Jonathan Demme and the Making of 'The Manchurian Candidate' Page #4

My son is a war hero.

MAN 2:
Governor Arthur has agreed

to consider Raymond

for a cabinet-level post.

We didn't come here

to have a discussion.

Did we come here

to have a discussion?

WELLS:
Ellie, you don't have the votes

to block this.

Not even to push the nomination

to a second ballot.

Oh, Jim, even running against

this cut-and-fold vice president,

with his party's record of

abysmal failure at home and abroad,

Governor Arthur is still unelectable

to the presidency...

...without help.

Consider, that our intrepid Arthur

can hold on to his own home ground,

and the Northeast,

and even California,

we are still dead across the South.

He's not dead completely

in the South, senator...

ELLIE:
And the Southwest,

where they win by landslides.

I mean, you know this.

Your focus groups,

your polls all tell you this.

They back me up, right?

Now, you're counting on

Tom Jordan to help you get

the black vote, women

and college kids.

My gut instinct says he won't,

and on Arthur to somehow hold

the centre, where he is soft at best.

We're confident

this is a winning ticket, Ellie.

What's your margin of error, Vaughn?

Five points?

Three?

I can swing that, and you know it.

Oh, I could swing seven

away from you.

That's more than enough

to split the ticket.

And deny us the White House

another four years? No.

No, not even you.

Not even you, senator,

will do that, you are bluffing.

Oh, no, no, no, senator,

I would and I will

and I will do whatever is necessary

to protect America

from anyone who opposes her.

I can't...

Am I the only person in this room

who's been reading

these NSA reports?

- I've read them.

- All right, then you know,

you know we are on the brink

of another cataclysm,

probably nuclear, on our own soil.

Oh, Ellie, that's a bit extreme.

ELLIE:

And it's not from random terrorists,

but from covert alliances

of disaffected nations

who have all been made bold

by this kind of Jordan one-worlder

who believes that human beings

are essentially good

and that our power is somehow,

I don't know,

shameful or evil or never to be used.

Make no mistake,

the American people are terrified.

They know something's coming.

They can feel it.

And we can either shovel them

the same old sh*t and call it sugar

or we can arm them.

We can arm them with a young,

vibrant vice president.

We can give them heat, energy,

give them a war hero with heart,

forged by enemy fire

in the desert in the dark,

when American lives

hung in the balance.

Give us a few minutes.

Thank you.

Mr. Secretary,

thank you for your time.

- Thank you.

ELLIE:
Really appreciate it.

- Leona, good evening.

- Thank you, Ellie.

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