Original subtitles

Previously, on The West Wing:

LEO: Ever see Arnie Vinick campaign,

up close?

He'll go into those high school gymnasiums

in Iowa and New Hampshire

and blow them all away.

Shake every hand in the joint, kiss every baby,

hug every widow on Social Security

then any Republican they've ever seen...

because he is.

REPORTER: The New Jersey polls closed just three minutes ago,

at 9 p.m. Eastern time,

and although we have no official results yet,

we can now report that our exit polls indicate

another huge win tonight for California Senator Arnold Vinick

in the Republican presidential primary.

New Jersey's Democratic presidential primary

is still too close to call.

Vice President Bob Russell

was the favorite coming into

this final primary tonight,

but our exit polls show another very tight race

between Russell and Texas Congressman Matt Santos.

Russell was hoping for a big win in New Jersey tonight

to prove one of the central themes of his campaign--

that he is the only Democrat

who can actually win in November.

A Santos win tonight would be another big

come-from-behind upset for the congressman

and leave him only about a hundred delegates behind Russell

and would certainly hurt the Russell electability argument.

Neither candidate is going to pick up

to get the Democratic enoughnomination,tonight

could give Santos but the momentum he needsimary

going into the Democratic National Convention next month.

As expected, Senator Vinick now has

the Republican nomination locked up.

Reverend Don Butler was the last man standing

against Arnold Vinick in the Republican field,

and we're told that he will concede the race to Vinick

at Butler campaign headquarters in a speein Virginia.pporters

( knocking )

I've got Senator Vinick here.

Just a second, Reverend Butler.

Hi, Don.

( cell phone ringing )

Thanks.

Yeah, well, you ran a hell of a race, Hi, honey.

to bring the partyo together now and...

Just go to bed; I'll wake you up early

and I'll help you finish your homework then.

Okay, love you.

Yeah, sure,

anytime, whenever you want.

We'll clear the schedule for you.

Okay, Don.

Butler wants a meeting.

We've got to move Greafast on VP.

Show Republicans coming together

while the Democrats are still fighting for the nomination.

Hey, I love Don. He's a great guy,

and he's funnier than anyone else on the list,

but he beat me up pretty bad on abortion

How's he going to walk back from that?

He doesn't have to; we don't want him to.

You agree on most issues and respectfully disagree

on a couple.

A couple? Sign of strength,

showIt shows I'm looking for for someone who can help me

with the conservative base of the party.

That, too.

Don Butler, a heartbeat away from the presidency?

Thank you. Thank you.

Well, you win some, you lose some,

and we won some primaries.

But Senator Vinick won some more.

( crowd booing )

No, no, no.

Now is the time

for this party to come together

and take back the White House.

Sounds very vice presidential to me.

He's a good soldier.

But first of all,

I want to thank the Butler Brigade...

Secret Service wants you to start moving down

to the ballroom.

Sheila.

Thanks.

It's Vinick.

Yeah.

( cheering, applause on TV )

( applause continues )

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

We've got nobody who can beat him.

Thank you.

We did it!

but they've been counting votes all night,

anin the New Jersey Democraticer presidential primary.

The lead has been shifting all night

and now with 97% of the precincts reporting,

Congressman Matt Santos has a lead

of less than a thousand votes

over Vice President Bob Russell...

What are you doing?

You were sleeping.

They're still counting New Jersey.

So what?

So what?!

It doesn't matter who wins.

no one's going to have

enough dCome on, wake up for thand smell the chaos.

No candidate will win enough delegates

to secure the Democratic nomination.

VINICK: I promised Tim I'd do the show.

SHEILA: You will. Just not this week.

the less they're covering the mess in the Democratic Party.

That's the story we want this week.

I'm pulling all our press events off the schedule.

What about the fund-raisers?

No press allowed.

Don't take any questions.

Senator, when are you. going to choose a VP?

Haven't really thought about it.

Senator, would you rather face Russell or Santos?

Tell the Democrats, hurry as far as I'm concerned,ne

they can take their time figuring it out.

Senator, do you think your lead in California

gives you the lock on the electoral college?

I've have a lock on the Republican nomination, nothing else.

I'm not going to take my state for granted,

I'm going to work hard to win California,

work hard to win every state.

Thank you.

Senator, how can you cut taxes

and cut the deficit at the same time?

I've got a two-for-one plan.

