The Candidate

SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

“Politics is bullshit!” is the comment of one character, and that is pretty much the theme of this 1972 film about a man who has the same excremental opinion of the political process. But, he is seduced into running for the California U. S. Senate seat and winds up forfeiting his ethical center after getting caught up in the American campaign process.

The movie, which won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Jeremy Larner (a speechwriter for Presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy), begins with the titles in red, white, and blue, and the soundtrack playing American Revolution fife and drum marching music. In the context of this story the thrust is satiric, since the colors of the flag, and the music, emphasize how politicians use national symbolism to stir the emotions of the citizens into a patriotic fervor absent of rational discussion of the pertinent issues. To produce a sense of realism, director Michael Ritchie, who once worked as a campaign technical adviser, gives the film a documentary feel by including background noise, overlapping conversations, and jerky camera movements. He includes real TV newsmen, including Mike Wallace, and actual candidates, such as George McGovern and Hubert Humphrey.

Marvin Lucas (Peter Boyle), a campaign manager, talks to his media expert, Klein (Allen Garfield) after their candidate loses an election. The concession speech is boiler plate, with the usual statements about how the loser will continue to fight for the issues that brought him into the race. Of course there is no mention of personal ambition, because even though everybody knows that element is present, everyone pretends that is not a motivation. The responses to the election by Lucas and Klein are rather cold. Klein says that at least they won two out of three elections in which they were involved. The losing candidate was a nice guy, and that is why Lucas says, “He never had a chance.” In politics, the cliche that “good guys finish last” is a given.

Lucas is looking to the next campaign. He holds up a newspaper picture of Bill McKay (Robert Redford) as a possible Democratic candidate for Senator from California. Klein points out the incumbent, Republican Crocker Jarmon (Don Porter) is unbeatable. (Jarmon’s first name sounds like Davy Crockett, an American legend, but it also implies his words are “a crock of shit,” suggesting he is a phony). Lucas says that McKay is good looking and he is the son of an prior governor of the state. There is no mention here of whether he is qualified for the job or any discussion of his integrity. The major criteria seems to be physical attractiveness and name recognition. On his way to meet McKay, Lucas drives past workers, the people who politicians should care about, but who get lost in the speechifying, the political maneuvers, and the compromises to appease so many groups. McKay is in this place because he is an environmentalist, and is trying to cut through the impediments blocking the completion of a watershed project.

McKay is not some naive guy. He is cynical about the political process, because he witnessed its underhanded ways while his father was governor. He and his dad are not close, and he doesn’t want to have him involved in his activities. McKay says being governor was great for his dad, but the younger McKay is not sure his father did anything for others. When Lucas pitches the need for someone to run against Jarmon who has something he believes in, McKay says, “Whatever that means.” McKay accurately identifies Lucas’ statement as an insincere public relations line. Because he doesn’t trust the political process, McKay has been working outside of politics.

McKay tells Lucas he worked twenty hours on the weekend but was happy, so what does Lucas have to offer him? He was able to save some trees, and he opened up a clinic. Lucas says Jarmon sits on committees that carve up land, oil and taxes. Lucas plays to McKay’s views on these issues. McKay knows he has limited power, so Lucas exploits that angle, saying McKay can call his own shots as a senator. McKay’s wife, Nancy (Karen Carlson), thinks it’s a good idea to run, but her husband would have to register to vote. He’s not even affiliated with a party, which shows how alienated he is from the political process. For him, up to this point, the political parties haven’t offered enough for those outside of their organizations.

Lucas says McKay has credibility based on his work and he has his dad’s name for notoriety. McKay’s wife says he has the looks. Lucas works another angle. He says because Jarmon is unbeatable, McKay doesn’t have to compromise. He can say what he wants, and get publicity for his causes. When asked what he is getting for his efforts, Lucas says he receives some salary, but implies that he probably wants the connection to a U. S. senator for other perks. McKay points out that Lucas has a beard, which is forbidden in politicians because it makes them appear sneaky. Lucas, in a way, is like the Devil, luring the moral McKay into a fallen state.

