Sometimes I think, what if I were at UNICEF or United Way pulling together the AIDS fight, or back in New York turning the public school system around? Would that be a more effective use of my 24 hours? Not this. Not pushing on the ocean.
S6Drought Conditions
You are no longer the guy who picks losing candidates and ushers them to their principled end. You're the guy who takes good men and makes them great. You and Josh, you still think you're terriers barking at the heels of the party. You are the party. Rafferty's a spoiler, shouldn't be in the race.
I'm not sitting this one out, Leo.
Don't. But don't pretend you're still an outsider with a ponytail and a dream, you work in the White House... Your brother didn't have any more fight in him. You still do.
S6A Good Day
[on the tiff with Canada] The Vice President advocates a hard line.
Permanent lockout in the NHL? Maple syrup embargo? Turn off Niagara Falls?
[to the Canadian ambassador] Ambassador, listen carefully. An hour ago I reviewed the United States' contingency plan to invade your country.
Uh...there's a contingency plan...
1789, amended in 1815, the calligraphy is beautiful. And if one more "deal" is floated in this room, I'm gonna ask DOD to reactivate it. [walks out]
S6La Palabra
The Governor has already endorsed Hoynes... Nothing I say tomorrow is going to make a difference. We need to focus on electing a Progressive candidate. Then we can take on all the tough causes.
LPLa Palabra Rep
Now all we need is a progessive candidate.
It's been two days since the press asked me a policy question. And I think that was about the smoking policy on the plane.
RReporter
If the election were held today...
People would be surprised, because it's usually held on Election Day.
You know, when I got out of the Marines, I hadn't been around my old neighborhood in Houston in a few years. I had just gotten this job offer from the Pentagon, and it required a full FBI background check. After a few weeks, the investigators - they came up to me, and they said, "We can't give you the job. We've interviewed all your old friends and neighbors. They can't confirm anything, not even your name." So I hop a plane, go back to the old block. I see my neighbor's 11- and 13-year-old kids. They're - they're sitting on the stoop, same as always, and they see me coming. They start running toward me and they're shouting "Tío Matt, Tío Matt - " Uncle Matt- "Tío Matt, "the Feds- they were here looking for you. We told 'em we never heard of you." 11 and 13. You're not the only one who can read bad polls, Josh. I am running for president in that Texas primary, and those kids are going to see me do that. And that's the only statement about my skin color I intend to make in this campaign.
S6Ninety Miles Away
SFSenator Framingham
We were close once, back then.
No. Senator, we just drank back then. We were never close.
[about Cuba] You sure the country's ready for this?
Who knows who's gonna be sitting here next? Who knows what will happen after Castro? All I know for sure is there's a moment here. Before I'm gone and he's gone, I am not going to let it pass.
S6In God We Trust
I don't see how we can have a separation of church and state in this government if you have to pass a religious test to get in this government. And I want to warn everyone in the press and all the voters out there, if you demand expressions of religious faith from politicians, you are just begging to be lied to. They won't all lie to you but a lot of them will. And it will be the easiest lie they ever had to tell to get your votes. So, every day until the end of this campaign, I'll answer any question anyone has on government, But if you have a question on religion, please go to church.
It's not up to us to decide what the voters get to use in evaluating us.
A little odd coming from someone who wasn't completely open about his health.
That was a big mistake.
Was it? What did we know about Lincoln's health when he was running: nothing. Washington? Jefferson? What about FDR's health? And when he died in office, did people say, "Gee, why didn't he tell us he was sick?" No. Did they say, "I wish I didn't vote for him"? No.
You think a voter really needs to know if I go to church?
I don't need to know, but then I'm not going to vote for you anyway.
Whatever happened to the separation of church and state?
It's hanging in there, but I'm afraid the constitution doesn't say anything about the separation of church and politics.
The only thing you can pray for in this job is the strength to get through the day. You can try coffee if you want but prayer works better for me.
These quotes come from Wikiquote's The West Wing pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.