The West Wing · Season 7
Ok. Let's start by reframing the question. Forget about a four year term, the presidency is 18 months. That's your window. After that, there's midterms. No one on the Hill has time to do business with you, they're too busy getting re-elected.
Huh.
Then suddenly, you're running again.
So I'm basically throwing everything out but my first five pages.
In the garbage. Realistically, one page. But, we can do this in phases.
You called Russell a cowpoke. You said the President avoided him in the halls. You hummed "These Boots Are Made For Walking" every time the press mentioned his name.
Yeah, but I won.
It was my job, Josh. You're not used to me being in a position of authority. I'm sure that's uncomfortable.
I've got an airplane hangar out there filled with 500 strangers looking to me for direction. I've got a candidate who doesn't trust any of them, and frankly, neither do I. And if you don't think I [breath hitches] miss you every day....
[She gets up and starts to leave the office trying to hold back her tears] Thank you for your time....
[about a poll] It's not out yet.
Did I ask?
No, but you wanted to.
You wouldn't tell me even if you had it because I'm about to go onstage and you feel it's your responsibility to manage my mood, which it isn't.
You know I left a great job to come work for this campaign.
I'm just saying, I've been at this for awhile. I don't need the babysitting.
You most certainly do. Just because you've trained a Preakness jockey doesn't mean you know how to sit a horse.
[about Greg Brock, the recipient of a leak of classified information] So, you guys spend some time together?
Brock? We can pull a conversation.
He's the guy?
Which guy would that be?
Your fave.
I don't play favorites.
I'm thinking you play favorites. Given the number of times his name appears on your call sheet. And also given the fact that six reporters in the White House Press Corps say you play favorites. It used to be Danny Concannon, now it's Greg Brock. So, it's a crush or an affair or a mutually acknowledged, but unrequited... What are we talking about here?
Oliver, I have a whole lot to do.
It got personal with Danny, right? And if he's the new Danny...
We're not doing this.
You talked to him every day. He drops by more than a guy with a phone in his pocket needs to drop by. And he published code word classified information on the front page of his newspaper. So, this does not fall under the category of things to which I do not need an answer.
...You think the leak came from me... I'm the suspect.
Can you tell me about the nature of your relationship with Greg Brock?
We're getting some movement from Congress on education.
What kind?
We'll get you a summary but probably class size reduction, a little infrastructure money, some version of performance incentives for teachers.
That's right out of the Santos plan.
Well, he probably doesn't have the votes for it.
He definitely doesn't have the votes.
But if he's [Haffley] expressing an interest...
He's expressing an interest because the Vinick camp told him to.
Could be.
Education may be the only thing the public knows about Matt Santos other than his hair color. We would be thrilled if you kept the hands off.
Wow. Okay.
You think we can bring it up in a debate after Jed Bartlet's already moved on it? We'll look like idiots.
That's unfortunate.
Okay, everybody, let's take a breath.
Haffley is extending an olive branch. I'm sure the President is just being polite. He knows he can't get an education bill passed in his last six months.
The guy's got a 66% approval rating. We're not rolling up the rugs.
A new Democratic administration will pass a much more powerful bill.
You people are nine points down. It's better than 20 points down, but it's not what I'd call a win.
Hey...
The only reason the Speaker is opening the door at all is because he thinks it may wound your campaign. You think he's going to walk in here a year from now and offer it to the bright-eyed new President?
Haffley's playing you.
No, actually, he's screwing you, and for the moment, we're comfortable with that.
He's screwing the party.
Leo.
He's screwing the party and using this administration to do it.
The President did not take an oath of party, he took an oath of office.
[Josh chuckles in disbelief.]
[Donna comes for an interview]
Donna...
Let me get through this. It's one of the more awkward moments of a lifetime.
I can't do this.
I'm good is the point. I'm as surprised as you are and rumor has it that you could use a deputy.
[reading from a file] "Matthew Santos is throwing a ton of numbers at you hoping you'll be so confused as to miss the fact that his education plan is both impractical and unaffordable. He was a House member, you'd think behavior like that would annoy him." Donna Moss, Spokesperson, Russell for President Campaign.
I didn't mean that he was...