McKay, trying to decide what he wants to do, goes to hear Jarmon give a speech. Jarmon offers the usual Republican line - we don’t need welfare or social workers. People have to take responsibility for themselves instead asking for government handouts. He says we don’t need more welfare, but instead we should put our trust in making businesses more successful. It’s the trickle down theory of economics which was championed by Ronald Reagan. To help corporations, Jarmon doesn’t want extreme regulations regarding conservation because they curb company profits. Jarmon, like most conservatives, demonizes the Federal government, likening it to 1984’s dictator, “Big Brother.” After his speech, Jarmon follows the usual political game plan, doing handshaking, holding up kids, and pretending he knows people. McKay approaches him, asks if he recognizes him, and Jarmon acts like he met him before.

McKay decides to run for office after witnessing Jarmon’s rally. At his announcement as a candidate, he acts differently than those who usually run for office. He doesn’t give some flowery speech. He just opens himself up to questions. He doesn’t equivocate about what he thinks, and does not shy away from controversial topics. When asked about welfare, he says the government subsidizes industries, so why not individual people? He is in favor of busing students to foster desegregation of schools. He doesn’t know enough about real estate taxes, so he says he doesn’t know what to do about them. He won’t do PR photos with his staff, saying they are not responsible for his actions, so he doesn’t want to implicate them if what he does is unpopular.

But Lucas and Klein are already ramping up the sales pitch for McKay. Klein pitches using slick TV commercials, and McKay is wary of him. He wants final say over what is released. They are already packaging him, telling him to cut his hair shorter and to get rid of his sideburns. They have McKay shows up at an auto parts factory. They try to make him look like he cares about the common man by showing up in situations outside of a studio. But, it’s still staged, with cameras running to show him shake hands with workers. He does try to get his message across despite the artificiality of the situation when he tells one guy that high interest rates and personal expenses outpace his salary. The worker is shy, and appears to want to escape, because the average person isn’t seeking the limelight, and just wants the simple joys life offers (this is the pre-YouTube age).

McKay looks like he is having doubts about his decision to run. At home, he tells his wife that he doesn’t want to go to a political banquet. He just wants to go with her for a walk on the beach, seeking the private pleasantries that he has left behind. She is upset with him, and seems more enthusiastic about being in the spotlight than he does. McKay rests on the bed and grabs the bed frame that looks like prison bars, symbolizing his sense of confinement. In his speech at the banquet he talks about how forces more and more overwhelm the individual, and it sounds like he may be thinking about his own situation. After his talk, in the reception line, we hear numerous empty platitudes, and superficial talk about his wife’s looks and her dress. Nothing substantive is discussed. One woman appears to be coming onto McKay, which is another seductive aspect of fame that can lure someone into compromising one’s morals.

There is a rehearsal for an interview. McKay doesn’t seem to have a precise answer as to where one takes a stand against communism. He just knows it’s not in Vietnam (which was still going on at the time the film was made, and was dividing the nation). The idea of a case-by-case basis seems weak to campaign runners. The thrust is that people like decisive, simple answers even though the questions may be complicated. But, conversely, when McKay gives the answer that he’s for a woman’s right to have an abortion, Lucas says McKay has to amplify his answer, so as not to alienate parts of the electorate. Lucas wants him to say the issue of abortion rights is worth studying. So, the result is that one’s views on controversial subjects become watered down.  

