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Mark already looks like he's made junior partner. He's sipping a Glenfiddich and wearing a button: PATTON BOGGS IN L.A. WE'RE LOBBYISTS. WE ONLY LOOK LIKE MOVIE STARS. A flash goes off as someone frames Anjelica Huston, with guess who in the background? Mark. Now he spots Public Enemy No. 1, and he's inching closer as more flashes pop. Mark will be in pictures with McAuliffe. It's like watching Woody Allen's Zelig.
The gang decides not to shout obscenities or throw food, because they'll be dragged out by their ears and dismissed as kooks. Mark will try to corner McAuliffe; Starr and Beck will leaflet and try gentle persuasion. But Granny gets to McAuliffe before Mark can and says, "Soft money is bad."
It's not quite "Give me liberty or give me death," so Mark moves in to help, but it's too late. McAuliffe is even slicker than his buddy Bill Clinton. "I agree," he says disarmingly, blaming Republicans. Until they push a bill through, he carps, he's forced to try beating them at their own game. This is slick, it's quick, it's a crock. Mark tries to recover, but McAuliffe is in retreat. Later, leaving his own party, he stops at the MCAULIFFE--CORPORATE PIMP sign and autographs it. Oh, the chutzpah!
Send lawyers, guns and money, boys. It's hell out here on the front lines.