Original subtitles

Previously, on The West Wing...

Okay, let's go win this thing.

BABISH: So, why does Greg Brock of The New York Times appear

on your call log an average of five times a week

in the six months before he published his leak story?

You think the leak came from me?

You need to stop

the internal investigation of the security leak.

Excuse me? The evidence thus far

suggests that the leak came from inside the White House.

TOBY: We're getting some movement from Congress on education.

That's right out of the Santos plan.

Probably doesn't have the votes for it.

He definitely doesn't have the votes.

But if he's expressing an interest...

He's expressing an interest

because the Vinick camp told him to.

Could be. LEO: Haffley's playing you.

No, actually, he's screwing you and,

for the moment, we are comfortable with that.

MARGARET: You wanted the message plan for Monday's bill signing.

Scheduling and Advance is thinking little flags.

Little flags?! American ones.

So, we've stopped using the skull and crossbones, then.

They want to line the President's signing table

with a great big row of...

Little flags. Yes.

And the message is? This is America.

Not to be unpatriotic,

but they do realize this is a fisheries bill?

You'd like them to come up with...

A sign, a slogan, something

a little more specific than a great big row of...

Little flags. Thank you.

TV REPORTER: NASA's claims don't square

with reports by Times correspondent Greg Brock...

Little fish.

...that there's a secret military shuttle,

that that's the only way

to have repaired the space station's laboratory module.

But with Brock refusing to answer grand jury questions

on his source for the top...

NASA just announced

that the astronauts fixed the space shuttle

all by themselves.

Anybody buying it?

Not so much.

Well, we've got a Congressional committee

investigating a national security leak

out of this building;

Washington's devolving into another gavel-splitting,

nose-thumbing standstill; not to mention the fact

that a fisheries bill could be the better part

of my legacy as White House Chief of Staff.

What's this?

Uh, the President and White House Counsel want

to put out a statement.

We worked out the language while I was in the car.

"Respect for the paw"?

Law. "Respect for the law."

It looks like "respect for the paw."

You try writing longhand at 50 miles an hour.

You think this is a good idea? I think

the President and White House Counsel want it out.

You don't think

Vinick'll stomp all over this, not to mention Santos?

I think the President and White House Counsel want it out.

( crowd cheering )

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.

( Santos laughs, applause and cheering )

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 nothin' yet!

( applause and cheering )

( applause )

Start your speech by five past noon,

and the Portland affiliates will carry it live,

right after their top stories.

Well, let's start it by noon.

And Secret Service would prefer it

if you didn't wade into the crowd.

Well, you should tell the Secret Service:

put 40 electoral votes on the table,

I'll do whatever they want.

How you doing, there?

Thank you so much for coming.

Go, Portland!

Hi, how are you? Good to see you.

Thanks so much for coming. Hello, hello.

* I've been down before *

* Riding along on this big old jet plane *

* I've been thinking about my home *

( laughter )

Popular Mechanics, 1949.

I'm not making this up; they predicted it.

In the future,

computers will weigh no more than one and a half tons.

( laughter )

* Somebody's trying to make me stay *

So, if you think my plan

for high-tech jobs is a little light, then...

* Whoa, big old jet airliner

* Don't carry me too far away *

* Oh, oh, oh, big old jet airliner *

* 'Cause it's here that I've got to stay *

* Good-bye to all my friends at home *

* Good-bye to people I've trusted *

* I've got to go out and make my way *

* I might get rich, you know, I might get busted *

* But my heart keeps calling me backwards *

* As I get on the 707

* Friday night, I got tears in my eyes *

* You know you got to go through hell *

* Before you get to heaven

* Big old jet airliner

* Don't carry me too far away *

* Whoa, big old jet airliner

* 'Cause it's here that I've got to stay *

* Oh, oh, oh, big old jet airliner *

Anybody got any questions?

* Carry me to my home...

( applause )

Hey, you here all night again?

I thought you left at 10:30.

JOSH: I came back when I saw the cable coverage

of yesterday's West Coast swing.

Our economic message is working,

so I'm revamping the message plan.

We would've stayed and helped.

Uh, tell Field, no way am I spending that much on Delaware.

Tell speechwriting to try a version of this

that actually wins votes.

And, uh, tell Advance

I'm canceling the, uh,

foreign policy reporter's meeting

and adding a town hall on high-tech jobs

when he gets to Tampa.

What are those boxes?

JOSH: People think campaigns are about two competing answers

to the same question.

They're not.

They're a fight over the question itself.

Now, Vinick is opening up a big lead

on security issues-- that's box number one.

EDIE: Okay, so we need to do more military...

No! Because if the race is about that, we lose.

But we're way ahead on most domestic issues.

This new economic message could be our ticket.

We keep the conversation in box number two, we win this thing.

