Original subtitles

Hello, I'm calling from the trip. I'd like to... How much money was involved?

Was it over $1 ,000?

Was it over $10 ,000?

What about the energy crisis? I mean, you guys could do something with that,

right? Carson's done it. Done it and done it.

Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. He hasn't done this.

I don't mind being told to conserve energy, drive less, use carpools, but I

being told by a politician who rides around in a chauffeur -driven limousine.

That's not bad.

We could skip the laughs. We can go right for the applause.

Applause is always good.

These may be difficult times, I know.

But I say America's still the greatest country on Earth. I love that. Go for

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

I'm sorry about the delay. I was supposed to have a motorcycle escort on

over here, but to save gas, they put the motorcycle officers in the car with me.

I don't mind being asked to conserve gas or to carpool or to drive less.

I just hate being told by politicians who drive around in chauffeur -driven

limousines.

Seriously, energy is the most pressing problem we face.

It just seems to me that our country should try and find a balance between

becoming independent on one hand and acknowledging that there are no simple

answers. That's interesting.

The latest polls show that Carlisle's only six points behind and closing fast.

I counted four of his stickers in a parking lot.

But they're not on reporters' cards.

Very good.

Too bad our coverage isn't.

It's a good Senate race, maybe even better than the presidential election. I

think we ought to jump all over it.

We've got Hayward traveling with the campaign he fires every day.

Hayward thinks I like Ike as a hot new slogan.

He rarely covers the campaign trail.

Sure. He's been honest since God was a boy.

But his copy? Will Carlisle peak too soon? Can he muster grassroots support?

His story tomorrow begins with the tortoise catching the hare.

Okay, so sometimes his copy is uninspired.

He covers a campaign like a ball game.

All he cares about is who's ahead.

I want to know more about Gentleman Jim Carlisle and why people are so turned on

by him.

If you want to pull Hayward off of this thing, there's one major obstacle in the

way. What's that?

Mrs. Pinchot is a very big fan of his.

I don't want to fire him. I just want to bring him into the office where we'll

get more use out of him.

Tell her that.

Okay?

Lou,

we've got to talk.

Lou, I am tired of these icky -poo, cutesy -pie little features.

You give them to me because I'm good at them. But I don't want to be punished

because I do something well.

Play me or raid me.

We were just talking about a new assignment.

You were?

Yeah. But you just took all the fun out of it.

I want you to cover the Carlisle campaign.

You mean it?

Yeah, Haywood needs a break.

Well, that's terrific.

Me with all those big guns.

Stevens is there from the AP, and Sturbridge is there from the New York

All those big national guys.

Don't mention it.

In other words, Mr. Hugh, our strategy for covering the hottest California

Senate race in years involves recalling the one reporter we have with decades of

political experience. In a way, that's part of the problem. A man who's called

the dean of California's political writers. You see, what we're doing...

going to have... A man who named my late husband the godfather to his only son.

Come, Max. Have your little lunch.

Yes, there you go.

Share with me the baroque reasoning that suggests Hay would be replaced.

He's too old to be running after buses and airplanes.

The man's exhausted.

We're going to have him coordinate coverage on all the political races and

his experience to work.

Give me another reason.

His writing's lifeless.

The Times has a new reporter on the campaign and he's doing a bang -up job.

I'm running out of reasons.

You're doing just fine.

To be honest, I've wanted to pull Mr. Haywood off that beat for some time.

But I hesitate to dictate to you on our political coverage.

And I wanted to pull Haywood, but I thought you'd never permit it.

Because of my personal relationship with him? It did cross my mind.

Oh, let's replace him.

You know, that Godson didn't turn out so well anyway.

The expense account I filed for Ira when I interviewed Sadat caused the

syndicate six grand.

Well, it's not that expensive.

Well, it is when you have to wait around for a month. I mean, a helicopter here,

a helicopter there, and all that stuff. What do you figure when you're tired by

the rivers or you're lost?

I never had trouble seeing Sadat, but the gall, the gall was tough.

Everett, thanks for waiting. Billy!

Gentlemen, Jim must be for real a pinch on things we need to reporters.

Oh, Flo Meredith out of Chicago.

Hi. Hi.

Blair Stevens of AP.

How you doing?

Avery Sturridge of some eastern fish wrapper.

The New York Times.

Billy Newman, works with me at the Trib.

