Original subtitles

Previously on The West Wing...

VINICK: ...Power is a completely

safe, dependable energy source.

Of course we should build more nuclear power...

SANTOS: Completely safe?

NEWSCASTER: More than a dozen states that have been squarely

in the Vinick column,

including his own state of California-- all states

with nuclear power plants-- are now

within the margin of error.

Cancel everything here after the morning rally.

We got to get on the ground in the battle states.

Vinick's gonna have to head south.

What we need to do is curb Santos's momentum.

Keep these folks undecided long enough

for this nuclear mess to fade.

You remember Jane Braun?

It's time to start talking about values.

By which you mean what, gay marriage?

I'm the senator from California.

And I'm gonna make a statement before we get on that plane.

You have to wait.

That is how we change the story.

( applause and cheering )

VINICK: Hey!

Hi. Good to see you.

How are you?

I need your help on election day, all right?

Need your vote. Need your vote.

Hi. Hey.

Thank you.

Thank you. Hey.

Thanks for your vote.

( loud cheering, indistinct chatter )

I need your help on election day.

Hey.

Thank you. Thank you.

Okay. Good to see you all.

( cheering continues, chanting )

JANE ( on TV ): No, Joe, there's nothing new

about this issue in this campaign.

Senator.

We've been very consistent about this.

Senator Vinick has always been opposed to gay marriage...

Always opposed.

Still sore?

Feels like it's gonna fall off. Here you go.

5,000 more handshakes till the election.

How could I be always opposed

to something I never heard about until a couple years ago.

BRUNO: She is not helping.

Keeping us locked in a tie Swith two weeks left is what.

I call not helping. She stopped the slippage in the South.

She's scaring away Independents.

Turning this into a gay bashing campaign...

We lost the Independents because a nuclear power plant

almost had a meltdown

after I said nuclear power's completely safe.

Water under the bridge. Now you've got to...

If it's water under the bridge,

how come I'm still be ducking reporters on the campaign trail?

Next event-- Small Business Association, Chicago.

We got to get out of there fast

because Santos is scheduled to speak right after us.

Happening a lot lately.

This is the way it always happens

the last couple of weeks in swing states.

Chicago'd like me a lot better if I stayed in Florida

and let the Santos motorcade create all the traffic jams.

Senator! Senator!

Senator!

Sorry, we don't have any time for questions.

We're running behind schedule. WOMAN: Senator!

Thank you very much.

ELLEN: Senator!

Senator, do you still feel

nuclear power is completely safe?

Oh, how are you? Nice to see you.

( applause ) Hi. How are you?

Hi.

Hello.

Hi.

( loud applause over P.A. system )

MAN: We're going to have the honor of hearing

from both presidential candidates today.

You know, I've been in some pretty hard-fought...

MAN 2: Let's give a big Chicago welcome

to the Republican candidate for President of the United States,

Senator Arnold Vinick.

( applause, cheering and whistling )

Thank you.

Can you bend all the fingers?

Yeah, a little bit.

Try to extend the fingers straight out.

No. Does it hurt when you do that?

No, it doesn't hurt when I do that.

It kills me when I do that.

We really need a set of X rays.

No, no way. No, no, no. Doctor,

we've got a busload

of reporters following us.

We stop for an X ray, the headline's gonna be,

"Handshake Breaks Vinick's Hand."

I can't say for sure without an X ray, but...

I think you got a metacarpal fracture,

and you're gonna need a cast.

No cast. Senator, you have to...

I can't look like an old man

falling apart on the campaign trail.

BRUNO: And he's got a crowd

waiting for him in Pittsburgh right now.

Well, I... I guess I can realign the bone

and give him a cast

that he can take off when he's in public.

Welcome to politics, Doctor.

Anyone asks you what you were doing in the car with me,

we were discussing health care policies.

Well, actually, I do have some suggestions about Medicare.

MAN: And now, it's my honor

to introduce the Democratic candidate

for President of the United States,

Congressman Matthew Santos.

( applause, cheering and whistling )

Hey, Chicago!

We can't leave him in Ohio for two days.

We got a full day in Cleveland tomorrow,

plus promises to keep in Columbus and Dayton...

I want him out of Ohio by midnight tomorrow

and on the set of Good Morning Miami at 7:00 a.m.

Yeah. Guest list for the Cleveland event.

Uh, yeah, right there.

Here?

Uh, no, on top of the other pile.

Then after a full day in Florida, we can...

