Swing Vote

Synopsis: November, 2004, New Mexico. Bud is a slacker with one good thing in his life, his engaging fifth-grade daughter Molly. On election day, Bud is supposed to meet her at the polling place. When he doesn't show, she sneaks a ballot and is about to vote when the power goes off. It turns out that New Mexico's electoral votes will decide the contest, and there it's tied with one vote needing recasting - Bud's. The world's media and both presidential candidates, including the current President, descend on Bud in anticipation of his re-vote in two weeks. Can the clueless Bud, even with the help of Molly and a local TV reporter, handle this responsibility?
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Production: Touchstone Pictures/Treehouse Films
  1 nomination.
 
IMDB:
6.1
Metacritic:
47
Rotten Tomatoes:
39%
PG-13
Year:
2008
120 min
$16,229,781
Website
483 Views


SWING VOTE:

After a hotly contested race,

Americans go to the polls today...

in what promises to be

a very close election.

The Republican Andrew Boone,

hoping to hold on to the Oval Office...

by edging out...

the Democratic challenger

Donald Greenleaf.

Bud...

Bud.

Bud!

I'll call...

I'll call him back.

If we had a phone, you could.

Come on!

Goddamnit! It's cold.

We're gonna be late again.

You need a shower.

Can't believe

you slept in your clothes!

Leave me any hot water?

I don't know.

Water heater fix itself?

Christ, Molly! Why don't you

just take the day off, okay?

I'll write you a note.

Now!

I'm not going to tell you again!

Get up!

Bud!

Alright, I'm coming!

- What?

- Egg salad.

Again?

You like egg salad.

Well, not every damn day I don't.

You could mix it up a little.

We're on a budget.

You wanna eat better?

Drink less beer.

- Fine.

- Fine.

- And don't forget today.

- What's... what's today?

Election day, dummy!

I'm supposed to do a report

on you voting, remember?

I already told you before

I'm not even registered.

I registered for you

in the mail.

That's great,

I could get jury duty now.

- It's your civic responsibility.

- It's my civic, my what?

It's your civic responsibility.

My civic responsibility?

Where you learning this crap?

Mrs. Abernathy.

Well, stay away from her.

She's my teacher.

Sign this.

What is it?

A questionnaire. I'm supposed

to ask you about your politics.

Well, go ahead.

I already filled it in.

I wanted you to sound smart.

Give me

the first question anyway.

What's your political affiliation?

Alright,

I'm a conscious objector.

It's not a war, Bud. It's an election.

And you are an independent.

Independent? Why in the hell

would I be an independent?

Because the two party system...

has neglected the needs

of the working poor.

- Let me tell you something, baby...

- Here we go again.

The voting doesn't count

for a goddamn thing.

Just a way to make you feel

like you're in control of something.

It doesn't matter who you vote for,

we can't afford insurance and...

if you get sick, I'm gonna have

to start selling my blood again.

Mrs. Abernathy said every vote counts.

It's a social contract.

It's a social contract.

This Mrs. Abernathy is full of sh*t.

Meet me at the polling place

after work.

Fine.

You forgetting something?

Bud, screw this up

and I'm leaving you.

Do good!

Where...

Where the hell is Dewey?

He got laid off.

Bullshit! He got insourced.

Insourced?

Insourced. Instead of exporting

our jobs to Mexico...

they're importing Mexicans

to take our jobs.

You're paranoid,

you know that?

Attention! The opening

this morning is officially cancelled.

I can't even read

the damn signs no more!

Our days are numbered, fellas.

You mark my words!

These hombres work twice

as hard for half the money.

I just figure they need this job

twice as bad as us!

Whose side are you on?

I don't take sides, Lowell.

Just stating the obvious.

Next thing, they'll be taking

away our right to vote.

You voting, Bud?

It's a social contract,

isn't it?

Who are you voting for?

Sh*t if I know!

I think I picked up a couple shades.

Looks like an eight.

What do you think, Marty?

I don't like

the margin in Florida.

Bus some young Republicans down

to the polling stations in Palm Beach.

Make sure they're tall,

they're blonde and they're men.

Because old Jews see a pack

of angry young white males...

and they're gonna think twice

about getting out of their car!

Kennedy was a nine.

And he put a man on the moon.

That's what we need.

Something to shoot for.

A defining moment.

Like... I don't know.

Cure for cancer.

Ohio run the gay marriage

ad every twenty minutes.

Let's see if we can't get those God

fearing bastards off the fence.

We take a bunch of scientists,

put them in the desert somewhere.

Like the Manhattan project. Are you

listening to me? I'm serious about this.

I think that cancer is going to be

a tough nut to crack in one term, sir.

So, we make it a ten year plan.

- Lincoln got to see the end of slavery?

- No.

- Did Kennedy get to see the moon shot?

- Nope.

No! But they got the credit!

It's the idea that counts.

The guy that sets the goal

gets in the history books!

Hope and positivity! Marty,

the American people want a bright...

shining smile to represent

the promise of this country.

Take old Georgie there.

Boy, he was off the charts.

They wanted to make him King.

Son of a gun!

Thank you,

thank you for coming.

Galena and I would like

to thank America...

for this glorious opportunity.

I have met people of every race,

color and creed...

during this long campaign.

I pledge to you that my White House

will be a rainbow house.

It'll be open to people

of all colors and creeds.

Now, please, go and vote.

We need your support.

That was great.

I'm gonna go do press.

Great.

Greenleaf! Greenleaf!

Gallup has you down by a point.

CNN, USA Today, has us up by two.

News has us down by sixty.

What message are you trying

to get out to the undecideds today?

The same message we put out yesterday,

last week and last year...

when we started this campaign

and that's why we're going to win.

Because we have the answers.

Not platitudes and jingoistic rhetoric.

This is the truth

train operation real deal.

In recent days, the president

has aired ads claiming Greenleaf...

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Jason Richman

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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    "Swing Vote" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/swing_vote_19246>.

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