To recover from a vicious divorce, former U.S. President Monroe Cole (Gene Hackman) retires to his vacation home in sleepy Mooseport, Maine. When the local town council approaches him to run for mayor in the upcoming election, Cole agrees. As he campaigns against his rival, Handy Harrison (Ray Romano), the owner of the local hardware store, Cole comes to learn that well-oiled, sophisticated political machinations have no place in a small town with a friendly populace.