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Up until Election Day on November 4th, we'll be taking a look at one movie every day that involves an election, which gives us seven great political movies to discuss. With only 1 more day to go, it's time for the last entry in our list!

The Candidate (1972)

I saved this movie for last, because out of the seven movies we’ve looked at, I believe that this one applies to the current election the most. Written by former Eugene McCarthy screenwriter Jeremy Larner, this Oscar-winning film charts the progress of an unlikely candidate seeking a seat in the Senate. Robert Redford stars as Bill McKay, a California lawyer fighting for liberal causes who originally has no interest in a political career. An election specialist (Peter Boyle), believing that McKay has the right looks to be elected Senator, seeks him out and tells him that Democrats won’t win against long-time popular Republican Senator Jarmon anyway and that his entry would simply give him a soapbox to speak out for his causes, McKay naively agrees to be groomed as the Democratic nominee.

It’s borderline scary to watch this movie on the heels of this election. 36 years later, the criticisms made in this film still feels like they were targeted at today’s problems. The Candidate lambastes the idea of candidates appealing to the middle so as to convince swing voters, arguing that politicians aren’t really campaigning to promote a platform like they’re supposed to, but they’re actually bullshitting the public using easy-to-understand slogans so they can gain a political position. The movie’s ending is flat-out brilliant, both bittersweet and terrifying: after winning the election, Bill McKay stands in his hotel room, panicked, gazes at his advisor and says, “What do we do now?”, his voice drowned in a sea of excited reporters. The election was a popularity contest. What happens next, does it matter? Not until the next election, anyway.

Resonance: The parallels are obvious, but striking. A relatively unknown, young, handsome, charming, liberal civil rights attorney is an underdog in a race against a Republican oldie who calls the new dude out on his lack of experience. The Obama-McKay link gets scary when, as the film progresses, McKay grows increasingly moderate and prepackaged, abandoning his hard stance on abortion rights and gun control in favor of more diplomatic answers like “We have to study them more carefully.” While he was still candid, honest, fresh and straight forward, he’s an embarrassment; falling far behind in the polls. When his party starts to coach him on what to say—basically reducing his policies into empty quips like “For a better way, vote Bill McKay.”—he starts to catch up to his opponent. It really exemplifies the annoying flaw of an election process, where a candidate is forced to appeal broadly instead of running on a clear-cut position. Another strong theme in the film is the use of television ads as a campaign tool. This has obviously grown exponentially in the past four decades, making the message as relevant as ever. In politics, a likable image is even more important than knowing what the hell you’re talking about. Believe it or not, it was reported that Dan Quayle believed he could win the White House after seeing this film and coming to the conclusion that he's better-looking than Robert Redford. Really, Quayle? Really?

Unforgettable Scene: While the film has many powerful and revealing scenes, this one is the most memorable. Following a montage of McKay repeating the same slogan over and over in a variety of rallies, come this car scene where he has a mini breakdown, repeating his catchphrases to himself over and over, culminating with “Vote once, vote twice, vote for Bill McKay… You middle-class honkies!” You have to wonder if Obama ever experienced the same stress and banged his head on his tour bus chanting “Hope, change, hope, change, yes we can change hope change can we, yes? Hope.”

This time, I can actually post not just the scene, but the entire movie. Watch it from the beginning, or jump to the 1:29 mark to see the scene.

Remember: after you're done watching movies, don't forget to vote tomorrow if you haven't already!

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