THE WEST WING TRANSCRIPT: Season Six - In God We Trust (S6E20)

THE WEST WING
6x20 - “IN GOD WE TRUST”
WRITTEN BY LAWRENCE O’DONNELL
DIRECTED BY CHRISTOPHER MISIANO

Transcribed by Walking, Talking, And Yelling At Clouds
(kegofglory.blogspot.com)

Link To My Blog Post For This Episode


TEASER

IN GOD WE TRUST

FADE IN: INT. - CJ’S OFFICE – NIGHT

We hear a TV ANCHOR relaying news of the night’s New Jersey primary as CJ works at her desk.

ANCHOR (on TV)
The New Jersey polls closed just three minutes ago, at 9:00 pm Eastern Time, and, although we have no official results yet, we can now report that our exit polls indicate another huge win tonight for California Senator Arnold Vinick in the Republican Presidential primary.

CUT TO: INT. - TOBY’S OFFICE – NIGHT

TOBY is sitting on his desk, watching the TV news coverage.

ANCHOR (on TV)
New Jersey’s Democratic Presidential primary is still too close to call. Vice President Bob Russell was the favorite coming into this final primary tonight, but our exit polls show another very tight race between Russell and Texas Congressman Matt Santos.

CUT TO: INT. - HOTEL SUITE – NIGHT

VICE PRESIDENT RUSSELL, WILL, DONNA, and members of his campaign are anxiously watching the TV news.

ANCHOR (on TV)
Russell was hoping for a big win in New Jersey tonight to prove one of the central themes of his campaign – that he is the only Democrat who can actually win in November.

CUT TO: INT. - ANOTHER HOTEL SUITE – NIGHT

MATT, JOSH, and members of the Santos campaign are also intently watching the TV news.

ANCHOR (on TV)
A Santos win tonight would be another big come-from-behind upset for the Congressman, and leave him only about a hundred delegates behind Russell and would certainly hurt the Russell electability argument. 

JOSH looks up to the ceiling in frustration, turns and walks out of the room. MATT watches him go.

ANCHOR (on TV)
Neither candidate is going to pick up enough delegates tonight to get the Democratic nomination, but a win in the final primary could give Santos the momentum he needs going into the Democratic National Convention next month.

CUT TO: INT. - A THIRD HOTEL SUITE – NIGHT

The VINICK campaign staff is celebrating, laughing and clapping with balloons festively strewn about. The Stevie Wonder song Sir Duke is playing. We see the TV screen with a graphic of the Democratic results from New Jersey so far:

30% OF PRECINCTS REPORTING
RUSSELL 33,012
SANTOS 32,388
HOYNES 9,313

ANCHOR (on TV)
As expected, Senator Vinick now has the Republican nomination locked up. Reverend Don Butler was the last man standing against Arnold Vinick in the Republican field -

A woman comes up to SHEILA, VINICK’s campaign manager, and whispers something in her ear. SHEILA nods and heads off to VINICK’s bedroom.

ANCHOR (on TV)
- and we’re told that he will concede the race to Vinick in a speech to his supporters at Butler campaign headquarters in Virginia.

CUT TO: INT. - VINICK’S HOTEL BEDROOM – NIGHT

VINICK is standing alone, looking out the window. SHEILA knocks at the door and enters, pointing to the phone.

SHEILA (picking up the phone, speaking into it)
I’ve got Senator Vinick here. Just a second, Reverend Butler.

VINICK walks over and takes the phone from SHEILA. As he begins talking, SHEILA’s cell phone rings, and she answers it as she walks over to the window.

VINICK (into phone)
Hi, Don. (pause) Thanks.

SHEILA (into cell phone, as VINICK continues his call in the background)
Hi, honey.

VINICK (into phone)
Right, Don, I’m going to need your help to, to bring the party together now, and -

SHEILA (into cell phone)
Just go to bed – I’ll wake you up early and I’ll help you finish your homework then. (beat) Okay, love you. (SHEILA hangs up)

VINICK (into phone)
Yeah, sure, any time. Whenever you want. (beat) We’ll clear the schedule for you. (beat) Okay, Don. (hangs up) Butler wants a meeting.

SHEILA
Great. We’ve got to move fast on VP. Show Republicans coming together while the Democrats are still fighting for the nomination.

VINICK
Hey, I love Don. He’s a great guy. An honorable guy, and he’s funnier than anyone else on the list, but he beat me up pretty bad on abortion during the primaries. How’s he gonna walk back from that?

SHEILA
He doesn’t have to, we don’t want him to. You agree on most issues, and respectfully disagree on a couple.

VINICK (doubtfully)
A couple?

SHEILA
Sign of strength, shows you’re not looking for a yes man.

VINICK
It shows I’m looking for someone who can help me with the conservative base of the party.

SHEILA
That, too.

SHEILA turns on the TV, which is now covering REVEREND BUTLER’s concession speech.

VINICK
Don Butler, a heartbeat away from the presidency?

BUTLER (on TV, calming his supporters as he takes the podium)
Thank you … thank you. Well, you win some, you lose some, and we won some primaries. But Senator Vinick won some more. 

The crowd boos as VINICK rolls his eyes and looks at SHEILA.

BUTLER (on TV)
No! No, no … now is the time for this party to come together, and take back the White House!

SHEILA
Sounds very Vice-Presidential to me.

VINICK
He’s a good soldier.

BUTLER (on TV)
But first of all, I want to thank the Butler Brigade -

SHEILA turns off the TV.

SHEILA (standing, starting to walk out)
Secret Service wants you to start moving down to the ballroom.

VINICK
Sheila. (she stops) Thanks.

They both exit the bedroom.

CUT TO: INT. - CJ’S OFFICE – NIGHT

TOBY walks into CJ’s office, as coverage of the VINICK rally continues on the TV.

