The West Wing s07e09 Episode Script
The Wedding
THE WEST WING Original air date: 12/11/2005 Dad, you're not really going to sing along.
I thought I had a solo.
Or tell jokes.
None? After the ceremony, short ones, preferably not during the toast.
I have to give a toast? Dad.
Turn to face the bride.
Now you lift the veil.
Give her a kiss.
Walk over here.
And sit.
Kind of far from the action, isn't it? You're not performing the ceremony.
I wasn't asked to.
Sir, I'm sorry to interrupt.
No, that's quite all right.
He was about to go into his Spencer Tracy routine.
There's been an escalation in Kazakhstan.
We picked up three Russian military convoys headed for the border.
I'm going to need to step out.
Uh, my apologies, everyone.
I'm afraid I'll have to meet you at dinner.
Don't slip away, young lady.
We need to practice our dance.
Father.
I told them you were busy.
Yeah.
I hear there's a rehearsal dinner tonight.
Swanky event, President of the United States is supposed to show.
He's got 15 minutes.
So now the Russians are invading.
We just got off the phone with State.
The Russians say they're sending in advisors at the Kazakh President's request.
Advisors with AK-47s and riot gear? Pretty much.
President Tarimov's got to be nervous with the Chinese camped out at the border and his own people ready to storm the palace gate.
Not nervous enough to reschedule elections.
The Chinese seeing what we're seeing? The Chinese won't enter the country unprovoked, but if those convoys cross the border Debbie! Nice work, Commander.
I'm going to need the Russian Ambassador, the Chinese Ambassador, and my wife; probably not in that order.
Yes, Mr.
Ambassador, but if we can focus on Yes, Yuri.
Yes, it should be a lovely affair, but but, listen, if those convoys enter Kazakhstan No, I'm not sure who's doing the flower arrangements.
Mr.
President, I hate to interrupt but we've got Secretary Hutchinson on the other line.
Thank you, C.
J.
Yuri, you'll communicate my concerns to President Chigorin? Yes, we'll speak later.
Thank you.
Flower arrangements.
He's stalling.
Where are the convoys? Pakistan just issued a statement warning that Chinese interference in Central Asia will not be tolerated.
You want the Chinese Ambassador? Get him on the phone.
Hey, I just wanted to give you guys a heads-up.
Governor Baker has decided to join us at tomorrow morning's rally.
We've added a half hour to the event.
What about the wedding? We'll be wheels-up at noon.
The Congressman should have plenty of time to get to the White House.
Have you seen the new Zogby polls? I have.
Six weeks to go, you're still seven points down.
Are you guys concerned? We drew record crowds in Jersey today, we got a four-point bump in the debate, the economists said a Santos Presidency might be the best thing to happen to race relations in this country since the Civil Rights Act.
I'd say we're gaining ground.
You haven't been You haven't been within five points of Vinick in a month.
We're a little more focused on the state polls.
I've got a senior Democrat on record saying it's time to shake things up.
He should look at a map, do the electoral math.
This race is tighter than you think.
Do we really want to go dark in Arizona? We picked up two points there last week.
We're still trailing by seven.
We can't pull the money from anywhere else? Vinick's challenging us across the board.
With California in his pocket, we have to sweep Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida.
That means putting every available dollar into those four states.
We've cut all we can out of the places we're actually competitive.
Okay.
We move the ad money from Arizona into Houston and Miami.
We done with the bloodletting? We go dark in Washington, Maine, Colorado, Nevada, Arizona.
These 12 are still in play.
I'll try to catch my kids before they go to sleep.
- Good night, sir.
- Good night.
Leo.
You guys have to narrow down the board like this eight years ago? Sure.
Six weeks out, only so much in the war chest, you've got to manage your resources.
It feels like we're closing a lot of doors.
Good strategy always does.
Yes, of course, Mr.
Ambassador, but We've been over this: it's three convoys, they're not invading.
Yes, but as I've said if the Chinese Army enters the country Yes, I'll convey your thoughts.
Yes.
You too, Yahlin.
Thank you.
How long before the convoys reach Kazakhstan? Actually, they've stopped a few miles from the border.
Are they refueling or pitching tents? Hard to know.
I'm going to go with tents.
I want a full briefing in the morning.
Yes, sir.
- If those convoys start moving again - Right.
- Good night.
- Good night.
Do you want me to follow up with Berryhill? No, I got it.
- Alright if I - Yeah.
No, wait a minute.
The Chinese Ambassador's coming to the wedding.
Okay.
I can't remember who he's sitting with.
Hopefully not the Russians.
State eyeballed the seating chart, right? One of Berryhill's deputies, a couple of weeks ago.
Maybe I should take a look.
Yeah.
Philadelphia fundraising totals, and the changes to tomorrow's schedule.
Thanks.
If you could sign off on those before you leave for DC.
Yeah.
Five states dark.
A lot of contested Congressional races, a lot of guys are going to have trouble getting Democrats to the polls if we jump ship.
Yeah, we're not going to be very popular.
You want the new tracking numbers before we go public? Sure.
Right, and we'll want local press from south Jersey and the Philly suburbs.
Great, thanks Edie.
Did you get the photo op with the Governor? Santos, Baker, and a cheese-steak.
Make it a hoagie.
Advance said he should get a cheese-steak.
Trust me, make it a hoagie.
The press is a little antsy.
Yeah, tell them national polls are meaningless.
- The staff's a little antsy, too.
- Yeah.
You guys have been behind closed doors since we got to Philly.
- Killer game of Boggle.
- Since we got to Philly.
Donna There's a rumor we're pulling out of Arizona.
Okay, I need you to kill that rumor.
Is it because we're moving money into Illinois? Josh.
Joshua, we just picked up five points in Illinois.
What? Illinois tracking poll.
We're down by nine points.
Not anymore.
- Let me see that.
- What's going on? We're only down four in Illinois.
- Really? - We've barely spent any money there.
All right, let me call you back.
This could be a mistake.
We should have Joey rerun this in the morning.
No, this has got to be the Trib.
The Tribune Endorsement put us within four? - Wow.
- Four points, the state's in play.
We need a big media buy, huge.
Maybe a swing through Chicago this week.
Close a door, open a roof.
I'm thinking a 1500 rating points buy, maybe 2000.
Where the hell are we going to get the money? - Nice of you to drop by.
- I missed dinner.
Only by an hour and a half.
Don't worry.
Ellie had a wonderful time.
I, on the other hand, was stuck in the corner with Vic's uncle, a botanist.
You would have liked him.
I'm getting too old for this job.
Really? It was their relatives, who we don't particularly know, and our relatives, who we don't particularly like.
They understood.
The Faisons were so busy playing host they barely noticed.
Although we did decide on Uncle Norman as a possible stand-in for you tomorrow.
Stand-in? Worst-case scenario.
Uncle Norman? He is a bit of a tippler, but he's reliably punctual when there's an open bar.
You'll have time to practice the dance with Ellie before the wedding.
I'll find her tomorrow.
Sure.
Well, we do have the foreign dignitaries gift reception starting with the Bermudian Ambassador at 9:00.
Okay.
And hair at 10:00, makeup at 11:30 Maybe we pull some money out of New York.
No, we need to be at full force in New York so we can shore up Northern Jersey.
What about Missouri? We're starting to see some movement in the Independents in St.
Louis.
Iowa? Yeah, but Chicago's pretty pricey.
Des Moines and Cedar Rapids won't make much of a dent.
I was really looking forward to a hot bath.
Well, conference room, five minutes.
Three day schedule, point buys for the weekend, couple of calls.
Yeah, anything urgent? You got ten state party chairs worried you're going to pull local advertising.
Anything else? Folks in Illinois seem pretty excited.