Someone named Bob for you.

Twice in one week?

What are your latest numbers in California?

Hey, you work for this campaign now?

You should have new numbers by now. Check, will you?

Do we have the new California numbers?

Yeah, we just got 'em.

Uh, we're up by two, but that includes all the leaners,

so, uh, basically a tie.

You got to get Santos out there right now.

Yeah, we got him in Illinois and Pennsylvania today,

Ohio tomorrow, Florida the next day, and then we're...

California's the whole ball game, so...

Yeah, we're pushing up the media buy in California,

but we got to keep the candidate working in the states

where he can shake enough hands to make a difference.

Yeah, but California... Retail politics doesn't work

in California, place is too big.

I'm not talking about retail politics.

TV is the only way to reach those voters.

Exactly. That's why...

So, I have to cut my media buy in Ohio and Pennsylvania...

Josh, Josh, Josh, listen to me.

...to pay for more California TV...

Josh, Josh.

You're getting three hours of sleep a night,

you've got 300 urgent calls to return,

you're not thinking straight in that place.

Now take a deep breath and listen to me for one second.

Okay, I'm listening.

You can win this thing

if you get him out to California right now.

All right. Yeah.

Thought you were going to stay at headquarters.

Got tired of being ignored.

Annie, you got that thing the doctor gave me?

Uh, yeah.

You know, while you're out there shaking your hand off,

Matt Santos is running his new game plan, and it's working.

Criss-crossing the swing states,

talking nonstop about energy policy.

Throws in a line about the nuclear accident

to keep the pressure on you...

All right, we're gonna have Pittsburgh all to ourselves

this afternoon, but we gonna cross paths with Santos

tonight in Philadelphia.

He's speaking at the Constitution Center

just before us.

Tell Advance no rope lines in Pittsburgh or Philly. Okay.

And tell them no one gets to shake the Senator's hand,

not the police chief, not the mayor, no one.

How are they supposed to enforce that?

I... Tell advance to do that.

Two weeks out, we've lost our lead. We?

You. You have lost your lead, and we still

don't have a strategy to get it back.

I thought the gay marriage nonsense was the new strategy.

You're opposed to gay marriage.

There's nothing wrong with letting values voters know that.

The federal government has nothing to do

with marriage law, nothing.

No one should care what I think about gay marriage.

Well, no one should care how tall you are, or

what kind of hair you have, but you know they do, so let's...

I'm not going to win this thing on gay marriage.

JANE: Oh, you don't know that.

Gay marriage is a state issue, it's not a federal...

Okay, spare me the political science lecture.

Bruno's 50-state strategy was ridiculous

even before the accident.

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

Yeah, I've heard you say that 1,000 times on TV.

Do you think nothing's changed

in the last 20 years in the Republican party?

Oh, yeah. People like you have taken over.

People like me think a win's a win.

51% is plenty for us.

People like you want to get into the campaign Hall of Fame...

No one is talking about a 50-state strategy anymore.

Not since the nuclear thing, okay?

If you hadn't wasted the last five months

trying to win Massachusetts,

then we wouldn't be behind in the South now.

We had a lead in every southern state

before the nuclear accident. But you didn't have any good will there.

You were the lesser of two evils.

they wouldn't have abandoned you so fast.ed you,

MAYER: They haven't abandoned us.

They've moved us into the undecided column.

No one outside of Texas has moved from us to Santos.

Oh, well, Texas only has 34 electoral votes,

so why worry about them?

Think we're not worried?

We were never counting on winning Santos's state.

Latino registration is up... You're counting on winning Vinick's home state?

We'll bounce back in California. When?

MAYER: We're okay in California.

We're only two points behind Santos,

and that's after a nuclear accident

that scared half the state into trying to evacuate.

JANE: Nothing is okay in California.

The nuclear accident cost you that state.

You don't have the time or the money to win it back.

I can't win California by going to the right.

For every voter you win me in Alabama,

I lose two in California.

That's why we should be back

in the South this week, especially Florida. You can...

We followed your advice.

We spent

all last week in the South.

Where did it get us?

It stopped the bleeding.

And if you were still in the South right now

talking tax cuts, strong on national defense,

tough on crime in front of flag-waving crowds,

I wouldn't have to be on TV

trying to talk to the Republican base.

And I could shut up about gay marriage.

I'm saying,

we stay in the South until we get a solid lead.