TOBY
It’s Vinick.

CJ
Yeah.

REPORTER (on TV)
We go live now as he addresses his supporters.

We see the TV screen with VINICK happily greeting the people onstage, with the crowd cheering and clapping.

CUT TO: INT. - PRESIDENTIAL STUDY – NIGHT

LEO and BARTLET are sitting in chairs, watching the TV news.

VINICK (on TV)
Thank you! Thank you very much!

LEO
We’ve got nobody who can beat him.

VINICK (on TV, the crowd chanting ‘Vinick, Vinick’)
Thank you. (beat) We did it!

The camera pans to a closeup of BARTLET intently watching the TV screen as -

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

ACT ONE

FADE IN: INT. - TOBY’S OFFICE – DAY

TOBY is asleep on his sofa, covered in a blanket. ANNABETH walks into his office, trying not to wake him, closing some of the blinds against the morning sun. We hear a TV ANCHOR from the television along TOBY’s wall.

ANCHOR (on TV)
Senator Arnold Vinick has the Republican nomination locked up, but they’ve been counting votes all night and we still don’t have a winner in the New Jersey Democratic Presidential primary. The lead has been shifting all night, and now with 97 percent of the precincts reporting Congressman Matt Santos has a lead of less than a thousand votes over Vice President Bob Russell. No candidate -

ANNABETH turns down the volume on the TV. TOBY’s eyes open and he turns his head.

TOBY
What are you doing?

ANNABETH (sighs)
You were sleeping.

TOBY
They’re still counting New Jersey.

ANNABETH
So what?

TOBY
So what?

ANNABETH
It doesn’t matter who wins. No one’s gonna have enough delegates for the nomination. Come on, wake up and smell the chaos.

ANNABETH, smiling, picks up her tote bag and walks out of the office. TOBY grabs his remote and turns the TV volume back up.

ANCHOR (on TV)
No candidate will win enough delegates to secure the Democratic nomination.

CUT TO: INT. - CAPITOL HALLWAY – DAY

VINICK and his aides and Secret Service agents are walking into the Capitol.

VINICK
I promised Tim I’d do the show.

SHEILA
You will, just not this week.

BOB
The more you’re on TV now, the less they’re covering the mess in the Democratic Party. That’s the story we want this week.

SHEILA
I’m pulling all our press events off the schedule.

VINICK
What about the fund raisers?

SHEILA
No press allowed.

As the group turns a corner they encounter some REPORTERS, who start shouting questions.

SHEILA (to VINICK, quietly)
Don’t take too many questions.

VINICK
Don’t worry.

The group walks up to the REPORTERS and cameramen, who all start walking backwards as VINICK continues down the hall.

REPORTER 1
Senator, when are you going to choose a VP?

VINICK
Haven’t really thought about it.

REPORTER 2
Senator, would you rather face Russell or Santos?

VINICK
I’m in no hurry to face anyone. (as more REPORTERS shout for attention) Tell the Democrats as far as I’m concerned, they can take their time figuring it out.

REPORTER 3
Senator, do you think your lead in California gives you the lock on the electoral college?

VINICK (stopping)
I have a lock on the Republican nomination, nothing else. I’m not gonna take my state for granted, I’m gonna work hard to win California, work hard to win every state.

SHEILA
Thank you.

VINICK and his group start walking, as the REPORTERS continue to shout questions.

REPORTER 1
Senator – how can you cut taxes and cut the deficit at the same time?

VINICK (stopping again)
I have a two-for-one plan. For every dollar we cut taxes, we’re cutting spending by two dollars.

REPORTER 1
But won’t that mean drastic spending cuts in vital areas -

VINICK
Well, you call it ‘drastic,’ I call it necessary. I’m for all the good government we can afford, no more, no less.

BOB
That’s all, thank you.

REPORTER 2 (as VINICK starts to walk away)
Senator, what do you think of the deal the city council is negotiating to keep baseball in the city?

VINICK
It’s ridiculous. The teams should pay their own way. They can, they can pay 80 million for a shortstop, but they can’t pay for their own stadiums? Come on.

BOB
Okay, we’re done. Thank you.

VINICK
Thank you.

The REPORTERS continue to ask questions as VINICK and his group finally walks away.

CUT TO: INT. - VINICK’S SENATE OFFICE – DAY

VINICK, SHEILA and BOB enter the office.

SHEILA
Thanks a lot. Now I’m gonna have to give back my tickets to the game tomorrow night, I had to pull a lot of strings to get them.

VINICK
Did you pay for them?

SHEILA
Of course!

VINICK
Then forget about it, they’re your seats. (beat) Where are we sitting?

SHEILA
No way! I only got two.

VINICK
Kids fighting over who gets to go?

SHEILA
Holly’s got a biology test the next day, and Brendan’s got Little League practice, so …

VINICK
Tell Tina to bring her glove. I want her to catch a foul ball for me.

CUT TO: INT. - CJ’S OFFICE – DAY

CJ is sitting in a chair, paging through some files, while speaking on the phone.

CJ (into phone)
Yes, Madam Secretary, I have your memo. (beat) Uh-huh. (longer beat) I see. (beat) Yeah, I underst- (pause) I’ll give it to the President.

We see CHARLIE and ANNABETH are in the office, waiting for CJ to finish her call.

CJ (into phone)
Right. (she hangs up) I understood the debt ceiling situation perfectly before I talked to her, now I …

ANNABETH
Is there a rule against having a Treasury Secretary who speaks English?

TOBY (knocking at the door, entering)
It’s Santos.

CJ
By how much?

TOBY
Couple of thousand votes.

CHARLIE
Santos won New Jersey?

TOBY
Yeah.

CHARLIE
How many delegates did he - ?

CJ (standing, handing the memo to TOBY)
Not now, guys.

