The movie follows the presidential campaign of southern governor Jack Stanton (Travolta) as seen through the eyes of Henry Burton (Lester).
The movie is based on the book of the same name (1996); originally attributed to Anonymous, it was later revealed (by literary detective Donald Foster) to have been written by journalist Joe Klein. When the book was first released, it was widely believed to be a thinly veiled portrayal of the 1992 presidential campaign of Bill Clinton. Jack and Susan Stanton (Thompson) appear to correspond to Bill and Hillary Clinton, Richard Jemmons (Thornton) to James Carville, and Daisy (Maura Tierney) to Mandy Grunwald.