Then we spend a week, maybe ten days,

closing the deal in Missouri, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

You don't have to say anything to Alabama voters

to lose you California voters,

but, Senator, you have got to energize the base

of the Party if we're gonna get

the turnout we need to get 51% on election day.

Senator, you can't pretend...

( knock on door )

Yeah?

Can I come in?

Just you.

Hand feel better in that thing?

They say replacing Sheila was a sign of weakness.

Inside baseball.

No one cares except the press.

I shouldn't have let Sheila quit.

She thought it would send the message that

the campaign had a fresh start.

Ah, Sheila was right about...

I should have just put Jane out there in front of the cameras,

let her energize the base, and then ignore her.

We are ignoring her.

Press is doing Santos' work for him.

Santos could take a vacation, just let the press

keep hammering me on this nuclear thing,

and he wins.

President sends troops into Kazakhstan,

and that's still not enough

to get this nuclear power quote out of the news.

When is old news going to be old news?

( sighs )

Know what I really hate about Jane?

She's not always wrong.

We need a new strategy for the last two weeks.

So what do you got?

I wish I could tell you

I had a better idea than Jane.

( cheering and applause )

SANTOS: Thank you, Philadelphia!

( cheering and applause )

California?

Yeah.

I thought you said we weren't going to California

because it was too big for...

Yeah, that was then.

Yeah, that was yesterday. Right.

JOSH: Then I rethought the whole thing.

You rethought it? Yeah.

You know, I talked it over... Talked to who?

Uh, usual suspects, party people,

experienced campaign types.

And we agreed that because California media

is way more expensive than Ohi...

Excuse me, I'm sorry.

Can we have the room please?

Uh, it's going to be a lot cheaper for us

to campaign in California

and buy TV time in Ohio and Florida.

LOU: You'll get five minutes for free

on every local station all over California,

instead of spending big bucks on one 30-second commercial.

JOSH: If we can push you up a few more points in California,

get your lead outside the margin,

press is going to explode

with stories about Vinick losing his home state.

It's going to build momentum for us everywhere else.

Yeah, knock Vinick off his game.

LOU: He's off his game.

out of the game. NCalifornia's the key.m

You get a real lead there,

Vinick's gonna have to give up his home state,

bet everything on a Southern strategy.

Now, he didn't play well in the South

when he was riding high.

He's sure as hell not gonna play any better

now that he's desperate.

Okay, get me there tonight.

But I want a full schedule of California events tomorrow

from breakfast till lights out.

It'll be full.

REPORTERS: Senator! Senator!

MAN: Do you think your poll numbers are dropping

because of the nuclear accident?

REPORTERS: Senator! Senator!

MAN: Can you win without California?

When do I go on?

They're gonna start your intro in a couple of minutes.

MAN: Congressman, we're ready for you.

SANTOS ( on TV ): I have time for a couple questions.

Tell them I'm not going on till he's out of the building.

I don't want the cameras covering his press conference

when I'm doing my speech.

SANTOS: ...talk to the people of Pennsylvania

about what this country should be doing in the next four years,

about energy policy, about education...

I want to hear

what he has to say.

...about pension security.

I don't want to get into

a whole political blame game about what happened

at the San Andreo nuclear power plant.

Sure you don't.

It was an accident.

It was exactly the kind of accident that I foresaw

when I opposed the building of nuclear power plants

in the state of Texas.

Saint Santos.

...that the governor of California and the President

responded to the problem immediately,

and they contained it.

MAN: Do you support

President Bartlet's decision

to send troops to Kazakhstan?

He'll sidestep that one.

We're not gonna figure out

how to run this campaign by watching the Santos campaign.

This is the time you ignore the other guy

and sprint to the finish line.

You keep pushing your tax cut message,

you talk about... Press won't let me.

They're not gonna let up

on this nuclear accident. Forget about the press.

That's not how I got this far.

I don't duck the tough questions.

I say what I think.

That's how I get elected.

Look, Senator, I love the straight talk thing,

but it doesn't work in every situation.

VINICK: That isn't me

out there campaigning now.

That's the problem.

We're gonna get past the nuclear accident.

No, we're not.

Not unless we deal with it.

If we open the whole nuclear power can of worms...

It's already open.

Wide open.

I got to close it.

I got to start answering their questions.

There is no one in this campaign, no one in the party

that thinks you should be talking about nuclear power now.

MAYER: Maybe insert a new energy paragraph

in the stump speech about safe energy sources.

You wouldn't have to mention nuclear...