What's in box number three?

Trivia, ephemera,

stuff we can't control.

From today on, every speech,

every public event-- box number two.

Did you do this stuff on Bartlet's campaigns?

JOSH: Toby Ziegler. Few more nights

like this, we could go hairline for hairline.

CNN says the White House is about

to make a big announcement about the national security leak.

That can't be. They're trying to damp that story down.

Tell it to CNN.

ANCHORMAN ( on TV ): The termination

of the White House...

Operator, get me Toby Ziegler, now.

REPORTER ( on TV ): Attorney General Alan Fisk...

Yeah.

JOSH: Whatever you're announcing,

tell me you're gonna damp down this leak story and not...

We're stopping our internal investigation

to cooperate with Congress and the grand jury.

It'll look like Democrats

don't care if there are felons in the sit room.

Santos is gonna get tarred with this!

...a statement saying the White House will halt

its own efforts to find the leaker...

Bad news for Matt Santos,

who just got the spotlight off Leo McGarry's health problems...

OTTO: So, a national security leak--

is that in box number three?

ANCHORMAN: ...would rather talk about the economy

than serious lapses in national security.

Santos has been trailing his opponent, Republican...

No talking to the press till we hear what Vinick says.

He should have somebody on the road with him.

Bram's on the road with him.

A senior advisor to handle things like this.

I'm flying out this afternoon.

What about Edie?

I got a half a dozen Democratic media consultants

coming in an hour.

I'm flying out this afternoon.

REPORTER ( on TV ): Senator!

Josh?

Senator, the President's shutting his investigation

of the security leak!

Do you think there's a sound legal basis for this?

If that were my White House, I'd seal the doors and windows

until we found that leaker,

and then I'd throw him in Federal prison.

( reporters clamoring )

Vinick's public schedule.

I need his schedule for the day.

Josh.

Is that the Congressman?

SANTOS: Well, what are they smoking in that White House

of yours, Josh?

First they bogart my education plan

for some low-tar Congressional compromise,

and then they serve up a big fat pitch

for switch-hitter Vinick.

JOSH: It's a legal strategy.

We got to avoid commenting,

or it'll swamp our economic message.

SANTOS: I have to make a statement to get past this.

It's all the press is gonna want to talk about.

Any comment on this drags us into a bad story,

miles off our economic message.

Well, you know I'm having lunch

with two dozen foreign policy reporters today.

EDIE: Josh canceled that about an hour ago.

For what?

JOSH: For a, uh,

town hall on high-tech jobs,

and I'm making it a reverse town hall.

You ask people their personal stories.

No one gets to ask you unscripted questions.

He can handle tough questions.

You should see him out here.

He's on fire!

All this attention on the leak story--

it's magnifying the inevitable Mommy Problem.

RONNA: Mommy Problem?

JOSH: When voters want a national daddy, someone to be

tough and strong and defend the country,

they vote Republican.

When they want a mommy to give them jobs, healthcare,

the policy equivalent of matzoh ball soup,

they vote Democratic.

JOEY: On domestic issues, we're three points up.

We're better than Vinick on military issues.

Plus, the Congressman was a Marine pilot,

flying carriers in the Gulf.

Vinick never even served.

JOSH: Democrats don't beat Republicans

on security issues.

I know it's phony, I know it's frustrating,

but we have to stay in the box that we can win.

JOEY: That's why Vinick attacked Bartlet.

To force us back on security.

So we avoid the press and leave them no choice

but to cover our economic message?

That's right.

One sentence, and he boxes me into a corner,

doesn't even mention my name.

BRAM: Look, we got to get to this Jacksonville crowd event.

We'll see you guys in Tampa.

Thank you. Thank you, sir.

ANCHORMAN: And having made the essential repairs

to the space station's laboratory module,

NASA now expects the astronauts to return home

within the next four to five days.

MARGARET: It's Josh, again.

I told him to call Toby.

He insisted on talking to you.

Find Toby, will you?

...dangerous rate, will be flown to Cape Canaveral to witness...

Joshua, for the love of my sanity,

please talk to Toby.

He's my liaison to the campaign...

How could you let the President do this,

when I finally find a message that works?

It was a legal decision.

And you work in the most politicized

square footage in the country.

You turned this over to the Republicans,

who are gonna kill me with a thousand paper cuts,

leak every incriminating detail when it pleases them,

and I never get back to my issues,

the things I win on.

The President wants a fair investigation.

He wants politics out of this.

Then call for a special prosecutor!

You're shutting down your investigation,

go all the way!

Take it out of the political arena for good!

And while you're at it, find me a campaign liaison

who's not out to screw me with my pants on!

A run-amok special prosecutor,

rifling through every can of trash

from the past seven years?

Oh, I'm glad we have this chance to chat.