ANNABETH
Are we doing a press release on raising the debt ceiling? ‘Cause I don’t understand a word of it.

CJ
No press release, when’s the vote scheduled?

CHARLIE
Treasury figures the interest on the debt will hit the legal limit at midnight tomorrow. So they want the President to press for the vote right now.

TOBY (sitting, preparing to read the memo)
Which, of course, is a ridiculous idea.

ANNABETH
Of course?

CJ
The leadership wants to schedule it at the last minute.

ANNABETH
How crazy is that?

CJ
They always like to schedule it at the last minute, just when the government’s about to default.

TOBY
That way it’s too dangerous for any Senator to try to stop it.

CHARLIE
Or stick an amendment on it.

CJ
There’s just enough time for a couple of House and Senate speeches about how awful it is that we’ve maxed out the national credit card, quick vote to raise the limit on the credit card.

CHARLIE
It’s a one-sentence bill – just changes the seven to an eight.

ANNABETH
Trillion.

TOBY
Yeah, trill … (he chuckles and stands)

ANNABETH
Why does Treasury want the President to read over a 20-page memo on a one-sentence bill?

TOBY
Well, they like to run the worst-case scenario.

ANNABETH
In case it doesn’t pass?

TOBY
Yeah, you know, the immediate collapse of the US economy, followed by Japan sinking into the sea, followed by a worldwide depression the likes of which no mortal can imagine – followed by week two.

ANNABETH
So this debt ceiling thing is routine, or the end of the world?

TOBY
Both.

CJ
Okay, that’s it. Thanks, everybody.

CHARLIE and ANNABETH leave. TOBY approaches CJ at her desk.

TOBY
We gotta do something.

CJ
It’s really not the end of the world – just the end of a lifestyle.

TOBY
It’s the end of the Democratic Party. We’re facing a Republican who can win California and, uhh, I dunno, maybe 49 other states, and who do we have? We have nobody! (beat) We’re going into a convention without a candidate.

CJ
You see Broder’s column today? He says this is great for the Democratic Party.

TOBY
Ah, he’s on drugs.

CJ (reaching for the Washington Post)
Well, says that’s what conventions used to be about, picking the nominee. Some real convention suspense for a change.

TOBY
The networks’re gonna love it, they’re gonna cover every minute of it.

CJ
Yeah, ‘cause instead of four days of predictable emptiness, all hell’s gonna break loose.

CJ and TOBY exchange a look.

CUT TO: INT. - VINICK’S SENATE OFFICE – DAY

VINICK is having a strategy session with SHEILA, BOB, a staffer named SEAN, and a few others.

BOB
Good news is, the Dems are in disarray, the bad news is we don’t know who we’re running against.

SEAN
Santos, if we’re lucky.

BOB
Don’t be so sure, Santos could be tougher than Russell.

SEAN
Are you serious? Santos couldn’t even carry his own state, and he -

BOB
Santos won the big states! Russell’s weak in northeastern urban women, suburban men, all minorities, not to mention -

SHEILA
Okay! Okay – how much do we need for the ground game?

BOB
We can’t begin to plan till we know who we’re running against. They’re both strong in different states.

A phone starts ringing. SHEILA rises to go answer it.

BOB
Problem is, we can’t be waiting until after the, the Democratic convention, to, to build an organization.

SHEILA (into phone)
Yeah. (beat) O-kay. (hanging up; to VINICK) Royce is here.

VINICK
Where?

SHEILA
Reception, waiting to see you.

SHEILA motions to the other staffers to leave.

VINICK
The Majority Leader is coming to my office?

SHEILA (as BOB and SEAN pack up their papers to leave)
Guess he wants to be first in line for VP.

VINICK
Oh, boy, here we go. (putting on his coat jacket) Okay, bring him in.

SHEILA walks out to the reception area.

SHEILA
Mr. Leader?

SENATE MAJORITY LEADER ROBERT ROYCE walks into the office, hand outstretched.

ROYCE
Hey, Arnie … I just want to be the first guy in the building to say congratulations. 

VINICK (shaking hands)
You didn’t have to come all the way over here, Mr. Leader.

ROYCE
Ah, cut it out, Arnie. You’re the real leader of this party now. And I just want you to know I’m at your service – whatever you need me to do, just say the word.

VINICK
Thanks, Bob. Here, have a seat.

ROYCE takes a seat as VINICK sits behind his desk.

ROYCE
First of all – I can be very helpful with fundraising. I have the highest-yielding direct mail list in town. Second -

CUT TO: INT. - OVAL OFFICE – DAY

BARLET enters the office, followed by CJ, TOBY and LEO.

BARTLET
How many delegates does Santos have?

TOBY
One thousand, five hundred and ninety-nine.

LEO
So Russell’s only 80 ahead?

TOBY
Seventy-eight. Russell’s got 1677, and Hoynes has, at, 956.

CJ
What’s the magic number?

BARTLET
Two thousand, one hundred and sixty-two gets you the nomination.

CJ
Hoynes doesn’t have a chance.

LEO
Hoynes is betting that on the second or third ballot, the delegates will get shaky about these newcomers Russell and Santos, and move to the guy they’ve known the longest.

TOBY
But before we even get to the convention the party’s gotta go through four weeks of chaos, fighting over who’s gonna be on the platform committee, what’s gonna be in the platform - 

CJ
Who gets to speak on what night.

TOBY
Fighting over the uncommitted delegates … trying to convince the committed delegates to switch on the second ballot.

LEO
While Vinick is looking more presidential every day. (sighs) Mr. President … until we have a nominee, you are still the head of this party.

BARTLET
Okay – let’s get Russell and Santos in here.

TOBY
And Hoynes?

BARTLET
No, CJ’s right, he doesn’t have a chance.

TOBY
You’re gonna try to broker a deal between these guys?

BARTLET
Eh, not ready for that. Just a photo op – and remind people that we still know a little something about running a country.

