Season 7 – Episode 1 – “The Ticket”

Episode Summary:

The seventh season begins with an opening tease—set three years in the future at the dedication of the Barlet presidential library—that might give you a clue to the result of the Santos-Vinick race. But as the episode gets underway it’s four days after the Democratic convention, and the Santos campaign is encouraged by a poll showing the congressman only nine points down. But Santos (Jimmy Smits) is worried about VP candidate Leo McGarry’s negatives. At the White House, meanwhile, counsel Oliver Babish (Oliver Platt) questions C.J. sharply about the NASA leak.

Script:

THE WEST WING
7x01 - "THE TICKET"
WRITTEN BY DEBORA CAHN
DIRECTED BY CHRISTOPHER MISIANO

Transcribed by Soundman for "TWIZ TV.COM". Send feedback to
[email protected].

TEASER

FADE IN: INT. - BARTLET PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY - DAY
      THREE YEARS LATER
      DEDICATION TO THE JOSIAH BARTLET PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

We open on a shot of Bartlet, now slightly aged with gray hair and still
walking with a cane, walking through the main section of the Library. He is
followed by two body men.

CUT TO: INT. - FOYER - PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY - DAY

Bartlet walks into the foyer where C.J., Toby, Will, Charlie, Kate, and
Danny Concanon.

BARTLET
Welcome.

C.J.
Nice to see you, sir.

BARTLET
And you.

He kisses her on the cheek.

BARTLET
Look at that tan. I was gonna ask you to come up to the farm for a week but
we should come up to you.

C.J.
You'd love it, sir. Santa Monica's your kind of town.

BARTLET
Really?

C.J.
Not really, no.

BARTLET
Abbey wants a picture of the baby.

DANNY
I thought we e-mailed you one.

BARTLET
Something she can tape to the fridge.

DANNY
Oh. I'll see what I can dig up.

He walks over to Toby who looks a bit somber and shakes his hand.

BARTLET
Glad you could make it.

TOBY
Thanks for the invitation, sir.

BARTLET
How's Columbia?

TOBY
Not such a bad place to spend some time.

He comes to Kate and kisses her on the cheek.

BARTLET
I read your book. Gorgeous prose.

KATE
Thank you.

BARTLET
Did you read her book?

CHARLIE
Load of hogwash. Nice job at Jakarta.

BARTLET
Thank you. Just trying to get them talking. Don't anyone hold your
breath. Congressman.

He comes to Will and shakes his hand.

WILL
Mr. President.

BARTLET
Ways and Means?

WILL
Backbencher. I sit tight for 32 years, I have a shot at Chairman.

C.J.
All set with your speech?

BARTLET
I think so. A little meandering in the middle, but...

They all offer their help with the speech.

BARTLET
No, thank you, I'll be fine.

Josh comes up the stairs from outside.

JOSH
Sir, can we get you to...

BARTLET
There he is.

JOSH
Wow. Quite a collection of dignitaries. Sorry.

BARTLET
You were saying, Josh?

JOSH
The President's here.

CUT TO: EXT. - PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY - DAY

We see the group coming out of the building and coming to the steps to greet
"The President". "The President's" motorcade pulls up and stops. We see the
door open and "The President" steps out. We see him stand and begin to walk
toward Bartlet and the group of people. The theme music begins to build as
the camera begins to pan up toward a facial view of "The President." Before
the camera reaches midsection, we...

SMASH CUT TO: MAIN TITLES.
END TEASER.
* * *

ACT ONE

FADE IN: EXT. - CAMPAIGN SITE - DAY
      BRAYBURN COLLEGE, MICHIGAN
      THREE YEARS EARLIER
      105 DAYS UNTIL ELECTION DAY

We see hundreds of college students waving "Santos for President" signs as
Santos's motorcade pulls up outside the campaign site. When the car stops,
Helen Santos gets out and waves to the crowd. We see Santos get out and the
crowd shows their support by cheering louder. He comes around the car and
grabs Helen's hand. He shakes the hands of several people along the rope line.

CUT TO: EXT. - BRAYBURN COLLEGE - CAMPAIGN - DAY

We see Josh standing on the front steps of a nearby building where Santos is
due to give a speech. Josh is holding a newspaper. Bram walks up and hands
Josh a couple of newspapers, the top of which is a copy of Time Magazine
with a picture of Santos and a headline that reads "PRESIDENT SANTOS?".

BRAM
Welcome back.

JOSH
Wow! Look at that. That's what we like to see.

BRAM
Is it out yet?

JOSH
Not yet. What'd I miss?

BRAM
Uh, rally in Columbus was fantastic, crowds were going wild. Q&A in Dayton
got a little sticky; they wouldn't shut up about the ticket.

JOSH
About Leo?

BRAM
Yeah. The Congressman was pretty irritated.

JOSH
It'll pass. We want copies of these, like 500.

BRAM
How's headquarters?

JOSH
It exists, which is a start. What else?

BRAM
Um, that's it.

JOSH
I've been away from you people for a whole day. You got nothing?

BRAM
Same speech, 27 times, dude.

CUT TO: EXT. - SHIPYARD - CAMPAIGN - DAY
      PORT OF PHILADELPHIA

[Transcriber's Note: In the next section, there appear two phrases that may
be hard to understand. "Ahh" and "ah" are syllabic phrases describing the
way a certain word is pronounced. In this section, "ahh" is pronounced as
you would say the word "lawn," and "ah" is pronounced as you would say "man."]

We see Leo's motorcade driving up to the shipyard where a campaign speech
is taking place. The cars stop and we see Annabeth come around to Leo's
door. Leo steps out and she starts giving him instructions.

ANNABETH
Okay, ten minutes of grip-and-grin, followed by the speech, followed b a
quick stop in Bakersfield.

LEO
What happened to the conference call with the policy team?

ANNABETH
They decided they don't need you on the conference call, they need you in
Bakersfield. Let's remember to call him "Santos."

LEO
The candidate?

ANNABETH
That's what he calls himself.

LEO
What'd I call him?

ANNABETH
"Santos," with an "ahh" instead of an "ah."

LEO
Ahh's not more correct?

ANNABETH
In Mexico.

LEO
I say "ahh"?

ANNABETH
Leo, you're inconsistent. We just don't want to give the impression that
you're iffy on your running mate's name.

LEO
Certainly not.

They continue walking until they come to the platform where they wait for
Leo to be introduced.

LEO
Now I'm confused. Which is it?

ANNABETH
"Ah".

LEO
"Ah"?

ANNABETH
"Ah." It's not out yet.

LEO
Did I ask?

ANNABETH
No, but you wanted to.

LEO
You wouldn't tell me even if you had it because I'm about to go onstage and
you feel it's your responsibility to manage my mood, which it isn't.

ANNABETH
You know I left a great job to come work for this campaign.

LEO
I'm just saying, I've been at this for awhile. I don't need the babysitting.