The last one was so gratifying.

I am begging you, get the politics out of this.

You're the one putting politics in it!

You try to deal away my education plan,

you don't give me a heads up

on the political tsunami of the week.

Right now, I am the only thing

between Matt Santos and the megaphone through which

he is going to trash his own party's White House.

Skip the Kentucky leg.

We'll hit it through Cincinnati media.

Move this photo above the fold

and every time we talk about gun control,

we have to say we respect the rights of hunters and sportsmen.

Hunters and sportsmen, right up front.

NED: The New York Post wants to know

if we canceled the foreign policy lunch

to keep Santos away from the leak story.

Tell him no, not everything's a conspiracy.

But you changed the town hall

to a reverse town hall because...

Certain things are conspiracies.

I need sexier economic policy for the reverse town hall.

Sexier?

The press wants to write about the security leak.

We want them to write about the economy.

Let's show a little leg.

And by leg, you mean...?

Targeted tax credits, preferably indexed to inflation.

When was the last time you went on a date?

I don't want to talk about it.

The Democratic media consultants are waiting.

Okay, um, I'm running a national campaign here.

By yourself?

Joey, 12 days ago, we thought we were going on unemployment.

We barely got the nomination.

We spent the last four days arguing with the press

over Leo's cholesterol level.

I delegate plenty.

Name one thing you've delegated.

I would never have chosen this paint color.

You have to hire some heavyweights.

Bruno Gianelli.

There goes half our budget,

on Italian loafers and mini-bar tabs.

You don't have a political director,

you don't have a chief speech writer,

you don't even have a communications director.

There's that huge empty office next to yours.

YOUNG MAN: Hi, I'm Bill.

They told me to show up after 10:00.

Absolutely. Welcome.

You can follow me.

There must be 300 people on staff now.

Surely a few of them are capable of...

Look. These are kids.

Not a single one of these non-shavers

would challenge my assumptions,

stand up to me in a meeting...

We thought we'd try it with the Houston crime stats.

Just do it the way I asked, okay?

I mean, this isn't summer camp.

We're not making tie racks out of plywood.

Not everyone has the savvy to play the big game.

This is your desk.

Sit with payroll and personnel.

Diane will give you

some business cards, the policy working group starts at 3:00.

And that's when I install the new phone lines?

Front desk, around the corner.

Thanks for the business cards.

You bet.

We're about to sit down

with the top media consultants in the party.

If you're not leaning on your own staff,

at least lean on them.

This is a fake meeting.

These guys just want a slice of the DNC media budget.

We bring them in, slide 'em a contract,

so they won't snipe at us on Meet the Press.

Here's a list of attendees.

What's she doing on there?

You said be sure to invite Louise Thornton.

I had to talk her into coming.

I said be sure not to invite her.

Oh.

Thank you all for coming to this high-level strategy meeting.

This is probably the greatest assemblage of Democratic talent

since the last time Jed Bartlet dined alone.

( Joey laughs )

Uh, as you can see from your handouts,

we're positioning Santos very strongly

on domestic issues,

especially the economy.

With a little discipline,

we can ride out today's press storm.

I want your input on our message and strategy.

Your pals in the White House

are creating the storm.

They're bungling this leak investigation.

My Senate clients are nervous.

Mine, too. Very nervous.

Obviously, the President's got his legal strategy,

while the, um, uh, politics...

Why aren't you repackaging Santos as a moderate?

No wonder half the Democrats

in Congress don't want to share

a stage with him. You got to repackage him.

Make him a moderate.

We think when the voters see his record on deficit reduction,

and middle-class tax cuts... And I don't see why

Santos isn't sticking it to Vinick,

knifing him with strong contrasts.

He should knife him. With strong contrasts.

We didn't have a full convention to define ourselves.

We're trying to run a positive...

campaign, especially while

the voters are... are learning about us now.

If you will look at the handout...

You don't really want our input on message.

Everybody's here for a piece of the DNC media budget.

So get to the point please.

It goes without saying that you will each be part

of the DNC media buy, as you can see on page two.

We've got a strong story for the voters.

We're excited about the media buy.

What if I did want

your advice on the message?

That would be hard to give.

And why's that?

Because you don't have one.

What she means is that we can test

some dynamic new spots...

Yeah, ramp up the positives; that'd really

fill in the picture. I'm not talking about ten-point plans

or Leo McGarry's love of egg whites.

I'm talking about the iconic, the symbolic,

something you can put on a bumper sticker

that tells people who Matt Santos is.

'Cause eight days after the nominating convention,

I still don't have a clue.

Where are you going?

I don't want a DNC contract.

I just came by to see if this was

the Josh Lyman vanity exercise everyone says it is.

Besides, if I take your money,

how can I snipe at you on Meet The Press?