That's not gonna work. What are you gonna do?

Say you were wrong about nuclear power?

No, I still think we need nuclear power.

This is the worst possible time to say that.

I should do a till-they-drop press conference

on the nuclear accident.

That's a big mistake.

Explain my role in getting the plant built,

talk about where we go from here on nuclear power.

Answer every reporter's question.

Stay at the microphone until I bore them to death.

That'd look desperate.

Worked for Andrews in that Senate race

when he had that problem with his tax returns.

We're going to California tomorrow.

I'm going to do a press conference in front of

the San Andreo nuclear power plant.

Okay.

My work's done here.

What, are you quitting?

It's been fun. Good luck.

BRUNO: Whoa, hold on.

Jane, Jane, hold on, please.

I can't afford to get blamed

for the mistakes this campaign is making.

And we can't afford to have another story

about trouble with the Vinick campaign staff.

It would look like

we're completely out of control.

I don't want you to quit.

I have a reputation to protect.

Quitter?

Better than loser.

Then don't lose.

The press conference is a mistake.

Campaigning in your home state is a mistake.

I let them ask me every nuclear question they can think of.

We get one more round of stories on this,

and then it's behind us.

It's a sign of weakness.

If I win the election, you're gonna get all the credit.

You came onto a sinking ship, and you saved the day.

If you lose?

Then you came onto a sinking ship and it sank.

How about we go with It's my strategy tomorrow,

and then we go with your strategy

for the rest of the campaign?

And if you disagree with my strategy?

Then we'll fight about it.

And we'll end up doing it your way.

You'll win some, and you'll lose some.

ANNIE: They're ready for you on stage.

Party's gonna flood California with surrogate speakers

after your day of free media. Good.

Your speech for San Francisco.

Can I get my briefcase?

It's not in here?

Uh, no.

Yeah, I'll get it.

Congressman needs his briefcase.

I thought you had it.

I had it in Chicago, you had it in Philadelphia.

No, I had it in Pittsburgh,

then I put it back in his cabin for the flight to Philly.

Well, it's not there now.

Did we take it to the event in Philadelphia?

I don't know. I had my arms full of stuff.

I don't remember the briefcase in Philadelphia.

Did you notice the Congressman's briefcase in Philadelphia?

No, but the candidate wasn't carrying anything.

Does he need it right now?

He asked for it. That means right now to me.

We can't tell him we lost it. You were the one who had it.

He asked you for it.

Tell him we'll search the overhead compartments.

Worst case scenario, it somehow got slipped into checked baggage

and we'll have it to him by the time we get to the hotel.

LOU: Get the L.A. schedule

to the press right away, so they can schedule

news network satellite trucks to cover us live.

You get my briefcase?

Not exactly.

I thought Otto had it, he thought it was in here.

We're searching under the seats and the overheads right now.

You lost my briefcase?

Worst case, it got slipped into checked baggage,

and we'll have it to you

by the time you get back to your room.

Call Philadelphia and retrace our steps.

Check the cars we used, check the rooms that we were in.

I left my wallet in that thing.

I hope you don't have

any super-secret strategy memos

in that briefcase.

We have super-secret strategy memos?

I wish we did.

REPORTER: Did you schedule this trip

because Santos is starting to pull ahead in California?

JANE: That's not what our polls show.

MSNBC right now.

REPORTER: Did you change your schedule

after the Santos campaign

decided to go to California tomorrow?

JANE: We didn't know about the Santos trip

when Senator Vinick decided to go to California.

She's a terrible liar, isn't she?

TOBY: Team Vinick's in a panic.

JANE: Senator Vinick is still ahead in the southern states.

And he's very confident that his home state of California

is going to support him

as it always has in his Senate campaigns.

They're trying to steal our free media,

get the local TV cameras to abandon Santos and cover Vinick.

TOBY: It won't work if you spin it as

Vinick trying to chase Santos out of California.

Then every Vinick story

becomes a story about the Santos surge in California.

That's right.

I need Lou on the plane.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Hey, it looks like Vinick

is going to follow you out to California tomorrow.

How desperate is that?

They're trying to steal our free media coverage out there.

You have to spin it

that Vinick is chasing Santos.

Turn every Vinick story into a Santos story.

Okay, I'll start working the press cabin now.

Hey, Josh.

Yeah?

The Congressman's briefcase, what's inside there?

Road stuff, toothbrush, electric razor,

sometimes a wallet. Why?