For we cut taxes, we're cutting spending by two dollars.

But won't that mean drastic spending cuts in vital...

You call it drastic, I call it necessary.

I'm for all the good government we can afford--

no more, no less.

That's all. Thank you.

Senator, what do you think of the deal

the city council is negotiating to keep baseball in the city?

The teams should payulous their own way.

They can pay $80 million for a shortstop

but they can't pay for their own stadiums. Come on.

Okay, we're done. Thank you.

Senator, excuse me...

Now I'm going to have to give back my tickets

to the game tomorrow night.

I had to pull a lot of strings to get them.

Did you pay for them?

Of course.

Then forget about it.

They're your seats. Where are we sitting?

No way! I only got two.

The kids fighting over who gets to go?

Holly's got a biology test

the next day, and Brendan

has Little League practice, so...

Tell Tina to bring her glove.

I want her to catch a foul ball for me.

C.J.: Yes, Madam Secretary

I have your memo.

Uh-huh.

I see.

Yeah, I under...

I'll give it to the President. Right.

I understood the debt ceiling situation perfectly

before I talked to her; now, I...

having a treasury there secretary who speaks English?

TOBY: Santos.

C.J.: By how much? Couple thousand votes.

Yeah. How many delegates Santos did he...?rse

Are we doing Not now,a press release

'Cause I don't understand a word of it.t

No press release. When's the vote scheduled?

Treasury figures the interest on the debt

will hit the legal limit at midnight tomorrow,

Which, of course, is a ridiculous idea. so they wantto press for the Presthe votOf course.

The leadership wants to schedule it

at the last minute.

How crazy is that?

They always like to schedule it

That way it's too dangerous for any senator to try to stop it.

Or stick an amendment on it.

for a couple of House Thand Senate speeches

a quick vote to that we'vraise the limit nationalon the credit card.

just changes a seven to an eight.

Trillion. Yeah, trill...

Why does Treasury want the President

to read over a 20-page memo on a one-sentence bill?

They like to run a worst-case scenario.

Yeah, you know, the immediate collapse pass?

followed by Japan sinking into the sea,

followed by a worldwide depression

the likes of which no mortal can imagine,

followed by week two.

So this debt ceiling thing is routine

or the end of the world? Both.

Okay, that's it. Thanks, everybody.

We got to do something.

It's really not

the end of the world,

It's the end juof the Democratic Party.e.

We're facing a Republican who can win California

and, oh, I don't know, maybe 49 other states,

and who do we have? We have nobody.

We're going into a convention without a candidate.

He says this is greatoder's for the Democratic Party.?

Says that's what conventions He's onused to be about--

Some real convention picksuspense for a change.

They're going to cover every minute of it.

Yeah, because instead of four days of predictable emptiness,

all hell is going to break loose.

MAYER: The good news is the Dems are in disarray,

the bad news is we don't know who we're running against.

Santos, if we're lucky. Don't be so sure.

Santos could be tougher than Russell.

Are you serious?

Santos couldn't even carry his own state, and he...

MAYER: Russell's weak inwon northeastern urban women,

suburban men, all minorities, not to mention...

Okay, okay, how much do we need for the ground game?

They're both strongt begin win different states.

( phone ringing ) Problem is

till after the Democratic Convention

to build an organization.

Yeah.

Okay.

Royce is here.

Where?

Reception.

Waiting to see you.

The Majority Leader coming to my office?

Guess he wants to be first in line for VP.

Oh, boy, here we go.

Okay, bring him in.

Hey, Arnie, I just want to be the first guy

in the building to say congratulations.

You didn't hare to come all the way over here, Mr. Leader.

You're the real leader of this party now.

And I just want you to know I'm at your service--

whatever you need me to do, just say the word.

Thanks, Bob.

Have a seat.

First of all,

I can be very helpful with fund-raising.

I have the highest yielding direct mail list in town.

Second...

How many delegates does Santos have?

TOBY: 1,599.

So Russell's only 80 ahead.

Seventy-eight. Russell's got 1,677

and Hoynes has 956.

C.J.: What's the magic number?

2,162 gets you the nomination.

Hoynes doesn't have a chance.

LEO: or third ballot, theing delegates will get shaky

about these newcomers Russell and Santos,

and move to the guy they've known the longest.

TOBY: But before we even get to the convention,

the party's got to go through four weeks of chaos--

fighting over who's going to be on the platform committee,

what's going to be in the platform.

