Original subtitles

ANNOUNCER: Previously on The West Wing:

The only thing you can pray for on this job

is the strength to get through the day.

What?

We won California.

How did we end up in a crouch?

I'm not changing my ads because of a stunt.

Eric Baker's live on MSNBC right now.

This is the time that I can keep my commitment Says he's not runnin

to the people of Pennsylvania to be a full-time governor.

Are you asking me on a date?

You haven't said that you'll go.

I don't want to leave you guys

with just a candy-gram and a get-well card.

We'll be fine.

MAN: As most of you know,

President Bartlet won a Nobel Prize years ago...

for economics. ( audience laughs )

( knocking ) Yeah.

Mr. Vice President, the governor is here.

Show him in.

Governor.

Mr. Vice President.

What have they been saying?

( sighs ) Bartlet-bashing mostly.

One advantage of not yet having our nominee.

They could be going after you.

Have a seat.

( laughter on TV )

SPEAKER: If you had something of theirs,

they're gonna need it back!

( turns TV off ) It's good of you to come.

My pleasure.

I don't need to tell you

what a critical time this is for our party.

Brokered convention. It's been a while.

After the first ballot, we need a consensus nominee.

Consensus?

We're Democrats. ( chuckles )

The right ticket could create one.

There's press speculation

about Matt Santos as VP.

Of course.

But you've got to think seriously

about regional balance.

I think that'd be a must.

Vinick's a moderate. States'll be in play

that Democrats are used to counting on.

We need to protect our flank.

Vinick's well-liked in my state.

...from the convention straight through to the general....

We're gonna want to do everything possible

to make sure that... goes for us.

Thirsty? You want something to drink?

Sure.

Absolutely.

Eight is enough!

( applause )

Eight is enough!

Eight long liberal years

of social policies out of step with the values...

Elevating oratory.

Boil your message down to the title of a bad TV show.

Careful. It was formative for many of us.

Formative? Crush on the mom.

Very Mrs. Robinson.

What were you, eight?

Yeah. She seemed knowing.

Eight kids.

Maybe not so knowing about contraception.

What's he been saying?

I wouldn't know. I'm not watching.

Yeah, we were "not watching" up in the suite.

What do we say to years of failed trade policies?

AUDIENCE: Eight is enough!

SPEAKER: To years of overregulation?

SPEAKER: To years of windfalls for trial lawyers?

SPEAKER: To bloated bureaucracy, runaway entitlements,

and endless red tape?

What say we?

SPEAKER: Eight is enough. Would eight, ( phone rings ) be enough?

Uncanny.

Psychic.

You need to...

Someone I'm meeting later.

Don't want to keep a lady waiting.

It's good for her.

To years of radical, activist...

You wanted to talk?

I have a proposition.

You been watching this?

Is the congressman in?

Yeah, but...

Whoa. Um...

It's okay. Sorry.

My time is your time. Yeah, evidently.

What's up?

I'll just, um...

You should probably hear this, too.

in return for us releasing our convention delegates,

is prepared to name Matthew Santos

as the Democratic nominee

for Vice President of the United States.

Vice President?

To Russell?

They've given us till Thursday.

Well, don't need it. Tell them we pass.

We do, do we?

What do you think?

He's trying to act like the front-runner.

He is the front-runner.

By the skin You've gotth. all the momentum.

If this race had gone one more week,

you would be the one ahead.

It avoids a messy floor fight, chaotic convention.

Also known as exciting,

also known as great television.

Also known as there goes the Democrats again.

They can never get their crap together.

The best argument is

it sets you up as the consensus front-runner

in either four or eight years.

Nomination would be yours.

Or you're so tainted by association,

when Vinick cleans Russell's clock,

you can't run for dogcatcher.

I don't think anyone elects dogcatchers anymore.

My dad ran for dogcatcher. Really?

No. This whole campaign

has been predicated on, driven by,

gotten all of the aforementioned momentum

from the ironclad conviction that Russell can't win.

I am a three-term congressman

at the second most powerful job in the world.

I thought we were discussing the vice presidency.

How about we all sleep on it?

Hey, it's, uh...

getting real, isn't it?

Real as it gets.

( door slams )

I'll call you right back.

Well...?

You didn't expect an answer.

