Mike Donnelly (Chris Farley) is driving an advertisement truck to support his brother Al Donnelly's (Tim Matheson) campaign for Governor of Washington. His competition is incumbent Evelyn Tracy (Christine Ebersole). Mike is chased by dogs while driving the truck and crashes into a local movie theatre. Al's campaign manager, Roger Kovary (Timothy Carhart), advises Al to get rid of Mike, but Al decides to have Mike campaign for him in town with the assistance of campaign aide Steve Dodds (David Spade), who accepts the job in return for a spot on Al's staff following the election. As Steve goes to pick up Mike, he hits crazed Vietnam veteran Sgt. Drake Sabitch (Gary Busey), who ends up stealing his rental car.