ANNABETH
You most certainly do. Just because you've trained a Preakness jockey doesn't
mean you know how to sit a horse.

CUT TO: INT. - BRAYBURN COLLEGE - DAY

Josh and Bram are now standing inside the building when Ronna walks up.

RONNA
Hey, is it out yet?

JOSH
Not yet.

RONNA
Are you sure?

BRAM
He checked.

JOSH
We'll get it when we get it.

Ned walks up.

NED
You hear anything yet?

RONNA
Not yet.

NED
I thought we were going to get it an hour ago.

JOSH
We didn't.

NED
You think we should call them?

JOSH
This is one poll. Yes, it is a Gallup Poll. Yes, it is our first public polling
data. Absolutely, it will shape our message and our strategy. But it will not
change the fact that four days out of the convention the Santos-McGarry ticket
is incredibly strong and poised for victory. The Congressman's not worried
about it. I'm not worried about it. Everyone should stop worrying about it.

Santos and Helen walk up.

SANTOS
Is it out yet?

JOSH
No, sir, not yet.

They begin walking toward where Santos is to give his speech.

JOSH
Uh, right after this we head back to Washington where we have one day at
our new headquarters to sit you down with the department heads, brief you
on electoral strategy, policy directives. Make sure we're not re-litigating
this stuff.

SANTOS
That's great.

JOSH
I'll be in and out interviewing new staff.

HELEN SANTOS
How many do you still need to hire?

JOSH
About 90.

HELEN
Today?

JOSH
There's a bathroom up there, if you need...

SANTOS
Oh, that's not a bad idea. Excuse me.

HELEN
You don't think that's micromanaging?

JOSH
He went, didn't he?

CUT TO: EXT. - SHIPYARD - DAY

Leo is going over his speech with Annabeth while he is being introduced.

LEO
Matthew Santos served his community for two terms as Mayor of Houston;
served his state for three terms in Congress; served his country for 12
years in the U.S. Navy.

ANNABETH
Marine Corps.

LEO
12 years in the U.S. Marine Corps. I am proud to join this bold leader...

CUT TO: INT. - BRAYBURN COLLEGE - DAY

The group is waiting for Santos when he comes out of the bathroom.

SANTOS
Say, uh, are we meeting with the White House today?

JOSH
I am. I may take Leo with me.

HELEN
Before or after your 600 interviews?

SANTOS
You don't need Leo at the White House. I want him in the briefings, make
sure he's clear about what our direction is.

BRAM
Mrs. Santos, this is Chet. He's going to seat you down front with the
Chancellor.

He opens a door for her to go in.

HELEN
Yeah. Knock 'em down, honey.

We follow Josh and Santos as they are walking back to the stage.

JOSH
Hopefully you two will have some time this afternoon. Get to know each other,
maybe lunch.

SANTOS
Who?

JOSH
You and Leo.

SANTOS
We've got one day in DC, you really think we should spend it on lunch?

JOSH
I'm talking takeout, not wine and candles. Okay, go get 'em, sir.

SANTOS
It will be out soon, right?

JOSH
You'll know the second I know.

INTRODUCER
Congressman Matthew Santos!

He walks out onto the stage amid tumultuous applause. Josh takes out his
phone and dials.

JOSH
Get me an advance copy of this damn poll before I chew my arm off.

CUT TO: INT. - OVAL OFFICE - DAY

Bartlet is meeting with Toby and C.J.

BARTLET
Has the campaign seen this yet?

TOBY
No. Gallup slipped us an advance copy. They'll publish in about an hour.

Nancy knocks and comes in.

NANCY
Sir, we should have Moscow any minute now.

BARTLET
Thank you.

She leaves.

BARTLET
This ought to be fun.

C.J.
How much do you plan on telling them?

BARTLET
I'm telling them the military space shuttle, whose existence we've flatly
denied, will be hurtling up from Vandenburg in about an hour.

TOBY
Comprehensive.

C.J.
Hutchinson will want you downstairs for the final go and we've set up calls
for you with China, France, Germany, Japan. Everyone with a satellite that'll
pick it up.

TOBY
How about the wives?

BARTLET
Of the astronauts? Not until we know we're actually going to get them back.

C.J.
Senator Weller has started his own investigation of the leak.

BARTLET
We're running an investigation. The AG's running an investigation. What does
he think Congress is going to find out that we won't?

TOBY
He doesn't think the AG is objective.

BARTLET
The AG hates us, we hate him. It doesn't get more objective than that.

C.J.
No.

BARTLET
God bless. What else?

TOBY
Haffley's giving us the hard sell on this education plan. He's talking about
moving on teacher incentives.

BARTLET
He's prepared to actually pay teachers more?

TOBY
If the meet higher standards they get a cash bump, pay for performance.

C.J.
Santos' campaign is going to be livid. Education's a tent pole issue for
them and performance pay was a big part of their plan.

TOBY
Likely as not Haffley's baiting us, hoping we'll take the issue away from
Santos.

BARTLET
You think we should skip it?

TOBY
No. I think we should call his bluff.

C.J.
We steal a lot of thunder away from the campaign for an education plan
that'll die before it hits the floor of the House.

BARTLET
Maybe, but I'm not prepared to walk away from it yet. Let's try and figure
out if Haffley's serious.

C.J.
Okay. Campaign's in town today. We'll give them a heads-up. I'll be back in
when you've got Moscow.

BARTLET
Okay.

TOBY
Thank you, Mr. President.

BARTLET
Thank you.

They leave. We follow C.J. as she walks into her office from the Oval. She
comes over to the TV which is showing Vinick giving a campaign speech.

VINICK
What they won't tell you is that 5.4 million jobs were actually lost in the
last eight years.

As she turns to go to her desk we see that Oliver Babish is laying on
her couch.

BABISH

Buon giorno.

C.J.
Oliver Babish.

BABISH
We don't have to talk yet. My caffeine uptake's a bit logy.

C.J.
An honor just to be in the White House Counsel's company.

BABISH
What's your day like?

C.J.
Some people talk about these things with my assistant.

BABISH
Hmm, I'm about to monopolize a bunch of your morning with this NASA crap. She
should cancel things.

C.J.
I've had the NASA conversation with the FBI three times. I've got my spiel
down to a brisk ten minutes.

BABISH
You're giving me more than that.

Margaret knocks and comes in.

MARGARET
I was going to say White House Counsel would like a moment, but I guess he
took care of that.

BABISH
Nice to see you.

MARGARET
He needs you back in there already.

C.J.
Margaret will call you when I'm done.

BABISH
I'll wait.

She moves to go back to the Oval.

CUT TO: INT. - BRAYBURN COLLEGE - DAY

Josh and Ned are watching Santos on a TV set.

SANTOS [on TV]
Folks, we're here this afternoon because we love our country.

Ronna comes up.

RONNA
Wallingford's office still hasn't called back. He's supposed to do the intro
at the Denver rally.