Yeah? Who called? Uh, Congressman Sloan, Gabus, Arrow, Leiter, two Senators and the Governor.
What about the guy who's running the DNC field operation in Chicago? Three times in the last half hour.
Get him on the phone.
See if we can fit him in for breakfast tomorrow.
Okay, you realize you have a breakfast every half hour between 8:00 and 1:00? The later ones must be lunches.
Yeah? - Tomorrow's photo op? - Yeah.
The Governor's office said Baker'll be having a cheesesteak.
Okay? Howard in Advance is worried about the comparative visual.
They think the hoagie's gonna look weak? I believe his exact words were "pansy-assed.
" Howard's from Philly, right? - Uh-huh.
- Okay.
Go with the cheesesteak.
- Yeah.
- But prep him on how to order it: no Swiss, no Munster, just sauce and whiz.
Whiz? Cheese whiz.
Ask Howard.
And no onions.
He's got a photo op with the President at the wedding.
I don't want him knocking him over with the breath.
Got it.
Thanks guys.
I'm getting calls about Illinois.
Tell 'em we're excited.
The press is wondering who decided not to contest the state.
Tell 'em I did.
Tell 'em I also made the decision not to contest Georgia, where we're down by 11, and not to contest Mississippi, where we're down by 15.
- You ready? - Yeah.
I've got to go.
I think I can pencil you in between the pictures and the ceremony.
Yeah.
So, rumor has it you're going to have a little chat with the groom tomorrow morning.
I am.
Well, that will be lovely, I'm sure.
What, I did it with Doug.
Yeah.
I don't recall that as being unqualified success.
Well, now I've had a run at it.
You do know that talking him out of marrying your daughter is not an option.
Yeah.
You really think it's not an option.
New Hampshire, Iowa, Wisconsin.
We pull out of the original five, we go dark in New Hampshire, we half the ad buy in Wisconsin and Iowa.
You're sure? Yeah.
Hallelujah.
Do you want me to call the media team? No.
I'm meeting with a couple of congressmen from Wisconsin tomorrow.
Let me break the news to them first.
Okay.
I'm gonna head out.
- Wait.
- Ohh! No, this is right.
We got it.
They picked up five points in Illinois, great.
But the question we need to be asking is: "Why wasn't Santos there in the first place?" If you ask me, it's a pretty big tactical error on the part of Josh Lyman.
You need a ride? No, I've still got to finish up a few things.
Suit yourself.
should have been watching the sampling data.
Of course, this campaign is still salvageable, but he certainly can't afford to make another Illinois-sized mistake, which is why I think some people have begun to question whether Josh Lyman is the right guy to take the Santo's campaign down the stretch.
Uh, they'll be walking down the aisle to "Sorge Nel Petto," the aria Gaffredo sings to his daughter in Handel's Rinaldo.
The aria was picked for its beauty and its text, which translates roughly to "a certain delight surges from my breast and promises to calm my heart.
" That's lovely.
I made it up.
Don't tell.
There's nothing better on? I like to start the weekend with a little post-game analysis just to stay sharp.
Uh, no.
Ellie decided to go with the pau de soir Monique Lhuillier instead of the lace Vera Wang.
Aha.
Is there something you need? I need to take a look at the seating chart for the wedding reception.
Sure.
Pau de soir? Apparently its soft yet supple.
Oh, and it drapes beautifully.
Who put the British royals at the table with the German Ambassador? Ah, still smarting over the World Cup Match? Well, that and the devaluation of the pound.
Right.
How about we swap in the Swedish Ambassador? Mm.
The Queen and the Swedish Ambassador had a thing.
A thing? It's a while back, but still Sure.
Do you mind if I take this for a little while.
Hey.
New Hampshire, Iowa, Wisconsin.
Good morning to you, too.
You here to sit with Jerry? And then Trautman and Alexander.
You? Uh, Chicago field rep, Cooper, Steele, Golden, Walvick.
I'm thinking New Hampshire, Iowa, Wisconsin.
Did you get some sleep? We cut New Hampshire, pull money out of Iowa and Wisconsin.
Really, you've got to pace yourself.
I mean, New Hampshire's a no-brainer.
I'm serious.
You should be getting at least five hours.
Only four electoral votes, we're paying a premium because the ad buy is out of Boston.
Soon you're going to be at two hours a night and it only gets worse if we win.
Leo.
New Hampshire? Yeah.
It's not worth the ad buy.
Iowa and Wisconsin.
Iowa, sure.
How much are we up in Wisconsin? Three points and the Illinois ad buy should carry into Wisconsin.
You consider cutbacks in Missouri? We're only down two points.
I don't want to cede the state.
Leo! Sounds right.
I've got to go make nice with the fat cats.
Well, pick some pockets will you.
Get some sleep.
Yeah.
Josh.
Stan Mitchell, DNC field ops, Chicago.
Stan, thanks for flying up.
I've been telling you guys we've got a shot in Illinois.
I just wish you'd called sooner.
Just tell me we can get the full field operation ready by November 8th.
To be honest, you're asking for a six-month job in six weeks.
Sure, we can get it up, but its going to cost you.
In Bermuda, it is traditional to place a cedar sapling atop the wedding cake and then plant it at the home of the bride and groom.
I bring this sapling from Warwick Pond, one of the few surviving cedar forests on the island.
May it grow with your love.
Thank you very much.
You are most welcome.
Mr.
Ambassador.
It's beautiful.
Y es.
We'll keep it off the cake.
Yes.
The French Ambassador, the honorable Julian Lefort.
Bonjour, Monsieur.
How many of these do we have? There were a couple of additions: the Greek Ambassador, the Latvians, the Romanian Ambassador happens to be in town.
All totaled, that brings us to 71.
The hairdresser comes at 10:00.
Maybe we ought to skip Romania.
Or all of Eastern Europe.
The three convoys: they're still holding at the Kazakhstan border? Yes, sir.
Their restraint is admirable.
Maybe not.
Our Keyhole satellites took these photographs of the Russian military base in Omsk two hours ago.
It looks like a couple of battalions.
Close to 100,000 men.
They've got to be posturing.
Sure, but 100,000 Russians to the West, We should consider evacuating the Marine base outside Ayaguz.
The base is critical to our interests in Central Asia.
Not to mention that both sides are going to have one less reason to restrain themselves once we pull out.
Yeah, but you're talking about leaving between two 800,000-pould gorillas.
How do we get our men out? Airlift to the Arabian Sea.
Can I get you anything? No, thank you.
Water? No.
Coffee? No.
Valium? How long will it take after I give the word? Yeah.
Your 9 o'clock is starting to melt.
Yeah, send him in.
Move a dozen evac transports into the Arabian Sea and put them on ready alert.
Yes, sir.
C.
J.
, let's get the Kazakhstan Ambassador in here tomorrow.
See if we can't convince them to reschedule elections before their country becomes a rugby field.
Gentlemen, my future son-in-law.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
Thank you, sir.
- Congratulations, son.
- Thank you.
Tell me you didn't plan that.
If you go dark in Wisconsin Congressman, we're just talking about trimming the ad buy.
If anything, we need more money in the state.
We still have a 500-point buy in Green Bay, a 500-point buy in Milwaukee Vinick's got 1500 points out of Milwaukee, Green Bay, Madison; he's outspending you guys 2-to-1.
I can try to have the Congressman make a few stops Come on.
You know it's all about the media buy.
Now look, I know Vinick's pressuring you everywhere and I'm thrilled you made headway in Illinois, but we've got six contested Congressional districts in Wisconsin, not to mention a very tough Senate race.
Now, without nation ad support, we could lose every one of those campaigns.
Do you need to take that? I do.
You're up four in Michigan and three in Jersey; you should trim there.
Thanks for coming by, Congressman.