Who gets to speak on what night.

TOBY: Fighting over the uncommitted delegates,

trying to convince

the committed delegates

to switch on the second ballot.

While Vinick is looking more presidential every day.

Mr. President... until we have a nominee,

you are still the head of this party.

Okay.

Let's get Russell and Santos in here.

TOBY:No, C.J.'s right. AnHe doesn't have a chance.

You going to try to broker a deal between these guys?

They're not ready for that. Just a photo-op.

And remind people that we still know

a little something about running the country.

Maybe a little less about running a party.

VINICK: I don't feel comfortable about this.

Everybody does it when you get to this stage;

you bring in new people.

I mean, I spent the last six months fighting this idea

and then I bring a Democrat into the campaign?blican,

I'm just saying we should meet with him.

Governor Baker vouches for him,

says that we can trust him not to leak the meeting.

I don't know.

He says he has a plan to win 50 states.

Okay, bring him in.

All right.

Congratulations, Senator.

Thank you, Bruno. Have a seat.

50 states, huh?

Sound crazy to you?

Well, it did get my attention.

Republicans have won 49 states twice in the last 30 years,

and they've never had anybody with as much independent

and cross-party appeal as you have.

Well, I can't plan a 50-state campaign

before we know who I'm running against.

Who told you that?

Because if it is somebody on your campaign staff,

you gotta fire that person right now.

I would run you from today to election day

without ever mentioning your opponent.

This campaign should be

all about you--

the reasons you should be President.

And those reasons

are exactly where 60% of the voters are:

pro-choice, anti-partial birth, pro-death penalty,

anti-tax, pro-environment and pro-business,

pro-balanced budget, and I could go on and on.

Mm. Please do.

You're in a unique position

to run a completely positive campaign

because most of the country agrees with you

on most of the issues.

The... the only thing you could do to ruin that now

is to pick Don Butler as your VP.

So you tell me you're not even thinking

about that, I'll shut up.

You've seen the papers.

Everybody says Butler's on the short list.

Every talking head on TV says that is brilliant;

guarantees you a win.

Which it does, but not a big win.

I have to reach out to the pro-life Republican base.

We have to give them some reason to come to the polls.

I'm never gonna be that reason.

There are many pro-life Republicans

who are more qualified for VP than Don Butler.

What do you know about Republican politics?

I don't care about Republican politics.

I don't care about Democratic politics, either.

Okay, I do care about the Democrats.

Look...

They don't know it yet,

you are the best thing to ever happen to them.

You're moving the Republicans away from the right wing...

you're not saying Democrats are not patriotic;

you're just saying that your approach is better than theirs.

You are making politics a fair fight again.

What...

you think I'm a spy?

I snuck in here; I'm trying to steer you wrong?

The thought has crossed my mind.

I have spent the last 20 years

ripping this country apart...

finding wedge issues to separate the voters.

You don't have to do that to win;

not this time.

You do this right, you can do a lot more

than win.

You can stop using politics to divide this country.

You can show us how much we agree

instead of how much we disagree.

You can put this country back together.

WILL: It's a terrible idea.

C. J.: It's the President's idea.

Can't you see this is an insult to the Vice President,

to bringNow it's the Vice into hisPresident's White House?

This is the VP's turf.

and he isn't going to let it crash and burn on his watch. He belongsthe head of the pa

which, by the way, the Thshow everyone that the party isn't in meltdown mode.try--

Okay, then after, Russell has to have a separate photo-op

alone with the President-- a shot of them discussing,

you know, affairs of state.

Nope. We do this the President's way.

It'll be good for the party, good for everyone.

Russell is the only one who can beat Vinick.

He won twice as many states as Santos; he has the most delegates.

By a hair; and Santos has the momentum.

'Cause he won New Jersey by one percent? Please.

Russell is our best hope; he has been from the start.

If the President really wants to bring the party together,

he should get behind Russell right now.

10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning in the Oval.

Most of the donors tonight are from the pharmaceutical industry. iren blaring )

We got the list?

I'll give them my "How American Medicine Saves the World" speech.

Protect the patents, no price controls, no Canadian imports...

We got a lot of energy industry people tonight, too.

( phone rings )

Yeah... When?

( second phone ringing )

Wait. Hold on a second.

Hi, sweetie.