JOSH
Call him again. Remind him the Democrats looked like feuding inbreds at the
Convention last week. We need their help with our party-unity strategy. We
need Congressmen lined up with smiles on at every one of our events. That
includes Wallingford, on stage, clapping.

Bram walks up and hands Josh a manila envelope.

BRAM
We got it.

Josh takes it and walks outside to look at what's inside.

CUT TO: EXT. - SHIPYARD - DAY

Leo has finished his speech and is walking offstage.

EMCEE
Leo McGarry, ladies and gentlemen! Let's send this guy back to the White House.

He walks down the steps to where Annabeth is waiting.

ANNABETH
Press is here for the Q&A. Now remember, you control the conversation. You
don't like what the ask, don't accept the premise of the question.

LEO
That's my line, you know. You're quoting me.

ANNABETH
I thought it was Toby.

LEO
Where do you think he got it? I've been rejecting the premises of questions
since the Hoover Administration.

They have reached the place where the press is waiting.

REPORTER CHRISTINE
Mr. McGarry, are you still in AA?

LEO
Good to see you, Christine.

CHRISTINE
When was the last time you went to a meeting?

LEO
I've made statements about that before. You should take a look at them.

REPORTER
Does your cardiologist think you can handle this kind of stress?

Annabeth has been handed an envelope identical to the one Josh received. She
takes out a packet of papers.

LEO
My cardiologist has made a statement about that. You should take a look at
it. See, what I'd like to talk about is what Matt Santos can do to improve
the public schools here in Pennsylvania and across the country.

He looks at Annabeth who smiles after having seen what was inside the envelope.

CUT TO: INT. - HALLWAY - WHITE HOUSE - DAY

We see Toby, carrying some papers and things, walking to C.J.'s office. He
comes into Margaret's office and talks to her.

TOBY
Hey. Is she in there?

MARGARET
She's in with Babish. She could be awhile.

TOBY
Why?

MARGARET
Apparently, he's got a lot to talk about.

TOBY
Do me a favor: call me when she gets out.

Toby leaves.

CUT TO: INT. - BRAYBURN COLLEGE - DAY

Santos has just finished his speech and is getting ready to leave. He shakes
the Governor's hand before walking offstage. He shakes several people's
hands as he walks toward the hallway where Josh is waiting.

SANTOS
I'm getting a lot of questions about McGarry's health. I'm gonna need a
better answer than he's cut out red meat.

JOSH
Come here a second.

They walk outside.

JOSH
Nine points.

SANTOS
That's all?

JOSH
We trail a tiny bit on strong leader, but we're neck-and-neck on values,
we got a solid lead on cares about our needs optimistic vision for the
country's future. Joey Lucas will break this down at HQ, but... man!

SANTOS
Only nine points down? Yes!

He walks away. Josh follows him.

CUT TO: INT. - C.J.'S OFFICE - DAY

Babish is talking with C.J.

BABISH
You heard it from Nancy McNally?

C.J.
I heard it straight from Kelwick at NASA and he wasn't going to blab any more
than he had to because the whole thing made his department look terrible. The
space station's losing oxygen, they've got a $4 billion space shuttle fleet and
not one of them is ready to leave the ground because of a retrofit he ordered.

BABISH
Embarrassing.

C.J.
A little bit.

BABISH
You ever notice his eyebrows?

C.J.
Kelwick's?

BABISH
Very... active.

C.J.
Are they?

BABISH
I'm vamping. I brought the wrong folder. Humor me, though: who else new
before the story went public?

C.J.
NASA Director of Ops, NASA ISS Director...

BABISH
Yeah. Who at the White House?

CUT TO: INT. - COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE - DAY

We see Kate walk to the door of Toby's office.

KATE
You rang?

TOBY
Yeah.

He indicates for her to come inside. She does and he shuts the door behind her.

TOBY
C.J.'s with Babish.

KATE
Right now?

TOBY
Did you talk to him?

KATE
Yesterday.

TOBY
What did you tell him?

KATE
I didn't tell him anything. I said the FBI thinks they're seeing a trail.

TOBY
A trail?

KATE
Yeah. If they have a theory, they have to follow it out.

TOBY
You handed C.J. Cregg to the White House Counsel?

KATE
I did nothing of the kind.

TOBY
Do you have anything that resembles hard evidence?

KATE
I'm not handing them C.J. Cregg. I'll be in my office.

She leaves.

CUT TO: EXT. - BRAYBURN COLLEGE - DAY

Josh and Santos are walking toward the motorcade.

JOSH
43 on "strong leader"; six points up on "Will Unite the Country"; this is
Christmas morning here in Santos-McGarry land.

SANTOS
Let me see.

JOSH
Check out state-by-state.

They get into the car. Josh sits across from Santos. Josh shows Santos the
Time magazine.

JOSH
That's a nice shot.

SANTOS
My wife wants to make T-shirts out of that one.

JOSH
Well, tell here to PhotoShop out the question mark.

SANTOS
What's this.

He turns the paper around so that Josh can see what he is looking at.

JOSH
That's Leo's approval rating on his own. Don't worry about it. It's not a
relevant number. Sticker shock on the part of the voters is all. It's not
like he's a drag on the ticket. People are voting for the top of the ticket,
anyway. We've got plenty of time to pull his numbers up. One poll.

SANTOS
Yeah.

He doesn't look convinced.

FADE OUT.
END ACT ONE.
* * *

ACT TWO

FADE IN: EXT - SANTOS HEADQUARTERS - DAY
      SANTOS FOR PRESIDENT
      NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS,
      WASHINGTON, D.C.

We see the motorcade has pulled up outside headquarters.

CUT TO: INT. - SANTOS HQ - DAY

Santos, Josh, Helen, and Ned are walking into the building.

HELEN
Nice building.

SANTOS
You know somebody named Jackie in Advance?

JOSH
No.

SANTOS
Somebody told me there was a staffer who put us 18 points down in the
pool. There's nobody named Jackie in Advance?

JOSH
Not anymore there's not.

They get into the elevator and we next see the group getting out of the
elevator on the floor where headquarters is located.

JOSH
The office is still mostly in boxes. We've only hired about half the staff
so far, but it's a start.

SANTOS
Well, as long as you've got a couple of people here to get the ball rolling,
I guess.

JOSH
That, I think we've got.

Josh opens the door to HQ and we see that there are many people at desks
and moving things around.

JOSH
Welcome to the mothership.

A woman named EDITH ORTEGA, called EDIE, is standing on a chair making
an announcement.

EDITH ORTEGA
The 2:00 Michigan Advance meeting has been pushed to now. Anyone on Press
Advance or Site Advance, we are moving to the puke-green room. Joe Kaplan's
team, Rob Sewell's team, somebody find Meredith and tell her we are moving.

JOSH
Edie.

EDIE
Josh. Oh, my God. The Congressman.

Everyone in the room starts clapping and applauding for the Congressman.

SANTOS
Oh, thank you. Thank you. Stop. Thank you, all.

Josh whistles to get everyone's attention.

JOSH
That's enough. Back to work.