Oh, is this it? Oh, dear, that's right.

You guys live all right. This is nice.

This is a dump, my dear.

We stayed at much better joints earlier in the campaign.

Mademoiselle.

Two more of the same, please.

More of the same. More of the same.

So, Everett, I guess it'll feel really nice to get back to L .A. and

civilization.

L .A. is civilization.

Must have happened since we've been on the road.

What do you mean, get back to L .A.? Haven't you talked to Lou?

I got a message.

Figured it'd wait till tomorrow.

Editors never tell you what you want to hear anyway.

It can wait.

I think you might want to call.

Why? I remember something about you going back to the paper.

Yeah, you're supposed to coordinate all the election coverage.

It's some kind of promotion, I guess.

To coordinate?

Recreation directors coordinate.

Fashion designers coordinate.

Promotion full.

Hey, Everett, wait a second. There must be some kind of mistake here.

Listen, as long as you're here, why don't you stick around to introduce me

Carlisle? A coordinator hasn't got time for that, kid. You're on your own.

This isn't a war, and it better be good.

It isn't, but it is.

How could you do that to me? How could you do that to Haywood? You ought to be

ashamed of yourself, Lou.

This is Billy.

I could tell by the cheerful tone.

Now, hold on a minute. You hold on a minute. How could you do that to that

man? I never expected something like that from you, Lou. Billy, I tried to

I had to leave a message. I figured he'd call back.

And the Night City editor could fill him in.

And let somebody else do your dirty work?

Tacky, Lou. Very, very tacky.

Okay.

I'm tacky.

Tired and tacky.

My editor said he tried to call in.

You know, you were one of the people who inspired me to

get into this business.

No kidding.

I used to read your stuff from Moscow when I was in college.

So did I.

Didn't you get kicked out of Russia?

Stevens holds the record for that. He was kicked off a whole continent,

And that includes Colombia and Iran.

Yeah, but Iran doesn't count. Everybody was kicked out of Iran.

By the Shah?

Then why are you covering a California Senate race? You can't get kicked out of

California.

It's funny. I've seen your names all these years, and here I am.

Well, we've seen yours, too.

What was that big series you did?

Black Market Babies.

That's a nice piece of work. Lovely.

Thank you.

Say, are they going to be posting the itinerary for tomorrow?

Oh, here, here. I've got an extra copy. There's only one change. The bus leaves

at 9 o 'clock, not 8. Oh, thank you.

Who do I see to set up an interview with Carlisle?

Griff Benson, press secretary. You can't miss him.

I'll catch him in the morning.

Well, he's usually so mobbed during the day. This is probably the best time to

see him. It's room seven. Just introduce yourself.

Mr.

Benson, it's Billy Newman, Los Angeles Tribune.

Oh, Jan, sorry to disturb you.

I'm covering the campaign now, and I wondered about arranging an interview

Mr. Carlisle. Jan, I'm sorry. I thought you'd be up. Newman, is it?

Yeah. Look, everyone knows this is the first chance I've had to sleep in a

I'm surprised nobody told you.

Why don't you see me tomorrow? We'll talk then.

I really would like to, you know, arrange it if it's possible.

Really cute. 9 a .m. departure, huh, Stevens?

Okay.

Once you can fool the rookie, but not twice.

Never twice.

Okay? You know, where's your suitcase?

Oh.

Hey, doggie. Hey,

doggie, no.

Lou Grant will continue in a moment here on A &E.

When do I learn the secret handshake? Or is there more to come in this

initiation?

I think trial by virus after dinner.

Don't let it get you down. They treat all the new mates the same.

in Washington for a while? Uh -huh.

At the White House at Colton.

And before that, I come to Paris, peace talks, Vietnam.

That's where I met Sturbridge.

Pakistan, Africa, the usual.

Who else is on board that I should know?

Well, that's Dwight Collins with the white hair of your after autographs. Be

Dwight Collins?

He's gonna love you.

So what have you been up to?

Well, nothing like you guys.

This is my first major road assignment, and the trip's the biggest paper I've

ever worked for.

Oh, it's a pretty good newspaper, though.

So you work for Lou, huh?

You know Lou Grant?

Kind of.

He almost got married once.

Almost?

Well, he asked me, and I said no, and then after a while I thought it over.

But I guess he thought it over, too, and he never asked me again.