Obviously, she doesn't speak for all of us...

( all talking at once )

You and I haven't always been on the same side.

You mean those four times

I beat your hand-picked primary candidates?

It was three times.

I was counting the two-to-one victory twice,

but okay... You're right.

I don't have this iconic symbolic thing.

I'm not a communications director.

My strong suit isn't...

Isn't connecting with the electorate, I know.

Reducing human complexity to a box of soap flakes, no.

All I know about Santos is what the country knows.

He's smart and he's cute.

That is hardly the stuff of global leadership.

Well, it's better than fat and dumb.

That's such a good bumper sticker-- you don't need me.

Yes, I think what you do is superficial,

but I know it's important,

or I wouldn't be asking you, of all people, for help.

'Cause I'm not a cultist like you?

Because we have different approaches to campaigns.

Right. I win them.

I'm trying to be friends.

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 'bout 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's a set of plastic gums.

You're doing political smear like the rest of us.

All I'm saying is do it right.

We're getting lots of press calls

on this security leak business.

How many press calls?

113. We're not commenting.

Plus, New York Post still thinks today's lunch was canceled

'cause we're hiding from the leak story.

It's not connected to...

Tell them we cancel lunches all the time.

We're fast and nimble and move like the night, okay?

Hey, don't mind me, you and Elmer Fudd Jr.

just keep changing the conversation.

Hang on.

Manifest Lou for the Florida-California trip.

Ten minutes ago you didn't even want her in the...

Some of her ideas are a little nutty,

she doesn't always play well with others,

but she's got an IQ of 200,

she knows this image stuff backwards and sideways,

and it's better than having her on the outside

lobbing mortars under my lap.

Okay, see if she wants the vegetarian option.

She'll have the raw meat.

I want you to come to California and Florida with me.

You can pick up a bag on the way to Dulles.

If the Congressman signs off,

I'm hiring you as Director of Communications,

answering directly to me. I don't think so.

I'm talking about the future of civilization here.

Yes, I don't have any desire

to play tambourine in your one-man band.

I am asking you

to meet with the next President of the United States.

State's about to brief POTUS and VPOTUS

on the Norwegian working dinner.

Can you make sure the NSC's in the Oval?

State's trying to do an end run.

The President's ready, Ms. Cregg.

Thank you.

Plus, Brock still wants a few minutes.

Tell him no. In Norwegian if you have to.

That would be no-sk.

What is it?

Counsel's Office says the first round

of Congressional subpoenas are coming

and they always start with junior staff. Okay.

Obviously, the focus is on the Chief of Staff's Office.

On... on our office.

If there's anything

you want me to...

I want you to tell the truth.

Josh, you have a comment about this Bartlet situation?

I've got brand-new policy, also known as hard news.

Don't all thank me at once.

The Congressman's really not taking

questions at the town hall?

He's proposing a major new tax credit

for research and experimentation.

It rewards innovation in the economy.

When are you making him available for questions?

After you write about the tax credit.

Congressional Republicans are saying Democrats

can't be trusted with our national security.

REPORTER: Santos has to be furious at the President

for dumping this on his head.

How does Leo McGarry feel? He's upset we're not doing more

to reward innovation in the economy.

Do you have a comment on the New York Post?

I'm against it. That's off the record.

There's a story on their Web site.

It says that Santos has canceled four

lunch events in the last two weeks.

Lunch events? Yeah, why always lunches?

Let me get this...

They got a story that we're canceling lunch events?

Four in two weeks. They're calling it

"Santos Siesta." First of all, that's ridiculous.

Second of all, it's a cheap stereotype.

Why is it always lunches, Josh?

You can't seriously be interested in this.

As opposed to the same economic speech

we've written about two days in a row?

Okay, we'll see you after the event; good to see you.

You heard about the siesta story.

When I said tell the Post we cancel lunches all the time,

the point wasn't to emphasize...

That we cancel lunches all the time. Right.

Kind of a fine-line situation. Not really.

So how we gonna deal with it?

We hold lunch events every day this week.

I don't care if we're stuffed to the gills,

we put out a sandwich tray and we call it a lunch event.

LOU: Doesn't this fall into your famous box number three?

I use a message grid, so sue me.

That is what happens

when you fight scandal with spreadsheets.

I'm running a presidential campaign.

We talk policy.

You got a better idea, I'll take it.

Yeah, Vinick's slugging you in the gut.

How 'bout slugging back?

This lunch thing was our goof.

You don't think somebody's

got the tabloids out looking for 'em?

We can ride it out.

We don't give them anything else by the end of the day,

they'll be filing stories about the tax credit.

Josh... I'm not commenting on the leak story.

This isn't about the leak story.

Oh, don't tell me, there's another...

No, no, this one you're gonna like.