Everyone goes back to work and Josh brings Santos and Helen to introduce
them to Edie.

JOSH
This is Edith Ortega, Deputy Campaign Manager for Strategic Planning. Anything
I'm not handling, she is.

SANTOS
Pleasure to meet you.

EDIE
Thrilled to be on board.

Josh goes through introducing several people. Santos shakes their hands as
he comes to them.

JOSH
Julian Mirada, Deputy Policy Director. I'll take credit for most of what
he does.

SANTOS
Hey, Julian.

JOSH
Ralph Lee, Veterans Coordinator. Steve Lacey. Steve's our African-American
Steering Committee Chair. Mary DiMartino next to him, Women for Santos. John
Vega, Latino Committee Coordinator. That's kind of Minority Row there,
now that I think about it. Angie. Angie Worster's our blogmaster.

SANTOS
Hey, Angie.

JOSH
Angie's assistant, Craig, and this is his crew. They're making a documentary
on Craig. I'm not entirely clear why. Smile.

SANTOS
Craig's doing a great job. We're proud of him.

JOSH
Very proud.

BRAM
Mrs. Santos, we need to get you to Georgetown, speech to the DNC Women's
Caucus.

HELEN
Right.

SANTOS
See you tonight?

HELEN
I've got to swing through Virginia. I think we catch up with you in Denver.

SANTOS
Good thing I carry a picture.

HELEN
Call the kids before 7:00.

She kisses Santos on the cheek before walking off.

JOSH
My office is over there. You're welcome to drop your stuff.

SANTOS
Where's mine?

JOSH
You don't have an office.

SANTOS
I don't have an office?

JOSH
You're never going to step foot in this building again.

BRAM
Congressman, these are for you.

He hands Santos some papers. He also hands Josh some folders.

BRAM
Josh, Gregory Ward, he's interviewing for Midwest Regional Political
Director. And Dana Sharpey's after that. Congressman, if you need to use
Josh's office, Stan Picket needs you right now. He's one of the Deputy
Communications Directors.

SANTOS
Yeah, send him in.

Ronna walks in.

RONNA
I finally heard from Wallingford's guy. He can't do the Denver rally. He's
going to be in Washington.

JOSH
You explained how integral the little turd is to our party-unity strategy?

RONNA
I did. Hammond wasn't free either.

JOSH
Then get somebody else from the Colorado Congressional Delegation.

Josh walks out and Ronna follows him. Santos sets his briefcase down on
Josh's desk. We hear a reporter talking about Santos's choice for Leo as
Vice Presidential candidate.

REPORTER
It's a hard sell, no doubt about it. But, Santos knew what he was getting. You
don't pick Leo McGarry as a running mate with all that baggage because you
want to; you do it because you have to. Santos needs that heft and foreign
policy savvy which he certainly doesn't have himself.

CUT TO: INT. - C.J.'S OFFICE - DAY

C.J. and Babish are talking.

C.J.
Where was I?

BABISH
Kate Harper.

C.J.
Yes. She was briefing me because she was in the sessions with NASA and DOD.

BABISH
Do you like her?

C.J.
Sure.

BABISH
She's an achiever.

C.J.
Young for the job, and I think she's earned it.

BABISH
Moving up.

C.J.
Nancy McNally trusts her quite a lot.

BABISH
Do you?

C.J.
Sure.

BABISH
So she was your go-to gal with questions or anything else?

C.J.
For the most part.

BABISH
Well, what about the other part?

C.J.
No, she was really it.

BABISH
You, uh, consult with anyone else before you briefed the President?

C.J.
I... no. I mean... I had a conversation with Leo McGarry about some of the
technical elements that were put in place while he was here, and I spoke to
Toby Ziegler about it, and I had Hutchinson's deputy brief me.

BABISH
Whoa, that's a bunch of people. Kate Harper didn't have all the information?

C.J.
No, I'm sure she did.

BABISH
Think she might have shared it with Greg Brock?

C.J.
Oliver, she's running the investigation.

BABISH
That wasn't my idea.

C.J.
Well, next time we'll check with you.

BABISH
Well, you're the one who didn't want to talk to her about it.

C.J.
It's not that I didn't want to.

BABISH
But you went to Leo and Toby. So let's go back to the earlier question. Do
you trust her?

CUT TO: INT. - SANTOS HQ - DAY

We see Josh walking through HQ. Ronna is talking to him.

RONNA
Jennifer Howard, interviewing for Deputy Policy Director for Health Care
and Don needs you.

JOSH
You've got to give me five minutes. I just did 12 interviews, back-to-back.

RONNA
Well, you're eight interviews behind. Can we let Chuck do some of these?

JOSH
No.

RONNA
Mr. McGarry just got in.

JOSH
Leo's here?

CUT TO: INT. - LEO'S OFFICE - DAY

Leo is sitting at his desk when Josh walks in.

JOSH
Welcome to our happy home.

LEO
Hey, kid. We need to sit down with your health care guy. This Medicare reform
thing is way off.

JOSH
We'll look at it.

LEO
When are we at the White House?

JOSH
You can sit that one out, give you some time with the guys here.

LEO
I'll sit quiet and keep my mouth shut. Be nice to just say hello.

JOSH
Sure. Uh, we've got to make it quick, though, make sure you don't miss any
policy briefings.

Edie comes in, followed by Ronna.

EDIE
Sir, can you take a quick look. We've made some changes.

RONNA
Hey, Annabeth. These are his clips of about a half an hour ago.

She hands Annabeth some papers.

ANNABETH
Did you see these yet?

Bram sticks his head in from the next office.

BRAM
Excuse me, Mr. McGarry, can I grab you for a moment?

LEO
Sure.

He gets up from his desk and comes to where Josh and Annabeth are talking.

LEO
Hey, are those clips?

ANNABETH
Bram needs you and then we have a makeup consultant waiting. The base is
looking a little orange under the fluorescents.

LEO
She doesn't want me to look at clips.

Leo leaves the office with Bram. Once in the hallway, Bram introduces Leo
to SPECIAL AGENT ELLIS TAYLOR.

BRAM
Mr. McGarry, this is Special Agent Ellis Taylor.

LEO
How do you do?

SPECIAL AGENT ELLIS TAYLOR
It's good to meet you face-to-face, sir. I know you've been meeting the detail
in drips and drabs. I thought it may help to get everybody together. Talk
about any questions you may have. It's about protocol and procedure.

They have come to a room and Taylor opens the door. Inside are about 30-40
Secret Service Agents.

LEO
Okay. So who's on the Congressman's detail and who got stuck with me?

TAYLOR
No, no, sir. This is all you.

CUT TO: INT. - LEO'S OFFICE - DAY

Josh and Annabeth are looking over Leo's clips.

JOSH
Ouch. Ooh.

ANNABETH
Is the Congressman getting hit like this?

JOSH
Not like this.

Bram comes to the door.

BRAM
Joey Lucas is here.