How it hit You know Josh. What's he gonna recommend?

I'm not asking you to betray king and country. A best guess.

I have no idea.

That's a real coup for Santos,

obscurity to the vice presidency.

WILL: He'd be a fool not to take it.

It elevates him to the big leagues.

How'd it go with Baker?

Definitely receptive.

You said nothing explicit?

No. He got the drift.

Santos turns us down, we go to Baker.

Win-win.

Good day, really good day.

Treasury, Commerce, OMB,

I want all hands out refuting that bilious swill

the Republicans were spewing last night.

Hey. Is for horses.

Thank you, Grammy Cregg.

You can take the girl out of the Midwest.

As fast as her little feet could fly, or not so little.

Something's gone wrong with the international space station.

It's losing oxygen.

The astronauts onboard can't fix it?

Not so far. I've got a NASA administrator

wants to see the President.

President's unavailable. Bring him here.

Morning.

You watch last night's Bartlet bash-a-thon.

They think it'll be Russell. They're tying him to us.

Bob Russell's had about as much to do

with what's gone on around here as...

"I had the job, but no one actually listened to me."

Get ready for press questions about how organized

and unified the Republicans are compared to us.

"Organized." They're about as spontaneous as...

I actually can't think of anything as unspontaneous

as a Republican convention.

Four nights of Swiss watch precision--

we get a pie fight.

PRESIDENT: Thanks, Nancy. Steve, come in.

Children.

Infants.

Yeah, there's a lot at stake for these candidates.

and that's what my days have become. Baby-sitting.

Tantrums, Mr. President.

"They have more floor passes."

"We need a bigger room in the hall."

"We don't like this hotel. We want their hotel."

I'm sorry this is falling to you.

Until we have a nominee...

You saw last week's Timecover.

"The Exploding Donkey."

"Dems in Disarray."

You know what next week's are gonna be.

"Republicans on a Roll"?

( sighs ) Something has to be done, sir.

I've reached the end of my influence.

They're not listening to the nanny anymore.

We may be in danger of overextending the metaphor.

We need Daddy to step in.

A rescue operation is obviously called for,

but the space shuttles are grounded right now,

pending an uncompleted safety review and retrofit.

And the Russians can't get a launch together in time.

Hmm. Assuming the present rate How of oxygen loss,got?

in three weeks they'll be dead.

Can't a shuttle be pressed into service,

not withstanding the review?

One's missing half its wing assembly

and the other one's undergoing a complete tile replacement.

Now, we can try and speed up repairs...

The concern would then be losing the shuttle crew

Now, that's the and the spacecivilian shuttle.

Sorry?

Can we speak with the President?

Yeah, they want to announce,

right after the Republican convention.

Blunt the bounce. Smart.

"Why didn't we offer ite're I'vto him first?"g: smart?

Because we hope to do better for our vice president.

If Hoynes's bimbo eruption had happened three weeks earlier,nt.

we're the nominee...

if New York had been later.

Yeah, if wishes, horses, et cetera.

What is that? From some Dylan song?

Guys your age have this thing about Dylan.

"Guys my age"?

We got close. Look, this iRussell got closer.

Neither of us is home.

They're offering a bird in the hand.

You know that one? What about Hoynes?

He doesn't want it to be Russell.

He doesn't want it to be us.

You think he still thinks he has a hope in hell?

He's gonna milk this for all it's worth.h

And, yes, I believe that

somewhere in the back of his deeply deluded political mind,

he imagines: deadlocked convention.

Nation turns its lonely eyes to Hoynes.

Forget Hoynes. Simon and Garfunkel.

He's a wounded animal. He could wind up doing anything.

Matt Santos for President.

Yeah, just a moment.

Will Bailey for you.

Yeah.

Just checking in.

Any preliminary thoughts on our offer?Okay.

It's the next thing we're gonna talk about.

Thought the Congressman might want to sit down

with the Vice President.

I'll get back to you about that.

Okay.

I'll talk to you later.

What'd he say?

Get me Hollofson. Baker's chief of staff.

We're gonna want to stay in touch.

They run out of oxygen How lonin less than three weeks.

If the leak doesn't get worse.

Sir, the NASA administrator

alluded to a non-civilian shuttle.

