Man of the People (2009)

In this episode, we find the campaign foundering early. This prompts Toby Morton to make two changes. One, he demotes his nephew, Johnny, from campaign manager and replaces him with the fresh-faced Alan Weinstein. Two, he agrees to have a small independent documentary crew film him. Alan and Toby brainstorm on an idea to get Toby attention. Toby decides to go with a 'diversity' angle. This leads to Toby turning the office into a bad costume party, making his exclusively white staffers dress-up to show solidarity with 'those kinds of people.' This leads to near disaster when a reporter shows up to interview him. Alan shoos the reporter off, begging her to come back next week, when Toby will speak at an event to commemorate Rosa Parks' birth. (This is a lie.) Alan must find an event for Toby to attend and must prepare him. He does so by booking Toby on a cable access show. Not satisfied with Alan's speech, Toby wants to increase his appeal, bribing a young African American boy with candy to go on the show as his 'Little Ethnic Buddy.' Alan finds out. An argument ensues. Alan leaves. Toby is on his own. Toby goes on the show, unprepared. He stumbles through an impromptu speech. As he loses confidence, Alan walks into the studio. Seeing Alan, Toby realizes his mistake: this speech really is about Rosa, not him, just as respect for diversity actually requires respect, and not a series of pandering tricks.