JOSH
All right. Tell Ronna to halt the interview parade till I'm done with Joey.

BRAM
Are those Mr. McGarry's clips?

JOSH
Yeah.

BRAM
Did you see the Wizard of Oz cartoon? Matt cowering in front of the big head.

JOSH
Bartlet?

BRAM
He's there, too.

JOSH
Who's the big head?

ANNABETH
Leo.

BRAM
Leo's the big head, Matt's in a Dorothy costume.

JOSH
Where's Bartlet?

ANNABETH
They guy behind the curtain pulling the strings.

CUT TO: INT. - JOSH'S OFFICE - DAY

Josh walks into his office. Joey is there, as well as Kenny, watching Vinick
on TV.

JOEY [KENNY]
You know, we could put our guy in front of a camera every now and then, too.

JOSH
I'm working on it.

JOEY [KENNY]
You happy?

We hear a phone, somewhere outside Josh's office, start ringing.

JOSH
You tell me.

JOEY [KENNY]
Nine points is nothing to sneeze at.

JOSH
I'm not sneezing. I'm ordering champagne.

JOEY [KENNY]
Premature.

JOSH
Ned. Jake, can you get that?

JOEY [KENNY]
Page twelve.

Josh flips to the correct page in his copy of the poll.

JOEY [KENNY]
"Shares our values" is at 40, that's workable. "Honest and Trustworthy" is at
49, very good. But, flip the page. Ask people to describe their impressions
of Matt Santos in one word, you get...?

JOSH
"Appealing."

JOEY [KENNY]
Right. Followed by "charming" and "vital." Strong, yes, but not in a
defend-our-borders kind of way. It's more of a "Hold me in your arms and
stroke my hair while we gaze at the fire and I run my hands over your biceps.

JOSH
This is really the kind of comment you really don't want to hear coming out
of Kenny's mouth.

JOEY [KENNY]
Women love him, men want to have a beer with him. It's just not clear that
it would occur to anyone to vote for him. We've got to convince people that
he's substantial. How's things going with Leo?

JOSH
First few days are tough.

JOEY [KENNY]
But the Congressman's happy?

JOSH
Yeah, he doesn't know Leo all that well. It's not like they were old friends.

Bram comes in.

BRAM
The Congressman's looking for you. Strategy was supposed to start ten
minutes ago.

CUT TO: INT. - CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY

We see that Santos, as well as Annabeth, Ronna, Edie, and Ned are waiting
for a strategy meeting to start. Josh, Joey, and Kenny walk in.

JOSH
Sorry, we got backed up.

SANTOS
Josh is in the market for a deputy. Someone to help him out, if anyone's
got a cousin who needs a job. What do we got?

EDIE
Okay, the current schedule is yellow. If you have a blue copy or a pink copy
burn it. It is tragically out of date and will put you in Kansas when the
rest of us are in Michigan.

JOSH
Where's Leo?

ANNABETH
He's talking with Lorraine about the Medicaid piece. He'll be right in.

JOSH
Maybe we should wait a second.

SANTOS
What else?

MAN #1
Media bookings.

SANTOS
Yeah.

MAN #1
Obviously we're in all the news shows, but the View and The Daily Show are
also interested. Do we want to go that way?

JOEY [KENNY]
It's a mixed bag.

NED
Because?

JOSH
It has something to do with strong arms and fireplaces and you don't want
to hear it from Kenny.

JOEY [KENNY]
He's hunky.

SANTOS
Okay, I would have gone with telegenic, but if hunky works for you I'll
take it.

JOSH
You read the summary?

SANTOS
Yeah. I did. I'm, uh, appealing.

JOEY [KENNY]
We just want to make sure no one mistakes that for insubstantial.

JOSH
Well, if appealing is what they believe, maybe we should play into it. Lock
it up, build on it.

ANNABETH
That's good news. You've got the charisma factor. You can't teach that. Now
let's just see if we can project some depth.

SANTOS
I could carry around a copy of Proust.

JOSH
So Scheduling needs to make room for more Q&As. Let everybody know he's not
just a pretty face with nothing to say.

EDIE
Two a day?

SANTOS
How about one after every speech?

EDIE
That's a lot of time out of the schedule.

SANTOS
It'll be worth it.

JOSH
He's right. We're talking five conversations with the press pool every day.

EDIE
Five?

JOSH
Easily. And remember, you control the conversation.

ANNABETH
If you don't like what they're asking, don't accept the premise of the
question.

MAN #1
Interest groups. We need to figure out who we're going to spend time meeting
with in the next week.

Leo walks in.

SANTOS
Leo McGarry, ladies and gentlemen.

LEO
Sorry, a little mix-up with some of the Medicaid figures.

SANTOS
Good to have you here. Interest groups?

JOSH
Broad-based, moderate groups first.

ANNABETH
Careful.

JOSH
This isn't the primary, anymore. We've got to attack center, hard.

ANNABETH
Arnold Vinick is a moderate Republican. There's not a lot of center he
doesn't have a hold on.

SANTOS
She's right. We need the left flank.

LEO
You can't concede the center. Battle's won and lost there.

SANTOS
And without the Democratic base I'm not going to make it onto the battlefield.

MAN #1
So he needs to meet with...?

JOSH
Everybody. What else?

EDIE
There's been a lot of interest in Mr. McGarry's personal history. Do we want
to reevaluate the way we're addressing that?

LEO
I've made statements about all of it in the past; the addiction, the health
stuff. Just refer them to that.

EDIE
I'm not sure the press is satisfied with that.

ANNABETH
We could reconsider doing a mea culpa.

JOSH

Nightline?

ANNABETH
Or 20/20. You tell your story, cry a little and get on with it.

SANTOS
Might simplify matters.

LEO
If I thought it would work I'd cry all afternoon. I don't think it'll help.

MAN #1
What the Mallory situation?

LEO
My daughter, Mallory?

EDIE
She might enjoy joining you on the road.

LEO
I sincerely doubt it, but I understand the press might enjoy it.

ANNABETH
I'll give her a call.

MAN #1
If the Congressman is doing five Q&As a day, we have to make sure that
Mr. McGarry's doing at least three.

LEO
Five a day?

JOSH
It's a new strategy. We're trying it out.

LEO
That's a lot of feeding the beast.

SANTOS
We're going to try it.

LEO
I'm not sure you want to give the press that many shots at you.

SANTOS
What else?

EDIE
Any chance Mallory would be willing to bring the baby on the road?

BRAM
Is it a photogenic baby?

Leo turns to look at him.

BRAM
Hey, not all of them are.

CUT TO: INT. - HALLWAY - SANTOS HQ - DAY

Everybody is leaving the meeting. Josh and Leo are talking.

JOSH
How are you holding up?

LEO
Fine. There's a lot of flashbulbs. You may get more mileage out of me in a
room with the strategists instead of the cameras.

JOSH
It's that prize-winning face.

LEO
The media gal's right. The press is doing a lot of talking about my love
for sedatives and single-malt.