Let's get the mayor license.

Thank you. Sure, sure. Thank you.

Looks like a pretty good turnout.

The momentum's with us. We should be in real good shape by election day.

Thank you very much. How are we doing for time?

Well, we're running about a half an hour late. Oh, I'd like you to meet Billy

Newman. Billy Newman?

Oh, hi, Billy. Hi. Yeah, sure, I know you.

You're with the L .A. Tribune, aren't you? You did that series of articles on

black market babies. I love your work.

How do you like it so far?

Well, I didn't know half these towns existed. Are you sure we haven't

it to Oz here? Oh, well, maybe we have.

I love these little places. You know, there's towns like this.

They don't have as many votes as the cities. These people, you can't count.

Now, I get bypassed too much before and after the election by the politicians.

How's my interview coming? I haven't forgotten. Don't worry, it'll be soon.

terribly sorry about the delay. We were supposed to have a motorcycle escort,

but in order to save gas, they put the motorcycle officers on the bus with us.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, I don't mind being asked to conserve energy, to

carpool, to drive less.

Welcome to the big time.

By politicians who run around in chauffeur -driven limousines.

What have we heard from Billy?

Just one more stump speech to the farmers, but no interview with Carlisle.

days ago, she said it would be any day.

Hello. Huh?

When do we get that Carlisle interview?

Uh, soon, Charlie. I guess Carlisle's schedule must have been pretty full.

Not too full for the times.

By the way, I've been reading Billy's stuff.

Uh -huh.

Momentum building, harvesting grassroots support. You hardly know Hayward.

Oh, she'll be okay, Charlie.

Listen, have you seen Carlisle's media blitz? He must be getting a lot of

They bought three full pages from us a week starting tomorrow.

I know.

I read Billy's piece on the war chest.

Lou, Billy.

Billy, where's that interview?

I'm still trying, Lou. All I get is to run around.

The Times has an interview with Carlisle today that jumps all the way back to

the trust ads.

Well, maybe they're kissing up to the big circulation papers.

Uh -huh. Maybe the Times reporter is more in a pricing than our reporter.

Billy, I want that interview.

The stuff we're getting from you, we could pull out the wires.

Oh, come on, Lou. That's not fair. I hardly have time to eat. Even the other

writers have trouble.

I don't care if you eat. I don't care about other writers.

That's part of your problem.

You're awed by those guys. You're so impressed you can't write.

Now, you got anything else for me?

Yeah.

or conserve energy, or use carpools. I just hate being told that by politicians

running around in chauffeur -driven magazines.

The biggest energy crisis... Okay, Benson, what about my interview? Or do

think that only time is Reader's fault?

Not at all. In fact, it's all set.

Tomorrow you'll be having breakfast with the candidate.

Really? This solid?

Carved in stone, but don't spread it around. I don't want the others to be

upset. Spread what around?

Thermal energy.

Lou Grant.

will continue in a moment here on A &E.

The point is, I think we can have a healthy economy and still take care of

serious social issues.

If we can put a man on the moon. The moon is easy. There are no overcrowded

cities there. There are people out of work.

So what's the answer for Mother Earth?

Well, I tell you, I think the answer is to give business a chance to grow,

that's all.

I'm going to say the big dirty word, too, big business.

I know it's very fashionable now for politicians to attack big business

that's the popular stance and all, but I'll tell you something else. When

business is going good, everybody prospers.

Mr. Carlisle, I was noticing some billboards that say a vote for Carlisle

vote for law and order.

What does that mean?

I appreciate firmness, that's all.

Use a gun, go to jail. I think anyone can understand that.

So you're in support of Proposition 12. You favor registration of handguns.

No, you're not going to get me on that.

Those are two completely different ideas.

How are they different?

I thought we all agreed we were not going to discuss Proposition 12.

Well, it seems to me that someone who's against the use of guns in the

commission of crimes would also be in favor of the registration of handguns.

Now, damn it, Avery, that is your opinion.

Now, I'm not going to force my feelings on the voters of this state.

When they have a perfect right to decide for themselves on this issue, I'm not

going to do it, period.

It was just a simple question.

It is not a simple question.

The United States Constitution guarantees the right of every citizen to

arms.

Would you care to comment on the breakfast? I recall happier days when

Danish had more races.

Are you running out of puns?

No, Flo, just raisins.