I appreciate your input.
Hey, how was Philly? Pretty good.
Pretty good.
Did you get the photo op? No, we got it.
A little problem with the cheesesteak, though.
He screwed up the order.
Sauce and whiz, no onions.
That sounds fine.
The whiz got a little drippy.
How drippy? He probably should have order the hoagie.
Who was at the photo op? AP, Reuters, the Times, Le Monde We figure it's probably front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Any way you'd like me to spin it? "Acts like a man, eats like a man"? Yeah, I got to go.
Josh.
Senator Montgomery.
Great news about Illinois.
Absolutely.
Nice to have it in play.
Shame we didn't start there earlier.
Well, we had some other places we had to be.
At 21 electoral votes, I'd have thought it'd be a little higher on the priority list.
We're only up by six in New York.
Any state we're losing by ten doesn't get a lot of attention.
So long as we start investing there now.
There's no doubt.
Listen, I heard there's a rumor you're pulling money out of Iowa.
We're thinking about pulling money out of a lot of places.
As goes Iowa, so goes the Midwest.
I'd cut back in Philadelphia.
See you at the wedding, Josh.
Yes, sir.
You done? Just about.
You want to take a look? Sure.
Canadian Prime Minister won't mind being stuck in the corner? It's for the best: he's a little grabby.
Really? He brings a whole new meaning to "Oh, Canada.
" K.
H.
plus one? That's me.
The President wanted someone from the NSC to go.
Smooth over any international incidents.
Prevent, more like.
Sure.
You're not going? I wasn't invited.
I was concerned it might have something to do with my encounter with the happy couple last weekend, but I hear it's a small affair.
- Is there something on my? - Do you own a tux? Excuse me? I mean, I was just going to go stag, but if you're not busy later don't have anything to do You clean up nice.
Don't start.
I already got it from Helen.
Philadelphia cheese steak; it's a political rite of passage.
Yeah, wait till you see the pictures.
It's only going to endear you to the Eagles fans in Philly and South Jersey.
I had a little chat with Baker.
How's the governor? He's concerned.
He's concerned about the campaign: why we weren't in Illinois, why we're not spending more in Pennsylvania.
Monday morning quarterbacking: it's a favorite pastime in Philadelphia.
He's not the only one that's concerned.
I've gotten calls.
Josh? We're six weeks out, still seven points down; vultures are going to swarm.
I just want to make sure they're not swarming for a reason.
No one else I'd rather have running this campaign.
Congressman.
You wanted to screen the new Texas ad buy? Yeah.
See you down there in ten? Yeah.
- Josh? - You think we should cut the media buy in Missouri? - Aren't you supposed to be at the wedding? - Missouri or maybe New York.
- To pay for Illinois? - We should take a harder look at Michigan.
I just called the media team to pull the money out of Wisconsin.
Yeah, uh, we're going to hold off on that.
Josh, your car's ready.
I'll call you after the wedding.
I know you think this is probably old-fashioned, but, frankly, it's much more humane than it used to be.
Abbey's father made me take a six-hour hike with him through the woods outside Mt.
Pelier in the dead of winter.
At least it felt like six hours.
Of course I was still a grad student then, whereas you're almost a tenured professor.
Isn't that right? Uh, yes.
At least, the dean suggested I mean, in the next few years Good, good.
Because before you know it, you'll have a house and kids.
Yeah.
Sir, the guests are starting to arrive.
Yeah.
You should be heading back to the Residence to change.
You don't want to be late to the cocktail hour you're hosting.
Thank you, Debbie.
Well, thanks for dropping by.
Sir, was there something that you wanted to discuss? No, no.
I just thought you know, when you have a daughter, you just like to know you really want to know whether Ah, hell.
Just tell me you decided to marry her before you got her pregnant.
Excuse me? That's when I decided to marry her: a year ago, on our third date.
What was the matter with the first two? I'll see you at the end of the aisle.
Yeah, we're going to need the new numbers from Michigan too.
Yeah.
Thanks, Otto.
Ah, Josh.
He's just a big blowhard.
C.
J.
, Mr.
Chairman.
Former Chairman, Josh.
Wishful thinking, maybe.
Oh, no.
Those of us on the sidelines can see what a great job he's doing.
I appreciate that, sir.
Now, if we can just get this one to run for something.
- Good to see you, Josh.
- You too, sir.
- Keep up the good work.
- I appreciate it.
Barry Goodwin running the party; those were the days, huh? Yeah.
You guys must be excited.
Hmm? Illinois.
Yeah.
Hopefully we can afford it.
Pinching pennies? Pretty much.
You're up a bit in Washington.
Can you take some money out of Seattle? We're pulling out of Washington.
Wow! Things that tight? Welcome to my world.
Is that Kazakhstan? Probably; you want to trade? Here.
Take your mind off things.
Dignitary Bingo? I've already got four across.
Find the Mexican President and you're home.
You look nice.
Nothing says "International Crisis" like a pair of black stilettos.
You know what's going on? I just got paged.
Yeah.
You really look nice.
Ok, now I'm starting to think you're hitting on me.
No, I'm serious.
The makeup, the hair I'm trying to impress.
Who's the guy? What makes you think there's a guy? The necklace, the neckline, the earrings, the back Okay, okay.
I have a date.
Really? I think you'd call it a date.
I kind of invited Will to the wedding.
Dark hair, glasses, just got a big promotion? Will Bailey? - Yeah, we were talking and - You asked Will on a date? Technically I just invited him to the wedding.
Will Bailey?! Yeah, I'm gonna What have we got Miles, other than the sensation that we've all suddenly landed in a British drawing room farce.
There's been an incident in Kazakhstan.
The protestors at Alma Ata turned violent and Tarimov sent in riot police.
Any casualties? Our people on the ground are saying it could be up to 200, many of them ethnic Chinese.
- The Russian convoys - have crossed the border.
We expect the Chinese to start mobilizing any minute.
Minority Leader, Postmaster General is that the Swiss Ambassador over there? Is this a test? Dignitary Bingo, ten bucks a sheet; are you in? Aren't you supposed to be hurrying me someplace? Photo op with Congressman Santos and then bridal party photo at 4:00.
So I've got half an hour? Maybe.
Is that the Swiss Ambassador or not? How much you got riding on this? It's the Duke of Edinburgh.
Ah, Duke of Edinburgh.
- Congressman.
- Mr.
President.
Leo.
Welcome.
I hear they like you in Illinois.
Apparently I'm growing on them.
Well, after your performance in those debates, I'm not surprised.
Wasn't he something? You think that's impressive, you ought to see me do cheese steak.
Senator Montgomery wanted a word.
That's my cue.
Find me later.
We'll talk about Cabinet travel and ways we can be helpful in the home stretch.
- Thank you, sir.
- Good luck.
Things are looking up, bub.
We're making some headway.
Mm-hmm.
You know if you win this damn thing, you're stuck working here another four years.
I like to think of the Vice Presidency as more of an emeritus position.
Sure.
How's everything on this end? Well, Russia and China are doing there little Sharks-and-Jets routine in Central Asia and Abbey's got an understudy for me.
Seriously? Yeah.
Uncle Norman's on call.
Ouch.
I've been getting some calls about Josh.
Yeah.
Triplehorn, Nayak, Stackhouse, Montgomery.
We're losing six weeks out, people get antsy.
Sure.
It's always like that around this time.
Absolutely.
Who'd they want to replace me? Okay, so maybe not always.
Okay, enough gossiping, ladies.
Debbie, you look lovely as always.
You've got 20 minutes.
I assume you'll want to say hello to the Duke of Edinburgh.
That's not the Duke of Edinburgh.
Catch you later.
Hey.
I thought the wedding photos weren't until 4:00.