Appearances take priority when you are trying to win over the public (today we call it “optics”). McKay goes to a beach, and despite his apparent aversion to manipulating visuals, he is getting savvy, saying he doesn’t want to pitch environmental concerns while driving up in a gas guzzler car. He tells young people there that it used to be a clean beach, and now the water is polluted. He says maybe we don’t need more nuclear plants, or oil drilling that hurts the environment. But, while looking at the footage of the beach visit, Lucas, instead of allowing McKay’s message to get out, says to Klein that McKay has gone too far. Lucas says he already has union problems, and he’s worried McKay’s stance threatens some jobs when environmental concerns stop certain industrial projects. McKay said something about firing the Board of Regents, and Lucas says a senator can’t do that. Lucas says it’s meaningless, but Klein says it doesn’t matter, because “It sounds good.” That’s the bottom line: what is appealing is what matters, whether it’s true or not (“fake news” has been around for a while, it’s just getting more play now).

McKay visits the Watts ghetto. McKay says that there are not enough hospitals or birth control centers there, and no good transportation, housing programs, and generally not enough resources available. But the scene looks awkward when the all white staff and film crew seem out of place in the African American community. A local man says to one of them “give me five,” and a staff member doesn’t know what to do. McKay gets the message about how the locals feel toward them, because he knows something about the people in the area. When a youth flashes a three finger sign, the “V” formation signifies “peace,” but the third digit stands for “up yours.”

While looking at a commercial utilizing some of what was filmed, it looks slick, but McKay complains there is no footage from when he was at a ghetto health clinic. Klein shows him what was recorded. There is a baby crying and it’s distracting. The woman there slaps her kid, and the lady is cynical about McKay’s ability to change anything. McKay says, “What about what I’m saying?” Klein says, “What about it?” It’s as if content doesn’t matter. What has become important is how appealing the ad appears. We then see one of Jarmon’s commercials where he appears with pro football players. It’s a safe ad, associating him with a popular sport. When Jarmon says he saw men on their knees praying, McKay and Lucas satirize the statement, saying they were probably on their knees shooting craps. McKay, finding the humor in the staginess of the campaign, jokes about challenging Jarmon to a game of craps, because it made the country great (making things “great” has always been used as a political slogan). McKay continues to kid about the use of political rhetoric when he says God made the country great (because politicians always invoke God). He says God shoots crap, so basically they would be doing his work. With the right jargon (which sounds a bit like “Jarmon”), one can elevate anything, no matter how unsavory.

McKay’s run for senate starts to pick up momentum as the newspapers give him more coverage and larger crowds show up at campaign sites. These rallies are again more about being appealing and entertaining. There are pretty girls wearing hats to promote McKay while singing a campaign song. Actress Natalie Wood shows up to lend star power to a photo op. The emphasis is on presenting a show business spectacle instead of presenting plans to address social problems. Despite his appeal among Democrats, Lucas shows McKay some poll results while in a bathroom, (suggesting the campaign is going down the tubes? Implying that politics is dirty?) and tells him he will get wrecked in the election. McKay says they knew he would lose, but Lucas, who seduced him by saying losing would liberate McKay, now says he won’t just lose, he will be humiliated. So now, Lucas manipulates McKay by wanting him to play along so his causes, and McKay himself, are not demeaned. McKay says he wants to quit. Lucas says it’s too late, probably because McKay will appear pathetic. He also has has a duty to run now since he has become the Democratic candidate. McKay says Lucas makes that sound like a death sentence. (Many Democrats recently must have felt that way).

More problems start to occur. One staffer tells McKay to alter his itinerary and go to Malibu. There’s a fire there, which the staffer ironically labels as something “perfect,” as if a disaster is good for McKay’s image as a protector of the environment. Lucas and McKay want to emphasize the importance of having a watershed (which keeps water in the ground to prevent fires), and providing insurance to protect homeowners from such natural occurrences. But, a staffer says they don’t want to make it look like McKay is exploiting the fire for political reasons. But, that is the reason they are there. So, pretending to deny that self-promotion exists is a form of phoniness and illustrates the attempt to try to remove any negativity associated with the campaign. Jarmon shows up and grandstands the scene. He says he persuaded the President to declare Malibu a disaster area, and Jarmon will introduce a watershed bill that will include homeowners insurance coverage. He basically abandons his conservative stance for his own political advancement, and upstages his opponent.

