Game Change (2012 TV Movie)

Ed Harris: John McCain

Photos 

Quotes 

• Woman : I can't trust Obama. I've read about him and he's not a... he's a... he's a Arab. He's not an Americ...

  John McCain : No, ma'am. No, ma'am. He's a decent family man citizen who I just happen to have some disagreements with on certain fundamental issues. And that's what this campaign is all about.

• John McCain : You're one of the leaders of the party now, Sarah. Don't get co-opted by Limbaugh and the other extremists. They'll destroy the party if you let them.

• John McCain : [nervous about Sarah's convention speech]  I don't know. I don't know.

  Steve Schmidt : Hey, she's gonna be fine.

  John McCain : Really?

  Steve Schmidt : Absolutely.

  [Steve wanders over to Nicolle] 

  Steve Schmidt : Is she gonna be okay?

  Nicolle Wallace : I'm more concerned about one-on-ones.

  Steve Schmidt : How bad?

  Nicolle Wallace : I'm not sure how much she knows about foreign policy. She didn't know why North and South Korea were different countries.

• Nicolle Wallace : [the office is applauding Sarah's convention speech]  She did it without a teleprompter. It broke halfway through her speech.

  John McCain : You're kidding.

  Nicolle Wallace : No.

  John McCain : If that happens to me tomorrow night, I'm fucked.

• Steve Schmidt : It is a change year, sir. We desperately need a game change in pick, and none of these middle-aged white guys are game-changers.

  John McCain : So... what? I just fuck off and die?

  Steve Schmidt : Well, the data shows we have four things we have to do. We have to win back the independents, we have to excite the base, we have to distance ourselves from the Bush administration and we have to close the gender gap.

  John McCain : How bad is the gap?

  Bill McInturff : It's fatal. You've got a twenty-percent advantage with men, which is great, but a twenty-percent deficit with women. You've got to pick up fifteen-percent with females because if you're trailing by more than five with them, you lose.

  John McCain : So find me a woman.

• John McCain : There's a dark side to American populism. Some people win elections tapping into it. I'm not one of those people.

• John McCain : And they said we were dead. Next stop, the White House!

• Steve Schmidt : There are unknowns with Palin, and, ah, certainly it could go bad. But if it were me, I'd rather lose by ten points going for the win than lose by one point and look back and say "Goddamn, we should have gone for the win".

  Mark Salter : Our slogan's "Country First". Lieberman and Pawlenty are "Country First" choices. Sarah Palin will be perceived as a self-serving political maneuver.

  [pause] 

  Mark Salter : You many not only lose the election, John... you just might lose your reputation right along with it.

  John McCain : I'm not running for my reputation. I'm running to be President!

  Mark Salter : Yes, sir.

• John McCain : You don't think she's too outside the box?

• John McCain : I hate it when there's leaking and backstabbing after a campaign, let alone before it's fucking over.

• Steve Schmidt : I need you to step in and talk to her.

  John McCain : I don't know, Stevie-boy. I don't know.

  Steve Schmidt : Sir, I can't control her anymore. I don't know if she's getting on a campaign plane in the morning or what she's gonna say at night. We need to finish this campaign with as much dignity as possible and the only way that can happen is if you get her in line.

  John McCain : That's not gonna do it, Steve. She might start turning on *me*.