Um... the area of a parallelogram is...

Length times width.

Length times width.

Same as a rectangle?

Yes, that's the same as a rectangle.

No problem.

Love you.

Okay, I'm back.

Uh-huh.

That's great. Thanks.

You're meeting with the Reverend Butler

first thing in the morning.

You think Bruno's right--

we shouldn't put Butler on the ticket?

Maybe, but we need Butler one way or the other.

If he's not on the ticket, we still need a strong endorsement from him.

Now, these energy types that are gonna be there tonight... Mm-hmm.

...obviously, they're gonna want to hear how you're voting

Well, it depends on on the enwhat's in it when it deregulacomes out of committee.

Sends a very bad message to the big contributors,

if you vote against it.

Hey, if you can't drink their booze,

take their money and then vote against them,

you don't belong in this business.

( clock ticking )

Hey, glad you could both make it.

Mr. President.

Annabeth, you can bring Mr. Presin the thundering herd.

( quietly ): Sit down.

It's good to finally meet you, Congressman.

It's an honor, Mr. President.

Congratulations. Thank you, sir.

Bob, thanks for doing this.

A pleasure, Mr. President.

ANNABETH: All right, that's it.

Thank you very much.

PRESIDENT: Thank you.

( sighs heavily )

( door closes )

All right, listen up.

This is a tough situation for you guys.

I understand that.

The press is geared up for its favorite blood sport--

Democrats attacking each other--

and I know that's what some people are gonna tell you to do,

but we cannot allow that to happen.

That'd just hand over the election to the Republicans.

One of you is going to be our nominee,

so I want both of you to start acting

like the nominee right now.

No attacks on each other.

and if I think you'veing to overstepped the line,chin

I'm going to grab the nearest microphone and say so,

and don't be surprised

if I endorse the other guy while I'm at it.

Are we clear?

Yes, sir.

SHIELA: Smart move.

VINICK: If one of those guys had Jed Bartlet's political instincts,

I'd be 20 points behind.

You read Ray Sullivan's file yet?

Youngest U.S. Attorney ever confirmed by the Senate.

Two-term state attorney general.

Highest white-collar crime conviction rate

in the state's history.

How much white-collar crime is there in West Virginia?

He had the guts to go after them; that's what counts.

Highest percentage of Independents

ever to vote Republican in West Virginia.

He won the governorship with 62% of the vote.

( knocking on door )

Reverend Butler is here.

Thank you.

( door closes )

I just want to be an honest broker here.

You needed to hear what he had to say.

Maybe you can win 50 states his way.

But if you choose Butler,

you can lock in an electoral college landslide today.

Butler would scare away any Democrats

and a lot of Independents.

But you'd unite the Republican Party

while the Democrats are falling apart.

So you want Butler on the ticket.

I just want you to hear everything you should hear

before you make the most important choice

of your political career.

Ray Sullivan is the best man.

Don Butler is the best bet.

Bring him in.

Hey, Arnie, good to see you.

Thanks for coming by, Don.

I really appreciate it.

You know, the Secret Service

has me feeling like I'm in solitary confinement.

You think they got a tight leash on you now,

imagine what it's gonna feel like

when you move down the street. Yeah.

I hit you pretty hard during the primaries,

and I just want you to know it was never personal.

Abortion is not a political issue with me.

I know.

I respect that.

I've been thinking about how we could

work around our differences, and put 'em behind us,

and head toward November together.

That's funny, so have I.

Don, I think you can help me

take the White House back for the party.

You won states

and I think, in the general election,

with you on the ticket...

Arnie... let me stop you right there.

Now, I suppose I could go along with you

on the environmental issues.

We agree on oil drilling in Anwar.

And we could probably get closer together on trade.

Maybe split the difference on textile tariffs.

And we could just keep talking tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts.

Yeah, we're in lockstep on that one.

But then we come back to abortion.

And I am here to tell you, Arnie,

I do not respect your position on abortion,

and there's just no way in the world

I could run on a ticket with you; no way.

Now, I wanted to be a good soldier;

I wanted to help the party; I really did.

I prayed on this one, prayed a lot...

that's where I came out.

This isn't easy for a kid who grew up

in a trailer in Appalachia

and finds himself within shouting distance

of the Vice Presidency of the United States.

Next in line.

It's not easy.

( sighs )

Well...