Wernher von Braun's autobiography was titled,

I Aim for the Stars.

Mort Sahl joked he should have added,

"Only Sometimes I Hit London."

I want hourly updates on everything

that's being done to fix this.

Thank you, C.J.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Oh, thanks, Bill.

You know I'm counting on you.

WOMAN: Left, left, left.

And that is exactly how Americans feel Bye.

about the Bartlet-Russell White House.

Left, left,

left behind.

( applause )

Finish all your calls?

( chuckles )

You don't finish.

At some point you just decide to stop dialing.

How you feeling?

Hard to say no to the vice presidency.

Well, it's not what you signed up for.

No one signs up to come in second.

Are you kidding me?

We didn't.

No.

( chuckles )

Hard to say no to the vice presidency.

You don't have to for another couple days.

Night, Congressman. Good night.

My fellow Americans,

the body politic is ailing.

We have businesses paralyzed by overregulation. You're not going there.

An international profile that's a shadow of our former strength. Tell me you're not going the

A foreign policy stumbling from one crisis to another. Is he doing what I think he is?

The MS. He's invoking the MS. Infrastructure progressively

falling apart before our very eyes.

This is going to backfire.

A defense department that's enfeebled.

Maybe people won't get it.

with complications, it's positively sclerotic.

Okay, they'll get that.

Well, I don't know about you, but I am sick and tired

of being sick and tired.

You're going to hell!

Arnold Vinick has the right prescription for America!s sit over h

( crowd cheering )

Arnold Vinick: strong medicine for a stronger nation. How you doing?

I mean, I realize the VP candidates

that designated hatchet man, but that...

If Santos accepts, you can get your revenge.

Yeah, you think I might find five or 500 ways

to call Vinick old?

You want sclerotic, I'll give you sclerotic.

Santos wouldn't do it.

Probably not.

Maybe why he shouldn't take the job.

Maybe why he'd be a great choice.

Restore some civility.

You want him to accept?

You don't?

I have concerns.

He's not hit man enough.

He's too much voltage at the bottom of the ticket.

Gets people wishing the names were reversed.

Gets people willing to wait till next time.

How'd you get so smart about this?

I had a good teacher.

Thanks.

I meant Will.

Drive safely. Good night.

Good night.

PRESIDENT: Evening, Charlie.

Mr. President, um...

Listening to relentless attacks upon my record

seems to have left me wakeful.

Thought I'd stretch my legs.

that we're caught in this terribly embarrassing situation.

It's...

I think perhaps

the best thing is for us to carry on

as if this encounter hadn't happened.

Due respect,

I'm having a hard time exactly imagining that.

It'we both have to be at work in the min a few hours,

and you're standing outside my daughter's bedroom.

I'd say we give it a shot.

( sighs )

Night, Charlie.

Good night, Mr. President.

C.J.: Good morning.

Morning. Morning.

What's the status of the space station leak?

Unchanged.

Current thinking on options?

Sections of the space station

can be sealed off.

the crew can repair, too, There to conserve air.tments

Which just delays the inevitable.

Which buys time to fix the problem.

Ground-based engineers work

around the clock on this.

Around the world.

Which is great and inspirational,

and hopefully, they'll make one heck of a movie,

buI don't particularly relish these effortthe idea

of dead astronauts floating weightless

in some spaceship sarcophagus.

Rescue options?

That's NASA's area.

DoD's space program expenditures

for the last fiscal year came to $22.9 billion,

or seven billion more than NASA's civilian program.

WhatThat's what the Chinese we spewould like to know.

Well, since they're not here, maybe you could just tell me.

Missile warning, command and control.

20 billion to tell us every time the sun burps?

They can disrupt satellite communications.

Yes, and Grand Old Opry broadcasts.

Are we weaponizing space?

Air Force Special Command operates and supports

the Global Positioning System

and military communications satellites.

space systems can support war fightersok at

in navigation, intelligence.

Is that weaponizing space?

Space-based lasers, highly targeted,

no nuclear fallout.

Space-based kinetic energy weapons,

hunter-killer satellites.

R&D guys talk about a lot of things.

A military space shuttle.

Reusable launch vehicle.

Space bomber.

That has the theoretical capability

of launching and dropping a weapon anywhere in the world.