We seem to have lost it, and he seems kind of worried.

The guy's running a tie for the presidency,

and he's got two weeks left.

You can expect him to look worried once in awhile.

So there's nothing bad in there.

Like?

I don't know-- heroin, porn?

No, that's all mine.

I'm gonna go now.

ANNIE: Okay, thanks.

San Andreo press conference is set for 12:00 noon.

News networks are gonna cover it live.

MAYER: You got two choices for the evening event:

San Diego and L.A.

Problem with the L.A. thing is that Santos is gonna be there.

Thought he was going to be in Florida tomorrow.

They put out a press advisory a half an hour ago.

They're gonna do a California swing tomorrow--

San Francisco, San Jose, Fresno, L.A.

Thinks he can take my state away from me in a day.

The mayor's gonna introduce Santos at the L.A. event,

so San Diego makes more sense.

No. No. L.A.

I want to get in his face.

I want Santos to see if he wants to take California,

he's gonna have to rip it out of my hands.

Story's gonna be "Vinick chases Santos to California."

If he skips Florida tomorrow,

that's where we should be.

We already announced the trip.

We can't change our public schedule again.

No, but we can get out of California

as quick as we can. No.

We could have Florida all to ourselves.

Santos takes California, game over.

JANE: A republican can win the presidency

without California.

And a Democrat can't.

This isn't some sentimental home state thing.

This is about winning.

I don't have a 50-state strategy anymore.

I have a one-state strategy.

The one state that has everything.

Big cities, small towns,

mountains, deserts,

farms, factories, fishermen,

surfers, all races, all religions, gay, straight,

everything this country has.

There's more real America in California

than anywhere else.

If I can win California, I can win the country.

JANE: That's a nice speech.

Just don't say it into any microphones

'cause everybody in the 49 other states

thinks that California is a giant psycho ward.

VINICK: California hasn't been competitive

in a presidential race

in 25 years.

They don't know how to campaign there, I do.

Let's get out there, see how it goes.

Okay, just, please, forget about the power plant.

Go home to Santa Paula, remind the country,

especially the South,

of your home-town roots in a farming community...

I can't go to California

without dealing with the nuclear accident.

Take questions about the nuclear thing

but in your home town, surrounded by friends,

where you'll actually get some applause

instead of standing in front of a radioactive danger zone

where property values have just collapsed

and everyone's ready to vote for anybody but Vinick.

I've got to be there to show them that I believe

that we've contained the leak, that it's safe,

that the cleanup is working.

Standing in front of the power plant says,

"The accident was my fault. Blame me."

We'll talk about Florida tomorrow night.

If you're right,

then they'll be chasing me out of California by then.

Annie,

I want an updated briefing book

on the nuclear cleanup

tomorrow morning on the plane. Okay.

BRUNO: Hand any better?

Do I sound crazy to you?

Been a tough couple of weeks.

Tough?

I've been in tough campaigns before.

This is way beyond tough.

This is a nightmare.

Nuclear power plant works perfectly for 24 years...

The race was gonna tighten by now even without that accident.

Wasn't gonna get this tight.

We were heading for at least a five point win

and California was going to give us

a big Electoral College win.

We had this thing locked.

Still do.

Now you're sounding crazy.

That isn't mine.

I know.

It belongs to Matt Santos.

Yeah, very funny.

I'm not kidding.

I don't know this joke. What am I supposed to say now?

It's not a joke.

That's Matt Santos's briefcase?

Yeah.

And how did you get it?

You won it in a raffle?

I was the last one out of the holding room tonight.

I saw it, I thought it was one of ours.

There was no name on it, I opened it up...

That's really Matt Santos's briefcase? Yeah.

I don't want to know anything more about this.

I want to be able to say I had nothing to do with this,

I didn't know anything about it.

You stole Matt Santos's briefcase?

I didn't steal it; I found it.

But you didn't give it back.

You could've got it back to him easily.

You could've given it to the Secret Service.

Didn't think of that.

Yes, you did.

And you would've done it in a second.

Unless you found something in there,

something...

something that would hurt Santos.

You just told me you don't want to know anything more about it.

Who else knows about this?

No one.

It can make you president.

I need to talk to a lawyer.

I need-I need to think this through.

As soon as that information comes out,

the Santos campaign...

it's over.

So, you do not have to go to California tomorrow

and do that painful press conference which is gonna play

as if that nuclear accident was somehow your fault,

and you do not have to draw any more attention

to the fact that your polls are not looking very good right now.