Well,

Gentleman Jim gets a bit testy, doesn't he?

He flares up now and then, like everyone.

Man was not meant to travel by bus alone.

That Senate race involves some heavy pressure. We all feel it. If he gets the

job, there's even more pressure.

Right now, we're all under deadline pressure.

That six -point energy program Carlisle announced is the first hard news we've

had in a week.

Don't you agree?

Write your own damn lead.

Sorry, Des.

Yeah, Billy, I was just reading it.

Boy, you've got it, too.

This isn't exactly an exclusive interview, you know. What do you think

invited all those people. The press secretary didn't tell me half the damn

would be there. Looks like you were at a different breakfast than everybody

else. What's this about the normally self -contained candidate subject to

explosive fits of temper?

What do you think, I made it up?

The wires don't mention it.

Well, at first you complain because they're right like everybody else, and

you're mad because I don't.

I'm not mad. So what's the big deal if Carlisle got a little excited?

A little? The guy went bananas.

Listen, and he also blew up in Fresno. I'm not saying that he's Attila the Hun

here, Lou. I'm just saying he's not as implacable as he'd have us believe.

Hey, I gotta go.

Okay, I just hope it's nailed down. I don't like being alone on this.

Perfect. The first exclusive I get and you're nervous that everybody else isn't

here. I'll call you later.

Did the Times pick up on that car last night?

No. The Chicago baby?

We're the only ones.

Sorry we put Billy on a story.

No.

Morning, Avery.

Morning.

All right, there are a few announcements, everyone.

The bus is going to be leaving on time, but lunch has been moved back an hour.

We'll skip the granary and stop at a dairy farm instead.

Any questions? Yeah, I'd be curious to know... You know, in reviewing

energy program, the incumbent termed it, quote, gobbledygook, unquote.

Any comment?

The plan makes sense and requires no new taxes. Naturally, it's gobbledygook to

the senator. How does the candidate respond to the senator's charges? It's a

-nuclear plan. Okay, everybody, here comes Air Force One.

He's bound to be a creeper.

When all things are far away.

And when the light creeps up.

And when the...

Ah.

Sure you wouldn't rather sit someplace else?

There is no other place. We're going to be a crowd.

like I'm on the wrong end of the geodrome.

Immersion.

It's bad policy to burn a source you have to live with, you know that.

Well, Benson, I can understand, but what about the rest of the pack? What have I

ever done to them?

Your story about Carlisle's temper.

All their editors asked why they didn't file the same story. Well, they didn't

file it because there was no story.

Now, wait a minute. If a guy loses control now, what happens if he does get

elected to be senator? Or, or whatever it is he really wants to be someday.

That's the way you saw it.

I didn't.

Do you remember when Ed Muskie ran for president and that story he had about

breaking down in tears?

He reacted to an attack on his wife.

It killed his campaign?

Right. I was standing less than ten feet from Ed Muskie. I didn't see any tears.

Oh, he was hurt.

He was angry. He was upset.

But no tears. And the magazine writer next to me didn't see any either.

So? So a bunch of good men and...

Reported what they saw. What they thought they saw.

I think they were wrong.

And wiped out a legitimate contender for president.

I can only report what I see.

Oh, what did you see?

A man is frustrated because of some volatile questions about a no -win

If you focus on that, if you spotlight it in the glare of the press, a simple

incident can wreck a career.

Don't we have... Do we have a responsibility to our readers to inform

a candidate's temper?

Yes, but we must be accurate.

Did you take any heat from your editor?

No.

It's your first campaign.

I told him to consider the source.

Blue Grant will continue in a moment here on A &E.

A &E returns.

to Lou Brandt.

Well, man, we're not out to get anybody.

I am the editor.

What do you mean the editor wouldn't answer the phone? I always answer the

phone.

Because... Because other people wouldn't be as diplomatic as I am when people

call to ask dumb things.

That's the ninth call I've gotten today.

People who like Carlisle are really upset about Billy's story.

Anything on the wires yet?

Not even a mention.

How do you think Carlisle feels about Proposition 12?

It's tough to say. He probably won't volunteer a position because either way

loses his boat.

Well, keep checking the clips. You'll find it.

Good afternoon, Mr. Grimes.

Is that lunch?

Or a suicide attempt?

For Stromy.

Lean.

Kind of lean.