TOBY
Maybe a little less about running a party.

TOBY turns to leave as BARTLET looks up after him.

CUT TO: INT. - VINICK’S SENATE OFFICE – DAY

VINICK and SHEILA are having a conversation.

VINICK
I don’t feel comfortable about this.

SHEILA
Everybody does that when you get to this stage, you bring in new people.

VINICK
Yeah, yeah, but a Democrat? I mean, I spent the last six months fightin’ this idea that somehow I’m not a real Republican, and then I bring a Democrat into the campaign?

SHEILA
One step at a time. I’m just saying we should meet with him. Governor Baker vouches for him, says that we can trust him not to leak the meeting.

VINICK
I don’t know.

SHEILA
He says he has a plan to win 50 states.

VINICK (beat)
Okay, bring him in.

SHEILA nods and heads to the door.

SHEILA
Bruno? Come on in.

Striding into the office comes BRUNO GIANELLI, the campaign manager we last saw at the White House celebrating his efforts to get BARTLET re-elected four years earlier.

BRUNO (shaking hands)
Congratulations, Senator.

VINICK
Thank you, Bruno. Have a seat.

VINICK, BRUNO, and SHEILA all take a seat.

VINICK
Fifty states, huh?

BRUNO
Sound crazy to you?

VINICK
Well, it, it did get my attention.

BRUNO 
Republicans have won 49 states twice in the last 30 years, and they’ve never had anybody with as much independent and cross-party appeal as you have.

VINICK
Well, I can’t plan a 50-state campaign before I know who I’m running against.

BRUNO
Who told you that? Because if it is somebody on your campaign staff, you gotta fire that person right now. I would run you from today to Election Day without ever mentioning your opponent, this campaign should be all about you – the reasons you should be President. And those reasons are exactly where 60 percent of the voters are: pro-choice, anti-partial birth; pro-death penalty, anti-tax, pro-environment and pro-business, pro-balanced budget, and I, I could go on and on.

VINICK
Oh, please do.

BRUNO
You’re in a unique position, to run a completely positive campaign because most of the country agrees with you on most of the issues.

VINICK shifts in his seat.

BRUNO (holding up a finger)
The … the only thing you could do to ruin that now, is to pick Don Butler as your VP - 

VINICK and SHEILA exchange glances.

BRUNO
- So you tell me you’re not even thinking about that, I’ll shut up. (beat) You’ve seen the papers. Everybody says Butler’s on the short list. Every talking head on TV says that is brilliant, guarantees you a win. Which it does – but, not a big win.

VINICK
I have to reach out to the pro-life Republican base. We have to give them some reason to come to the polls. I’m never gonna be that reason.

BRUNO
There are many pro-life Republicans who are more qualified for VP than Don Butler.

VINICK (takes a breath, thinking)
What do you know about Republican politics?

BRUNO
I don’t care about Republican politics.

VINICK
Well, that I believe.

BRUNO
I don’t care about Democratic politics, either. (beat, then chuckling) Okay, I do care about the Democrats. Look … they don’t know it yet, you are the best thing to ever happen to them. You’re moving the Republicans away from the right wing. You’re not saying Democrats are not patriotic – you’re just saying that your approach is better than theirs, you are making politics a fair fight again. (pause) What … you think I’m a spy? I snuck in here, I’m trying to steer you wrong?

VINICK
The thought has crossed my mind.

BRUNO
I have spent the last 20 years ripping this country apart – finding wedge issues to separate the voters. You don’t have to do that to win. Not this time. You do this right, you can do a lot more than win. You can stop using politics to divide this country. You can show us how much we agree, instead of how much we disagree. You can put this country back together.

VINICK stares levelly back at BRUNO as his words land.

FADE OUT.
END ACT ONE.
* * *

ACT TWO

FADE IN: INT. - ROOSEVELT ROOM – DAY

WILL is complaining to CJ as they both walk through the halls and the Roosevelt Room on the way to her office.

WILL
Please, CJ, it’s a terrible idea -

CJ
It’s the President’s idea.

WILL
I can’t believe this, can’t you see this is an insult to the Vice President, to bring them into his White House?

CJ
Now it’s the Vice President’s White House?

WILL
This is the VP’s turf, he belongs here, they don’t.

CJ
The President is still the head of the party and he isn’t going to let it crash and burn on his watch.

WILL (as they enter CJ’s office)
This is his solution, a photo op?

CJ
Remind voters that we’re good at running the country, which, by the way, the Vice President has a theoretical role in – show everyone that the party isn’t in meltdown mode.

WILL
Okay – then after, Russell has to have a separate photo op alone with the President, a shot of them discussing, you know … affairs of state.

CJ
Nope. We do this the President’s way. It’ll be good for the party, good for everyone.

WILL (as they walk back out of CJ’s office)
Russell is the only one who can beat Vinick. He won twice as many states as Santos, he has the most delegates.

CJ
By a hair, and Santos has the momentum.

WILL
‘Cause he won New Jersey by one percent? Please. Russell is our best hope, he has been from the start, and he’s been a good Vice President. If the President really wants to bring the party together, then he should get behind Russell right now.

CJ
Ten a.m. tomorrow morning in the Oval.

CJ walks away leaving WILL frustrated.

CUT TO: INT. - VINICK LIMO – NIGHT

VINICK and SHEILA are in the back of the limo heading to the fundraiser.

SHEILA
Most of the donors tonight are from the pharmaceutical industry.

VINICK
You got the list?

SHEILA hands the list to him.

VINICK
I’ll give them my ‘How American Medicine Saves The World’ speech. Protect the patents, no price controls, no Canadian imports …

SHEILA
We got a lot of energy industry people tonight, too.

SHEILA’s cell phone rings, and she pulls it out to answer.