And you can keep campaigning in the South and Midwest,

look like you're driving your own train

instead of jumping on Santos's train.

That briefcase can kill us.

He's got sort of a journal in there...

I said don't tell me.

It's a day planner.

It has notes about meetings,

people, lots of stuff that can be embarrassing,

what he really thinks about the Vice President,

how bad a campaigner Leo McGarry is.

And he also has a checkbook in there.

It's a strange one.

Just says "M. Santos."

It's not a joint account with the wife.

There's no address on the checks.

He just uses it for ATM withdrawals

and one check each month, same amount,

made out to someone named Anita Morales.

There is an Anita Morales,

29 years old, never married,

one child, seven-year-old girl,

she's a clerk in Houston City Hall.

Hired nine years ago by Mayor Matt Santos.

Come on.

We've all heard the rumors about Matt Santos.

There are rumors about all of us.

Do you have a checkbook like that?

Child support payments for a kid nobody knows about?

Hush money for an affair?

You have to give back that briefcase.

When this comes out,

he's gonna have to take a DNA test.

He's gonna have to prove that he did not have an affair with

or a child with a woman

he's been making monthly payments to

for who knows how long.

We can't do this.

I can't do it.

I work for you.

I am not going to do anything you don't want me to do.

Give this thing to the Secret Service right now.

Tell them... I don't know what you tell them,

but you jut give it to them.

Just think about what other secrets this guy might have.

This may be the tip of the iceberg

of what we don't know about him.

Look, how about I keep the briefcase,

we sleep on it, and we'll talk about it tomorrow.

Just tell me what you want me to do, Senator.

Keep it.

( crowd cheering )

SANTOS: Hi. How are ya?

How's it going?

( people talking excitedly )

SANTOS: Really great to be here in Fresno.

Thank you so much.

LOU: Oh, yeah, we had a huge crowd in San Francisco this morning.

The Silicon Valley event was bigger than we anticipated.

Right now, Fresno's going nuts for him.

California loves our guy.

The news networks aren't giving you any live coverage yet.

You got enough cameras out there?

Yeah, we got all the local TV stations.

We're gonna rule the 6:00 news all over the state.

CROWD ( chanting ): We want Matt... Hi. Good to see you.

Good to see you.

( laughs ): Whoa!

( chanting ): We want Matt. We want Matt.

Thanks for coming.

Don't forget to vote.

Good afternoon. This is Fresno's 12:00 news.

Matt Santos is in town today...

Still no word on the briefcase?

It wasn't in the checked baggage.

Told the Congressman yet?

Gonna wait till he asks.

Very brave.

Hey, if he's not worried about it, why remind him?

In a surprise move, the Vinick campaign

followed the Santos campaign to California today

and we're going to go to live coverage

from our sister station KRAC in San Andreo

where Senator Arnold Vinick...

Call me from L.A. Hey, Bram's on line two.

He says it's urgent. Hang on, Lou.

Yeah, Bram?

They cut to Vinick?

Lou, Fresno TV is going live with Vinick.

Get Santos onto the stage right now,

tell the Fresno camera crews they have to stay live

with the guy who actually came to Fresno.

VINICK ( on TV ): Good afternoon.

I just finished a complete inspection tour of the facility,

and I'm here to report

to the people of California Maybe not.

that the cleanup is ahead of schedule

and radiation levels in and around the plant

are back to normal...

Do you think it's safe to live near this plant?

Yes, I do.

I just spent two hours inside the plant,

so I'm convinced it's safe.

Completely safe?

Obviously, I never should've said

that nuclear power is completely safe.

I said that in the heat of a debate.

Nothing is completely safe.

We're never going to figure out

how to make driving a car completely safe,

but Californians are still going to do it every day.

Living near a nuclear power plant

is a lot safer than driving a car.

The top priority in every nuclear power plant

has to be safety.

This is one area where I think we need more federal regulation

and more strictly enforced safety standards.

Are you blaming the Bartlet Administration

for failing to enforce... Not blaming anyone.

President Bartlet did everything he could

within current law to maintain safety at these plants.

When I'm president,

I'm going to strengthen those safety regulations.

That wasn't your position when this plant was being built.

You wrote several letters

to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission urging them

to expedite the approval of this plant.

Yes, I did. And in one of those letters

you complained the project was being delayed

because of what you called "burdensome regulation."

