Miss Sloane Page #12

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reptiles, all the way through

primates, and then humans. A monkey

didn’t one day give birth to a human

baby. But with a series of tiny,

imperceptible changes, over millions

of years, what started as a fish

became something completely

different.

(MORE)

52.

CONNORS (CONT’D)

Sure, Heaton-Harris doesn’t change

much on its own. But the cumulative

effect of a series of incursions will

turn the Second Amendment into

something very different to what our

Founders intended. Same goes for all

of our freedoms. Hell, I’m not here

because I love guns; honestly, I

don’t. I do love freedom.

CONGRESSMAN BURNS

Is that not evolution?

CONNORS:

Evolution isn’t necessarily positive.

Not when we stand to lose one of the

things that makes it great to be

American:
the right to refuse to be a

victim.

Congressman Burns sighs, looks out at the resplendent fairway,

thinking hard. Opening up.

EXT. CLUB HOUSE (N. CAROLINA) - DAY - PAST

Connors walks with Bob Sandford, towards a luxury sedan which

has pulled up out front of the club house.

BOB SANDFORD:

I never had a great amount of respect

for freelance outfits like you.

Always figured you’re ready to piss

whichever way the wind’s blowing to

make a buck - that’s why I wanted

Sloane. But seeing you at work just

now... You really believed what you

were saying.

CONNORS:

(firm)

I do. Unshakably.

BOB SANDFORD:

(beat)

Then I’m glad Sloane said No. She did

me one helluva favor.

He offers his hand to Connors, who shakes it vigorously.

BOB SANDFORD (CONT’D)

I’ll see you, Pat.

Connors nods. Those words meant the world to him. Sandford

gets in the back seat and the car pulls out.

INT. PETERSON WYATT - STRATEGY ROOM - DAY - PAST

On the vote count, Congressman Burns’ face gets a BIG RED

SLASH stuck over it by Alex, who speaks to colleagues.

ALEX:

F*** Monty Burns. We’re sitting on a

new five hundred grand. That’s over

12% of our budget.

53.

ESME:

It’s now 9.3%!

LAUREN:

It came in anonymously, but

everyone’s thinking Bloomberg.

CYNTHIA:

If you were donating that much, why

would you do it anonymously?

ROSS:

The obvious reason.

CYNTHIA:

What, privacy?

ROSS:

What? No. It makes you look noble

when you leak your identity.

CYNTHIA:

Oh my God. Were you born that

cynical?

ROSS:

(parroting Elizabeth)

There’s no such thing as cynicism,

only a word to denote the absence-

CYNTHIA:

Of the naivety I so keenly exhibit,

yeah, right.

EXT./INT. GRAND PUBLIC BUILDING - DAY - PAST

Clara keeps pace with Elizabeth as they quick-step up the

stone staircase into the airy and imposing public building.

CLARA:

I deleted every vestige of my online

existence-

ELIZABETH:

And you didn’t replace it, leaving a

Clara-sized hole in Google, which

they obviously flagged when they were

doing their due diligence. Why’d we

lose Burns?

CLARA:

I did replace it. First hit on Clara

Thomson gets you a Canadian English

teacher in South Korea, but I made a

small footprint two rungs down. I’d

just returned from a two-year stint

with Medcins Sans Frontiers. It was

solid.

ELIZABETH:

What can I say? They’re good. Burns.

North Carolina. What the hell

happened?

54.

CLARA:

There’s ten of us. How many d’you

think we’re up against at Waterman?

Thirty? We don’t have the manpower

nor the funding to keep up with the

Lobby, and we just hadn’t gotten to

him yet. They got lucky and picked

one who was wide open.

Elizabeth grimaces, knowing her point is valid.

CLARA (CONT’D)

Unless, of course, it wasn’t luck.

ELIZABETH:

What d’you mean?

CLARA:

You didn’t tell me about Raj Ama...

ELIZABETH:

Amarasekara. Just call him Matthew.

CLARA:

I checked with Finance, he wasn’t

paid from the firm’s account. You ran

him out of your own pocket.

ELIZABETH:

It’s good practice to keep your

circle small. I needed you sharp with

the question in case you slipped

through their net, I had nothing to

gain by telling you.

CLARA:

But you had something to lose. You

think we might have a leak.

ELIZABETH:

Clara, 25 years in this industry has

taught me it’s always best to assume

that in this town, no matter where

you are, you’re never more than two

meters away from a rat.

Clara’s pace fades, trying to process if there was an

implication being made there. Elizabeth strides into -

INT. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS - READING ROOM - CONTINUOUS - PAST

The vast main reading room of the world’s biggest library.

Giant marble columns, bronze statues set high up in the

balustrades, and the centerpiece - sunlight seeping through

arch windows beneath a huge, ornate dome.

The other eight members of the team work at a reading table.

Some have laptops, others scribble on notepads. Elizabeth and

Clara take their places. Throughout, Clara taps away on her

laptop, as if taking notes, not fully invested in the

conversation.

LAUREN:

(to Elizabeth)

Why are we meeting in a library?

55.

ESME:

Illinois has six Republicans in the

House, a little of this money would

go a long way to-

ELIZABETH:

OK, stop.

CYNTHIA:

We need to make up 25 votes, I was

thinking we contribute to Russell,

Stefanovic-

ALEX:

Screw contributions, we’d be toe-totoe

with the Lobby and we’d lose.

ELIZABETH:

I said stop.

ON CLARA’S LAPTOP SCREEN: she sets up a new Facebook account.

RODOLFO SCHMIDT:

Tell me you haven’t already spent it.

ELIZABETH:

We’re gonna take this money and use

it to send a message. We’re going to

swing a state we have absolutely no

right to swing.

RODOLFO SCHMIDT:

Please God, don’t say...

ELIZABETH:

Florida. This right here is our

turning point.

RODOLFO SCHMIDT:

You’re aware that America now calls

Florida “The Gunshine State”?

ELIZABETH:

I’m being optimistic for a change, I

thought you’d approve.

RODOLFO SCHMIDT:

The whole five hundred grand, gone?

ELIZABETH:

Out the door.

RODOLFO SCHMIDT:

(in jest)

Serves me right for hiring a woman.

ELIZABETH:

Sexism from a Democrat, well I never.

RODOLFO SCHMIDT:

Almost as shocking as you being

optimistic.

56.

ELIZABETH:

Look around you. Magnificent

architecture, peace, quiet, and every

worthwhile text ever published.

What’s missing?

The team look out at the huge, brilliant space. An OLD GUY

sleeps at a table nowhere near us. A few TOURISTS walk around

the outskirts, snap photos, mesmerized by the giant dome.

BRIAN:

Tumbleweed? This place is a ghost

town.

ELIZABETH:

Correct. This is where Mr. and Mrs.

Public do not reside. We’re reading

fewer books than ever. Persuasion

through long-winded argumentation

doesn’t work, who has time when we

have screens to stare at?

Elizabeth aims a pointed look at Clara, whose attention is

consumed by her laptop. She eventually looks up at Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH (CONT’D)

We need to market Heaton-Harris the

same way they market Big Macs. We’re

dropping direct mail pamphlets and

buying ad space online instead. Alex,

you’re in charge of the banners, you

have a two o’clock with JWT on 14th

Street. Now, to the phone banks.

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