We got a little ahead of the game so I thought you might want to get in that dance.
Have I mentioned this "Mother-of-the-bride" thing agrees with you.
When Liz got married, you said I didn't look old enough to be the mother of the bride.
You didn't.
I do now? I didn't say that.
What did you say? Is there anyway out of this for me? Probably not.
Mr.
President.
The Chinese troops have started moving into Kazakhstan.
We've got a translator in the Oval, we're getting the Premier on the line now.
It's okay.
We'll do the photos after.
Jed.
The service starts at 5:00.
Yeah.
Fried wonton? Hey.
- Really, they're pretty good.
- Yeah? They're out of champagne, though.
The First Lady just gave me 20 bucks and told me to pick up a bottle of Cold Duck.
Josh.
I'm sorry.
Have you seen Leo? I'm bored.
I'm an attractive woman waiting to be entertained.
He was just with the President.
I'm sure he's still I just saw him headed toward the East Room.
He was with the Congressman and Barry Goodwin and Senator Montgomery.
It looked pretty intense.
Illinois? I'm sure it's nothing to worry about.
Leo, I'm all for allegiance, but loyalty for loyalty's sake is ridiculous.
Sure Josh got it wrong in Illinois.
Well, sure, with the benefit of hindsight.
I didn't see you calling for a major effort in Illinois.
Barry? Look, I have never seen an electoral map as inside-out as this one.
And as for Illinois, we were ten points down.
Chicago's one of the most expensive media markets in the country.
Now, spending money there would have meant sacrificing Iowa, maybe Missouri, and possibly slimming our ad-buy in Wisconsin, but It's cost us.
Yes, it has.
Polls move money as much as money moves polls.
If you had been in Illinois you'd have gotten this bump sooner, possibly seen a boost in fundraising, and maybe you wouldn't be pulling out of so many states now.
Josh Lyman's done a terrific job, but Congressman, I'm not sure he can see you through to the finish line.
Who can? Only one guy I'd want running a campaign this tough and that's the guy standing next to you.
You should sit down.
It'll wrinkle.
You know, we considered going to Las Vegas.
Sounds pretty good about now, huh? Come in.
Uh, hi.
Hello.
C.
J.
asked me to tell you that they started circulating additional refreshments downstairs, in case you were worried.
Any idea when the President might be joining us? I'm afraid not.
Well, I should, uh get back.
Congratulations.
Why is Will Bailey wearing a tux? Mr.
President, we can not pull back.
Lian, this doesn't make any sense.
The Russians supply you with the oil they take out of Kazakhstan.
At a premium, some of which goes to the owners of the pipelines; American companies, I believe.
We're not supporting the Russians.
Yet you're condoning their attempt to annex half of Central Asia.
Lian, I'm not condoning anything.
I am trying to stop two nuclear powers from going to war over oil! Oil? Mr.
President, this is not about oil.
It is about the brutal suppression of a Democratic movement; a movement that includes many ethnic Chinese - our brothers and sisters.
You, of all people, should understand our concern.
Look, you've only got one more hour of campaigning left anyway.
He's right.
Once you finish the Vice Presidential debates, you're almost done.
Tell that to my schedulers.
Due respect, you're not exactly a force on the campaign trail.
Josh is going to have to move his war room to the Congressman's plane in the next few weeks anyway.
You guys start campaigning together, you can work out of there.
It might even play better for the crowds.
We'd cover half the ground.
You'd get a boost from the joint appearances.
The point is, this campaign should be making the best use of its political assets.
We are with me on the trail and Josh Lyman running things at headquarters.
Congressman? I appreciate your thoughts, gentlemen.
Right.
Thank you, Congressman.
We should find Josh and go over the morning meetings.
Uh-huh.
Leo? Should Josh be running this campaign? Hey, stranger.
Abbey.
Nice speech in Des Moines.
Can you believe this dog and pony show they've got me in? You getting any sleep? And eating my vegetables.
Good.
How's Ellie? Still standing.
That's good.
Not really.
The dress it wrinkles.
I'm sure he'll be here any minute.
You think? Miracles happen.
Lian, I need your men to stop advancing.
If you'll just hold your position I'm not sure what that will accomplish.
Let me at least talk to the Russians.
Try to convince them to push President Tarimov to reschedule elections.
It was the Russians who put Tarimov in power in the first place.
- For years, this has been how the Russians have been operating - Lian.
- and given their history, it seems clear to me - Lian.
- that the only way to stop their continued aggression - Damn it, Lian, will you shut up already! Is your daughter married? Excuse me, Mr.
President? Your daughter, the one I met when we were in Beijing, is she married? Yes.
She was married two years ago, last spring.
Then you will understand me when I tell you that my daughter's wedding is this afternoon and that she has been waiting for 46 minutes for me to give her away because I can't put down this damned phone until you tell me that you're not going to start World War III today! Now, for the love of God, Lian, will you give me just one half hour so I can go and walk my little girl down the aisle? Mr.
President, we can continue this discussion in one hour.
And your troops will hold their position until then? Yes, Mr.
President.
Thank you, Lian.
You've got one hour.
Is the wedding starting? Not yet.
How's Senator Montgomery? Full of hot air, as usual.
Yeah? Who's he want to replace me.
- Josh.
- Who is it? No one wants to replace you.
It's Goodwin, too, isn't it? Son of a bitch.
He was just shaking my So, who do they want? Is it Pipeman? Bloom? I mean, the guy's practically tone deaf when it comes to message politics, but I'm sure he'd be good.
Josh.
You could get Simons or Sharp.
Maybe you should just promote Lou.
It's not like any of the others have run a Presidential.
They want you.
It's you, isn't it? Hell, that's who I'd want.
You would have known.
You would have been in Illinois months ago, right? - Stop it! - Right? You would have figured it out.
Where would you have gotten the dough? Come on tell me, where would you have gotten the money? I wouldn't have gotten the money because I would have been in Illinois.
The polls there looked as bad as when we were running against Eisenhower.
I would have made the same decision as you.
And that is exactly what I told Barry Goodwin and George Montgomery.
Look, these are tough calls.
It's impossible to know how they're going to turn out.
What's important is how you respond when you get it wrong, how you react, what your next move is.
I don't know what my next move is.
I've been staring at this damn map all day.
I still haven't got a clue.
Iowa's vulnerable.
I don't know what I was thinking in Wisconsin.
We can't take a dime out of Ohio, Florida, Texas I don't know where to start.
They're right: you should take over.
You're all trying to kill me.
The wedding's about to start.
Let me see the map.
Come on, we'll talk about it on the way.
You made it.
Honey, you look Dad? I'm sorry, sweetheart.
It's okay, Dad, really.
You wanted a White House wedding.
All of that is being taken into consideration.
Well, I thank you for your support.
Thank you so much.
I'll meet you in there.
How'd it go? Fine.
You taking over? No.
Leo, I thought we Josh is going to make a lot of strategic decisions over the next few weeks.
He's going to sweat them like life and death.
And they'll be important, sure, which is why you and me are going to be in on every one of them.
But they're meaningless compared to the decision the voters are going to have to make just by listening to you and trying to see if they can connect with the idea of Matt Santos as President.
And Josh has nothing to do with that.
Goodwin's right: Josh has taken you as far as he can.
The rest is up to you.
You okay, Dad? You know, one time during my first term in Congress we went on a Congressional delegation to East Germany.
You probably don't remember, you couldn't have been more than four or five.
But anyway, we got to East Berlin and we were waiting online with our passports at Checkpoint Charlie when all of a sudden you bolted out into the no-man's land between the two guard posts and everything stopped.
The MPs just froze and your mother and I were scared to death, but not you.
You just calmly looked up at one of the soldiers on the wall and you waved and the soldier waved back.