( door closes )

SHEILA: Did you actually offer it to him?

I tried to.

And he turned it down?

No, he cut me off.

He wasn't gonna let me make offer him something

he would have to refuse.

He's a classy guy.

What about an endorsement?

Didn't seem like the best time to ask him for it.

Butler's live on MSNBC.

WOMAN: Did Senator Vinick offer you a spot on the ticket?

No, he did not offer me a spot on the ticket.

MAN: Did you discuss the Vice Presidency?

Well, the reason I requested the meeting was simply

to let the senator hear directly from me

that I have no interest in running for Vice President

and don't want to be considered for the ticket.

WOMAN 2: Reverend Butler,

if Senator Vinick changed his position on abortion?

First of all, I'd get down on my knees

and thank God for performing a miracle.

Then I'd have "Vote Vinick" tattooed on my forehead.

( laughter )

Reverend, will you pray for him to change his mind?

You really surprised me with that one.

You know, I never heard a good idea

from a reporter before.

( laughter )

Yes. Yes, I will pray for Senator Vinick,

and he's welcome to come down to my church anytime he wants

and pray with me.

Now, I'll be back in the pulpit this Sunday.

And there will always be a place for the senator

in the front row.

Thank you.

WOMAN 3: Reverend Butler, please, one more question.

( reporters shouting )

MAYER: You say that you fully respect Reverend Butler's position,

In fact, you just keep repeating those four words--VP.

fully respect Reverend Butler's position.

Five words.

Butler Brigade needs

to keep hearing that--

respect, respect, respect.

Then,

we hit them with, uh, some direct mail pieces

about your opposition to partial-birth abortion.

See how many Butler supporters

we can get to vote for the lesser of two evils.

Are we at least gonna get

Butler's endorsement?

SHEILA: Don't know.

Why not accept his invitation,

go down to his church on Sunday?

And?

And pray

for his endorsement.

It's a great photo-op.

Yeah, it's a great photo-op,

but he can't take any questions.

He always takes questions.

That's what all of us out here in the cheap seats

love about him.

So...

Senator, we know what Reverend Butler prayed for.

What did you pray for?

Senator, do you think Reverend Butler is wrong

about abortion?

Senator, will you remove opposition

to abortion

from the party platform?

You ain't getting any questions

about how we pay for sports stadiums.

So, he shouldn't go to Butler's church?

You can't play Butler.

He's not a politician.

Fooled me.

Look, all I am saying is,

Butler's gonna make a decision to endorse you

and rally his troops or not,

there's nothing you can do about it.

VINICK: So, what do we do?

BRUNO: You play the game you came to play.

You don't play Butler's game.

You don't play anybody else's game.

You do exactly what you planned to do--

make a move on VP quickly,

show you're moving full speed ahead

while the other side is stuck without a nominee.

Who's next on your VP list?

Ray Sullivan.

BRUNO: Good choice.

Great resume.

Crime-fighting prosecutor,

budget-balancing governor.

And he wins West Virginia for us.

That, too. You make the Sullivan meetingin the storyhere today.

of the day instead of the Butler meeting.

Sheila?

Works for me.

Okay, set up the Sullivan meeting.

C.J.: Sounds risky.

the Senate Democrats have come up with.ea

President'It's the only way not gonnwe're gonna get a vote

Yeah, but tryingon minimum wage to stick an amendment yea

on the They won't even try it if the President says no.

When do they need an answer?

You know, like, now.

PRESIDENT: It's way too risky.

LEO: But if the Democrats

can force a vote on the amendment,

it puts the Republicans in a tough spot.

They don't want to have to vote

against a minimum wage increase in an election year.

But they will.

Most of them, yeah,

but what does Vinick do?

Terrible time for him

especially now that he's got this Butler problem

TOBY:to deal with. Vinick'll go where the voters are.

DNC polls show 75% in favor

of raising minimum wage.

And I haven't been able

to get the working poor a raise in seven years.

Could be your last chance.

SHEILA: He'll vote for the cloture motion,

he's gonna vote against the minimum wage,

if it comes to a vote.

Okay.

I know I said we'd get there early, but...

I want to see batting practice.

I know. A couple of things have come up.

You just hang on.

Okay, George. Thank you.

I really appreciate it.

Good.

You have to go vote.

On what?

Cloture motion.

Democrats are trying to stick a minimum wage amendment

on the debt ceiling.