What happened?

Oh, no. My cardiologist is on vacation.

That's an interesting story by Miss Newman. Yeah.

It's an exclusive.

Lucky us.

Does that mean no one else will touch it?

I wouldn't worry about it.

I'd be much happier if you would.

I hear we're being swamped with complaints from groups.

That are backing Carlisle.

Nice to see Billy's story has impact.

A runaway bus has impact, Mr. Gunn.

But it's rarely favorable.

Say this.

Oh, hi, Billy.

Uh, look, you know that story that I wrote about the idiosyncrasies of the

political press corps?

Why?

Well, I'm not sure how they're going to take it now.

This might be kind of selfish of me, but I'd really like to try to get along

with these guys.

Ah, come on, that troopers, they can take it.

Although I'm not sure how Flo is going to like being referred to as a seasoned

veteran. Kind of makes you picture her with a charred back and a battered hat.

Uh, maybe you could print it after I got back.

Well, that would be difficult.

Why?

Because we printed it today.

Oh.

Excuse me. This is my room.

There must be some mistake here. Excuse me.

That's okay. I'll pay for the water. What are you doing here?

Pictures sell newspapers, remember?

You knew I was coming. I mean here, in this room.

It's registered as a trip.

Mine won't be ready for a couple hours. Hey, I thought you guys traveled first

class. In Hooverville, there's no Hilton. In Hooverville, this is first

Oh,

pardon me.

I'll come back. It's okay. He comes to the room.

We're just sharing temporarily.

Griff, this is one of our photographers, Animal.

Dennis Price. She just calls me Animal.

Griff Benson, the press secretary.

Excuse me, I've got to dry my hair. Nice to meet you.

Thanks.

I know things have been kind of tough for you. I just wanted to say that we've

got too many miles to go to get involved in a feud.

Okay.

Look, I've got some background information for you. Maybe it'll help

your standing with your boss.

When Carlisle gets elected, he'll propose sending the Air Force F -15 to

Pakistan to stabilize the Asian situation.

Who else has got this? No one. It's all yours, exclusive.

Like my interview?

No, you're the only one who's got it. Just don't say where you got it,

or the campaign.

And an incident like that interview won't happen again. I promise, okay?

Why am I getting this?

I think I owe you one.

Okay.

Thanks.

Hey,

Lou. Did you get anything from Billy as good as that press corps piece we had

this morning?

I talked to Billy and Salinas last night.

She got a tip that if Carlisle's elected, he may propose sending the F

fighter to Pakistan.

Where'd she get the tip?

The source.

Very reliable.

I thought very reliable lived in Washington.

Yeah, right down the street from high -ranking official.

What do you think, Charlie?

It's a good story of Carlisle. Serious. And it means jobs for the aerospace

industry, too.

I don't like unattributed quotes.

Sounds like they're trying to get us to float a trial balloon.

Sure. We go for it, and if the reaction against the idea is too strong,

gentleman Jim can always back off.

We're not advancement for Carlisle.

Let's kill it.

All right, where else are we at?

It is with great pleasure and pride that I now declare officially open

Hooverville's seventh annual Western Avocado Expo.

It has been said that one can buy avocados elsewhere, including foreign

countries like Florida.

But nowhere, nowhere on earth will one buy an avocado.

Huh? Oh, it's supposed to be avocado ice cream.

How can you tell the difference from guacamole?

This is colder.

All this food looks like it was dyed for St. Patrick's Day.

It looks like the face cream they gave to the women.

They say that avocado oil is very good for a grizzled veteran's skin.

I didn't say grizzled. I said seasoned.

Here, Blair.

Something for those middle -of -the -night munchies.

I'm not that hungry.

Might end up in somebody's story.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And now it looks as if Sheriff Lopez has a surprise of his own for you. What

have you got, Sheriff? A speeding ticket or something?

Oh, no, no. Although I hear the Carlisle campaign has been picking up a lot of

speed.

We have a little surprise for you. On behalf of the Crescent County Peace

Officers for your efforts supporting law enforcement, please accept this as a

small token of our esteem.

Yes, aha.

Very nice.

Open it up. Let the photographer take a few pictures.

Let everybody see it.

Thank you very much, Sheriff. Thank you, Mayor. I'd like to thank each and every

one of you also for your generosity, your kindness, your warmth. I wish I had

time to stay and meet each and every one of you personally, but political

campaigns being what they are, I want to thank you for your attendance.