And then And then all the soldiers were waving at each other.
I remember, Dad.
Take my arm.
I thought I had a solo.
Or tell jokes.
None? After the ceremony, short ones, preferably not during the toast.
I have to give a toast? Dad.
Turn to face the bride.
Now you lift the veil.
Give her a kiss.
Walk over here.
And sit.
Kind of far from the action, isn't it? You're not performing the ceremony.
I wasn't asked to.
Sir, I'm sorry to interrupt.
No, that's quite all right.
He was about to go into his Spencer Tracy routine.
There's been an escalation in Kazakhstan.
We picked up three Russian military convoys headed for the border.
I'm going to need to step out.
Uh, my apologies, everyone.
I'm afraid I'll have to meet you at dinner.
Don't slip away, young lady.
We need to practice our dance.
Father.
I told them you were busy.
Yeah.
I hear there's a rehearsal dinner tonight.
Swanky event, President of the United States is supposed to show.
He's got 15 minutes.
So now the Russians are invading.
We just got off the phone with State.
The Russians say they're sending in advisors at the Kazakh President's request.
Advisors with AK-47s and riot gear? Pretty much.
President Tarimov's got to be nervous with the Chinese camped out at the border and his own people ready to storm the palace gate.
Not nervous enough to reschedule elections.
The Chinese seeing what we're seeing? The Chinese won't enter the country unprovoked, but if those convoys cross the border Debbie! Nice work, Commander.
I'm going to need the Russian Ambassador, the Chinese Ambassador, and my wife; probably not in that order.
Yes, Mr.
Ambassador, but if we can focus on Yes, Yuri.
Yes, it should be a lovely affair, but but, listen, if those convoys enter Kazakhstan No, I'm not sure who's doing the flower arrangements.
Mr.
President, I hate to interrupt but we've got Secretary Hutchinson on the other line.
Thank you, C.
J.
Yuri, you'll communicate my concerns to President Chigorin? Yes, we'll speak later.
Thank you.
Flower arrangements.
He's stalling.
Where are the convoys? Pakistan just issued a statement warning that Chinese interference in Central Asia will not be tolerated.
You want the Chinese Ambassador? Get him on the phone.
Hey, I just wanted to give you guys a heads-up.
Governor Baker has decided to join us at tomorrow morning's rally.
We've added a half hour to the event.
What about the wedding? We'll be wheels-up at noon.
The Congressman should have plenty of time to get to the White House.
Have you seen the new Zogby polls? I have.
Six weeks to go, you're still seven points down.
Are you guys concerned? We drew record crowds in Jersey today, we got a four-point bump in the debate, the economists said a Santos Presidency might be the best thing to happen to race relations in this country since the Civil Rights Act.
I'd say we're gaining ground.
You haven't been You haven't been within five points of Vinick in a month.
We're a little more focused on the state polls.
I've got a senior Democrat on record saying it's time to shake things up.
He should look at a map, do the electoral math.
This race is tighter than you think.
Do we really want to go dark in Arizona? We picked up two points there last week.
We're still trailing by seven.
We can't pull the money from anywhere else? Vinick's challenging us across the board.
With California in his pocket, we have to sweep Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida.
That means putting every available dollar into those four states.
We've cut all we can out of the places we're actually competitive.
Okay.
We move the ad money from Arizona into Houston and Miami.
We done with the bloodletting? We go dark in Washington, Maine, Colorado, Nevada, Arizona.
These 12 are still in play.
I'll try to catch my kids before they go to sleep.
- Good night, sir.
- Good night.
Leo.
You guys have to narrow down the board like this eight years ago? Sure.
Six weeks out, only so much in the war chest, you've got to manage your resources.
It feels like we're closing a lot of doors.
Good strategy always does.
Yes, of course, Mr.
Ambassador, but We've been over this: it's three convoys, they're not invading.
Yes, but as I've said if the Chinese Army enters the country Yes, I'll convey your thoughts.
Yes.
You too, Yahlin.
Thank you.
How long before the convoys reach Kazakhstan? Actually, they've stopped a few miles from the border.
Are they refueling or pitching tents? Hard to know.
I'm going to go with tents.
I want a full briefing in the morning.
Yes, sir.
- If those convoys start moving again - Right.
- Good night.
- Good night.
Do you want me to follow up with Berryhill? No, I got it.
- Alright if I - Yeah.
No, wait a minute.
The Chinese Ambassador's coming to the wedding.
Okay.
I can't remember who he's sitting with.
Hopefully not the Russians.
State eyeballed the seating chart, right? One of Berryhill's deputies, a couple of weeks ago.
Maybe I should take a look.
Yeah.
Philadelphia fundraising totals, and the changes to tomorrow's schedule.
Thanks.
If you could sign off on those before you leave for DC.
Yeah.
Five states dark.
A lot of contested Congressional races, a lot of guys are going to have trouble getting Democrats to the polls if we jump ship.
Yeah, we're not going to be very popular.
You want the new tracking numbers before we go public? Sure.
Right, and we'll want local press from south Jersey and the Philly suburbs.
Great, thanks Edie.
Did you get the photo op with the Governor? Santos, Baker, and a cheese-steak.
Make it a hoagie.
Advance said he should get a cheese-steak.
Trust me, make it a hoagie.
The press is a little antsy.
Yeah, tell them national polls are meaningless.
- The staff's a little antsy, too.
- Yeah.
You guys have been behind closed doors since we got to Philly.
- Killer game of Boggle.
- Since we got to Philly.
Donna There's a rumor we're pulling out of Arizona.
Okay, I need you to kill that rumor.
Is it because we're moving money into Illinois? Josh.
Joshua, we just picked up five points in Illinois.
What? Illinois tracking poll.
We're down by nine points.
Not anymore.
- Let me see that.
- What's going on? We're only down four in Illinois.
- Really? - We've barely spent any money there.
All right, let me call you back.
This could be a mistake.
We should have Joey rerun this in the morning.
No, this has got to be the Trib.
The Tribune Endorsement put us within four? - Wow.
- Four points, the state's in play.
We need a big media buy, huge.
Maybe a swing through Chicago this week.
Close a door, open a roof.
I'm thinking a 1500 rating points buy, maybe 2000.
Where the hell are we going to get the money? - Nice of you to drop by.
- I missed dinner.
Only by an hour and a half.
Don't worry.
Ellie had a wonderful time.
I, on the other hand, was stuck in the corner with Vic's uncle, a botanist.
You would have liked him.
I'm getting too old for this job.
Really? It was their relatives, who we don't particularly know, and our relatives, who we don't particularly like.
They understood.
The Faisons were so busy playing host they barely noticed.
Although we did decide on Uncle Norman as a possible stand-in for you tomorrow.
Stand-in? Worst-case scenario.
Uncle Norman? He is a bit of a tippler, but he's reliably punctual when there's an open bar.
You'll have time to practice the dance with Ellie before the wedding.
I'll find her tomorrow.
Sure.
Well, we do have the foreign dignitaries gift reception starting with the Bermudian Ambassador at 9:00.
Okay.
And hair at 10:00, makeup at 11:30 Maybe we pull some money out of New York.
No, we need to be at full force in New York so we can shore up Northern Jersey.
What about Missouri? We're starting to see some movement in the Independents in St.
Louis.
Iowa? Yeah, but Chicago's pretty pricey.
Des Moines and Cedar Rapids won't make much of a dent.
I was really looking forward to a hot bath.
Well, conference room, five minutes.
Three day schedule, point buys for the weekend, couple of calls.
Yeah, anything urgent? You got ten state party chairs worried you're going to pull local advertising.
Anything else? Folks in Illinois seem pretty excited.
Yeah? Who called? Uh, Congressman Sloan, Gabus, Arrow, Leiter, two Senators and the Governor.