"Claiming that 3 House terms qualifies you to be President is like me saying I'm a foreign relations expert because I ordered Kung Pao last night."
I didn't say that, did I?
February 26; Coffee, Cake, and Candidates; Raleigh, North Carolina. "He wasn't a military strategist, he was a pilot. Ask him about the overhead compartment, not about defense."
You called Russell a cowpoke. You said the President avoided him in the halls. You hummed "These Boots Are Made For Walking" every time the press mentioned his name.
Yeah, but I won.
It was my job, Josh. You're not used to me being in a position of authority. I'm sure that's uncomfortable.
I've got an airplane hangar out there filled with 500 strangers looking to me for direction. I've got a candidate who doesn't trust any of them, and frankly, neither do I. And if you don't think I [breath hitches] miss you every day.... [pause] I can make a couple of calls...
[She gets up and starts to leave the office trying to hold back her tears] Thank you for your time.
[in a campaign ad] Now, if you don't think I have a personal stake in my economic plan, if you don't think it's personal for me - hey, if the country doesn't like it, I'll be the first one unemployed. We can't hang on to the jobs of the past; none of us can. The entire store of human knowledge now doubles every five years. A child that is born tonight could live to see the 22nd Century. If we nourish innovation, if we tear down red tape and regulation, that child could lead a brand new industry; can cure a dreaded disease; can touch a far horizon that we can't even glimpse yet. So if it's personal for you, if you want your child to grow up in a world fueled by new prosperity and path-breaking discovery, then I need your vote, 'cause you ain't seen nothing yet!
People think the campaign's about two competing answers to the same question. They're not. They're a fight over the question itself.
When voters want a national daddy...someone to be tough and strong and defend the country, they vote Republican. When they want a mommy, someone to give them jobs, health care...the policy equivalent of motzah ball soup, they vote Democratic.
[to media consultants] This is probably the greatest assemblage of Democratic talent since the last time Jed Bartlet dined alone.
You saw Vinick on TV this morning. Clearly it wasn't about content, but he was tough and he was authentic. He was Neil Young to your Neil Diamond.
I like Neil Diamond.
I'm sure you do.
We can't have a fight about a security leak. We'll get killed. I'm trying to change the conversation back to the economy.
How about moving the conversation to the fact that while Santos was serving in the Gulf, Vinick was serving himself Chardonnay. That Santos is still serving in the Reserves as a Congressman. He's been in the Senate for, like, 90 years. He was practically born in a committee hearing. If you're not using the phrase "Beltway Arnie" in every press release...
We're not going negative. Not now, not first.
Oh, really. You don't think you're running a negative campaign? Why are you always talking about high-tech jobs? Because Vinick uses a manual typewriter and his future is a set of plastic gums. You're doing political smear like the rest of us. All I'm saying is do it right.
What did you think of the reverse town hall?
I didn't like your joke about being the first one unemployed.
That's just a funny line.
Shaving cream and seltzer are funny. Unemployment's not particularly funny.
I've got the Council Chair after this, we could go egg her house. Was there anything that you did like about the town hall?
Oh, sure, but I assume you have plenty of people around to tell you how great you are, and if you don't, you should hire some because they're wonderful.
Yeah. No, we pay a premium for that. Say, are you familiar with the Mommy Problem?
I am.
Do you think I have one?
That's something you're going to have to answer for yourself, because right now, Beltway Arnie is kicking you all around the electoral math, the White House is treating you like a fly on their governmental windshield. And I wonder if it's just Josh, or do you have what it takes to come out of the Candidate Protection Program and start kicking back.
Hey, I'm proud of my voting record. Well, most of it. I'd quit the Senate in a second if I thought it'd help us win. Now it would just look like a cheap stunt.
Senator, what do you think of Congressman Santos doing his Reserve duty in the middle of the campaign?
Do you think it was a stunt?
A stunt? No, that was... that was devotion to duty. That's what makes the American military the greatest fighting force in the history of the world. And I hope Congressman Santos continues to do his duty when I'm Commander-in-Chief.
I've always won the Latino vote in California. Why should I give up on that now?
Well, I don't know. Let me think. Well, maybe because you're running against a Latino candidate who's going to get about... 2,000 percent of the Latino vote.
These quotes come from Wikiquote's The West Wing pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
