's getting dark.
- Well, I don't have anyone
to pick her up.
- Well, you'll sort it out.
- Ron called me himself
to ask for my help.
He's gonna wanna thank me
personally.
No, don't [sighs]
Don't take off your coat.
- Willie?
- Yes?
- I'm going to need you
to drive into St. Louis
and pick Anne up.
We're gonna have to go.
Fred, let's go.
- I'm sorry, Mrs. Schlafly.
I can't tonight.
I have to pick up my daughter.
- I'll make it up to you,
Willie.
I'm sorry.
I'm not gonna miss this event.
- I'll make other arrangements.
- Thank you.
[door closes]
- Anne. Why didn't you call?
I would have gotten you.
- Well, all the lines were busy.
I called Mrs. Macray.
- She's here?
- Yeah, she just dropped me off.
- Oh, uh, uh, Fred?
I'll meet you in the car!
[footsteps depart,
door opens]
[door closes]
[footsteps depart]
Alice!
[engine idling,
footsteps approach]
Oh, thank you so much.
- Oh, it really was no problem.
- Yes. Wellthank you.
You're wearing a suit?
- Yes, I had just gotten home
from the office
- Oh?
- when Anne called.
- What office?
- I got a job.
- A job?
- As a 4-1-1 operator.
- Oh. DidDid Buck
- Oh, no. Buck just laughs.
I'm averaging 500 calls a day,
and he doesn't have to pay
for any of them.
- Oh.
- And now that the kids
are mostly grown, I just
And I like not having to ask him
for pin money.
It's empowering.
- You used to feel empowered
by me.
- I used to feel scared.
[gears shift]
- Her daughter was stranded
at school.
- She has been working
seven years for this moment.
- I have been working
for 50 years
to take our country back.
She was in saddle shoes when
F.D.R. gave his New Deal speech.
- Yeah. When you look at all
she has accomplished,
there can only be
one explanation for it.
She was anointed by God.
- Democrats, Republicans,
and Independents
have streamed to the polls
to vote
in the biggest and, so far,
the most important
presidential primary election
- Think he might go all the way.
- I heard a disturbing rumor
that he's considering
picking Bush.
- Oh, he wouldn't dare.
- It would be a stab
in the back.
- It'll send our people back
into the churches.
He's too moderate.
- Look, I don't expect
to pull in more than 2% tonight,
but people have been asking if
I'd like to be his running mate.
- Ron's people are asking?
- No, no, reporters.
- Oh.
- And I tell them that Reagan
is the only one
that I feel comfortable with.
[indistinct conversations]
Maybe, uh, maybe you can
mention that to him.
- You must be Phyllis Schlafly.
We have not had the pleasure
officially.
I'm Roger Stone.
This is Paul Manafort.
- Oh! Yes. What a pleasure
to meet you both.
- I heard you just formed
a political consulting firm
with Charlie.
- Young Republicans
they're gonna take over D.C.
- [laughs]
- I'm Mr. Phyllis Schlafly.
[chuckles]
- You wouldn't mind
if we stole her for a bit.
Ron wanted to discuss strategy
for the platform hearings.
- By all means.
She's doing God's work.
- Good evening, Congressman.
- Thank you for your service.
[Christopher Cross'
"Ride Like the Wind" playing]
- Welcome to those of you who
have just joined our coverage
of this, uh,
quite remarkable election.
- [crowd chanting]
- It is, in truth,
a Reagan Republican landslide
sweeping across this nation
tonight.
- A Reagan landslide,
ladies and gentlemen.
It is the night
My body's weak
I'm on the run
No time to sleep
I've got to ride
- Looks to me as if
the modern liberal era is over.
- The people
of the United States
have made their choice.
Ride like the wind
And, of course,
I accept that decision.
[indistinct shouting]
- You know
here we are.
- About 22 seats in the House
[telephone rings]
and looking
at the governors races,
the Republicans had expected
that they would be able
to pick up two states
- Excuse me.
[knock on door]
Bella Abzug is on the line.
- Oh.
- Let's see what they have.
We have projection now.
NBC News
projecting Washington state,
the Republican, John Spellman
- Bella.
- Congratulations, you.
I can still say I have friends
in high places.
- Well, for two years, at least.
I don't know if I'm going
to run again.
- You lasted longer than me.
I couldn't get elected President
of the Bronx chapter
of Hadassah.
- [both chuckle]
- There's no room
for us here now.
- Reagan in the White House,
if the economy picks up,
he'll take credit for it.
He's charismatic.
It's going to turn back 50 years
of human progress
in this country.
- I appreciate the call, Bella.
- Hold the door
for the next bunch.
- Where do we go from here?
- This might be the right time
for Liz and Egee
to give us grandchildren.
[cheering on TV]
- Earlier
- Or
we could go to the Amalfi Coast.
- I've spoken and talked
to President Carter.
He called. John Anderson
called, and the president
[Kim Carnes' "More Love"
playing]
- I thought it was you.
I don't know why you always hide
behind a magazine.
No one thinks that you were born
with those highlights.
- Your hair looks lovely.
