Set amidst the furor of an election, a campaign manager uses shady means to see that his candidate for New York Mayor is elected in this grim political drama. African-American executive Leon Hunter is the campaign manager, and handsome, white, and shallow Carl Rydell, is the candidate he has been hired to promote. Though Rydell is a real smooth talker, it doesn't take Hunter long to realize that the man is only capable of spouting useless rhetoric and is clueless as to the real issues facing the city. This is not true of Rydell's competitor, the dynamic, earnest and honest Bill Arrington, who could easily be the city's first black mayor. Knowing that Arrington really knows his stuff and has a strong platform, Hunter decides to look for a publicity issue to boost his client's status. He finds it when he learns that a bigoted white cop has shot a black, unarmed bicycle courier during a suspected robbery. The downed courier was sent to the hospital, and due to paperwork errors was listed as dead. Hunter uses down-and-dirty tactics to help Rydell exploit the situation to its fullest.