Florida
con man Thomas Jefferson Johnson crosses paths with Congressman Jefferson Davis "Jeff" Johnson at a party and becomes intrigued after overhearing just how wealthy members of Congress can become through corruption. After Congressman Johnson dies of a heart attack while having adulterous sex with a young staffer, con man Johnson decides to run for Congress in the election to replace him to take advantage of money from
lobbyists. Omitting his first name, and abbreviating his middle name, he calls himself "Jeff" Johnson. He then manages to get on the ballot by pitching a seniors organization, the Silver Foxes, to endorse him. Once on the election ballot, he uses the dead Congressman's old campaign material and runs a low budget campaign that appeals to
name recognition, figuring most people do not pay much attention and simply vote for the "name you know." He wins a slim victory and is off to Washington, a place where the "streets are lined with gold." Initially, the lucrative donations and campaign contributions roll in, but as he learns the nature of the con game in
Washington D.C., he starts to see how the greed and corruption makes it difficult to address issues such as
campaign finance reform,
environmental protection, and the possibility that
electromagnetic fields from
overhead power lines may be giving kids in a small town
cancer, which the electric power company is concealing. Johnson finds out it is true when he meets one of them. In trying to address these issues, Congressman Johnson finds himself double-crossed by the powerful chairman of the
Committee on Power and Industry, Rep. Dick Dodge. Johnson decides to fight back the only way he knows how: with a con. Johnson succeeds and exposes Dodge as corrupt. As the film ends, it appears likely that Johnson will be thrown out of Congress on account of his previously unknown criminal record, but he defiantly declares, "I'm gonna run for
President!" then
breaking the fourth wall. == Cast ==