I watched The Candidate for the second time last night. Saw it about 10 years ago for the first time. It indeed is a very strange story. . .. a guy who doesn't really want to be a politician and ends up being a senator? Made me wonder what kind of a senator he really would be. Would he make big changes or be totally ineffective? Robert Redford was brilliant in the role of McKay, but the character of McKay was very puzzling.
sharea guy who doesn't really want to be a politician and ends up being a senator?It happens a lot in life generally when you think about it: a lot of people go into the family business on a kind of autopilot and if your family is a political dynasty of some sort, well then you might end up going into politics too... but not like it much or have any real talent for it. As the movie makes quite clear, McKay has a real shot at high public office because his father was a successful governor - he has that name - and he has the looks and a beautiful wife. Those three factors (but especially the first) mean that he has a chance only a handful of people actually have at any given time. But ha ha, he himself feels very ambivalent about the supposed good fortune that's befallen him, and that not even his occasional displays of contempt for the whole process can prevent him being sucked into the family business. share
Many candidates for office have been ambivalent about running; some of those have won and some have lost.
My real name is Jeff