JOSH
We knew it was coming. You worry too much. That's my job.

LEO
And you're not worried?

JOSH
We're only nine points down. White House, half an hour, you and me.

Josh walks off. Leo turns to leave and Bram meets him. Bram is carrying a
shirt for Leo.

BRAM
Mr. McGarry, we need to get a few shots of you and the Congressman. We
think it'll be better with you in this shirt. The Congressman's wearing
white. [pause] Mr. McGarry?

LEO
Yeah.

Bram hands him the shirt and walks off. Leo goes into his office and shuts
the door.

FADE OUT.
END ACT TWO.
* * *

ACT THREE

FADE IN: INT. - C.J.'S OFFICE - DAY

C.J. is seated at her desk. Babish is sitting across from her. Margaret knocks.

C.J.
Yes.

Margaret opens the door and comes in. She walks to C.J.'s desk and hands
her a piece of paper.

C.J.
Thank you.

Margaret leaves as C.J. opens the paper and reads it.

BABISH
You want to order lunch?

C.J.
I've got a meeting. The Santos Campaign and the West Wing need to coordinate
agendas.

She gets up and puts her jacket on.

BABISH
I'll order lunch and we'll eat when you get back.

C.J.
You're a lonely man, aren't you?

BABISH
Do you miss him?

C.J.
Who?

BABISH
Josh, Leo. You guys are spread a little thin. Half your staff bleeding to
the campaign, you stuck with the Chief of Staff job, probably still a little
Press Secretary agenda on your plate.

C.J.
Not really.

BABISH
Really?

C.J.
Not at all.

BABISH
Well, then why does Greg Brock of the New York Times appear on your call
log an average of five times a week in the six months before he published
his leak story? He spent that much time with Leo McGarry?

C.J.
I really have to go now.

BABISH
I'm thinking turkey club for me. Do you want some kind of salad?

CUT TO: INT. - MURAL ROOM - DAY

Josh and Leo are sitting on one couch and Toby is sitting across from
them. They are talking.

TOBY
Annabeth camped out on your shoulder, that's got to be something.

LEO
Six kinds of makeup.

JOSH
Yeah, she's relentless.

LEO
I'm worried tomorrow she's going to braid my hair.

C.J. comes in.

C.J.
Sorry.

JOSH
Hey.

They all stand. C.J. hugs Leo and he kisses her.

LEO
Sight for sore eyes.

C.J.
And you. Look at this. I feel like we should take a picture.

She gives Josh a hug.

TOBY
We should've got lunch or something.

C.J.
Well, I'm lunching with Oliver Babish. He has his heart set on ruining my
day. Sit, sit.

They sit.

JOSH
Did you see our numbers?

C.J.
I did. How the hell did you pull that off?

JOSH
I have no idea.

TOBY
As soon as you get a message calendar, send it over. We'll be sure to back
you up.

JOSH
That's great.

C.J.
The President's planning a big push on jobs. Should be a good issue for you.

Margaret comes in and brings a folder over to C.J.

C.J. [cont.]
And we're planning to steer clear of health care altogether next couple of
months so you can have that all to yourselves.

JOSH
Perfect.

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

JOSH
What kind?

C.J.
We'll get you a summary but probably class size reduction, a little
infrastructure money, some version of performance incentives for teachers.

JOSH
That's right out of the Santos plan.

C.J.
Well, he probably doesn't have the votes for it.

JOSH
He definitely doesn't have the votes.

C.J.
But if he's expressing an interest...

JOSH
He's expressing an interest because the Vinick camp told him to.

TOBY
Could be.

JOSH
Education may be the only thing the public knows about Matt Santos other
than his hair color. We would be thrilled if you kept the hands off.

TOBY
Wow. Okay.

JOSH
You think we can bring it up in a debate after Jed Bartlet's already moved
on it? We'll look like idiots.

TOBY
That's unfortunate.

C.J.
Okay, everybody, let's take a breath.

LEO
Haffley is extending an olive branch. I'm sure the President is just being
polite. He knows he can't get an education bill passed in his last six months.

C.J.
The guy's got a 66% approval rating. We're not rolling up the rugs.

LEO
A new Democratic administration will pass a much more powerful bill.

C.J.
You people are nine points down. It's better than 20 points down, but it's
not what I'd call a win.

JOSH
Hey...

TOBY
The only reason the Speaker is opening the door at all is because he thinks
it may wound your campaign. You think he's going to walk in here a year from
now and offer it to the bright-eyed new President?

LEO
Haffley's playing you.

TOBY
No, actually, he's screwing you, and for the moment, we're comfortable
with that.

LEO
He's screwing the party.

JOSH
Leo.

LEO
He's screwing the party and using this administration to do it.

C.J.
The President did not take an oath of party, he took an oath of office.

Josh chuckles in disbelief.

C.J.
This has been great. Coordinate your message calendar with Toby.

Her and Leo stand.

C.J.
Nice to see you both.

She leaves and Leo sits back down.

TOBY
Is there anything else I can do for you?

CUT TO: INT. - HALLWAY - DAY

C.J. is walking to her office. When she comes to Margaret's office, Kate is
waiting there.

KATE
Hey. Babish is still in your office.

C.J.
Yes.

KATE
Were you on the call with the Chinese?

C.J.
There was a lot of yelling.

KATE
The shuttle launches in a few minutes. You should probably be down there.

They walk off, presumably toward the Sit Room.

CUT TO: INT. - OUTER OVAL OFFICE - DAY

Leo is talking to Nancy.

LEO
If he has a minute, I'd like to say hi.

NANCY
He's just on his way out.

Bartlet comes out of the office.

BARTLET
I thought I heard that voice. I'm headed for the dungeon, care for a stroll?

LEO
I'd love to.

BARTLET
I'm surprised the let you off the trail.

LEO
I ducked out with Josh to do a house call, coordinate policy with Toby and C.J.

BARTLET
Well, you're not a campaign manager, now you're a candidate.

LEO
They mentioned something about that.

BARTLET
You having a good time?

LEO
It's quite a ride. We spoke to Toby and C.J. about this education plan
Haffley's putting on the table. You think it's going anywhere?

BARTLET
I'm rolling the dice.

LEO
It screws us a little bit.

BARTLET
Yeah.

LEO
Maybe you back off, leave it for the new kid.

BARTLET
If you were my Chief of Staff, what would you tell me to do?

LEO
I'd tell you when you walk out of here somebody else has to walk in, and do
what you can to make sure it's a Democrat.

BARTLET
You want to try that again?

LEO
You've got to think about the future.

BARTLET
If you were my Chief of Staff...?

LEO
Yeah.

BARTLET
Yeah, that's what I thought.

They turn to walk off.

CUT TO: EXT. - SANTOS HQ - DAY

Leo, Annabeth, and some of his Secret Service detail are walking into the
building where HQ is located. There is a lot of press on the other side of
a barrier, waiting to talk to Leo.