SANTOS: So, is this covered under Josh's press memo or what?

BRAM: No, it's in Josh's scheduling memo.

It's a listen-only conference call.

We do it right after the reverse town hall.

We talk about the R&E tax credit for regional reporters,

but you literally can't hear them speak.

They can only listen.

If it goes well, I can open it up to hand gestures?

Then you're meeting with Lou Thornton,

a media strategist Josh wants to hire.

Oh, she wins a lot of races.

She probably won't do it, but she is what we need

in the communications shop-- aggressive, out-of-the-box.

Obviously, her ideas will be heavily filtered through me,

but anything you can do to get her on board.

SANTOS: Uh-huh.

BRAM: I'll grab you when they start your intro.

Okay. So let me guess: the press is, uh, going bananas

because I haven't been commenting on the leak?

I think I have a way to close the security gap overnight. Thank you.

Strafing raids over the National Press Club, huh?

Time magazine has a copy of a letter

from the Marine Reserve Command.

You've been called up for Reserve training

in Fort Worth, Texas, for two days.

Tuesday after Labor Day.

How'd the press get this before me?

You're a Presidential candidate.

From now on, you're gonna be the last person

to read a whole lot of your mail.

Congressman, it's Christmas in July.

Deck the halls with guns and ammo.

This is everything we couldn't do at the convention.

You in fatigues, wind in your hair,

trench knife in your teeth.

This is an annual, required thing, right?

Do a physical; some flight hours, marksmanship...

With very big guns. Guns are very big.

It won't look like a stunt?

You're just following orders.

They've started your intro.

Okay.

Sir, give me your best bottle of champagne.

Make it your tenth best.

Nothing with a screw-off top.

Why don't you go watch the reverse town hall?

They're still doing introductions.

Why don't you leave, so I can talk about stuff

that you're not allowed to hear? Sure thing.

We're about to make a big announcement.

Two days after Labor Day,

the Congressman's doing Reserve duty in Texas.

He's just following orders.

We announce it without comment.

A picture is worth a thousand bayonets.

That's fantastic.

Edie, coordinate a small press pool

with the Marine Reserve Command, nothing gaudy.

Make sure his uniform fits like a glove.

Ned, work with the Congressional Office,

get all the documentation... Documentation?

We need to lay it out for the press-- dates, details,

how he's done this every year like clockwork.

Sometimes he resets the clock.

When it needs rewinding, just when it needs...

He's postponed it a few times.

For critical national security votes in the Congress.

Usually to campaign for re-election.

I think once 'cause his daughter was sick. ( cork pops )

ANNOUNCER ( over P.A.): ...Congressman Matthew Santos.

( applause )

CAROL: We've been getting some press inquiries.

TOBY: Yeah, I'm sure.

A lot of them, actually,

on why we ended this internal investigation

and how we plan to deal with it...

Refer them all to the Counsel's Office. Which is good, except...

We're walling this off from the rest of the White House,

so we can do some governing around here.

Counsel's not taking any press questions.

Some walls are thicker than others.

Toby, you should see your call sheet.

And there are three reporters

camped outside your office, wondering...

Which is why I'm nowhere near my office.

How's it playing out there?

Aside from Arnold Vinick's plan

to turn the Federal government into an episode of Dragnet?

I know it's bad politics,

at least it's for the right reasons.

Good men with good reasons shouldn't set precedents

for bad men with bad ones.

What's this?

Witness list for the Congressional hearings--

what I could get anyway.

Greg Brock will refuse to testify. Yeah.

You think Congress holds him in contempt?

First Amendment isn't what it used to be.

I've been avoiding him all day.

As you should.

REPORTER: No reaction to the President's decision on the leak...

REPORTER 2: Do you agree with Senator Vinick?

SANTOS: So I moved it around a bit-- at least I did

real Reserve training with the big guns, every year-- almost.

It'll look like a stunt, won't it?

JOSH: 14 weeks before the election, trailing on security--

you skipped it for politics and Flintstones chewables--

we announce you're putting on a uniform,

first day of fall campaigning?

It'll look like Ringling Brothers,

Barnum & Bailey Circus.

You've got five minutes,

then a clutch with the City Council Chair before we take off

for Fort Lauderdale. Okay.

Is it Lou or Louise?

Well, "Lou" started in college

when I signed up for men's intramural softball.

They were a player short, turned out I was the best hitter

on the team. So, Lou?

Louise is fine.

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 got the Council Chair after this.

we could go egg her house.

Is there anything

that you liked 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-- they're wonderful. Yeah.

No, we pay a premium for that.

Say, are you familiar with the Mommy Problem? I am.

You think I have one? That's something you're gonna

have to answer yourself, 'cause right now,

Beltway Arnie's kicking you all over the electoral map.