At a mall McKay says that Jarmon says the economy is going well, but, there are people telling McKay about the need for jobs. He argues that industries must retool in order to make jobs available. These are pertinent points. But, the sound system at the mall creates bad feedback and ruins the event. This undermining of the communicating of McKay’s positions is symbolic of how his substantive words seem to be drowned out by other forces. At another site, McKay talks about how farm subsidies should be for individual farmers, not big combines that wipe smaller farm owners out. But, the event was not properly promoted, and only a couple of people show up. Again, his progressive message is not being heard.

Another problem involves gossip that McKay’s ex-governor father, who has not endorsed his son yet, is actually for Jarmon. While discussing the need for the elder McKay’s help, which angers the candidate, McKay can’t get a soda machine to dispense his drink. His inability to get the machine to work is symbolic of how McKay doesn’t mesh with the political machinery, and how politics in general doesn’t work for the country as a whole. McKay doesn’t want to use his father, but he eventually capitulates. Compromises keep falling like dominoes. McKay meets with his dad (Melvyn Douglas). There is talk about the younger McKay’s mother, who is divorced from his father, and which seems to be a sticking point between McKay and his dad. The ex-governor’s new wife is condescending about McKay’s senate run. She says, “That’s very good, Bud” (his nickname), sounding as if he joined the soccer team. As they walk, Dad shoots a rabbit on his grounds, which is distasteful to the conservationist McKay.

A journalist from Parade magazine shows up at McKay’s house without the candidate’s knowledge. His wife knows about it, and she is in a riding outfit, because that is what the Parade people want her to appear in when they take photos. The artificial staging is now even occurring in his house. McKay feels like he is experiencing a sort of home invasion. The journalists talk about how the books on the shelf won’t work for the photoshoot. The desire is to change everything into what looks more appealing, and not present what’s real.

Real TV journalist Howard K. Smith presents a commentary on the network news (again adding verisimilitude to the film). He says candidates are now selling themselves like products. They are just like underarm deodorant, which tries to cover up an unappealing smell. Politicians run commercials that are just long enough to “pound in some mindless slogan.” But, Smith says McKay was initially running an honest campaign unlike the party machine ones of his father. However, he says, issue specifics degenerated into generalities, and McKay has gone “Madison Avenue.” There is now just salesmanship with no moral considerations, and it seems that virtue does not endure in a long campaign. After seeing this TV report, McKay is angry and confronts Lucas, who deflects him with news that Jarmon has just agreed to a debate. Lucas continues to manage McKay, saying he wants a panel to prepare for the debate, and he worries about Jarmon coming off like he’s the dad and McKay is a kid. McKay says he just wants to say what he came to say, but Lucas says one can’t say too much on TV, and he must say it “the right way at the right time.” McKay yells he wants to know what this campaign is about. He says it’s supposed to be about the issues, not just winning. But Lucas avoids the answer by saying they came up 14 points in the polls, and argues that McKay is getting through to the people. He says that Jarmon is scared, and that is why he agreed to debate. McKay is again diverted from immediately fighting for causes, and allows the efforts to win the contest to take priority. Unfortunately, this action comes at a great ethical cost. After the conversation, staffers flood into the room, implying that once again McKay the person is overwhelmed by McKay, the political campaign.