Cheap stunt.

What-What are they gonna do?

Not raise the debt ceiling

if we don't raise the minimum wage?

It's a game of chicken now.

Couldn't be more reckless.

If we don't pass

we're gonna have a lot more poor people in this country.

Don't they know what a depression looks like?

The minimum wage would be the maximum wage.

They're trying to separate you from the party.t y

Seems to be

getting easier every day.

Hey, look who's here!

TINA: Hey, Senator.

I'm counting on you, big time.

I can't vote, you know.

I'm counting on your mother to vote for me.

I'm counting on you

to catch me a foul ball tonight.

No way. If I catch one, I'm keeping it.

SHEILA: She can't give it to you.

That's a violation of Senate gift rules.

Now we got to go, right now.

See you later, Tina.

Bye, Senator.

We'll be right back.

We got to get past the press as fast as we can.vote.

No Butler questions.

Okay.

Senator...? Senator Vinick?

he's got no time. WOMAN 2: Are you goingm sorry.,rised to accept his invitationorryion?

to I have some TV commitments thiUh, I-I that day. gonn

than going to Reverend Butler's church?

I don't know what my schedule is on Sunday.

Sorry about that. Get us out of here.

Are you going to another church on Sunday?

WOMAN 2:.. Do you think doing that

is more importanting than going to church?

WOMAN: Where do you go to church, Senator?n

( reporters shouting )

Vinick went from the candidate

who easily answered any question

to being the guy who won't even tell us

if he goes to church.

Let's round up the troops.

Senator, do you go to church?

Honey, we're kind of busy right now.

VINICK: Yeah, we got to get you to that game, right?

I didn't really expect to see batting practice.

I haven't gone to church for a while.

I think you should.

Yeah.

Unless you don't believe in God.

My best friend Maggie doesn't believe in God

because her parents don't believe in God,

but she still comes

to see the Nativity playh because I'm always in it, E

and she's my best friend.

I got to get back to work.

Hang in there, honey.

All right, just so you know, our polling shows

that if you were to, uh,

revise your position on abortion,

you would, uh...

You would take 51 Flip-flop on ato 53% of the vote

and have a pretty comfortable cushion

Oh... Thanks, Bob, I... That's very helpful.ral college.

Just thought you should know.

and we can put Won't work. If you go to church, the press is gonna ask youd us.,

why you didn't go to Butler's church.

when was there last time you went to church.

I'm guessing,

wasn't last week.

It's been a while.

How long?

Counting weddings and funerals?

Okay, everybody,

Governor Sullivan is gonna be here

any minute. Let's clear out.

( door closing )

Has it been years?

You know where I am Sunday mornings?

I'm in here or at home doing my job.

Doing what I promised the people

of California I would do--

giving them every minute I can.

How many years?

I don't know.

I used to go with my wife every Sunday

I was in California.

too sick to go, ThenI stayed home with her.

I didn't want to go into that church again.

So...

about five or six years.

I'm not the only senator

who doesn't go to church.

You're not just a senator anymore.

( phone ringing )

SHEILA: Yeah.

Okay.

Put him through.

It's Royce.

Yes, Mr. Leader.

I understand.

Yes, he can handle that.

I'll get him over there right away.

He wants you to go see the President.

( knocking at door )

Governor Sullivan is here.

Thank you.

Royce is afraid they're not going to pass

He wants you to work out the dea deal with the President

will let us pass the debt ceiling before midnight.

So, five minutes with the governor,

then the Secret Service is going

to run you down to the White House.

Right.

Governor Sullivan.

Sheila.

Hey, Ray.

Great to see you again.

Good to see you, Arnie.

Have a seat, please. Thank you.

I'm sorry, but I've got to make this quick.

The Democrats are jamming us up

with an important vote and I've got to run over

to the President and straighten it out.

Governing before politics, that's my motto.

Really?

No, I'm just kidding.

Come on, loosen up, Arnie.

Everyone on TV tonight is saying that this meeting

is about the vice presidency.

Well, they're right, for once.

Did you offer it to Butler? Good. 'Cause I don't want to be anybody's second choice.

I guess you've seen this problem develop today

about my going to church.

You mean not going to church. Yeah.

That's all right.

I go enough for both of us.

I've been reading about

your positions on a lot of things,

but there are some environmental issues you haven't

had to deal with in West Virginia...

