“The Al Smith Dinner” · Season 7
In this episode: Josh Lyman (2), Arnold Vinick (2), Lou (2), C.J. Cregg (1), Donna Moss (1), Will Bailey (1), Matt Santos (1)
The ad's a sham. Anyone can see from the full interview.
Then bam, we hit Vinick with a political two-by-four.
You don't have to be happy about this.
You don't have to be queasy about this.
You don't know Santos the way I do. If this becomes a full-out negative...
You think he's got a glass jaw?
I think we lose a negative ad war. I think the other side is better at this and I think they have more to work with.
You saw the wires. They counted the number of questions I was asked this morning because I didn't answer one of them.
You thought we were going to get good coverage this week?
47, by the way; a career high.
You have to let the press punch themselves out.
You're talking to the punching bag. My job is to look like I'm not completely ignorant. Counsel won't even brief me on the details of Toby's firing.
I asked them not to.
Don't you want me to have a shred of credibility in the briefing room?
Your ignorance is your credibility. That's why I put you in this job. And your constituents aren't in that room, they're in distressed urban areas. You brief at 4:00.
0 for 47. I'm the Jamaican Bobsledding Team!
Yeah, come with me.
Where are we going?
Bedroom/office/staff room.
OK, I don't want to seem ungracious. We've all been under a lot of pressure. It's just that...
[they enter the room, and Donna is sitting on the bed]
Hi.
Hi.
I don't know what the problem is between you two, but she's great on television and I don't care if she worked for Francisco Franco in the primary. Right now, it's all hands on deck, so work it out.
Politics is about practicality.
Not if you think abortion is murder.
Whether you do or not, Roe v. Wade has been the law of the land for decades. Most of the country is not ready to change that. Neither am I.
Well, that's not the party's position.
I joined this party because the liberals were the ones who always wanted something from the government. We just wanted government to leave us alone. Especially when there's no consensus otherwise. I'm trying to lead the majority who agrees on that, not the minority who wants to enact their version of Leviticus into law.
Next time you decide to smear me maybe you'll have the guts to do it yourself.
I had nothing to do with that ad. You blew off the debates. It's clear what kind of campaign you want.
Oh, I forgot how eager you were for debates. And next time you send left-wing lobbyists to my office don't forget the gift card.
You want an ugly campaign you're going to get one.
I didn't start this.
Nah, your henchmen did it for you. [pause] You're hitting me on partial-birth tonight, aren't you? [He shakes his head and chuckles]
Here we are, a Presidential campaign, grand national debate, pounding each other on one of the few things we basically agree on.
Then let's negotiate now.
Excuse me?
No backroom tactics. You and me, a real debate.
Oh, please.
A real debate, really.
No negative ads. No attacks in our speeches out there.
If we can have a real debate on the issues, just you and me.
How's Sunday night?
[Santos holds out his hand. Vinick shakes it.]
It's a hell of a way to end your campaign.
Oh, I'm just getting started.
These quotes come from Wikiquote's The West Wing pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