I was very eager to make sure that California

had an adequate supply of low cost electricity.

You know, the governor

and most of the state's congressional delegation

supported the building of the plant.

But no one pushed harder than you did, Senator.

I don't do anything halfheartedly.

( scattered chuckles )

So, you no longer think

regulation of nuclear power plants is burdensome?

No.

Do you regret saying it was?

I wouldn't write that letter today.

Do you regret it?

That was 25 years ago.

We've all learned a lot since then.

Do you regret writing the letter, Senator?

Yes.

Next question.

What the hell is he doing?

TOBY: Trying to get it behind him.

If he does a "till they drop" press conference,

it just might work.

If he does a "don't worry, be happy" routine,

he's gonna look nuts.

You're not gonna get that lucky.

He's starting to sound like the straight-talking Arnie again.

If this works... Worked for Andrews in the senate race.

Got the tax thing behind him.

And he's killing your free media day in California.

Yeah, whose bright idea was that?

I forget.

LOU: Vinick's gotta wrap this thing up.

How long has he been on? Over an hour.

Doesn't look like he's quitting any time soon.

Yeah, he's cutting into our press coverage.

Okay. Look at that.

Yeah, we'll do it now.

No one has even tried to start building a nuclear power plant.

Josh wants us to go back inside,

set up a quick press conference,

see if we can get some cameras turned on you...

Dueling press conferences. No.

Hey, I'd love to tell you I had a better idea.

REPORTER: Are you saying environmentalists...?

Okay. Fresno!

( crowd cheering ) I love you guys.

Thank you again so much for coming out.

Thank you all.

Come on inside, we're going to talk some more. Come on in.

...according to our new environmental impact regulation,

but no one's saying

we should get rid of all those gas stations.

I think the American people... Two hours and 48 minutes.

...practical about these things. He's just getting warmed up.

We can do a better job... Why didn't you fight him on this?

You know this is a bad idea.

...while still allowing Think he may have a better feel

for California politics than we do?

You drinking the Vinick Kool-Aid this morning?

If he goes on much longer,

he's gonna turn this into a miniseries.

The people who are most worried about global warming...

There's no way we're going to be able to spin this.

...are the very same people who are most opposed

to the use of nuclear power.

Over a 26-year career in public service,

I'd probably do a lot of things differently

if I could do them over again.

But my job is to make the best decision I can

with the information I have at the time.

You know, if you do something for 26 years,

you should keep getting better at it.

I'm better than I used to be

because I have better information.

I have more experience making tough decisions,

and I have more mature judgment.

And that's what I think this country needs now,

more than ever.

We have troops on the ground in Kazakhstan,

and we have more on the way.

That's the tough choice that President Bartlet made

to try to keep Russia and China from slipping into war there.

Now, the next president is going to have to

take over that situation the first hour on the job.

That's the most important issue that's facing the country

in this campaign--

not who said what about nuclear power 25 years ago,

or did one of us use too strong a word in a debate.

The real decision the American people are going to have to make

is who do they want as their next Commander in Chief?

All right, next question.

Anyone?

Ellen?

Nope.

All right, thank you.

Thank you very much.

Damn, this guy is good.

Son of a bitch.

Yes, Mr. Speaker.

( applause and cheering )

MAN: Yeah!

( applause subsides )

What's the word on the street?

Speaker thinks the press conference was brilliant.

I hope you took full credit.

MSNBC wants someone from the campaign

to go live right now.

I can do it.

MAYER: Senator?

How we doing on time?

Uh, not bad, 20 minutes late.

Better for us, Santos will be out of the building

by the time we get there.

Bob? Yeah?

Tell the Secret Service

I want to get five minutes with Santos before he leaves.

Alone. You serious?

They'll want to know what it's about.

Yeah, well, just tell them...

it's personal.

Yes, Larry, I think that he has put this issue behind him.

He answered every question, ( cell phone rings )

didn't duck the tough ones.

You saw today what kind of president

Arnold Vinick... Yeah?

What's this about your guy wanting

a meeting tonight with Santos

at the L.A. thing?

BRUNO: Hi, Josh, What's this about?

First I've heard about it.

JOSH: The message we got is it's

something personal-- what's that supposed to mean?

Maybe it's personal.

I'm not sending my guy

to a meeting if we don't know what it's about.

Good.

What do you mean "good?"

I don't like sending my guy into a meeting

I know nothing about.

If you can stop it, I owe you one.

( knocking )

Yeah.