Thank you.

Good luck, Jim.

Thank you, son. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you for your help. Thank you.

Okay, we're ready on this end if you are.

We get it?

Yeah. Good. Okay, just a minute. Billy wants to talk to you.

Tell me again about Carlisle's reaction when he saw the gun.

He nearly threw it away. Can't you tell from that picture?

I don't know. It's an odd expression, but I don't know if it's newsworthy.

I should have asked him to hold a gun to his head to satisfy him.

Newsworthy. Lou, listen, I'm sure there's something to it, but I'm getting

stonewalled on this end. Can you have somebody there check it out?

I'll work on it.

Oh, hold it, hold it.

We've been getting cold sandwiches for lunch.

Oh.

No, you don't understand. Up till now, everything has been first cabin. We've

had hot lunches and nice hotels.

And now we're lucky if we get a stale cheese sandwich for lunch and the

cockroaches in the rooms are so big we give them names.

One of the polls just out shows that Carlisle slipped a couple of points. You

think he's peaked?

The theory is at this end that he spent all his money up front expecting to get

more and it hasn't come through.

Let's see what you can find out.

Is Animal ready to send the other photos?

Yeah, hold on.

Right, Lou.

Here we go.

This isn't a campaign. It's a wake.

Lenny and Bill are leaving after dinner, and the TV crews are pulling out after

breakfast in the morning.

They're smart. They leave before breakfast.

Oh, uh, miss.

Give these to that noisy redhead in the corner. It's her treat.

You guys are really something, you know that?

Just because I cover an angle that none of you bother to pick up on, you get

sore.

You turn me into some kind of social pariah.

Now I'm supposed to pick up the tabs, is that it?

Well, sad chance.

I don't need you or your fraternity pranks.

Nice delivery, lots of heart. A nice speech, but it's not punchy enough.

I remember when I made the same speech.

I think we've all made that speech.

Sit down, Billy.

You're a full -fledged member of the club.

I don't want your damn club, Stevens.

You are all so snug.

You all sit around here and you talk only to yourselves and then you all file

the same story.

What about the people you're writing for, huh?

They have a right to know what's going on and you are also impressed with

yourself that you've forgotten that.

Just keep sitting here.

Keep sitting here and telling tales about the great job you did covering

in the past.

Because you're not doing it now.

Lou Grant will continue in a moment here on A &E.

I know it's a dinky little story, Collier, but I got a dinky little space

waiting for it.

I got some information on Carlisle. Haywood found it. Yeah, I found out a

myself.

I'll show you mine if you show me yours.

I saw Smitty in the elevator, a guy from advertising.

He says the committee to elect Carlisle has canceled their order.

Now, they claim they're switching media strategy, but he thinks they're running

out of money.

Boy, they could run their ads and not worry about payment until they were

billed. Not politicians.

Advertising won't sell them a classified without cash up front.

What'd you find out?

Six years ago, Carlisle addressed Rotary Club.

At that time, it sure sounded like he was in favor of registering handguns.

How did we find this before?

It was misfiled.

But this was six years ago. How do we know this is how Carlisle feels today?

Well, Haywood called a high up in the state party.

Off the record, they said they insisted that Carlisle not talk about being in

favor of gun control before they back him.

So he was for it?

Hard to say. It's a volatile subject.

They might have been just playing safe.

We think Carlisle may be for gun control. Then again, he may be against

Terrific. Try to track Billy down.

Fill her in. Maybe we can squeeze a story out of this.

May we begin, please?

I want you to attribute your decline in the polls.

Your latest survey shows you've lost another six points.

Well, I don't really believe in the polls that much. There are too many

too many variables.

Though our own poll due out today shows us trailing by only three points.

There are, however, some polls I do believe in.

Six years ago, in a speech to a Rotary Club, you indicated your support for gun

control. Is that still your position?

Miss Newman, that question has been dealt with. Miss Newman, this is a very

complex issue. Now, my staff and I are going to continue to develop

dialogue with proponents of both sides.

Miss Meredith?

Could we back up to Miss Newman's question again?

Is it true?

Are you on record as supporting gun control?

Well, as we gain new insights into these problems, sometimes our positions

shift. I think if you check back, you'll find my position is consistent for the

most part.