SHEILA (into phone)
Yeah? (another cell phone rings) When? (beat) Wait – hold on a second.

SHEILA hands the phone to VINICK, then pulls out a second cell phone and answers it.

SHEILA (into phone)
Hi, sweetie. (pause) Ummm, the area of a parallelogram is …

VINICK
Length times width.

SHEILA (into phone)
Length times width. (beat; then looking at VINICK) Same as a rectangle? (VINICK nods) Yes, that’s the same as a rectangle. (beat) No problem. (beat) Love you.

SHEILA hangs up the phone and puts it away as VINICK hands the first phone back to her.

SHEILA (into phone)
Okay, I’m back. (beat) Uh-huh. (pause) That’s great. (beat) Thanks.

She hangs up that phone and puts it away, then to VINICK:

SHEILA
You’re meeting with the Reverend Butler first thing in the morning.

VINICK
You think Bruno’s right? We shouldn’t put Butler on the ticket?

SHEILA
Maybe – but we need Butler one way or the other. If he’s not on the ticket, we still need a strong endorsement from him. Now, these energy types that are gonna be there tonight … obviously, they’re gonna want to hear how you’re voting on the energy deregulation bill.

VINICK
Well, it depends on what’s in it when it comes out of committee.

SHEILA
Sends a very bad message to the big contributors if you vote against it.

VINICK
Hey – if you can’t drink their booze, take their money and then vote against them, you don’t belong in this business.

SHEILA smiles and shakes her head.

CUT TO: INT. - OVAL OFFICE – DAY

RUSSELL and MATT SANTOS are sitting quietly on sofas opposite each other, the clock ticking in the background. MATT looks around furtively, then levels his gaze on RUSSELL and gives him a small nod. RUSSELL nods back. BARTLET and CJ, joined by ANNABETH, finally enter.

BARTLET
Hey – glad you could both make it.

MATT (standing with RUSSELL)
Mr. President.

RUSSELL
Mr. President.

BARTLET
Annabeth, you can bring in the thundering herd. (whispering to RUSSELL and MATT) Sit down.

ANNABETH goes to another door and ushers in a group of camera operators and photographers. Shutters click and cameras flash.

BARTLET (to MATT, shaking his hand)
It’s good to finally meet you, Congressman.

MATT
It’s an honor, Mr. President.

BARTLET
Congratulations.

MATT
Thank you, sir.

BARTLET (turning to RUSSELL, shaking his hand)
Bob, thanks for doing this.

RUSSELL
A pleasure, Mr. President.

A few more moments of shutters clicking and cameras flashing.

ANNABETH
All right, that’s it. Thank you very much.

The photographers murmur ‘Thank you’ as ANNABETH leads them back out of the Oval Office. CJ closes the door behind them, then exits into her office as BARTLET gives her a nod. BARTLET, MATT, and RUSSELL sit silently for a moment.

BARTLET
All right, listen up. This is a tough situation for you guys, I understand that. The press is geared up for its favorite blood sport – Democrats attacking each other. And I know, that’s what some people are gonna tell you to do, but we cannot allow that to happen. That’d just hand over the election to the Republicans. One of you is going to be our nominee, so I want both of you to start acting like the nominee right now. (wagging a finger) No attacks on each other.

MATT and RUSSELL exchange a look.

BARTLET (standing; MATT and RUSSELL follow)
I’m going to be watching - and if I think you’ve overstepped the line I’m going to grab the nearest microphone and say so, and don’t be surprised if I endorse the other guy while I’m at it. (beat) Are we clear?

MATT and RUSSELL
Yes, sir.

BARTLET, using his cane, walks out onto the portico as MATT and RUSSELL watch him leave.

CUT TO: INT. - VINICK’S SENATE OFFICE – DAY

VINICK and SHEILA are watching TV coverage of the Oval Office meeting. The MSNBC chyron reads ‘PRESIDENT BARTLET HOSTS DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES.’

SHEILA
Smart move.

VINICK
If one of those guys had Jed Bartlet’s political instincts, I’d be 20 points behind. (looking at a file) You read Ray Sullivan’s file yet? (SHEILA nods) Youngest US Attorney ever confirmed by the Senate. Two-term state attorney general. Highest white-collar-crime conviction rate in the state’s history.

SHEILA
How much white-collar crime is there in West Virginia?

VINICK
He had the guts to go after them, that’s what counts. Highest percentage of independents ever to vote Republican in West Virginia. He won the governorship with 62 percent of the vote.

There is a knock at the door, and VINICK’s assistant ANNIE appears.

ANNIE
Reverend Butler’s here.

SHEILA
Thank you. (door closes) I just want to be an honest broker here. That’s why I brought in Bruno. You needed to hear what he had to say. Maybe you can win 50 states his way. But if you choose Butler, you can lock in an electoral college landslide today.

VINICK
Butler would scare away any Democrats – and a lot of independents.

SHEILA
But you’d unite the Republican Party while the Democrats are falling apart.

VINICK
So you want Butler on the ticket.

SHEILA
I just want you to hear everything you should hear before you make the most important choice of your political career. Ray Sullivan is the best man. Don Butler is the best bet.

There is a pause as VINICK considers what he’s heard. Finally:

VINICK
Bring him in.

As SHEILA goes to the door to greet BUTLER, VINICK puts the Sullivan file into his desk drawer.

SHEILA (VO)
Reverend Butler. Thanks for coming in.

BUTLER enters the office, SHEILA closing the door behind him.

BUTLER
Hey, Arnie. Good to see you.

VINICK (shaking hands)
Thanks for coming by, Don, I really appreciate it. You, you know, the Secret Service has me feeling like I’m in solitary confinement.

BUTLER
You think they got a tight leash on you now, imagine what’s it’s gonna feel like when you move down the street.

VINICK
Yeah.

A slight pause.

