Why Veep's Stressful Elections Feel So Real 😰 Explained

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00:00Elections are a notoriously stressful time.

00:02I honestly think I might be in hell.

00:06Veep, a political satire following Vice President Selina Meyer's struggles to reach the top office,

00:11loved using its comedy to give us a hilarious, cringeworthy, and surprisingly realistic look

00:16into the dark heart of politics and the election cycle.

00:20Why is this so hard? I just want to be president.

00:26Do you want six almonds?

00:27No!

00:29So let's take a closer look at the rather horrifying truths that Veep laid bare about our elections,

00:34and why they're so miserable for all of us.

00:37And how, in the end, even with all of the chaos, the show gave us a bit of hope.

00:42Before the nightmare of the elections themselves comes the chaos of the campaign.

00:47Veep was no stranger to making it clear just how incompetent so many of the people that were supposed

00:52to be in charge really were.

00:54Can mice levitate, Mike? Can they levitate and fire lasers out of their mouse eyes?

00:59No.

01:00Well then we've just asked each other equally ridiculous questions.

01:02As well as how their cynical, detached view of the world allowed them to see politics not as an

01:07important part of civic life and making changes in the country, but as a game to be won no matter the

01:12costs.

01:13Call me naive, but it's not unethical.

01:15You're naive, welcome to politics.

01:17So it's no surprise that when it comes time for these people to start running a campaign for

01:22president, things start to go off the rails.

01:25One of the worst parts of campaigning that Veep did a great job of skewering is the willingness

01:29of those vying for power to compromise on pretty much everything if they think it will score them

01:34a few points. From flip-flopping on integral tenets of their platform, to lying to the public, to

01:39straight up giving up on even basic morals.

01:42Tell me that you did not just straight away same-sex marriage to get Buddy Calhoun's endorsement.

01:49Catherine, it is just the party platform.

01:51Selina campaigns for president twice, and each time she gives up more and more just for the hope of

01:57securing the nomination and then the presidency. She's willing to take on board people that she detests.

02:02Not because she sees something special in them that she hadn't before, but just because it's

02:06what the political minds felt would play best and make it most likely for them to win.

02:11There is no place for Jonah Ryan in my administration or anywhere in the universe where the building

02:17blocks of life are present. I want to offer Jonah the VP slot.

02:22What? What? Yeah, it's the only move we have left now.

02:25In her campaigns, we also see the depth to which that detachment from real people and problems

02:30causes Selina to give up on even the things that she had worked so hard for.

02:34Torpedoing her own reputation and putting other people at risk.

02:38All because it's what will get the powerful people who pull the levers on her side.

02:43Federal lands.

02:44They need to be protected.

02:46We need more drilling.

02:47For drilling purposes. Let's frack the crap out of it.

02:50The show is obviously meant to be satirical, and so turns everything up to an absurd degree.

02:56But, as with all of the best satire, it's born out of a kernel of truth,

03:00which is also what makes it so painful to watch.

03:03The campaigns are always miserable, but there's the idea that it'll all be worth it

03:08because it's all in the service of something bigger and better.

03:10And then the elections happen.

03:12Election days are always pretty stressful affairs for us regular people watching and waiting.

03:17But Veep gives us a look into the chaos happening inside the machine.

03:21Stealing South Carolina is the bedrock of our political system, Senator.

03:26Oh, well, there it is.

03:28That casual Meyer attitude towards criminal enterprise.

03:31We've all come to be pretty tired of the horse race mentality the media takes with elections.

03:36And the show underlines both the absurdity and the resulting stress.

03:40At the end of season four, Selena, who had been made president after President Hughes

03:44stepped down to support his wife, is running to be voted into office.

03:48Election days started out not great and didn't really get any better.

03:52Selena was down in the electoral college by a pretty wide margin.

03:56Though, in their haste to declare winners,

03:58some uncertain calls were made that then had to be rescinded.

04:01But even with that, things looked bleak for Selena and she was ready to concede.

04:06Screw this whole sloppy backseat job of a night anyway.

04:10I don't give a s***.

04:11Eventually, it seemed that the loss was too certain to ever turn around.

04:15And so Selena made the call to officially concede defeat.

04:18While she was literally on the phone with her opponent,

04:20the news came in that actually the numbers had been wrong again.

04:24This time in Pennsylvania, a key swing state.

04:26And it actually ended up going for Selena.

04:29But the celebration was short lived because in a surprising turn of events,

04:33the election ends in the first ever tie.

04:36Why make the total of electoral votes an even number?

04:38Insanity.

04:39Which means that Selena and her team have to keep fighting and trying to find a path to secure a win.

04:44And a win that doesn't end up with Tom taking her spot as president through some bureaucratic loopholes.

04:49After months of work and more ties, Selena loses.

04:54To a normal person, this would probably be a sign that giving up everything and

04:58turning your back on the things and people that mattered to you in your quest for glory

05:01was a fool's errand and that you should change course.

05:04But for a politician, it's just a sign that they need to become worse.

05:09And give themselves over to the machine completely to win.

05:12And that's just what Selena does.

05:16I didn't come to North Carolina to lose.

05:19I don't even like to change planes here.

05:21In season 7, Selena is yet again on the campaign trail.