- Oh. Well, it'll be ruined
by tomorrow
because I forgot I had that run.
- What run?
- The breakfast run
for the Equal Rights Amendment
out in the Hamptons.
Gail and I have organized it
to raise money for ERAmerica,
and we've enlisted all
of these celebrities to run.
We've got Paul Newman.
We've got Lucie Arnaz.
We've got Carl Reiner.
- A 5-mile run?
- 2 miles because I run
a 16-minute mile.
- So it's not a run, Betty.
It's a walk.
- Oh, the things I do
for this movement. [chuckles]
[indistinct conversations]
It's terrible,
what happened to Bella.
We've had our differences
of opinion,
but she deserved better.
And the worst part is she fought
so hard to get women
appointed to Cabinet positions,
and now it's going to be
Phyllis Schlafly instead of her?
- God forbid.
- It was a mistake for you
to refuse to appear with her.
I mean, she got to say
anything she wanted
on Donahue, Merv Griffin,
Mike Douglas.
You know,
you think Zsa Zsa Gabor
was gonna correct her?
She's going to have
the last word.
- She is not going to have
the last word.
- The tide is turning
against us in Washington.
- Our movement didn't start
in Washington.
It's not gonna be
stopped by it.
[door opens]
Gloria: I have stood alongside
the greatest women
of my generation.
[door closes]
Still, today,
we select our leaders first
by eliminating women,
then minorities,
then those
with too little education.
Changing this will take
a very long time.
But after all, we are dealing
with 10,000 years
of patriarchy and racism,
but we must continue
to move forward in waves.
What will keep us going
is the revelation
of what we can be,
what the people around us
can be
without the crippling walls
and prisons
into which
we have been forced.
[amplified voice] We are just
beginning to discover
each of uswho we can be,
and no matter how long
this revolution may take,
there can be no turning back.
[loud cheers and applause]
[TV playing indistinctly]
[telephone rings]
[TV continues indistinctly]
[ring]
- Schlafly residence.
Uh, I'll go get her.
[typing on keyboard]
It's him.
[stops typing]
- [exhales deeply]
[exhaling deeply]
[exhales deeply]
[receiver clicks]
[inhales deeply]
Congratulations,
Mr. President-elect.
- Reagan: Well, thank you,
Phyllis. How are you doing?
- Oh, I'm very well, sir.
AndAnd yourself?
I hear, uh, there's been
a bit of a cold snap,
uh, in Washington, D.C.,
over the weekend.
- [chuckles]
Then it's a good thing
I'm still at the ranch.
Uh, we still have a few more
weeks of the, uh, peanut farmer.
- Oh, oh, no. Yes, of course.
Um, I suppose I'm just
[clears throat]
very keen to get to work, sir.
- Which is why I'm calling.
Uh, your coalition carried me
across the finish line.
Your list was invaluable.
Uh, but Jim tells me that
overall I didn't do so well
with the ladies.
Seems I have a woman problem.
[chuckles]
It isn't that
you don't deserve it.
I just, uh, can't afford
to upset the pro-ERA groups.
You fought an important battle,
but sometimes the battle
follows us home.
I respect you a great deal,
Phyllis,
and that is why I wanted to call
to say thank you.
Take care.
[line disconnects]
[receiver clatters]
- [sighs] You were robbed.
You deserved a Cabinet post.
[dog barking in distance]
Shall we have dinner?
- It's at 6.
[receiver clatters]
It's always at 6.
[Molly Drake's
"Little Weaver Bird" playing]
[footsteps descend stairs]
Little weaver bird
Sitting sadly in the tree
Take my good advice
And forget your misery
Your tears are all in vain
And regret can be absurd
[footsteps ascend stairs]
[switch clicks]
Little weaver bird
Get weaving
The year is going by
And the season's getting on
Don't you think it's time
to build yourself a home?
She blinked
her brilliant eye
I don't even think
she heard
Little weaver bird
Get weaving
[utensils clattering]
Oh, I can sympathize
With a heart
that is distressed
But every bird who's wise
Will build herself a nest
She looked at me and sighed
Then a miracle occurred
The little weaver bird
Got weaving
[clock ticking]
[clock continues ticking]
All right, ladies.
It's time to go in
and have our voices heard.
(crowd cheering)
Together
we can take our country back!
MAN: We have 15 minutes
and you have some cool stuff
to show us.
-(beeps)
-(laughs) Oh, yeah.
I want you to join Devs.
WOMAN: What is Devs?
It's the most beautiful thing
I've ever seen.
MAN: I had no idea
what I would find
when I went searching
for my father.
They flashed the Zodiac Killer,
and my heart stopped.
WOMAN: He believes
he is the son of the Zodiac.
COLIN: They had come
highly recommended
by a mutual vampire
associate of ours,
but nevertheless,
I found it prudent
-to run the traditional
credit checks
-(yawns)
and reference protocols.
Suffice it to say,
I am part of the 33%
who find it necessary to utilize
my complementary credit check
every year.
(snoring)
(hisses)
(up-tempo music plays)
(laughing)
(squeaking)