The White House is treating you like a fly

on their governmental windshield,

and I'm wondering if it's just Josh,

or if you have what it takes to come out

of the Candidate Protection Program and start kicking back.

( knocking ) BRAM: Councilwoman Stone,

the next President of the United States of America...

Hello, pleasure to meet you.

Hi, hello.

How are you? Oh, we're gonna take

a little picture, huh? Okay.

( camera clicking )

MAN: Great.

MAN: Mr. Lyman, have you okayed banner copy for...

Not now.

AIDE: Josh, we have three print requests...

Later! Hey, we've gotta write up some options.

This press marginalia can wait.

Great.

Ned said he's postponed

his Reserve drilling about a third of the time.

41 percent, and whoever gave that letter to Time

has to know that, too.

He stayed in the Reserve all these years. Yes.

Our problem is Santos served

too much, whereas Vinick never even served. You're gonna be

good at this, I can tell.

What was option one again?

Reporting for Reserve duty right after Labor Day,

looking like a gun-toting, flag-waving phony.

That would be a no, wouldn't it? No, on option one.

Soda shop's closed.

( sighs )

Uh, may I ask what you're...

It's a law school study trick.

I'm not getting up until we figure this out.

Option two: postponement.

Highlights previous postponements,

if they even grant him one this time.

Congressman. Hi, stay seated.

I've got the high-tech CEOs waiting for me across the hall.

I just wanted you to know I got Lou to come on board.

Director of Communications.

That's terrific.

You were right.

She's what we need, whole different take on the campaign.

I didn't think she'd do it.

Yeah, just one small condition.

What's that?

Reporting directly to me.

( Josh grunts ) If you got a minute,

we've got a problem with the Associated Press. I don't have a minute.

Edie, will you tell him why I don't have a minute?

Yeah. He doesn't have a minute. I'm trying to solve

a problem that's 50 times bigger

than some sombrero-wearing nonsense.

I'll handle it later. You'll want

to handle it now. What?

The AP's got some kind of photograph,

something that took place at our hotel

in Cleveland last week. Photograph?

Of the Congressman's bed.

( camera clicks ) I need a moment.

Can you seal the elevator?

This about Time magazine?

I'm working on that.

Hi.

Maybe Lou's right, maybe there is a coordinated effort

to throw us off our game.

Maybe it's Vinick, maybe it's the RNC,

I don't know. What are you talking about?

AP has a photograph...

of something that happened in Cleveland in your hotel bed.

Is there anything

you'd like to tell me?

His name is Bruce.

He's a flight attendant on Aer Lingus.

They've got a connecting hub out of Hamburg.

At first, it was long walks

along the Reeperbahn... ( chuckles )

I'm sorry,

but I have to ask. Geez.

It's my job, I'm sorry.

( elevator resumes ) Wait a minute.

( elevator stops )

Cleveland? LOU: I don't understand

what happened. He wouldn't let me

in his room that morning; I should've suspected something.

Box number three. 15 years I've been doing this.

I've never been stuck in box number three.

Is anyone going to tell me what happened?

He demolished his bed. Demolished it?

JOSH: It was his wife's only night on the road.

It was an old wooden bed, slats, hand cranks, what have you.

Hand cranks?

And what have you.

Look, as much as I respect good craftsmanship,

I'm still not clear

about what happened.

They broke it together, get it?

The wire photo's out.

Oh, my.

"Hurricane Santos."

You repeat that outside this room

and I'll have you knocking on doors in Alaska

and not the urban part.

Give me that.

This guy's the next leader of the free world.

I won't have us ogling his dirty, you know...

The hotel proprietor claims the bed was steel-reinforced.

We have a bigger problem than Helen's Ohio surprise.

He's been called up by the Marine Reserves

for right after Labor Day.

Two days of marksmanship and flight training.

Well, bless his broken headboard.

He's postponed it 41% of the time.

Postponed it? 41% of the time.

As in, "I'll see you when I'm done

with my essential government business"?

As in "See you when it's politically convenient

and no one in my family has a runny nose."

If I had had a full convention,

I would have had the Marines

in the parking lot digging foxholes.

You won't lift a finger against Beltway Arnie Vinick,

who never served, and who flipped and flopped his way

through four years of subcommittee hearings.

I'm not going negative.

Not when people barely know who Santos is.

And a vacuum gets filled.

That's why he's the swing king of the siesta.

You won't even let him admit the obvious,

which is that the President

screwed up on the security leak.

That's why you're in this. The President is trying

to take the politics out of this.

Then why not call a special prosecutor?

Why won't Santos call for one?

You're my new Communications Director.

You're supposed to help me solve this problem.

You're the problem-- not some box on a grid,

not the Marine Reserves.

No negative campaigning.

No outside opinions within five miles of the candidate,

no deviation from some Jonestown-like obsession

with your pals at the White House. Okay.