Just got a call from Josh.

He wanted to know what the Santos meeting is about.

What'd you tell him?

The truth-- it was the first I heard of it.

You think Santos will show up?

Not if Josh has anything to say about it.

I want to give him back his briefcase.

I figured it.

"When in doubt, do the right thing.

"The rest...

BOTH: "...of the time, get away

with whatever you can."

Who said that?

Must have been one of those Louisiana governors.

Yeah, probably from his jail cell.

You know, Santos never got the vetting a front-runner gets.

He wasn't supposed to get the nomination.

The press gave him a free ride in the primaries.

Until now, he's been running way behind you,

so the press still hasn't done their digging on him.

But they will now.

So...

it really doesn't matter what you do with that briefcase,

it's going to come out.

If it comes out when Santos is in the White House...

I don't know what happens.

All hell's going to break loose.

Wouldn't be the first president with an illegitimate child.

How far do you think he's going to get

with that defense? You know what?

If I agreed with a candidate on the issues,

and I was ready to vote for him,

and something like this came out about him...

I'd still vote for him.

Good. That's you.

And that's maybe most Santos voters.

And it is every voter in France.

But it is not this country.

Not yet.

I don't want people wishing

they could change their votes

after this comes out.

The voters have a right to know about it

before making their voting decision.

Bruno, come on.

This is me you're talking to.

Please don't try to turn mudslinging

into a respect-the-voters spiel.

Don't tell anyone, but I do respect the voters.

That's why I win.

I find out what they care about.

I don't try to tell them what to care about.

Not exactly my idea of leadership.

Yeah, well, it's my idea of democracy.

The voters set the terms at the elections, not us.

They get to decide what's important, not us.

That's why I think voters have a right

to this information about Santos now

instead of six months from now.

They could be electing a president

who's drowning in scandal

when he's supposed to be trying to stop World War III

from starting in Kazakhstan.

And that is not the kind of guy most of the country wants

to be the next Commander in Chief.

Not now.

( cheering )

SANTOS: Yeah!

Thank you!

( cheering and applause )

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

( cheering and applause continue )

( muffled cheering )

( muffled cheering and applause continue )

SANTOS: Well, what harm can it do?

LOU: It's the principle of the thing.

Which is?

We like to know what a meeting is about

before we agree to it.

( muffled cheering continues)

Five minutes, huh?

That's what they said.

( door opens )

( door closes )

Whose idea was the press conference?

Couldn't let you have California all to yourself.

Ah, should've known.

Well.

Got something for you.

Bruno found it in the holding room in Philadelphia.

He looked through it?

No name tag on it.

Took 24 hours to get back to me?

Find anything interesting in my notes?

Didn't read them.

Bruno did.

You don't have to worry about that.

I don't?

No one else knows about this.

Bruno, you and me?

That's it.

And we're not going to tell anyone.

Well, maybe I should tell the press

that Bruno stole my briefcase.

Didn't steal it; found it.

It's not your notes you should be worrying about.

The checks you've been writing are a much bigger problem.

You think so?

We're not going to tell anybody about the checks.

But you should.

So, that's what this meeting's all about?

You just wanted to give me a little advice?

Obviously, it's up to you how you handle this...

That's right, it's up to me.

We're not going to use it.

But it's going to come out eventually.

The press is going to find out.

They're going to find Anita Morales.

Camera crews are going to follow

her daughter to school.

Bruno really did his homework, huh?

You think the people who work for you

wouldn't have done exactly the same thing

if they had found my briefcase?

If the press finds out about this next week,

then all that happens is you lose an election.

But if you win and the press finds out

next month or next year,

then I don't know what happens

to you or your presidency.

That's what you have to think about.

Right now.

You have a responsibility to the voters to think

about that. Don't lecture me about responsibilities.

You really think that you can handle this

if it comes out while you're living

in the White House with your family?

You really think you want

to put the country through that?

Put your wife through that?

My wife knows all about it.

My brother's never been very good

about living up to his responsibilities.

He went out with Anita for awhile then...

disappeared like he always does.

He's never really been able to hold onto a job.

When I found out about the baby,

I figured someone had to step up.

You know, it would have looked a lot better

if you'd given your brother the money

and let him pay the child support.

Yeah, well, I wish I could trust him to do that.

You don't believe me.

Doesn't matter what I believe.

You know the truth.

This is a family thing.

This has nothing to do with what kind of president I would be.

( door closes )