What about the guy who's running the DNC field operation in Chicago? Three times in the last half hour.
Get him on the phone.
See if we can fit him in for breakfast tomorrow.
Okay, you realize you have a breakfast every half hour between 8:00 and 1:00? The later ones must be lunches.
Yeah? - Tomorrow's photo op? - Yeah.
The Governor's office said Baker'll be having a cheesesteak.
Okay? Howard in Advance is worried about the comparative visual.
They think the hoagie's gonna look weak? I believe his exact words were "pansy-assed.
" Howard's from Philly, right? - Uh-huh.
- Okay.
Go with the cheesesteak.
- Yeah.
- But prep him on how to order it: no Swiss, no Munster, just sauce and whiz.
Whiz? Cheese whiz.
Ask Howard.
And no onions.
He's got a photo op with the President at the wedding.
I don't want him knocking him over with the breath.
Got it.
Thanks guys.
I'm getting calls about Illinois.
Tell 'em we're excited.
The press is wondering who decided not to contest the state.
Tell 'em I did.
Tell 'em I also made the decision not to contest Georgia, where we're down by 11, and not to contest Mississippi, where we're down by 15.
- You ready? - Yeah.
I've got to go.
I think I can pencil you in between the pictures and the ceremony.
Yeah.
So, rumor has it you're going to have a little chat with the groom tomorrow morning.
I am.
Well, that will be lovely, I'm sure.
What, I did it with Doug.
Yeah.
I don't recall that as being unqualified success.
Well, now I've had a run at it.
You do know that talking him out of marrying your daughter is not an option.
Yeah.
You really think it's not an option.
New Hampshire, Iowa, Wisconsin.
We pull out of the original five, we go dark in New Hampshire, we half the ad buy in Wisconsin and Iowa.
You're sure? Yeah.
Hallelujah.
Do you want me to call the media team? No.
I'm meeting with a couple of congressmen from Wisconsin tomorrow.
Let me break the news to them first.
Okay.
I'm gonna head out.
- Wait.
- Ohh! No, this is right.
We got it.
They picked up five points in Illinois, great.
But the question we need to be asking is: "Why wasn't Santos there in the first place?" If you ask me, it's a pretty big tactical error on the part of Josh Lyman.
You need a ride? No, I've still got to finish up a few things.
Suit yourself.
should have been watching the sampling data.
Of course, this campaign is still salvageable, but he certainly can't afford to make another Illinois-sized mistake, which is why I think some people have begun to question whether Josh Lyman is the right guy to take the Santo's campaign down the stretch.
Uh, they'll be walking down the aisle to "Sorge Nel Petto," the aria Gaffredo sings to his daughter in Handel's Rinaldo.
The aria was picked for its beauty and its text, which translates roughly to "a certain delight surges from my breast and promises to calm my heart.
" That's lovely.
I made it up.
Don't tell.
There's nothing better on? I like to start the weekend with a little post-game analysis just to stay sharp.
Uh, no.
Ellie decided to go with the pau de soir Monique Lhuillier instead of the lace Vera Wang.
Aha.
Is there something you need? I need to take a look at the seating chart for the wedding reception.
Sure.
Pau de soir? Apparently its soft yet supple.
Oh, and it drapes beautifully.
Who put the British royals at the table with the German Ambassador? Ah, still smarting over the World Cup Match? Well, that and the devaluation of the pound.
Right.
How about we swap in the Swedish Ambassador? Mm.
The Queen and the Swedish Ambassador had a thing.
A thing? It's a while back, but still Sure.
Do you mind if I take this for a little while.
Hey.
New Hampshire, Iowa, Wisconsin.
Good morning to you, too.
You here to sit with Jerry? And then Trautman and Alexander.
You? Uh, Chicago field rep, Cooper, Steele, Golden, Walvick.
I'm thinking New Hampshire, Iowa, Wisconsin.
Did you get some sleep? We cut New Hampshire, pull money out of Iowa and Wisconsin.
Really, you've got to pace yourself.
I mean, New Hampshire's a no-brainer.
I'm serious.
You should be getting at least five hours.
Only four electoral votes, we're paying a premium because the ad buy is out of Boston.
Soon you're going to be at two hours a night and it only gets worse if we win.
Leo.
New Hampshire? Yeah.
It's not worth the ad buy.
Iowa and Wisconsin.
Iowa, sure.
How much are we up in Wisconsin? Three points and the Illinois ad buy should carry into Wisconsin.
You consider cutbacks in Missouri? We're only down two points.
I don't want to cede the state.
Leo! Sounds right.
I've got to go make nice with the fat cats.
Well, pick some pockets will you.
Get some sleep.
Yeah.
Josh.
Stan Mitchell, DNC field ops, Chicago.
Stan, thanks for flying up.
I've been telling you guys we've got a shot in Illinois.
I just wish you'd called sooner.
Just tell me we can get the full field operation ready by November 8th.
To be honest, you're asking for a six-month job in six weeks.
Sure, we can get it up, but its going to cost you.
In Bermuda, it is traditional to place a cedar sapling atop the wedding cake and then plant it at the home of the bride and groom.
I bring this sapling from Warwick Pond, one of the few surviving cedar forests on the island.
May it grow with your love.
Thank you very much.
You are most welcome.
Mr.
Ambassador.
It's beautiful.
Y es.
We'll keep it off the cake.
Yes.
The French Ambassador, the honorable Julian Lefort.
Bonjour, Monsieur.
How many of these do we have? There were a couple of additions: the Greek Ambassador, the Latvians, the Romanian Ambassador happens to be in town.
All totaled, that brings us to 71.
The hairdresser comes at 10:00.
Maybe we ought to skip Romania.
Or all of Eastern Europe.
The three convoys: they're still holding at the Kazakhstan border? Yes, sir.
Their restraint is admirable.
Maybe not.
Our Keyhole satellites took these photographs of the Russian military base in Omsk two hours ago.
It looks like a couple of battalions.
Close to 100,000 men.
They've got to be posturing.
Sure, but 100,000 Russians to the West, We should consider evacuating the Marine base outside Ayaguz.
The base is critical to our interests in Central Asia.
Not to mention that both sides are going to have one less reason to restrain themselves once we pull out.
Yeah, but you're talking about leaving between two 800,000-pould gorillas.
How do we get our men out? Airlift to the Arabian Sea.
Can I get you anything? No, thank you.
Water? No.
Coffee? No.
Valium? How long will it take after I give the word? Yeah.
Your 9 o'clock is starting to melt.
Yeah, send him in.
Move a dozen evac transports into the Arabian Sea and put them on ready alert.
Yes, sir.
C.
J.
, let's get the Kazakhstan Ambassador in here tomorrow.
See if we can't convince them to reschedule elections before their country becomes a rugby field.
Gentlemen, my future son-in-law.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
Thank you, sir.
- Congratulations, son.
- Thank you.
Tell me you didn't plan that.
If you go dark in Wisconsin Congressman, we're just talking about trimming the ad buy.
If anything, we need more money in the state.
We still have a 500-point buy in Green Bay, a 500-point buy in Milwaukee Vinick's got 1500 points out of Milwaukee, Green Bay, Madison; he's outspending you guys 2-to-1.
I can try to have the Congressman make a few stops Come on.
You know it's all about the media buy.
Now look, I know Vinick's pressuring you everywhere and I'm thrilled you made headway in Illinois, but we've got six contested Congressional districts in Wisconsin, not to mention a very tough Senate race.
Now, without nation ad support, we could lose every one of those campaigns.
Do you need to take that? I do.
You're up four in Michigan and three in Jersey; you should trim there.
Thanks for coming by, Congressman.
I appreciate your input.
Hey, how was Philly? Pretty good.