Mr. Sturbridge, good morning.

Good morning, sir.

Have I missed something? I don't understand whether that means that you

against gun control and are now for it, and were then against it again, or what?

Well, I think I've answered that question.

To get back to Miss Newman's question, are you in favor of gun control or not?

This doesn't have to be a policy statement. Could you just give us your

views?

Are you going to hold on what you said in the Rotary Club speech? What did he

say in the Rotary Club speech?

I thought we had an understanding here. It's all right, Kerr.

I would like to share my personal views on this with you. We're running a bit

late. I think we'll miss our next... In my two terms with the state...

My two terms, the state senate.

I was against any form of gun control whatsoever. I thought that abolishing

or limiting possession might be an infringement on people's rights.

They might be vulnerable without them or certainly be impossible to implement

the government laws there.

I used to get gas at a little neighborhood filling station. There was

man, an employee that worked there in the daytime, went to school at night.

Some of us were trying to get him a scholarship to college, you know, and I

in there one day and he wasn't there.

It seems that he'd worked the previous weekend late at night and

he was shot to death by some gunman who stole $23.

He was shot eight times.

And that changed your mind about gun control?

I know I may lose some votes.

But I say this, my political advisors have all warned me against talking about

gun control on either side.

They feel it may cost me the election, and I have a tendency to agree with

I suppose this is what you'd call hard news, isn't it?

Dapper escort.

Sound like a winner to you?

I like white knuckles.

Oh.

How does it feel to be one of the boys on the bus?

My back is killing me. I smell like a goat.

I'm tired of washing out my underwear in a bathroom sink.

Yeah, well, it's hard to give up the glamour.

I'll miss it.

Are you bailing out?

Oh, listen, I'm late this time. Usually I'm the first rat off the ship.

Ever since that gun control story broke, the SS Carlisle has been taking on

water fast. This isn't a story anymore, Billy. This is a political obit.

Where will you go next?

Well, I'll probably help the presidential race.

Then I think I'll head back to Southeast Asia.

Cambodia's still a hell of a story.

And I'll run into a couple old friends.

Oh, boy, that sounds like fun.

I wish I were going.

Oh, you'll make it, kiddo.

You're too good and too much of a fool not to.

I will you, my cruddy little pillow.

And you can bring me back the next time we see each other.

Some foxhole, I suppose.

For another political campaign.

Foxholes are safer.

Well, I am going to the lounge. Why don't you join us for a drink at the

Stevens has opened his typewriter case. He has some rare bottles.

Excuse me.

Mind if I sit in?

It's your box, sir.

Sit down.

About what happened, I'm sorry.

I'm not.

I'm tired.

I'm tired of having to watch every little thing I say. I'm trying to answer

questions without offending.

I'll tell you one thing, though.

I may not have a chance of winning this thing, but after the press conference, I

feel a lot better.

That's worth something.

That's worth a lot.

I suppose you'll be leaving too once we get to town.

No, I think I'll stick around.

The story of a loser.

No, just a story.

A good story either way.

Who knows, maybe truth is a good tactic.

As we haven't heard very much of it lately.

Stevens has opened the bar.

Someone's going to snort him.

Sure, why not?

Luke, I'm making up the work schedule for next week. When's Billy going to be

back? Not till after the election. He's going to ride it all the way.

Hardly seems wishy -washy.

I don't know. This morning's wires say that Carlisle is moving up in the polls

again. By what, half a point? Five.

There was a big turnout at some speech he gave in Tulare this morning.

I think it's because he took a courageous stand, the old honesty

spot for a politician to be in.

He's not expected to win, so he can say anything he wants.

It'll be interesting to see if the voters fall for it.

The size of that crown.

This guy's so full of surprises, isn't he?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Well, it's been fun, kiddo.

You're really going to leave?

Yep. I'm having dinner in L .A. with Lou.

When you see a guy once every four years or so, it's a bad form to keep him

waiting. You never did tell me about you and Lou.

That's right.

I didn't, did I?

So, are you really going to stick with Carlisle?

As long as it's a story, one way or the other.

Good for you.

See you around.

Tonight, a deadly fire at a nightclub proves to be a smokescreen for a scam on

law and order.

Now, his decision led to the death of an innocent man.

Can a SWAT team leader win back the respect of his fellow cops? Find out on

Police Story, next on A &E.