The staff preps McKay for the debate. They tell him what to say about crime prevention, an issue he is isn’t strong on. But they just offer him vague talking points. As they land their plane to attend the debate, Lucas barges into the cockpit to do more prepping over the pilot’s objections, who says he doesn’t care who McKasy is, he shouldn’t be in there. (McKay and Lucas are continually invading places where they shouldn’t be. They try using a studio after being told it was not available. They use the wrong elevator, and the employee echoes the words of the pilot. Regular people are not impressed in their daily lives by politicians who don’t really make a difference in their lives, and who sometimes actually hinder, not help, the people they represent). At the debate site, the emphasis is again on appearance, as McKay must change his tie, has to wear makeup, needs to interlace his fingers, and should look properly into the camera. During a break, a camera test is conducted, but the image of McKay is superimposed onto that of Jarmon, suggesting that they become the same because of the nature of political campaigning which exacts character compromises in order to practice salesmanship. Toward the end of the debate, McKay goes rogue. He says that there were issues that were not discussed, such as those pertaining to poverty, race, and dilapidated cities. He says they better address these problems or there will be violence. Jarmom, like a seasoned political manipulator who jettisons integrity, twists McKay’s words to make it sound like McKay is advocating violence. After the debate one of McKay’s staffers says it was quite a show. Instead of substance, what sells is excitement and controversy, because serious discussion is just boring to the populace.

McKay’s father shows up after the debate to finally endorse him to counteract any negativity his son sustained at the debate concerning his reference to the threat of violence in the cities. McKay ponders if anyone knows what he was trying to do, but his dad says it won’t make any difference. Again, substance is secondary. McKay demands that he wants his makeup removed, saying he wants “this crap off.” But, after a while, the “crap” sticks, figuratively, if you use it enough, and all you are presenting to the public is a phony exterior.

There is a big shot union leader named Starkey (Kenneth Tobey), whose endorsement McKay’s father wants for his son. McKay doesn’t like being indebted to any powerful people who worked for his dad, and the union guy also tried to interfere with employment of farm workers. Starkey wants favors for his support. Starkey thinks McKay is going to get beaten but the ex-governor says no, because his son is “cute.” Looks are what counts, and that attractiveness will always beat ordinary is the ruling principle here. McKay is late for the meeting with Starkey because he is seen in the hotel hallway with the woman he met earlier who was coming onto him. He obviously is cheating on his wife, showing how he has become morally compromised. At the meeting, McKay disagrees with Starkey, saying they “don’t have shit in common.” But, McKay’s father turns it into a joke. The two really don’t have anything in common based on their backgrounds. But, working for those for whom you want favors makes strange allies in a political fight, and we see Starkey enthusiastically introducing McKay at a rally.

In his speech to union members, we see how far Mckay has fallen from his lofty ideals. He plays the crowd by capitulating to the use of vague emotional rhetoric. He says we must trust in our courage and compassion, and we’re all in the fight for a better world together, thus relying on the universal desire for unity by ignoring how to deal with the differences that must be overcome. He concludes with the cliche promise of saying, “ I’ll give it all I got.” While going from place to place, he repeats the same vapid speech about not wanting to play rich against poor, black against white, old against young. The speech patterns sound so inspiring it doesn’t matter what is said. McKay mocks the speech as he travels in a car with Lucas. He mixes up the words by saying we can’t play black against old. He makes fun of the vagueness of the words when he says the country can’t feed its foodless, house it’s homeless. The talking points sound good, but are devoid of substantive meaning.  He uses a line, “The basic indifference that made this country great,” which shows how anything can be made to sound good. He does a fake exhortation, saying on election day people should vote once, vote twice for McKay, “you middle class honkies,” satirizing his own demographic appeal. He then flashes the outdated victory sign that Nixon used to employ which was adopted and changed by the young at the time to mean peace, not war. The image shows how out of touch most politicians are with the citizenry they are supposed to be working for.

On election day, as the evening wears on, it is projected that McKay will win. His wife contemplates where they will live near Washington. But, McKay looks stunned because he was ready to lose, and at this point he wishes he didn’t win.  His father says to him with a smile, “You’re a politician.” Those words are frightening to McKay. It’s like he’s been cursed. McKay gets Lucas alone. The last words of the film are, “What do we do now?” Winning turned out to be everything instead of the issues, and McKay has compromised so much that he feels he not only has lost his way forward but also his moral identity.

The next film is When Harry Met Sally ...