Pretty good.
Did you get the photo op? No, we got it.
A little problem with the cheesesteak, though.
He screwed up the order.
Sauce and whiz, no onions.
That sounds fine.
The whiz got a little drippy.
How drippy? He probably should have order the hoagie.
Who was at the photo op? AP, Reuters, the Times, Le Monde We figure it's probably front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Any way you'd like me to spin it? "Acts like a man, eats like a man"? Yeah, I got to go.
Josh.
Senator Montgomery.
Great news about Illinois.
Absolutely.
Nice to have it in play.
Shame we didn't start there earlier.
Well, we had some other places we had to be.
At 21 electoral votes, I'd have thought it'd be a little higher on the priority list.
We're only up by six in New York.
Any state we're losing by ten doesn't get a lot of attention.
So long as we start investing there now.
There's no doubt.
Listen, I heard there's a rumor you're pulling money out of Iowa.
We're thinking about pulling money out of a lot of places.
As goes Iowa, so goes the Midwest.
I'd cut back in Philadelphia.
See you at the wedding, Josh.
Yes, sir.
You done? Just about.
You want to take a look? Sure.
Canadian Prime Minister won't mind being stuck in the corner? It's for the best: he's a little grabby.
Really? He brings a whole new meaning to "Oh, Canada.
" K.
H.
plus one? That's me.
The President wanted someone from the NSC to go.
Smooth over any international incidents.
Prevent, more like.
Sure.
You're not going? I wasn't invited.
I was concerned it might have something to do with my encounter with the happy couple last weekend, but I hear it's a small affair.
- Is there something on my? - Do you own a tux? Excuse me? I mean, I was just going to go stag, but if you're not busy later don't have anything to do You clean up nice.
Don't start.
I already got it from Helen.
Philadelphia cheese steak; it's a political rite of passage.
Yeah, wait till you see the pictures.
It's only going to endear you to the Eagles fans in Philly and South Jersey.
I had a little chat with Baker.
How's the governor? He's concerned.
He's concerned about the campaign: why we weren't in Illinois, why we're not spending more in Pennsylvania.
Monday morning quarterbacking: it's a favorite pastime in Philadelphia.
He's not the only one that's concerned.
I've gotten calls.
Josh? We're six weeks out, still seven points down; vultures are going to swarm.
I just want to make sure they're not swarming for a reason.
No one else I'd rather have running this campaign.
Congressman.
You wanted to screen the new Texas ad buy? Yeah.
See you down there in ten? Yeah.
- Josh? - You think we should cut the media buy in Missouri? - Aren't you supposed to be at the wedding? - Missouri or maybe New York.
- To pay for Illinois? - We should take a harder look at Michigan.
I just called the media team to pull the money out of Wisconsin.
Yeah, uh, we're going to hold off on that.
Josh, your car's ready.
I'll call you after the wedding.
I know you think this is probably old-fashioned, but, frankly, it's much more humane than it used to be.
Abbey's father made me take a six-hour hike with him through the woods outside Mt.
Pelier in the dead of winter.
At least it felt like six hours.
Of course I was still a grad student then, whereas you're almost a tenured professor.
Isn't that right? Uh, yes.
At least, the dean suggested I mean, in the next few years Good, good.
Because before you know it, you'll have a house and kids.
Yeah.
Sir, the guests are starting to arrive.
Yeah.
You should be heading back to the Residence to change.
You don't want to be late to the cocktail hour you're hosting.
Thank you, Debbie.
Well, thanks for dropping by.
Sir, was there something that you wanted to discuss? No, no.
I just thought you know, when you have a daughter, you just like to know you really want to know whether Ah, hell.
Just tell me you decided to marry her before you got her pregnant.
Excuse me? That's when I decided to marry her: a year ago, on our third date.
What was the matter with the first two? I'll see you at the end of the aisle.
Yeah, we're going to need the new numbers from Michigan too.
Yeah.
Thanks, Otto.
Ah, Josh.
He's just a big blowhard.
C.
J.
, Mr.
Chairman.
Former Chairman, Josh.
Wishful thinking, maybe.
Oh, no.
Those of us on the sidelines can see what a great job he's doing.
I appreciate that, sir.
Now, if we can just get this one to run for something.
- Good to see you, Josh.
- You too, sir.
- Keep up the good work.
- I appreciate it.
Barry Goodwin running the party; those were the days, huh? Yeah.
You guys must be excited.
Hmm? Illinois.
Yeah.
Hopefully we can afford it.
Pinching pennies? Pretty much.
You're up a bit in Washington.
Can you take some money out of Seattle? We're pulling out of Washington.
Wow! Things that tight? Welcome to my world.
Is that Kazakhstan? Probably; you want to trade? Here.
Take your mind off things.
Dignitary Bingo? I've already got four across.
Find the Mexican President and you're home.
You look nice.
Nothing says "International Crisis" like a pair of black stilettos.
You know what's going on? I just got paged.
Yeah.
You really look nice.
Ok, now I'm starting to think you're hitting on me.
No, I'm serious.
The makeup, the hair I'm trying to impress.
Who's the guy? What makes you think there's a guy? The necklace, the neckline, the earrings, the back Okay, okay.
I have a date.
Really? I think you'd call it a date.
I kind of invited Will to the wedding.
Dark hair, glasses, just got a big promotion? Will Bailey? - Yeah, we were talking and - You asked Will on a date? Technically I just invited him to the wedding.
Will Bailey?! Yeah, I'm gonna What have we got Miles, other than the sensation that we've all suddenly landed in a British drawing room farce.
There's been an incident in Kazakhstan.
The protestors at Alma Ata turned violent and Tarimov sent in riot police.
Any casualties? Our people on the ground are saying it could be up to 200, many of them ethnic Chinese.
- The Russian convoys - have crossed the border.
We expect the Chinese to start mobilizing any minute.
Minority Leader, Postmaster General is that the Swiss Ambassador over there? Is this a test? Dignitary Bingo, ten bucks a sheet; are you in? Aren't you supposed to be hurrying me someplace? Photo op with Congressman Santos and then bridal party photo at 4:00.
So I've got half an hour? Maybe.
Is that the Swiss Ambassador or not? How much you got riding on this? It's the Duke of Edinburgh.
Ah, Duke of Edinburgh.
- Congressman.
- Mr.
President.
Leo.
Welcome.
I hear they like you in Illinois.
Apparently I'm growing on them.
Well, after your performance in those debates, I'm not surprised.
Wasn't he something? You think that's impressive, you ought to see me do cheese steak.
Senator Montgomery wanted a word.
That's my cue.
Find me later.
We'll talk about Cabinet travel and ways we can be helpful in the home stretch.
- Thank you, sir.
- Good luck.
Things are looking up, bub.
We're making some headway.
Mm-hmm.
You know if you win this damn thing, you're stuck working here another four years.
I like to think of the Vice Presidency as more of an emeritus position.
Sure.
How's everything on this end? Well, Russia and China are doing there little Sharks-and-Jets routine in Central Asia and Abbey's got an understudy for me.
Seriously? Yeah.
Uncle Norman's on call.
Ouch.
I've been getting some calls about Josh.
Yeah.
Triplehorn, Nayak, Stackhouse, Montgomery.
We're losing six weeks out, people get antsy.
Sure.
It's always like that around this time.
Absolutely.
Who'd they want to replace me? Okay, so maybe not always.
Okay, enough gossiping, ladies.
Debbie, you look lovely as always.
You've got 20 minutes.
I assume you'll want to say hello to the Duke of Edinburgh.
That's not the Duke of Edinburgh.
Catch you later.
Hey.
I thought the wedding photos weren't until 4:00.
We got a little ahead of the game so I thought you might want to get in that dance.
