MONDO EXTRAS

Later the next night, Sydney's waiting in a lobby-ish area of the Residence. Lucy comes out to greet and introduces herself. Lucy says, "Um...my dad told me to tell you he's on the phone with his dentist and that I should behave myself and entertain you 'til he gets back." Sydney: "Your father's on the phone with his dentist?" Lucy: "No. He told me to tell you he's on the phone with his dentist. He wants you to think he's a regular guy." It turns out he's actually speaking to the Prime Minister of Israel. Sydney thinks they're probably not discussing his teeth. Lucy replies, "No. They're discussing an abbreviation I can never remember." Sydney supplies, "C-STAD?" That's the one. Sydney explains, "Capricorn Surface To Air Defense." Hmm. Mightn't this be a discussion that should remain somewhat secret? Oh well, too late. POTUS arrives, claps his hands, and says, "Let meat loaf night begin!" Sydney asks how everything is with his teeth; of course, he's already forgotten the ruse. She reminds him and he claims, "I've got a cavity in my upper bicuspid region." She replies, "You have a short-range weapons system outside Tel Aviv." Dad grabs Lucy in a noogie and complains that someone told on him as they enter the dining room.

At a huge swanky house, there's a cocktail party going on. In a room filled with cigar-smoking rich white men, Bob Rumson is sitting in a leather wing chair. Everyone's strategizing about how to undermine Shepherd's campaign. They're more or less debating whether to go for a character debate. One guy observes that didn't work out for them. Rumson: "Because it couldn't. Our polling told us that attacking his character less than a year after he'd lost his wife was gonna be a turn-off and was gonna make people feel sorry for him. We couldn't run the campaign we wanted because the opponent was a widower." The same guy points out that he's still a widower, even though some time may have passed. Rumson says, "You'll have to forgive my friend. He's been on a hunting trip. He's been cut off from the world." Someone grabs a newspaper and shows it to the guy. Rumson delightedly says, "The President's got a girlfriend."