The Runner Page #2

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We'll see.

It's not smart.

You told him we're planning to run

before we've announced.

You humiliated me.

Do you have any idea how much business

my firm does with that man?

I didn't ask you to do that.

I won't be beholden

to Mark Lavin or anyone else.

That speech was a godsend.

Don't blow it.

What's wrong?

Nothing.

See you at home.

Frank told me you've been

calling the office.

Why would you do that?

What were you thinking, Lucy?

I'm sorry.

Terrence knows about us.

He came home drunk last night talking

all sorts of sh*t, and I don't know.

But don't worry,

he ain't going to say nothing.

I think you've had enough.

Don't you think

you've f***ing had enough?

- No.

- I do.

Okay, I'm sorry, Lucy, okay?

I'm sorry.

I miss you, Colin.

Please.

Just sit with me.

Just for a minute. Please.

Tell it like it is, Pryce!

- You've got my vote.

- All right, brother.

You need to get ready.

Car is picking us up in 15 minutes.

The Parish School Board fundraiser.

Sit with me for a minute.

Just one minute,

and I promise I'll cooperate.

Since when did we start

stocking the house with alcohol?

You've been sober for 16 years.

I think we're safe.

Besides, we can't all

get high on Diet Coke.

You remember our first legislature run?

Planting posters at 2:00 a.m.

on the median of Highway 90?

Two kids, fresh out of law school.

Colin...

I want you to see someone with me.

I know you don't want to,

but we don't have a choice.

Did you have a choice

when you slept with that

27-year-old cheerleader coach?

Frank told you.

Who f***ing cares who told me?

I'm sorry.

I was trying, Deb.

Believe me, I really was.

Do you expect me to congratulate you

because you tried to keep

your dick in your pants?

What is it you want to hear?

That I'm fine you keep risking

everything we've worked for?

Not everything is about our career.

I wish that were true.

One, two, three, four,

five, six, seven, eight.

All right, good job, girls. Good job.

Lucy Hall?

- Kara, take over for a couple minutes, okay?

- Okay. No problem.

I'm a reporter for the Lafitte Gazette.

As uncomfortable as this is,

I got to ask about your relationship

with Congressman Pryce.

There must be some mistake.

Honestly, I have no idea

who you're talking about.

You've been elected twice in a district

that is 60 percent African-American

and one that has historically elected

black officials since the Seventies.

What do you think that says about you?

Well, I think it says

a lot about the city.

I took office in 2006

straight after Katrina.

People were rightfully craving change.

Folks don't care what color your skin is

anymore, what your economic standing is.

What people want, what they need

is a leader to produce.

I spent eight years in the state

legislature, I did a term in city council.

My wife is a well-respected attorney

around here.

So I think it's a matter of trust.

- You grew up in a political family.

- Yes, sir.

Your father, Rayne Pryce,

was mayor during the Seventies.

He created numerous opportunities

for the city's black population.

I'd imagine folk down here

still love your daddy, don't they?

Yes, they do. Very much.

Needless to say,

the Civil Rights Movement

wasn't popular in the South back then.

What he did, it took guts.

Talk to me about

his post-mayoral career.

It's no secret that Rayne

lost three consecutive Senate elections

and was involved

in a number of incidents.

What happened to him?

My father is an alcoholic, Byron.

No one is available to take your call.

Please leave a mess...

Come on, Colin. Come on.

Let's focus on the fact

that for the first time

since the storm,

people are moving back into the city.

Which makes the spill

that much more devastating.

Right. And that's precisely

why we need to remain vigilant,

why we need to hold

all parties accountable.

Now, BP has vowed to pay

all legitimate claims,

but folks don't have a lot of room

to wait around for checks to come

or I should say not to come in the mail.

And I want people to know

I'm going to be there for them.

Get rid of that suit.

Whoa, don't touch that oil

with your bare hands.

Use some gloves, man.

All right, we're taking off

in 15 minutes, fellas.

Terrence?

Terrence Hall?

What's next for you?

Any plans to run, say, for the Senate?

Well, that's a ways off. Right now

we need to focus on the oil spill.

Right now I have a job representing

the Second District

of Louisiana in Congress.

I think we have enough here.

It's been a real pleasure.

Thank you, Colin.

- Thank you for having me, Byron.

- Yes, sir.

Thanks for coming on such short notice.

He's in the kitchen.

How long before a major picks this up?

I'd give it until the morning.

People are going to think he knew

that slut was the fisherman's wife.

She's right. They're going

to think he knew the fisherman.

- Terrence.

- What?

The fisherman.

His name is Terrence Hall.

An NBC affiliate has footage

of me speaking at his oyster company.

That's how I met the girl.

We'll start polling damage

first thing in the morning.

Well, I'm going to have to come clean,

so set a press conference.

I think we should hold off on that.

I think we need to see how

this is going to play out.

Why? You think it's going to blow over?

No, I don't think

it's going to blow over,

but I think it's possible

that we can weather this.

Frank, it's not like

my husband committed a crime.

With all due respect, have you forgotten

what's going on out there?

How do you think it's going to look when

people find out that Congressman Pryce,

the superhero of the BP oil spill

is f***ing the wife

of a local fisherman,

the black wife

of a black local fisherman?

How do you think that's going to look?

- You're being dramatic.

- Oh, am I?

This is going to snowball.

Colin is not going to have

one solitary friend in Washington.

Not with every person in America

having watched him cry

on national television five days ago.

Maybe you're right.

But we need to stay cool.

Think about Owens

and the prostitution scandal.

That was less than a year ago.

This is Louisiana.

Owens was re-elected.

We're not going to be in November.

Colin is a white congressman

in a black district.

He can barely win here

with nothing hanging over him.

That's why the Senate made sense,

where there are at least white voters.

Still does.

What's on for tomorrow?

- The claims fair.

- That's right. The claims fair.

- The release go out yet?

- No, not yet.

Well, let's see that it does.

That's what you should be focusing on.

Not this bullshit.

Come on, let's get some sleep.

Yeah?

Hi, Congressman Pryce?

Hi, it's Jen Wyman.

Who?

It's Jen.

Lieutenant Wyman from the Coast Guard?

Oh, Jen, of course.

- What's on your mind?

- We got a real problem here.

We haven't received a shipment of soft boom

in over a week, and we're running real low.

Projections show the oil moving west

and we don't have enough

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