Have I mentioned this "Mother-of-the-bride" thing agrees with you.
When Liz got married, you said I didn't look old enough to be the mother of the bride.
You didn't.
I do now? I didn't say that.
What did you say? Is there anyway out of this for me? Probably not.
Mr.
President.
The Chinese troops have started moving into Kazakhstan.
We've got a translator in the Oval, we're getting the Premier on the line now.
It's okay.
We'll do the photos after.
Jed.
The service starts at 5:00.
Yeah.
Fried wonton? Hey.
- Really, they're pretty good.
- Yeah? They're out of champagne, though.
The First Lady just gave me 20 bucks and told me to pick up a bottle of Cold Duck.
Josh.
I'm sorry.
Have you seen Leo? I'm bored.
I'm an attractive woman waiting to be entertained.
He was just with the President.
I'm sure he's still I just saw him headed toward the East Room.
He was with the Congressman and Barry Goodwin and Senator Montgomery.
It looked pretty intense.
Illinois? I'm sure it's nothing to worry about.
Leo, I'm all for allegiance, but loyalty for loyalty's sake is ridiculous.
Sure Josh got it wrong in Illinois.
Well, sure, with the benefit of hindsight.
I didn't see you calling for a major effort in Illinois.
Barry? Look, I have never seen an electoral map as inside-out as this one.
And as for Illinois, we were ten points down.
Chicago's one of the most expensive media markets in the country.
Now, spending money there would have meant sacrificing Iowa, maybe Missouri, and possibly slimming our ad-buy in Wisconsin, but It's cost us.
Yes, it has.
Polls move money as much as money moves polls.
If you had been in Illinois you'd have gotten this bump sooner, possibly seen a boost in fundraising, and maybe you wouldn't be pulling out of so many states now.
Josh Lyman's done a terrific job, but Congressman, I'm not sure he can see you through to the finish line.
Who can? Only one guy I'd want running a campaign this tough and that's the guy standing next to you.
You should sit down.
It'll wrinkle.
You know, we considered going to Las Vegas.
Sounds pretty good about now, huh? Come in.
Uh, hi.
Hello.
C.
J.
asked me to tell you that they started circulating additional refreshments downstairs, in case you were worried.
Any idea when the President might be joining us? I'm afraid not.
Well, I should, uh get back.
Congratulations.
Why is Will Bailey wearing a tux? Mr.
President, we can not pull back.
Lian, this doesn't make any sense.
The Russians supply you with the oil they take out of Kazakhstan.
At a premium, some of which goes to the owners of the pipelines; American companies, I believe.
We're not supporting the Russians.
Yet you're condoning their attempt to annex half of Central Asia.
Lian, I'm not condoning anything.
I am trying to stop two nuclear powers from going to war over oil! Oil? Mr.
President, this is not about oil.
It is about the brutal suppression of a Democratic movement; a movement that includes many ethnic Chinese - our brothers and sisters.
You, of all people, should understand our concern.
Look, you've only got one more hour of campaigning left anyway.
He's right.
Once you finish the Vice Presidential debates, you're almost done.
Tell that to my schedulers.
Due respect, you're not exactly a force on the campaign trail.
Josh is going to have to move his war room to the Congressman's plane in the next few weeks anyway.
You guys start campaigning together, you can work out of there.
It might even play better for the crowds.
We'd cover half the ground.
You'd get a boost from the joint appearances.
The point is, this campaign should be making the best use of its political assets.
We are with me on the trail and Josh Lyman running things at headquarters.
Congressman? I appreciate your thoughts, gentlemen.
Right.
Thank you, Congressman.
We should find Josh and go over the morning meetings.
Uh-huh.
Leo? Should Josh be running this campaign? Hey, stranger.
Abbey.
Nice speech in Des Moines.
Can you believe this dog and pony show they've got me in? You getting any sleep? And eating my vegetables.
Good.
How's Ellie? Still standing.
That's good.
Not really.
The dress it wrinkles.
I'm sure he'll be here any minute.
You think? Miracles happen.
Lian, I need your men to stop advancing.
If you'll just hold your position I'm not sure what that will accomplish.
Let me at least talk to the Russians.
Try to convince them to push President Tarimov to reschedule elections.
It was the Russians who put Tarimov in power in the first place.
- For years, this has been how the Russians have been operating - Lian.
- and given their history, it seems clear to me - Lian.
- that the only way to stop their continued aggression - Damn it, Lian, will you shut up already! Is your daughter married? Excuse me, Mr.
President? Your daughter, the one I met when we were in Beijing, is she married? Yes.
She was married two years ago, last spring.
Then you will understand me when I tell you that my daughter's wedding is this afternoon and that she has been waiting for 46 minutes for me to give her away because I can't put down this damned phone until you tell me that you're not going to start World War III today! Now, for the love of God, Lian, will you give me just one half hour so I can go and walk my little girl down the aisle? Mr.
President, we can continue this discussion in one hour.
And your troops will hold their position until then? Yes, Mr.
President.
Thank you, Lian.
You've got one hour.
Is the wedding starting? Not yet.
How's Senator Montgomery? Full of hot air, as usual.
Yeah? Who's he want to replace me.
- Josh.
- Who is it? No one wants to replace you.
It's Goodwin, too, isn't it? Son of a bitch.
He was just shaking my So, who do they want? Is it Pipeman? Bloom? I mean, the guy's practically tone deaf when it comes to message politics, but I'm sure he'd be good.
Josh.
You could get Simons or Sharp.
Maybe you should just promote Lou.
It's not like any of the others have run a Presidential.
They want you.
It's you, isn't it? Hell, that's who I'd want.
You would have known.
You would have been in Illinois months ago, right? - Stop it! - Right? You would have figured it out.
Where would you have gotten the dough? Come on tell me, where would you have gotten the money? I wouldn't have gotten the money because I would have been in Illinois.
The polls there looked as bad as when we were running against Eisenhower.
I would have made the same decision as you.
And that is exactly what I told Barry Goodwin and George Montgomery.
Look, these are tough calls.
It's impossible to know how they're going to turn out.
What's important is how you respond when you get it wrong, how you react, what your next move is.
I don't know what my next move is.
I've been staring at this damn map all day.
I still haven't got a clue.
Iowa's vulnerable.
I don't know what I was thinking in Wisconsin.
We can't take a dime out of Ohio, Florida, Texas I don't know where to start.
They're right: you should take over.
You're all trying to kill me.
The wedding's about to start.
Let me see the map.
Come on, we'll talk about it on the way.
You made it.
Honey, you look Dad? I'm sorry, sweetheart.
It's okay, Dad, really.
You wanted a White House wedding.
All of that is being taken into consideration.
Well, I thank you for your support.
Thank you so much.
I'll meet you in there.
How'd it go? Fine.
You taking over? No.
Leo, I thought we Josh is going to make a lot of strategic decisions over the next few weeks.
He's going to sweat them like life and death.
And they'll be important, sure, which is why you and me are going to be in on every one of them.
But they're meaningless compared to the decision the voters are going to have to make just by listening to you and trying to see if they can connect with the idea of Matt Santos as President.
And Josh has nothing to do with that.
Goodwin's right: Josh has taken you as far as he can.
The rest is up to you.
You okay, Dad? You know, one time during my first term in Congress we went on a Congressional delegation to East Germany.
You probably don't remember, you couldn't have been more than four or five.
But anyway, we got to East Berlin and we were waiting online with our passports at Checkpoint Charlie when all of a sudden you bolted out into the no-man's land between the two guard posts and everything stopped.
The MPs just froze and your mother and I were scared to death, but not you.
You just calmly looked up at one of the soldiers on the wall and you waved and the soldier waved back.
And then And then all the soldiers were waving at each other.
I remember, Dad.
Take my arm.