why aim to loose?
sorry but i missed the part where it explained why they/he wanted to start when they/he knew reford would loose...
shareI don't know if it was stated so much as implied, but the incumbent seemed to be well-liked, popular and very connected in Washington, being the head of an important Senate committee.
But since we have a two-party system, the other party still needs to run somebody against a very popular candidate. So they may have picked someone who they thought they could mold into the candidate they wanted to run, but with the awareness at all times that they were probably fighting a losing battle.
The alternative would be to let the incumbent Senator run unopposed, which has happened, but each party would probably prefer to take some kind of shot at each election, even if it's considered a longshot.
That's consistent with my impression.
Going a bit further:
The real driving forces in the movie were political consultants, who aren't politicos in search of some policy outcome, but hired guns in search of work and the excitement and competitive thrill of a campaign. Their plan with McKay was to take a candidate with no history at all into an unwinnable campaign and make it at least kind of close. In addition to giving them something interesting to do, by getting attention and - they hope - more votes than expected, they'd build their reputations and find more interesting opportunities in the future.
This race was a good choice. Crocker Jarmon was considered so entrenched that there wasn't much competition in the Democratic primary. California is a hugely visible state. The US Senate is the big time. McKay was a great candidate for their purpose: good looking, with a "hook" in his name and, they thought (correctly, as it turned out) pretty malleable and nearly a blank slate.
They didn't want to lose: as becomes clear, they'd much rather win. But part of the reason they chose this race is because, even if the lose (which is likely), they'll still come out ahead.
The satirical point is that we wind up with a candidate who's running just to run. Nobody working for him particularly wants him to be a Senator. They don't know, or care, what he would do if elected. They just want to win - more or less the way someone working for, say, the Lakers wants them to win.
The satirical point is that we wind up with a candidate who's running just to run. Nobody working for him particularly wants him to be a Senator. They don't know, or care, what he would do if elected. They just want to win - more or less the way someone working for, say, the Lakers wants them to win.
I agree for the most part regarding the professional campaign managers and their motives. Although I don't think McKay was running "just to run." The way Lucas was selling him on the idea was that McKay was already involved in community activism and was "fighting the good fight" in his own way, even while resisting politics and following in the footsteps of his father.
He didn't want to become a Senator at all, and he didn't even want to become a candidate. Lucas sold him on the idea by saying that he could get up there, get attention to whatever pet causes he was already fighting for, say what he wants, and he has absolutely nothing to lose...since he's going to lose anyway. Hence the guarantee of "you lose." Perhaps McKay really wanted to run all along but was getting scared and a bit of cold feet, so he had to be talked into it in that way to allay his fears and convince him he had nothing to lose.
Lucas may have thought to himself that McKay actually had a chance to win. He already had the name recognition from his father and was already getting attention in the press from his community activist work. The other guy working with Lucas was saying that McKay's approach was "raw, but they'll eat it up. The public will see a guy with balls and take one look at the Crock and think he can't get it up anymore." They also knew the winds of change taking place in politics at the time (and also the generational changes as shown in the contrast between McKay and his father).
And they were all Democrats, so from that standpoint, they'd be happy to take a longstanding Republican seat in the Senate and have a Democrat instead. If they believe they have a serious chance at succeeding, that would mean more money for the campaign and more prestige for Lucas.
share