When are you going to stop drinking the Kool-Aid?

C.J.: I need Hobson at Treasury.

They're worried about

another currency devaluation in Argentina,

and while I like a nice prime rib for 35 cents,

the OAS ain't buying. C.J.--

The message for Monday's bill signing...

Scheduling and Advance wants to stick with the little flags...

...because this is America. Yes, but...

And I want an actual message.

They have till tomorrow morning

or I'm going to read them the riot act

to the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic."

Greg Brock is in your office.

Why is Greg Brock in my office?

He walked in, he wouldn't leave.

I didn't think you'd want me to call the Secret Service.

Think again.

We're both professionals.

We're both under investigation by professionals.

It's bad enough that you're plastered all over my call sheet

and Congress has every scrap of paper

aside from my half-finished crossword puzzles.

Would you please leave before I call in an armored division?

I've a question about day care. Toby covered that in last week's briefing.

We're deadlocked at $300 million.

CBC is pushing for more after-school care.

I don't think we can get that out of committee.

That's great, but Della's four and a half.

Now she can live with her mom while I'm in prison,

but her mom travels for her job.

So why isn't there some Federal voucher

that you can give to your kids to come with you

and get them into day care wherever you go?

Prison?

I wouldn't talk

to the grand jury, the judge held me in contempt.

I report to Cumberland Minimum Security Prison tomorrow.

It should be on Fox by now.

You can appeal.

He refused to stay the contempt.

At least 18 months.

I, uh, have to appeal from behind bars.

You don't have to worry about your call sheet for awhile.

Name your source.

I always liked you in that suit.

SANTOS: No, no, Helen, I don't.

No, I mean, short of us crawling under there with a screwdriver

and a roll of duct tape, I don't see how we could...

Oh, yeah, 'cause I personally love the fact

that it's in all the papers and...

Honey, bring a sledgehammer

with you when we meet in Michigan

and we can...

I've got to go.

Bye.

How many papers is this going to be in?

It's all over the blogs and cable shows.

Now the first-tier press

gets to cover the coverage.

This is my fault.

I should've pushed out more policy.

I knew it'd be hard to hit back

against this phony, superficial crap.

I don't think it's phony or superficial.

These stories only stick when it confirms what people already think,

and let's face it, nobody knows what to think.

So we deserve it?

LOU: You haven't given anyone an alternate formulation

on who he is, so he's taking body blow after body blow.

I'm trying to position him as the guy with a jobs program.

How about positioning him as the guy with a spine?

You want to hit back against Vinick,

get sucked back in to the leak story?

I want him to beat back at the White House

and get distance from the leak story.

JOSH: The President's approval is at 66%.

The leak has barely made a dent.

That's why he seems like

his little infant cousin.

I'm sure you've never even

presented him with that argument.

Okay, you want me to have a spine.

You want me to be nice to my cousin.

Let's talk about my Reserve drill.

You have to resign your commission, Congressman.

JOSH: Sir, she's right.

You can't show up after Labor Day

when you've postponed your service five times in 13 years.

It'll look like the mother of all staged photo-ops,

and we'll get killed in the press.

'Cause I moved it around a few times? 'Cause you're a Democrat

who wears a uniform when it fits his schedule.

Oh, and never mind my 25 years of military service

compared to Vinick's none.

Never mind one of the most pro-military voting records

of the Democratic Caucus.

Why'd you even leave active duty?

You went to Annapolis for free.

What, the taxpayers weren't supposed to support

your long, illustrious military career?

You don't have a trench-mate with a story to tell?

And by resigning I'm saying, what?

That you are ready

to be President of the United States,

that we have a civilian-led military

and you are through playing G.I. Joe.

BRAM: He really has to get to the state party reception.

Time Magazine'scalled twice.

We're going to have to tell 'em something.

Tell them if the country doesn't like my military record,

I'll be the first one unemployed.

Excuse me.

Tough press day.

"Vinick's comments called into question the Santos campaign's

"unflinching support of the Bartlet White House,

"as Congressman Santos parried tabloid charges,

and strained to articulate an economic message."

"Strained to articulate."

It's like he was drooling into a cup.

So Vinick won the day.

Yeah, by walking five feet from his office,

while the Latin Luther Vandross

napped his way across the continent.

So now can we revisit the Bartlet question?

Oh, hi, let me introduce myself.

I'm the problem.

I interpret the facts,

I read the data.

Which is why you need me, and also why you resent me.

I am not a Bartletista and I'm not a Santos-ista.

I am completely untethered to your crazy cults of personality.

Also known as ethics.

What is unethical about saying

Jed Bartlet is a great President.

Make way on Mount Rushmore.

But in this one instance, this lapse in security, he goofed.

