When Joe Debs, the hard-drinking grandson of legendary labor leader and founder of the Socialist Party in America, Eugene V. Debs, gets arrested for drunk driving, he chalks it up to just another casualty in his long and illustrious drinking career. But as he soon discovers, the corrupt prosecuting attorney is trying to put him in jail for political reasons, Joe decides to run against him for the Democratic nomination for governor. During the tumultuous campaign, Joe discovers the trials and tribulations of politics, building a great appreciation for his grandfather's legacy, but an even greater understanding of himself.