BUTLER
I hit you pretty hard during the primaries – and I just want you to know … it was never personal. Abortion is not a political issue with me.

VINICK
I know. I respect that.

BUTLER
I’ve been thinking about how we could work around our differences, and put ‘em behind us, and head toward November together. 

VINICK
That’s funny, so have I.

There is a long pause as VINICK regards BUTLER, thinking. Finally he leans forward on his desk.

VINICK
Don, I think you can help me take the White House back for the party. You won states I never could win. And I think, in the general election, with you on the ticket -

BUTLER (holding up a hand)
Arnie … let me stop you right there. Now, I suppose I could go along with you on the environmental issues -

VINICK
We agree on oil drilling in ANWR.

BUTLER
And we could probably get closer together on trade.

VINICK (smiling)
Maybe split the difference on textile tariffs. And we could just keep talking tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts.

BUTLER (laughing)
Yeah – we’re in lockstep on that one. (pause, his face growing serious) But then we come back to abortion. And I am here to tell you, Arnie – I do not respect your position on abortion, and there’s just no way in the world I could run on a ticket with you. No way.

VINICK’s smile has disappeared.

BUTLER
Now, I wanted to be a good soldier, I wanted to help the party, I really did. I prayed on this one; prayed a lot. (shakes his head) That’s where I came out. This isn’t easy for a kid who grew up in a trailer in Appalachia, and finds himself within shouting distance of the Vice Presidency of the United States. Next in line. It’s not easy.

VINICK appears crestfallen. BUTLER sighs deeply.

BUTLER
Well … 

BUTLER nods, stands, and walks out of the office, leaving VINICK sitting behind his desk.

FADE OUT.
END ACT TWO.
* * *

ACT THREE

FADE IN: INT. - VINICK’S SENATE OFFICE – DAY

VINICK and SHEILA are discussing the disastrous meeting with BUTLER.

SHEILA
You’re kidding … did you actually offer it to him?

VINICK
I tried to.

SHEILA
And he turned it down.

VINICK
No, he cut me off, he wasn’t going to let me offer him something he would have to refuse. He’s a classy guy.

SHEILA
What about an endorsement?

VINICK
Didn’t seem like the best time to ask him for it.

ANNIE appears in the doorway behind VINICK and SHEILA.

ANNIE
Butler’s live on MSNBC.

As ANNIE goes back to the reception area, SHEILA grabs the TV remote and switches the television from C-SPAN 2 to MSNBC. We see BUTLER being interviewed by a group of reporters; the chyron reads REVEREND BUTLER WILL NOT SEEK ROLE IN VINICK WHITE HOUSE.

REPORTER 1 (on TV)
Did Senator Vinick offer you a spot on the ticket?

BUTLER (on TV)
No, he did not offer me a spot on the ticket.

As BUTLER turns to leave, the reporters shout more questions.

REPORTER 2 (on TV)
Did you discuss the Vice Presidency?

BUTLER (on TV)
Well, the reason I requested the meeting was simply to let the Senator hear directly from me that I have no interest in running for Vice President, and don’t want to be considered for the ticket.

REPORTER 1 (on TV)
Reverend Butler, would you want to be on the ticket if Senator Vinick changed his position on abortion?

BUTLER (on TV)
First of all, I’d get down on my knees and thank God for performing a miracle.

The scene shifts from VINICK’s office to the hallway where BUTLER is talking to the reporters.

BUTLER
Then I’d have 'Vote Vinick' tattooed on my forehead.

The REPORTERS laugh as BUTLER turns to leave again. Another REPORTER calls out a question.

REPORTER 3
Reverend, will you pray for him to change his mind?

BUTLER (taken aback)
Sorry … you really surprised me with that one. You know, I never heard a good idea from a reporter before. (more chuckles) Yes. Yes, I will pray for Senator Vinick - 

We return to SHEILA and VINICK watching the TV.

BUTLER (on TV)
- and he’s welcome to come down to my church any time he wants and pray with me. Now – I’ll be back in the pulpit this Sunday. And there will always be a place for the Senator in the front row. Thank you.

BUTLER walks out of the building as REPORTERS continue to shout questions.

VINICK
Great.

CUT TO: STILL VINICK’S SENATE OFFICE, A BIT LATER – DAY

VINICK is brainstorming with more of his staff.

VINICK
How do we spin this thing?

BOB
You say that you fully respect Reverend Butler’s position, that he’s not interested in VP. In fact, you just keep repeating those four words: fully respect Reverend Butler’s position.

SEAN
Five words.

BOB (giving SEAN a look)
Butler Brigade needs to keep hearing that – respect, respect, respect. Then, we hit them with, uh, some direct mail pieces about your opposition to partial-birth abortion. See how many Butler supporters we can get to vote for the lesser of two evils.

VINICK (sardonically)
Thanks.

SEAN
Are we at least gonna get Butler’s endorsement?

SHEILA
Don’t know.

SEAN
Why not accept his invitation? Go down to his church on Sunday.

VINICK
And?

SEAN
And pray for his endorsement.

SHEILA (to VINICK)
It’s a great photo op.

VINICK looks away, considering the idea uncomfortably.

CUT TO: INT. - COFFEE SHOP – DAY

BRUNO is getting a coffee as he talks with SHEILA.

BRUNO
Yeah, it’s a great photo op – but he can’t take any questions.

SHEILA (as they head into the hallway)
He always takes questions.

BRUNO (sarcastically)
I don’t know – that’s what all of us out here in the cheap seats love about him.

SHEILA
So …

BRUNO (putting sugar in his coffee)
Senator – we all know what Reverend Butler prayed for; what did you pray for? Senator – do you think Reverend Butler is wrong about abortion? Senator – will you remove opposition to abortion from the party platform? You ain’t getting any questions about how we pay for sports stadiums.

SHEILA
So, he shouldn’t go to Butler’s church?