With virtually no ability

to detect it in advance.

of conventional of reach air defense systems.

Theoretical capability.

No one wants space to become a battleground.

C.J.: Is that the argument in favor of building it?

Is that the argument in favor of not building it?

in favor of building it Or iand not telling anyone?

The answer to that would be yes.

to go up and rescue Annabethese space station a contastronautsan

if they can't fix the leak?

NASA is exploring all their options.

The precise nature of what those comprise

is something best gotten from them,

but the President has every confidence

What's the White House reaction to the Bartlet-bashingexperti

on display at the Republican convention?

Not aware anyone around here's seen it.

No one?

We have a country to mis-run.

( chuckling ) CHARLAYNE: So, you saw it?

I gleaned the gist: "Republican good, Democrat bad."

Would the White House Sophisticatcare to comment on Nuancethe expected contrast

between the high degree of organization and discipline

and the Democrats' ianticipated free-for-all?on

I believe the American people will be the beneficiaries,

in that they will be presented

with a clear choice:

do they want to be governed by people who are animated...

or animatronic?

NANCY: Mr. President, the First Lady's back,

and Leo's here.

Send him in, please.

NANCY: Mr. McGarry.

Good morning, Mr. President.

Leo.

How you feeling, sir?

Vexed, riled, irked.

The Republican convention.

Ticked, honked, pissed.

You Problem is, once you're keep persotelling yourself that,f.

You're already taking it it'spersonally.

Gonna be more of the same next couple nights.

We've got calls from everybody in the party about ours.

Rorsche is going to pieces.

The rock that he is. Thought he might cry in here--

actual tears.

But with no nominee, they're running right over him.

We need someone strong enough to organize the damn thing.

Wonder who we can get. If it helps,

it gives me no pleasure, dumping this damn thing on you.

There's the pleasure of not having to do it yourself.

Which is not inconsiderable.

Let's get representatives of the three candidates in here,

set down some ground rules, establish a tone.

A floor fight doesn't have to devolve into a brawl.

There anything to these press rumors

of a Russell-Santos deal?

Be a smart move.

A Latino on the ticket from Texas

gives us a genuine shot there. Florida.

Maybe even makes California contestable.

Let's not get carried away. The Southwest.

Vinick's politics puts these places in play.

we're coming out of this with a nominee. anot

Be nice if he didn't seem

like merely the last clown standing.

KELWICK: Another space walk is scheduled

for 0900 hours Houston time

to again try and source the oxygen leak.

Now, the problem with space walks is they're strenuous,

resulting in increased oxygen consumption.

Obviously not an optimal condition at this juncture.

The American people can be assured

we on the ground are doing everything possible

to assist these astronauts at this time.

PRESIDENT: How was your trip?

You didn't haul yourself up here

in the middle of your Presidential morning

just to inquire about my trip...

Oh, my God, I can't remember where I was.

Folk dancing, people winning things

and lots of fiddles screeching.

I'm sure the fiddles were played wonderfully.

Maybe it was me doing the screeching... inside.

I caught Charlie tiptoeing away from Zoey's room last night.

Caught? ! Discovered.

Encount... No, damn it.

I caught him red-handed,

skulking away from my daughter's bedroom.

Oh, I'm sure he wasn't skulking.

To his credit, if he'd been sauntering,

there might've been a row.

Ooh, I got a big picture of that.

Are you being blithe about this just to irritate me?

Zoey told me about the two of them,

not that she had to, because there was the small matter

of the Secret Service.

The clandestine is a non-starter around here.

And why have I been so ostentatiously kept

out of the loop?

Golly, one wonders.

Is that actual dismay

of the standard or jupaternal attitude?

Does it matter?

Well, I just know how you abhor the cliche.

( knocking )

What's up?

I have an awkward question to ask.

"Awkward" prying, "awkward" embarrassing,

"awkward" prurient...

About your brother.

Okay.

I'm sorry to ask,

but did David ever mention anything

about another kind of space shuttle?

Another kind of space shuttle?

A non-civilian shuttle?

A military shuttle?

Did he ever mention anything about anything like that?

a felonious breach Youof national security?mit

Hints, intimations.

A brotherly confidence.

Brotherly confidence, by definition...

