A smooth-talking
confidence trickster makes his way into Congress - where the
cynical would suggest he'd have plenty of company.
Thomas Jefferson Johnson is a con man from Florida who
gets the bright idea that a scam artist could make a tidy
sum if he was able to get inside the political arena
because "That's where the money is."
When a Florida senator named Jeff Johnson dies and a special
election is held to replace him, Thomas puts his name on the
ballot as "Jeff Johnson," and enough confused voters check
the ballot for him that he wins the race and is on his way
to Washington D.C. where he finds lobbyists whose
"whole point in life is to buy you off." When Johnson asks
one of the lobbyists, "With all of this money coming in from
all sides, how can anything get done," the ready response is
that "it doesn't; that's the genius of the system."
Johnson soon finds a mentor in Dick Dodge, chairman of the
Power and Industry Committee, who shows Johnson the ropes on
raking in PAC money while the late Mr. Johnson's aide,
Reinhardt, gives him the inside scoop on how things work in
Washington. Johnson's plans are going just as he hoped until
he meets Celia Kirby, a volunteer lobbyist and political
activist whose uncle is a noted religious leader, The Rev.
Elijah Hawkins. Johnson quickly becomes smitten with Celia,
but it's obvious that she's not buying his act, and if he
wants to win her heart, he'll have to stop fooling people
into thinking he's honest and actually be honest.
If you wanted to dramatize the
corruption of politicians and interest groups, you couldn't
do a better job than making the 1994 film The
Distinguished Gentleman. The film stars Eddie Murphy as
Jeff Johnson, a political neophyte who is elected to
Congress through a series of bizarre flukes. The movie is
actually a comic version of the 1939 drama Mr. Smith Goes
to Washington. Murphy and the film's director take every
opportunity to depict most elected members of Congress as
contemptible and vile - totally devoted to selling their
vote to the highest bidding lobbyist.
As with all myths about politics, strains
of truth can be found in some film's portrayals. In reality,
observers are increasingly concerned, as are members of
Congress, with the escalating cost of elections and the
dependence on lobbyists and political action committees to
help finance campaigns. An uncomfortable relationship can
exist between the donors and the receivers of campaign
contributions in which policy may be influenced. But The
Distinguished Gentleman goes too far in distorting the
governing process and the methods used to debate and write
laws.
Most members of Congress, as well as most
elected officials in our state and local legislative bodies,
cannot be bought by lobbyists as portrayed in this film.
Policymaking is a complex process influenced not only by
interest groups but by the constituents, principles, and
policy preferences of our legislators. That interest groups
can and do influence the policymaking process, to the
detriment of some policies, is indeed true. That they are a
constant and overwhelming force of corruption in the
policymaking process is a myth generated and reinforced by
movies like The Distinguished Gentleman.