BRUNO
You can’t play Butler. He’s not a politician.

SHEILA
Fooled me.

BRUNO
Look, all I am saying is, Butler’s gonna make a decision to endorse you and rally his troops or not … there’s nothing you can do about it.


CUT TO: INT. - VINICK’S SENATE OFFICE – DAY

VINICK is now meeting with SHEILA and BRUNO.

VINICK
So what do we do?

BRUNO
You play the game you came to play. You don’t play Butler’s game. You don’t play anybody else’s game. You do exactly what you planned to do; make a move on VP quickly, show you’re moving full speed ahead while the other side is stuck without a nominee. Who’s next on your VP list?

SHEILA
Ray Sullivan.

BRUNO
Good choice. Great resume. Crime-fighting prosecutor, budget-balancing governor.

SHEILA
And he wins West Virginia for us.

BRUNO
That, too. Get him in here today. You make the Sullivan meeting the story of the day instead of the Butler meeting.

VINICK
Sheila?

SHEILA
Works for me.

VINICK (beat)
Okay, set up the Sullivan meeting.

CUT TO: INT. - WHITE HOUSE HALLWAY – DAY

CJ and TOBY are walking and talking.

CJ
Sounds risky.

TOBY
It’s not the craziest idea the Senate Democrats have come up with.

CJ
President’s not gonna like it.

TOBY
It’s the only way we’re gonna get a vote on minimum wage this year.

CJ
Yeah, but trying to stick an amendment on the debt ceiling? Come on.

TOBY
They won’t even try it if the President says no.

CJ
When do they need an answer?

TOBY
You know, like, now.

CUT TO: INT. - OVAL OFFICE – DAY

BARTLET is meeting with LEO, TOBY, and CJ.

BARTLET
It’s way too risky.

LEO
But if the Democrats can force a vote on the amendment, it puts the Republicans in a tough spot. They don’t want to have to vote against a minimum wage increase in an election year.

TOBY
But they will.

LEO
Most of ‘em, yeah, but what does Vinick do? Terrible time for him to have to break with his party, especially now that he’s got this Butler problem to deal with.

CJ
Will he?

TOBY
Vinick’ll go where the voters are.

CJ
DNC polls show 75 percent in favor of raising minimum wage.

BARTLET
And I haven’t been able to get the working poor a raise in seven years.

LEO
Could be your last chance.

BARTLET thinks it over.

CUT TO: INT. - VINICK’S RECEPTION AREA – DAY

SHEILA is talking on the office phone while her daughter, TINA, sits on a sofa writing on a notepad.

SHEILA (into phone)
He’ll vote for the cloture motion, but that doesn’t mean he’s gonna vote against the minimum wage if it comes to a vote. (beat) Okay.

SHEILA hangs up the phone and comes over to TINA, crouching down next to her.

SHEILA
I know I said we’d get there early, but …

TINA
I want to see batting practice.

SHEILA
I know. A couple of things have come up. You just hang on.

SHEILA stands and goes into VINICK’s office, where he is on the phone.

VINICK (into phone)
Okay, George, thank you. (beat) I really appreciate it. (beat) Good. (hangs up)

SHEILA
You have to go vote.

VINICK
On what?

SHEILA
Cloture motion. Democrats are trying to stick a minimum wage amendment on the debt ceiling.

VINICK (throwing down his pen)
Cheap stunt. What, what are they gonna do? Not raise the debt ceiling if we don’t raise the minimum wage?

SHEILA
It’s a game of chicken now.

VINICK (testily)
Couldn’t be more reckless. (standing and grabbing his suit jacket) If they don’t pass the debt ceiling, we’re gonna have a lot more poor people in this country. Don’t they know what a depression looks like? The minimum wage would be the maximum wage.

SHEILA
This is aimed at you. They’re trying to separate you from the party.

VINICK (walking out into the reception area)
Seems to be getting easier every day. (seeing TINA) Hey, look who’s here!

TINA
Hey, Senator.

VINICK
I’m counting on you, big time.

TINA
I can’t vote, you know.

VINICK
I’m counting on your mother to vote for me, I’m counting on you to catch me a foul ball tonight.

TINA
No way. If I catch one, I’m keeping it.

SHEILA
She can’t give it to you, that’s a violation of Senate gift rules. Now we gotta go, right now.

VINICK
See you later, Tina.

TINA
Bye, Senator.

SHEILA (to TINA, as she and VINICK head to the exit)
We’ll be right back, it’s just a quick vote. (to VINICK) We got to get past the press as fast as we can – no Butler questions.

VINICK
Okay.

SHEILA opens the door and they encounter a horde of REPORTERS and photographers in the hallway, who begin shouting for VINICK’s attention.

SHEILA
Sorry, guys, he’s got no time -

REPORTER 1
Senator, were you surprised at Reverend Butler’s invitation -

VINICK
Sorry, guys. I gotta go vote.

REPORTER 1
Are you going to accept his, ah, invitation?

VINICK
I’m sorry, I really have to go.

REPORTER 2
Are you going to accept his invitation to come to his church this Sunday?

VINICK
Uh, I, I, I think I’m gonna – I have some TV commitments that day I think -

REPORTER 3
Meet The Press is more important than going to Reverend Butler’s church?

VINICK
Look, I’m, I - 

SHEILA’s face is frozen as she realizes VINICK has given in to his inability to ignore press questions.

VINICK
- I really don’t, I don’t know what my schedule is on, on Sunday, sorry about that -

SHEILA (to a security man)
Get us out of here.

REPORTER 3
Are you going to another church on Sunday?

VINICK (as the security man strides past him and begins clearing a path)
Look, I, I don’t mean -

REPORTER 2
Do you think that doing Sunday morning TV shows is more important than going to church?

VINICK
Look, listen -

REPORTER 1
Where do you go to church, Senator?