05:24But this time, the mask is fully off.

05:27She decided that becoming president was the only thing that mattered.

05:30And she was going to do whatever it took to secure her place in the Oval Office.

05:35And just tell them they can violate me with their assault rifles and a full slab of ribs

05:40on top of a stack of slavery-free history textbooks.

05:44She turns on everyone in her life and is willing to flip on any position no matter how important

05:48and give up any last semblance of humanity.

05:51I couldn't have done it without you.

05:52Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere.

05:55And it works.

05:57But we see how it's a hollow victory.

06:00Sure, she has the office and the power she desired.

06:02But she's given up everything and everyone that would make it feel like a success.

06:07Selena's ending really hits home how the point of politics shouldn't be just to win,

06:12but to keep focused on what really matters and how you can change things for the better

06:16once you get that power.

06:17But over the seasons, the show of course makes it clear how difficult it is to stay on that path.

06:22How at every step of the way, there's someone or something that wants to create a roadblock to

06:26progress.

06:27And while Selena's story and ending are pretty bleak, the show did also give us some brighter

06:31spots as it reached its final conclusion.

06:34An election is never really the end of the road, but rather the beginning of the work,

06:39regardless of whether you win or lose.

06:41After her first failed run, it was time to recalibrate, unfortunately for the worse.

06:45And after her win, she has to deal with the reality of all of those compromises she made

06:50and people she hurt and angered to get there.

06:53Selena was a look at the dark side of politics, how it can make you give up any semblance of self

06:58in your grasping for power.

07:00She also doesn't even really end up with the respect and admiration that she had so long desired.

07:05Meyer is fondly remembered for briefly freeing what was once known as the nation of Tibet,

07:10as well as for permanently overturning same-sex marriage.

07:14I'm sorry, breaking news, I've just been told that four-time Academy Award-winning actor Tom Hanks

07:21has died.

07:22As we talked about in our video on the series finale, Selena giving up Gary to save herself

07:27is the ultimate indicator of how she let her greed and desire for a win overshadow everything else.

07:33We can't have a damage nominee.

07:34I know.

07:35Somebody's gonna go down for this, Selena.

07:37Gary was the one person who was always in her corner, no matter what she did or how horrible she was to him.

07:42She turns on him to finally secure her own power, but that means she ends up totally alone.

07:49She's put herself in a very precarious position.

07:52She ostensibly has the power, but she has no one else there to stand up for or with her,

07:57or who even understands or cares about her.

08:00I'm starving.

08:01Gary?

08:02Oh, ma'am, Gary doesn't work.

08:04I know.

08:05Why are you telling me things that I already know?

08:06Sorry.

08:07Many of the other characters also end up on pretty negative paths, as well.

08:11While maybe they didn't go quite as far into the darkness as Selena,

08:14they did also do a lot of pretty bad stuff in their own individual quests to be near power.

08:20But we're also shown another way.

08:22The paths of the people who chose not to let the political machine corrupt them completely,

08:27and still managed to find success.

08:29Sue is Sue until the end.

08:31The president told me to pencil you in to half-pass.

08:33Go f*** yourself.

08:34When I am president.

08:35You won't be.

08:36If you want to work for me.

08:36I don't.

08:37Then I would start treating me with the respect that I deserve.

08:40I am.

08:41Kent, who had become completely disillusioned with politics after seeing just how far everyone

08:45else was willing to go to win, ended up choosing a different path for his life completely.

08:49Catherine was able to remove herself from her mother's orbit and create a better life

08:54for herself with people that actually care about her.

08:56You know, Richard, there are few things in life more difficult than the loss of a parent.

09:00Who wants margaritas?

09:03Kimmy goes on to be a two-term president.

09:05There had been a pervasive idea among the politicos that her more progressive ideas would never work.

09:10That they were just pie-in-the-sky thinking that could never gain ground or secure a real win.

09:15But she proves them wrong twice.

09:17Richard kept his kind nature and disinterest in dirty politics,

09:20and used that to propel himself into the Oval Office too.

09:24He didn't have to play the horrible political games and cheat and lie to get there.

09:27And in fact, that good nature that he was originally bullied for ends up being what makes him such a great president.

09:34Basking in the glow of a landslide re-election following President Splett's historic three-state solution

09:40Middle East peace agreement, for which he won the Nobel Prize.

09:44While the show was at its core about sending up and exposing the negativity and corruption that

09:48surrounds and infects politics, it made sure to also include these kinds of stories to highlight that

09:54there is another way. It is difficult and you'll get flack from all sides for trying,

09:58but it is possible to work towards real, lasting transformation of our society,

10:03from a local to global scale.

10:05FEEP was a reflection of the era and political landscape in which it aired,

10:09but it also held out hope that we'd be able to create a better tomorrow in future elections,

10:14choosing better leaders for that top spot.

10:16Elections will probably always be pretty nerve-wracking, but we can move our way towards positive change.

10:23After your electrifying speech just two nights ago, party insiders are calling you Richard Splett,

10:28future of the party.

10:29Honestly, I'm glad that what I said resonated with folks.

10:32That's the take. Click here to watch the video we think you'll love,

10:35or here to check out a whole playlist of awesome content. Don't forget to subscribe and turn on notifications.

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