Showing off, sibling one-upmanship.

"Look what I know."

An occasional cryptic hint

when he wanted to lord it over me.

Like actually being an astronaut wasn't enough.

Thank you so much.

If he had been up in that space station,

and we didn't send such a vehicle up after him...

Would he have been okay about To send it resacrificing himself

for national security?

He would've insisted on it.

But don't ask me what I would've insisted on.

( door opens )

( door closes )

Hey. Hey.

Post has the VP offer.

You got somebody leaking in your campaign.

I'd check yours.

We run a pretty tight ship.

Maybe Hoynes' people got wind.

Puts more pressure on us.

WILL: Lays us out there

if you turn us down.

( door shuts )

LEO: Thanks for coming in, guys.

in organizing the convention since we don't have a nominee.

Though, from what I'm now hearing,

that may change.

We hope so.

It's under respectful consideration.

Well, the White House is officially neutral, of course.

But I don't think anyone would be opposed

to avoiding a prime-time display

of disharmony and dysfunction, which is what

we're here to discuss.

We'll just wait

for the Hoynes representative to arrive.

I don't know why he was even invited.

( chuckling ): He has 956 delegates.

And no chance for the nomination.

Dylan Clark, Hoynes for President.

And thank you for that dispassionate assessment

of our chances.

I'm sorry you heard that,

With you two maneuvering, it to preempt the floor vote.

Gentlemen...

You going to accept?

We're mulling.

I'm sure your candidate It'would agree.b.

Mine certainly does.

Maybe why he treated it with such dubious respect.

This is exactly what we don't want

LEO: The first order on primeof business

is to select a convention chair.

I've drawn up a list of candidates.

Martindale?

I have no problem with him.

He stumped for you all over Ohio.

JOSH: "Couple"? If they'd showed up together any more,aract

people would've thought he and Russell had eloped.

I'm dinging Martindale.

Frenley's not acceptable.

He's strong, respected.

He's on your VP short list.

WeWe don't believe in putting

theYou have one, he's on it, before tI'm dinging him.

No to Pereira.

JOSH: Why not?

HGod forbid we show off our diversity.

Said the man with the Latino candidate.

JOSH: I hope you're not suggesting

Latinos can't be trusted to be fair and unbiased.

The three of you knock it off.

Put lines

through the names you object to, and let me have them back.

I'd like a day to go over this.

No.

( clearing throat )

Maybe you guys would prefer a Republican.

Mmm...

I'll look these over later, see if there's a consensus.

I'd like to discuss floor positions.

To counteract the perception

that Vinick has it wrapped up, I propose

prominent placement of the California delegation up front.

Wouldn't have anything to do with Santos having won there?

Nice try. We're not really

suggesting states your campaigns won.

Battleground states: Missouri, Wisconsin.

Texas: spirited, boisterous.

And loud enough to carry from way in the back.

Do you have something against my guy's home state?

The Vice President carried his home state.

We're not putting Colorado up front.

DYLAN: A Southern strategy,

I am telling you...

California. Fifth largest economy in the world.

WILL: What has that got to do with anything?

( knocking )

Mr. President, you wanted to see me?

You were right.

Avoiding last night is really not going to work.

Yes, sir.

I don't want to get all righteously paternal...

Sir, I don't want to sneak around the White House.

I'm not trying to break you two up.

No, sir,about actually I'm taseeing more of Zoey.

More time with her.

Spent together.

Being together.

And such.

Charlie...

The President's daughter can't move in with somebody,

and I assume you understand that you cannot...

Yes, sir, that had occurred to me.

Then I'm sorry, I'm not quite sure what you me...

Oh.

Are you... talking about...?

Uh... yes, sir.

You want to make an honest woman out of her?

No, Mr. President,

We've been sleeping together tfor kind of a while.

You might want to consider quitting while you're ahead.

Yes, sir.

Sir...

would I have your blessing?

I'm not the member of the family

you should be concerned about at the moment.

Yes, sir.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Josh.

Probably not exactly what you had in mind in there.

It's exactly what we're worried about.

People are always complaining

about how canned these conventions have become.

Not the people trying to use them

to put a clear, cohesive message

in front of the American electorate.

LEO: Good TV.It'll be entertaining.