Someone in your White House goofed.

Look, I read that data, too.

No one thinks the White House goofed on this.

It's a press obsession--

a Vinick trick to get us onto issues that we can't win on.

Do you think Vinick participated

in last night's tracking poll?

JOSH: It took us a couple hours to place Helen

on that Cleveland trip.

Remember, she came out as a surprise for... you.

Anyway, that's why some of the stories imply that...

What is this?

A polling question from last night's track.

"Was the President right to end his own investigation

"of a classified security leak?

Yes: 27, No: 54, Don't Know: 19."

Are you suggesting that I criticize the President?

I would never suggest that,

but you asked me to run this campaign.

I don't want you thinking I'm holding back the data.

Hi.

You know, you guys got a job to do whether I like it or not,

so I'm not going to pretend that the afternoon naps

and the bedside shrapnel don't make for good newspaper copy.

So I'm going to address this once.

Just this once, and that'll be the end of it, okay?

No way was that bed steel-reinforced. ( laughing )

MAN: Still no comment about the President

stopping his investigation?

You know, if that were my White House,

I'd call in the FBI.

I would do everything in my power to cooperate

with both Congress and the grand jury.

I'd play it by the law, not by politics.

And, in case you haven't noticed,

that's exactly what this President is doing.

( reporters clamoring )

Is the New York Times paying for this, Mr. Brock?

Is the New York Times paying for the lawyers?

Back off.

Mr. Brock, what happens to your family while you're away?

Mr. Brock, could you give us a statement of any kind?

What happens to your family while you're in jail, Mr. Brock?

( reporters clamoring )

Did you see?

Yeah.

I need Scheduling and Advance.

Scheduling and Advance? Why?

The fisheries bill-signing.

They think our message should be a row of American flags.

It was my idea. A row of flags?!

'Cause he's the American President

and he signed a bill into law,

and, as long as we're being investigated

by two branches of our own government,

I don't see why we should be any more clever than that.

I've been thinking about the reason I beat you

in those three primaries.

It's because you wouldn't pound your candidates like I did.

This is too important to make it personal.

It's different when you build a candidate from nothing.

When you're the person he looks to for more

than just shock therapy.

The Congressman wants you.

Just Josh.

( door opening )

JOSH: I appreciate what you said about the President today.

I've been thinking about the Reserve drill.

I think you should do it.

Get the past postponements out today, ahead of the letter.

If they slam us for it, we'll deal with it.

Look out the window.

It's the Rocky Mountains.

You turn the plane around?

We're going to Forth Worth.

The Marine Commandant in Washington--

he was my CO in the Gulf.

He said I could get it out of the way right now, if I want.

You know, I didn't have as much as a high school diploma

in my gene pool.

That commission is the reason why I'm on this plane.

I'm not giving it up.

Before anybody in the press gets a chance to take a shot at us,

the whole country sees you in uniform.

Better cancel our schedule for the next few days.

I'm sorry about Lou, before.

She's got a lot to contribute,

but she should contribute it through me.

Some of her ideas are a little extreme.

That doesn't mean I don't need to hear them.

So you feel like you need her at the table?

I feel you do. Her and a whole lot of others.

But there has to be somebody in charge

to filter out the knucklehead stuff.

In the Bartlet campaign... Jed Bartlet was in charge.

You were right about the President, Josh.

And Louise was right about leaving a vacuum.

I need to hear it all.

( knocking )

Yep?

BRAM: They're ready with that state briefing in the staff cabin.

We're going to beat him on security issues,

we're going to beat him on domestic issues...

...we're going to beat him on trivia, too.

REPORTER: The Santos Campaign refused to comment on the drill,

saying the candidate was taking care

of a personal obligation...

MAN: It's a flight suit and helmet for the first time in two years.

Personally, I think it's a charade, a made-for-TV movie.

Why do you think he stayed in the Reserves for 13 years?

MAN 2: ...Vinick takes a shot at the President.

Maybe he's sincere about it, but Santos defends Jed Bartlet,

and then says, "Hey, I don't just fund planes, I fly them."

We jumped four points on security in last night's poll.

What about the gender gap?

You might want to use "Congressman Casanova" in a TV ad.

Half the press are calling it a stunt.

Yeah, but all the press is running the footage.

When he goes on offense, he really goes on offense.

Yeah, welcome to the cult of personality.

Otto, I need that brochure copy on his military record.

Edie, get Helen's schedule.

We want her on the road with the Congressman

at least three days when he gets back from Texas.

Ron and Ned, foreign policy events,

best idea gets an extra fortune cookie.

So we're ordering Chinese? I've got menus on my desk.

Ned, get the foreign policy binders.

Plus economic announcements, R&E, high-tech infrastructure...

Keep 'em coming, people. We got a long night ahead of us.