Ida: You're really buying into this crap. All this "take back the country" nonsense.
Stephen: Ida, I'm not naive, okay? I've worked on more campaigns than most people have by the time they're 40. I'm telling you, this is the one.
Ida: You really have drunk the Kool-Aid.
Stephen: I have drunk it. It's delicious. Look, l don't care if he happens to be leading in the polls, and I don’t care if he happens to have all the right tools. The truth is, he's the only one that's gonna actually make a difference in people's lives. Even the people that hate him. If Mike Morris is president, it says more about us than it does about him. I don't give a fuck if he can win. He has to win.
Ida: Or what? What? The world's gonna fall apart? It won't matter, not one bit, to the everyday lives of everyday fuckers who get up and work and eat and sleep, go back to work again. You know, if your boy wins, you get a job in the White House. He loses, you're back at a consulting firm on K Street. That's it. You used to know that before you got all goosebumpy about this guy. Mike Morris is a politician. He's a nice guy. They're all nice guys. He will let you down, sooner or later.
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Stephen: Look, l've played dirty.
Tom Duffy: I'm sorry to hear it.
Stephen: But I don't have to play dirty anymore. You know why? I got Morris.
Tom Duffy: None of this is about the democratic process, Steve.
Stephen: This is the shit Republicans pull.
Tom Duffy: Yeah, you know what? This is the kind of shit that the Republicans pull, and it's about time we learned from them. They're meaner, they're tougher, they're more disciplined than we are. I've been in this business 25 years. I've seen too many Democrats bite the dust because they wouldn't get down in the mud with the fucking elephants.
Stephen: Paul's my friend.
Tom Duffy: Do you wanna work for the friend?
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艾妲:你真的信那些鬼話,什麼“贏回國家”之類的狗屁。
史蒂芬:艾妲,我沒那麼天真好嗎,我打過的選戰比大多數中生代都多,我得說,這場仗非贏不可。
艾妲:你真被灌了迷湯啊。
史蒂芬:是啊,超好喝的。聽著,我不管他是否剛好民調領先,或剛好天時地利人和,事實就是,只有他能真正改變民眾的生活,包括討厭他的人。要是麥克莫里斯真的當選總統,突顯的是選民的素質而非它的能力,我才不管他有沒有能力贏,他非贏不可。
艾妲:不然怎樣?世界會崩潰嗎?對死老百姓的生活來說,誰贏根本不重要,他們只管起床、工作、吃飯睡覺,然後再去工作。但你,你的人贏了,你就進白宮上班;他輸了,你就回K街的顧問公司,就這樣。你原本都知道,直到被他電昏頭。麥克莫里斯是個政客,他是好人,政客都是好人,但他遲早會讓你失望。
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史蒂芬:聽著,我以前也有耍過賤招。
湯姆達菲:真遺憾。
史蒂芬:但是現在不必了,知道為什麼嗎?因為我有莫里斯。
湯姆達菲:史蒂芬,選戰的重點從來不是民主過程。
史蒂芬:這是共和黨出的奧步。
湯姆達菲:沒錯,這是共和黨出的奧步,而現在,我們也該學起來了,他們比我們更兇狠、更有紀律。我操盤25年來,看過太多民主黨候選人落敗,因為他們自詡清白,不肯跟大象玩潑糞。
史蒂芬:保羅是我的朋友。
湯姆達菲:你想為朋友還是總統工作?自己好好考慮一下。
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