Professional wrestling is entertaining.

But when they click off the set,

no one runs out and votes

for the loudmouth in the leotard.

Outside of Minnesota.

You need to take the VP deal.

Uh, we're considering it.

Not consider it.

Take it.

The party, the President needs you to accept.

Yeah.

Santos will be incurring the gratitude

People who can be very helpful to his future plans.ple...

That future could be now.

A three-term congressman

going up against Arnie Vinick?

Be careful what you wish for.

I don't know

that Russell has a better shot.

But Russell goes down, you want people in the party,r.

key people-- organizers, fund-raisers--

thinking it was partly Matt Santos's fault?

Long memories, Josh.

Big win for your guy.

Four years from now, he can run the table.

You'll be doing him a favor.

PRESIDENT BARTLET: The space walk?

KATE: Unsuccessful.

How much oxygen it cost them?

Could've been worse. KATE: "Worse" being a relative term

when it comes to slow suffocation.

We have a decision to make.

The security concerns outweigh the consequences.

C.J.: It's presumably been launched before

I realize this is a high-profile situation.

It would disclose the asset. Possibly, but

measured against our responsibility

toward three lives...

Two. Only two are Americans.

C.J.: Meaning what?

TheTwo Americans are more dexpendable than three?

The cosmonaut would see the asset.

Ride in it.

Take piEven without the for acamera in his shoe,

It'd be the greatest intelligence coupy.

of the new century.

But wouldn't we essentially be revealing a piece of hardware

HUTCHINSON: Maybe we should invite the Chinesesumes we have anyway?

and the Russians over for a formal tour.

can visit each other's nuclear weapons facilities.

C.J.: I can't help note the absence of anyone

from NASA to make the case for a rescue.

I don't need anyone to make it.

I need more time.

C.J.: Thank you, Mr. President.

SANTOS: I appreciate that, Senator.

I'm giving it every consideration.

Thank you for the call.

Another voice for party unity.

Yeah, the White House just leaned on me pretty good.

Same extortionate undertone?

I heard something else on the way over.

Source I have in Philadelphia.

Russell's been talking to Baker.

As backup, we turn him down.

Thinks it flips Pennsylvania.

It does flip Pennsylvania.

178 votes swing from us to Russell on the second ballot.

If the Hoynes delegates break anywhere near even

once they're released...

It's game over.

Smart. Smart.

How come we're not that smart?

You have to go sit down with Russell.

And when you're in there,

you look for a way to tell him yes.

( inhales )

( exhales )

( sighs )

You okay?

Yeah.

Yeah. Just...

You know.

Night yips?

Little bit.

Because you've made a decision, or because you can't?

Both.

Neither.

( sighs )

I bet Arnie Vinick is sleeping like a rock.

I don't know. He's old.

( laughs )

What?

Old people don't sleep so good.

Old people who have their party's

Presidential nomination wrapped up and...

have a mortal lock on California in the general--

they sleep like the dead.

The prospect of sleeping like the dead is part

of what keeps old people up nights.

You ever stop to think

that maybe Arnie Vinick's up right now worried about you?

Hmm?

I can guarantee that's not happening.

Oh.

Smart guy.

Young guy.

Good-lookin', too.

Yeah.

( sighs )

Let's see about helping this

troubled office-seeker get himself some sleep.

Morning.

What do you do when he's just wrong?

You remind yourself that he was the one got elected.

We could rescue these astronauts.

He's got 295 million Americans to think about,

not just these three.

Only two are Americans.

if they offed the third, he'd be all for sending it.

Wouldn't that be a lovely affirmation

of international cooperation in space?

building space bombers We don'of their own., Chi

Oh, they're gonna build them

anyway if they assume we've got one. But if they know we've got one, they have to build it.Yeah.

This is Alice in Wonderland.

Yeah. Some days it is.

Quick, hide the Ouija board.

Josh still has usn reading chicken entrails.

I'll tell the Vice President you're here.

We're very excited you've come.

Excited to be here.

It's exciting.

Congressman, welcome.

Good of you to see me, Mr. Vice President.

Shall we?

Remember, three feet on the floor at all times.

( Josh laughs )

Have a seat.

SANTOS: Thank you.

Don't.