REPORTER KEVIN
Mr. McGarry, are you finding the campaign trail exhausting?

LEO
Invigorating, Kevin. Thanks for asking.

KEVIN
Is Speaker Haffley floating an education issue with the White House?

LEO
I don't know what's going on in the Speaker's office, but I can tell you
that Matt Santos has the most practical approach to improving teacher quality
we've seen in a long time.

CHRIS
Is it similar to Haffley's plan?

LEO
The Santos plan is a comprehensive...

KEVIN
Why is the President working with Haffley if this is the candidate's baby?

LEO
Because the Constitution empowers the President to sign bills into law and
doesn't empower candidates to do anything.

They all start talking to get their question heard. Annabeth looks as though
she realizes Leo has said something that is bad for them.

ANNABETH
Thanks folks, it's been a real pleasure.

She turns Leo and they start walking into the building.

LEO
I accepted the premise of the question, didn't I?

ANNABETH
You sure did.

CUT TO: INT. - SANTOS HQ - DAY

Josh is walking through the office. He is talking to Ronna. He hands her
a folder.

JOSH
I just met with Lily Shultz, who we're hiring, and Dave Blumberg, who we're
not. Tell Isabelle.

RONNA
I can't get anyone from the Colorado delegation to do the Denver rally.

JOSH
No one?

RONNA
They're all in D.C. this weekend.

JOSH
Congressmen don't stay in D.C. on the weekend, they go home to their districts
to make nice with... Son of a bitch. Get Wallingford's Chief of Staff on
the phone, now.

He starts walking off.

JOSH
Son of a bitch!

CUT TO: INT. - JOSH'S OFFICE - DAY

Josh walks into his office. Annabeth is waiting for him.

ANNABETH
A little hiccup.

JOSH
What?

ANNABETH
Leo just inadvertently suggested to the press that the reason the President's
moving on this education bill is because the Congressman's a generally
powerless individual.

JOSH
Annabeth.

ANNABETH
Momentary lapse of reason. We should probably get out in front of it.

Santos walks in.

ANNABETH
Good afternoon, sir. He feels awful.

SANTOS
What was that?

JOSH
A little stumble. Bram!

Bram and Ronna walk in at the same time.

RONNA
Kendra, in Wallingford's office, on line three.

JOSH
The Congressman is about to tell the press how excited he is that the White
House is making in-roads with the Speaker of the House on an education
bill. Have Trisha draft a release.

SANTOS
The Congressman doesn't like that idea very much.

JOSH
It's one of those "Close your eyes and think of England" moments.

BRAM
Josh, Sandy's waiting for comments on this.

SANTOS
Leo?

JOSH
Yeah, let's not worry about that right now. You've got a press avail in the
conference room. Big smiles.

Santos walks out and Josh picks up the phone.

JOSH
Kendra, for the love of God, you can't do this to me!

CUT TO: INT. - HALLWAY - WHITE HOUSE - DAY

C.J. is walking through the hall to her office. She opens the door and we
see Babish is sitting at the table and has started eating.

BABISH
I started without you.

C.J.
That's okay. Where were we?

BABISH
Greg Brock.

C.J.
The name sounds familiar. You got any mustard?

BABISH
On your salad?

C.J.
Yes or no?

BABISH
So, uh, you guys spend some time together?

He grabs some mustard and gets up to go sit by C.J.

C.J.
Brock? We can hold a conversation.

BABISH
He's the guy?

C.J.
Which guy would that be?

BABISH
Your fav.

C.J.
I don't play favorites.

BABISH
I'm thinking you play favorites, given the number of times his name appears
on your call sheet and also given the fact that six reporters in the White
House Press Corps say you play favorites. It used to be Danny Concanon, now
it's Greg Brock. So... it's a crush, or an affair, or a mutually acknowledged
though never requited... what are we talking about here?

C.J.
Oliver, I have a whole lot to do.

BABISH
It got personal with Danny, right? If he's the new Danny...

C.J.
We're not doing this.

BABISH
You talk to him every day. He drops by more than a guy with a phone in his
pocket needs to drop by. And he published code-word classified information
on the front page of his newspaper. So this does not fall under the category
of things to which I do not need an answer.

C.J.
You think the leak came from me. I'm the suspect.

BABISH
Can you tell me about the nature of your relationship with Greg Brock?

FADE OUT.
END ACT THREE.
* * *

ACT FOUR

FADE IN: INT. - CONFERENCE ROOM - SANTOS HQ - DAY

Leo, Annabeth, Edie, Bram and another man walk into the conference room. Josh
is there and he is writing on a dry erase board.

JOSH
Where's the Congressman?

BRAM
He's still in front of the cameras.

JOSH
Okay, shut the door.

Bram leaves and shuts the door.

JOSH
Wallingford's avoiding our events because Vinick's polling 28 points ahead
in his district. And he's not the only one. It's a bunch of the Democrats.

ANNABETH
28 points?

LEO
Well, Vinick's a known quantity. Santos appeared out of nowhere at the
eleventh hour at the Convention.

JOSH
So we're scrapping the party-unity strategy. The new strategy is we don't put
Congressmen up on the stage at events because Santos isn't a party hack. He's
his own man.

Santos and Bram walk in.

SANTOS
What happened?

JOSH
Wallingford's avoiding us. So is Hammond, Warren, Campbell, and Ross. What
other districts had Vinick ahead by more than 20 points?

ANNABETH
Uh, looks like Kelly, Grader, Harrison, Zwick.

SANTOS
Harrison?

MAN
I've got, uh, Marcus, Scott, and Lester.

JOSH
Okay, the Congressman calls this list, Leo this. Within the next 24
hours. We've got to do some hand-holding.

LEO
Kelly and I go way back. Zwick, too. Put them on my list.

SANTOS
I'll call them all. I'll do all the calls. Who else?

ANNABETH
Um, Houfek, Fenton...

SANTOS
That's the whole Colorado delegation.

BRAM
Sir, the CNN guy's still waiting.

SANTOS
Right, tell him I need five minutes, but get Houfek on the phone for me,
right now.

BRAM
Okay.

Santos leaves. Ronna comes in.

RONNA
Josh, you've got another interview.

JOSH
I told Chuck, everybody who's still waiting come back tomorrow.

RONNA
Chuck said you'd want this one.

JOSH
Well, Chuck is wrong.

Josh turns around and sees that Donna is waiting in the hall. She is the
interview.

CUT TO: INT. - C.J.'S OFFICE - DAY

C.J. and Babish are talking. Babish is writing on a pad of paper.

C.J.
What else?

BABISH
Hang on.

He writes some stuff down on the pad.

BABISH
That's it.

C.J.
That's it? I'm sure it isn't.

BABISH
That's it.

C.J.
You didn't even ask me.

BABISH
Ask you what?

C.J.
"Did you tell Greg Brock of the New York Times of the existence of a classified
military space shuttle?"

BABISH
I don't want to know.

He stands.

BABISH
I need to see the President.