Here's the deal with the issues, Arnie:

I can get in line with you on everything except abortion.

Nothing's going to make me change my mind on that,

but I'm guessing you wouldn't want me to.

Toby, you have a copy of the...?

The President's waiting for you, Senator.

VINICK: Mr. President, I'd hate to think

that you were consulted by the Democrats

on the Hill about doing something as irresponsible

as playing games with the debt ceiling.

But I'd like to think they'd follow your leadership

if we could agree on a way out of this mess.

You came to the right place.

Good.

What did you have in mind?

Democrats withdraw the minimum wage amendment

from the debt ceiling bill.

You pass the bill,

then you give them a vote on the minimum wage.

You'll lose a vote on the minimum wage.

We might be able to shame enough Republicans

into doing the right thing in an election year.

How about you withdraw the minimum wage amendment,

we pass the debt ceiling clean,

then I round up enough Republican votes

to pass the minimum wage increase?

You can get that done?

We have Republican senators in seven states

with higher minimum wages than the federal level.

California, it's a buck fifty higher.

We don't want jobs moving to lower wage states.

I can get you the votes.

What do you want from me?

I announce the deal.

I know a few Democratic candidates for President

who wouldn't be happy watching you take credit for this.

Then let them pass the debt ceiling for you

and get you a minimum wage increase.

Anything else?

Help me keep a secret.

That I just gave you more than you asked for.

Let me hang around for a while,

as if we're really slugging it out in here.

Can I get you anything?

Where's the ice cream?

I think I could live on coffee ice cream.

PRESIDENT: Hardest thing about this job

is knowing this stash is down here 24 hours a day.

VINICK: How's your health?

Good days and bad days.

Good days aren't as good as they used to be.

Kind of like a speeded-up version of aging.

You've had better days, huh?

( quietly ): Yeah.

Whatever happened to separation of church and state?

but I'm afraid the Constitution doesn't say anything

about the separation of church and politics.

You saying that's a good thing?

I'm saying it's the way it is; always has been.

You think the voter really needs to know

if I go to church?

but then I'm not going I doto vote for you, anyway.

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 exactly 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.

I don't know how you plan to handle this religious thing

in the campaign.

Yeah, well, that makes two of us.

I could find a way to let it slip

that I think a candidate's religion or how often

he goes to church is not relevant

to choosing a president.

You going to say that on the way into church?

Are you accusing me of politicizing churchgoing?

You've had an awful lot of photo-ops

on the church steps.

every Sunday long before I wenI went into politics.

I did, too.

Why'd you stop?

One Christmas, my wife gave me a very old edition

of the King James Bible-- 17th century.

It was a real find for a book collector.

It was a thrill just to hold it.

Then I read it.

You can't take it literally.

Yeah, that's what my priest friends kept telling me.

But the more I read it, the less I could believe.

I could not believe there was a God

who said that the penalty

for working on the Sabbath was death.

I couldn't believe there was a God

who said the penalty for adultery was death.

I'm more of a New Testament man myself.

I couldn't believe that there was a God

who had no penalty for slavery.

The Bible has no problem with slavery at all.

Lincoln could've used a little help from the Bible.

You think Lincoln was an atheist?

I hope not.

That would mean all those references to God

were just purely political.

He didn't make any until he started running for office.

No... and he certainly was a doubter.

What about you?

You going to try to save my soul?

Sorry.

Let's just say

I struggled for a long time with that book,

and then, finally, I just gave up the struggle.

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.

Try the pistachio.

Yes, we have reached an agreement

We will pass it within the hour and send it to the President

for his signature before midnight.

What about the minimum wage amendment?

We've agreed to have a separate vote

on the minimum wage increase tomorrow.

Is it going to pass?

I'll vote for it and I guarantee you

there will be more than enough bipartisan support to pass it.

Senator, are you going to reconsider

Reverend Butler's invitation to his church this weekend...?

I fully respect Reverend Butler's position.

I mean, I appreciate his invitation and, uh...

Look, I respect Reverend Butler

and I respect his church

too much to use it for my own political purposes.

And that's exactly what I'd be doing

if I went down there this Sunday

because the truth is

it would be an act of pure political phoniness.

I may be wrong, but I suspect our churches

already have enough political phonies in them.

VINICK: I don't see how we can have a separation of church and state or do

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'll 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. Thank you.

( reporters clamoring )