Congratulations on a well-fought campaign.

You, too.

And, hopefully,

we're about to put that all behind us.

That's what we're here to discuss.

Arnie Vinick is going to be a tough customer.

We need to marshal all our strength.

And I can't think of a better way

than by having both our names on the ticket.

It's a good point.

So, you want to flip a coin?

( laughs )

That's a good one.

Um, in all seriousness, let me...

let me describe the relationship that I envision.

A substantive role in policy,

strategic planning.

A voice.

More of a partnership, frankly, than I've had with Jed Bartlet.

I'm flattered. You should be.

it's not the relationship I'd envision with a lesser man.

You're capable and bright.

Very kind. I'm sure

there's things that I could learn from you.

Well, uh... uh, I don't...

Just as there are undoubtedly things you could learn from me.

Thank you all.

Josh.

( door closing )

( Santos sighs )

Mad at me?

No.

Oddly.

Disappointed?

Proud. I think.

You've got a tough conversation ahead.

Not so tough.

( elevator bell dings )

Yeah, I do.

MAN ( on T.V. ): Ladies and gentlemen,

please welcome the next President

of the United States, Arnold Vinick.

MAN: Yeah.

( cheering and applause )

( cheering and applause continue )

VINICK: Thank you.

Thank you.

We're gonna run out of prime time.

( laughing )

It is with great humility that I accept your nomination

for President of the United States.

( cheering and applause )

Before I share with you my vision for America,

I want to say a few words about the man

who I hope is my predecessor,

President Josiah Bartlet.

( booing and cheering )

He has graced and honored his office,

the highest in the land.

The most powerful in the world,

some would say, myself included.

He has served this country steadfastly and laudably.

And I say this despite our political

and-and philosophical differences.

For in the end,

a Presidency is more than a simple catalogue

of policies pursued,

crises weathered, battles lost or won.

It's a stewardship.

A sacred trust.

A commitment to sacrifice every fiber of your being,

every thought, every moment, every...

every... everything in service to your nation.

President Bartlet has done this well

and ably.

And he deserves nothing less than our humble appreciation

and heartfelt gratitude.

( applause )

Nice what he said about you.

Yeah...

This is the basis on which

I make my appeal The bastard. He just picked up five million Democratic votes.

My commitment to strive .to be worthy of the example

of the great men who have gone before.

Presidents walk in giant footsteps.

They have magnificent legacies to uphold.

I stand here on this day and put my name forth

as one who aspires to their example,

who will daily make that sacrifice,

who will honor not just the office,

but the people that office serves.

Their President of these United States of America.

( cheering and applause )

( whistling, cheering and applause continue )

Arnold Vinick just positioned himself

as Jed Bartlet's natural successor.

How'd he do that?

Without one mention, without so much as an allusion

to either one, he managed to dismiss Russell and Santos

as puny, dwarf-like children

trying to get a seat at the grownups' table.

( phone ringing )

Yeah.

I'll send him right down.

Josh is here to see you.

We start working to beat this guy right now.

Hey.

Hey.

What, uh...?

Talk to Leo.

Okay.

Could've used you out there.

Did okay without me.

It's not the same.

Good luck.

Thanks.

Listen to Vinick?

No.

You're better off.

Santos turned Russell down.

Okay.

Okay?

Okay, so now you get him to un-turn it down.

Doesn't work like that.

Now it does.

I told him to find a way to say yes.

You find it for him.

You're not hearing me.

You're not hearing me.

Matthew Santos has had a terrific ride.

Improbable, impressive.

And over.

This is the return to reality.

He's Russell's Vice President.

It's not gonna happen.

You are going to do this

for us.

For the President, for your party.

I'm not 'cause I don't agree with it.

I told him to say yes.

I was wrong.

He's twice the man Russell is on his best day.

And Russell doesn't have that many best days.

I'll go tell the President.

Toby.

Okay. Yeah. Okay.

You have to quit and then get rehired.

Leo wants you in California...

Greg Brock just released a story

about a classified military space shuttle

that could be but hasn't yet been sent up

to rescue those astronauts.

It'll be on the front page of tomorrow's New York Times.

To do this, Brock would have had

to assure them that he had it cold,

which means whoever leaked it-- it's somebody big.