CUT TO: INT. - JOSH'S OFFICE - DAY

Josh and Donna walk into Josh's office and sit down, Josh at his desk and
Donna across from him.

DONNA
Nice headline in the Post today. That's got to feel good.

JOSH
Yeah, it does. Heady stuff. How's Will?

DONNA
Well, back in the VP's office. He wanders around a lot like a guy who can't
find his glasses.

JOSH
You going back there, too?

DONNA
The Vice President's office? I'm glad you brought that up. I'm proud to say
I've grown a lot in the last few months. The Russell Campaign gave me some
wonderful opportunities. I took an active role in drafting policy positions
and eventually was promoted to the role of Campaign Spokesperson.

JOSH
Donna...

DONNA
Let me get through this. It's one of the more awkward moments of a lifetime.

JOSH
I can't do this.

DONNA
I'm good is the point. I'm as surprised as you are and rumor has it that
you could use a deputy.

Josh reaches into his desk and pulls out a folder. He opens it up and starts
reading from one of the pages.

JOSH
"Matthew Santos is throwing a ton of numbers at you hoping you'll be so
confused as to miss the fact that his education plan is both impractical and
unaffordable. He was a House member, you'd think behavior like that would
annoy him." Donna Moss, Spokesperson, Russell for President Campaign.

DONNA
I didn't mean that he was...

JOSH
"Claiming that 3 House terms qualifies you to be President is like me saying
I'm a foreign relations expert because I ordered Kung Pao last night."

DONNA
I didn't say that, did I?

JOSH
February 26; Coffee, Cake, and Candidates; Raleigh, North Carolina. "He
wasn't a military strategist, he was a pilot. Ask him about the overhead
compartment, not about defense."

DONNA
You called Russell a cowpoke. You said the President avoided him in the
halls. You hummed "These Boots are Made for Walking" every time the press
mentioned his name.

JOSH
Yeah, but I won.

DONNA
It was my job, Josh. You're not used to me being in a position of
authority. I'm sure that's uncomfortable.

JOSH
I've got an airplane hangar out there filled with 500 strangers looking
to me for direction; I've got a candidate who doesn't trust any of them,
and frankly neither do I. And if you think I don't miss you every day...

There is a pause in which they both look as though they might cry.

JOSH
I can make a couple of calls...

She holds up her hand to stop him.

DONNA
Thank you for your time.

She grabs her things and leaves. She walks out into the hallway and heads
toward the door. Josh comes out of his office and watches her leave.

CUT TO: INT. - OVAL OFFICE - DAY

Babish and C.J. are talking to Bartlet.

BABISH
You need to stop the internal investigation of the security leak.

BARTLET
Excuse me?

BABISH
A White House investigation is, at best, superfluous.

BARTLET
Are you getting tired? We can give this to somebody else.

BABISH
I appreciate that, sir.

BARTLET
I know you have a lot on your plate.

BABISH
You know, that's true.

BARTLET
This was a massive security breech. Not only will we continue our
investigation, we'll make it abundantly clear to the American people that
it is among our highest priorities and not even remotely superfluous.

BABISH
The evidence thus far suggests the leak came from inside the White House. This
was not NASA or DOD. This was us. And we are not qualified to investigate
ourselves.

BARTLET
We're not?

BABISH
I don't have subpoena power. I can't put people under oath. If you want
answers cooperate with the Attorney General's investigation and with Congress.

BARTLET
You have a suspect. Otherwise we wouldn't be having this conversation.

Nancy knocks.

BARTLET
Come in.

She comes in and brings Bartlet a note.

BARTLET
We're going to get slammed for this. The press is going to say we're running
like frightened rabbits down the nearest hole and they'll be right.

He takes out his glasses and reads he note.

BARTLET
You're not going to tell me who your suspect is?

BABISH
No, sir, I'm not.

CUT TO: INT. - SANTOS HQ - DAY

We see that Santos is sitting at a desk in an office. Leo comes to the door
and knocks before coming in.

LEO
Is this a bad time?

SANTOS
Oh, if you're waiting for a good time you may be waiting a while.

He closes the door and comes in.

LEO
A made a misstep today with the press.

SANTOS
The President's going to pass an education bill because he's powerful and
I'm a lot of hot air. Yeah, that was ugly.

LEO
I apologize. It was truly embarrassing.

SANTOS
Leo, do a 20/20 interview, tell them the story they want to hear. They'll
stop gunning for you.

LEO
I could talk about addictions and heart attacks till I'm blue in the face. Best
strategy is to call it old news and move on.

SANTOS
It's not the best strategy. It's not working. I'm spending half my day
talking about it. Do the interview.

LEO
If you're having second thoughts there are options.

SANTOS
Are you trying to quit?

LEO

No, certainly not.

SANTOS
You're either trying to quit or you're trying to get me to fire you.

LEO
Well, it's something to think about.

SANTOS
I'm not going to fire you. You want out you're going to have to drum up
another heart attack or something.

LEO
Thank you. That's a beautiful sentiment. I'm just, I'm not sure what your
vision for my role is.

SANTOS
At the moment it's stumping and smiling for the cameras; not herding policy
advisors and running over to the White House with Josh. You can't do his
job for him.

LEO
My strength is my experience and my relationships on the Hill.

SANTOS
What happens if you get on the phone with Hammond, and Kelly and Zwick? I
can't win a race when we tell people that when things get really serious
they're going to be getting a call from Leo McGarry. You saw the pole. America
thinks you're the chaperone and I'm running for Prom King.

LEO
If you can't utilize my expertise I'm just a drag on the ticket.

SANTOS
Look, nobody hired you because you'd be a brilliant campaigner. You're a
beginner in all this. Yes, at the moment, you're a liability, but you'll
get the hang of it. You're here because you know how to run a country. The
conversation I'm interested in is how do we build a four year plan where
you don't know what kind of Congress you're going to have to work with.

LEO
That's what transition is about.

SANTOS
I don't want to wait until transition. I want a plan in place. I want to
spend transition hiring a staff that can execute it and on day one I want
to get to work, not dickering around for the first three months. You want
something to worry about, worry about that.

LEO
Okay. Well, let's start by reframing the question. Forget about a four-year
term. The Presidency is 18 months. That's your window. After that, there's
midterms. No one on the Hill's got time to do business with you. They're
too busy getting reelected. Then, suddenly, you're running again.

SANTOS
So, I'm basically throwing out everything but my first five pages?

LEO
In the garbage. Realistically, one page, but we can do this in phases.

CUT TO: INT. - SANTOS HQ - DAY

Josh is sitting on a desk and he watching Santos and Leo talk when Bram
comes up to talk to him.

BRAM
Hey, Costos is waiting. I've got to pull him.

JOSH
Later.

BRAM
What are they doing?

JOSH
Making plans.

We see Leo move a little closer to the desk and the two of them start looking
at a pad that is on the table.

DISSOLVE TO: END TITLES.
FADE TO BLACK.
THE END.
* * *

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