VINICK finally breaks free of the REPORTERS, still shouting questions; his face showing his frustration as SHEILA impassively follows him.

FADE OUT.
END ACT THREE.
* * *

ACT FOUR

FADE IN: INT. - VINICK’S OFFICE RECEPTION AREA – DAY

We see a TV on a table, with cable news coverage of VINICK’s press gaggle. Two talking heads are on the screen, a MIKE RUCKER and a PAUL MEYER. The chryon reads SENATOR VINICK REFUSES RELIGIOUS QUESTIONS. MEYER is talking.

MEYER (on TV)
No, Mike, no one saw this coming. Vinick went from the candidate who easily answered any question to being the guy who won’t even tell us if he goes to church.

The audio from the TV continues under as VINICK and SHEILA walk into the reception area. TINA is still there, sitting on the floor, doing her homework on the coffee table.

VINICK
Let’s round up the troops.

TINA (as they walk past)
Senator, do you go to church?

VINICK and SHEILA stop.

SHEILA
Honey, we’re kind of busy right now.

VINICK
Yeah, we gotta get you to that game, right?

TINA (disappointed)
I didn’t really expect to see batting practice.

VINICK walks over to sit in the chair next to TINA.

VINICK
I haven’t gone to church for a while. 

TINA
I think you should.

VINICK
Yeah.

TINA
Unless you don’t believe in God. My best friend Maggie doesn’t believe in God because her parents don’t believe in God. But she still comes to our church on Christmas Eve to see the Nativity play, because I’m always in it and she’s my best friend.

VINICK pauses, then smiles.

VINICK
I got to get back to work.

VINICK stands and heads into his office as SHEILA smiles at TINA.

SHEILA
Hang in there, honey.

VINICK and SHEILA walk into VINICK’s office, where BOB, SEAN, and BRUNO wait to meet them.

BOB
All right, just so you know, our polling shows that if you were to, uh – revise your position on abortion, you would, uh …

VINICK
Flip-flop on abortion?

BOB
You would take 51 to 53 percent of the vote and have a pretty comfortable cushion in the electoral college.

VINICK
Oh … thanks, Bob, I, I, that’s very helpful -

BOB
Just thought you should know.

SEAN
Look, we just need one shot of you walking into a church on Sunday, and we can put this whole church thing behind us.

BRUNO
Won’t work. If you go to church, the press is gonna ask you why you didn’t go to Butler’s church. Then they’re gonna ask you when was the last time you went to church. I’m guessing – wasn’t last week.

VINICK
Been a while.

VINICK sits at his desk, leaning back and rubbing his face. The staffers look at each other.

SHEILA
How long?

VINICK
Counting weddings and funerals?

SHEILA
Okay, everybody … Governor Sullivan is gonna be here any minute. Let’s clear out.

BOB, SEAN and BRUNO leave, closing the door. SHEILA slowly walks to the chair by VINICK’s desk and sits.

SHEILA
Has it been years?

VINICK
You know where I am Sunday mornings? I’m in here, or at home doing my job. Doing what I promised the people of California I would do … I’m, giving every minute I can.

SHEILA
How many years?

VINICK
I don’t know. (beat) I used to go with my wife every Sunday I was in California. Then when she got too sick to go, I stayed home with her. (pause) And after her funeral, I didn’t want to go into that church again.

SHEILA
So … about five or six years.

VINICK
I’m not the only Senator who doesn’t go to church.

SHEILA
You’re not just a Senator any more.

The phone rings as VINICK reacts in exasperation. SHEILA picks up the phone.

SHEILA (into phone)
Yeah. (beat) Okay, put him through. (to VINICK) It’s Royce.

VINICK waves SHEILA off.

SHEILA (into phone)
Yes, Mr. Leader. (pause) I understand. (pause) Yes, he can handle that. (beat) I’ll get him over there right away.

SHEILA hangs up as VINICK leans forward in curiosity.

SHEILA
He wants you to go see the President.

ANNIE knocks at the door and opens it.

ANNIE
Governor Sullivan is here.

SHEILA
Thank you.

ANNIE exits, closing the door.

SHEILA
Royce is afraid they’re not going to pass the debt ceiling bill in time. He wants you to work out a deal with the President on a minimum wage, so the Democrats will let us pass the debt ceiling before midnight. So, five minutes with the governor - then the Secret Service is gonna run you down to the White House.

VINICK
Okay.

SHEILA heads to the door and opens it as VINICK stands.

SHEILA
Governor Sullivan.

GOVERNOR RAY SULLIVAN
Sheila.

SULLIVAN enters the office.

VINICK
Hey, Ray. Great to see you again.

SULLIVAN (shaking hands)
Good to see you, Arnie.

VINICK
Have a seat, please.

SULLIVAN (sitting)
Thank you.

VINICK (sitting next to SULLIVAN)
Sorry, I gotta make this quick. The Democrats are jamming us up with an important vote, and I’ve gotta run over to the President and straighten it out.

SULLIVAN
Governing before politics, that’s my motto.

VINICK
Really?

SULLIVAN (as they both chuckle)
No, I’m just kidding. Come on, loosen up, Arnie. (sigh) Everyone on TV tonight is saying that this meeting – is about the Vice Presidency.

VINICK
Well, they’re right, for once.

SULLIVAN
Did you offer it to Butler?

VINICK
No.

SULLIVAN
Good. ‘Cause I don’t wanna be anybody’s second choice.

VINICK
I’ve guess you’ve seen this problem develop today about my going to church.

SULLIVAN
You mean not going to church.

VINICK
Yeah.

SULLIVAN
That’s all right. I go enough for both of us.

VINICK (beat)
I’ve been reading about your, your positions on a lot of things,but – there are some environmental issues you haven’t had to deal with in West Virginia -

SULLIVAN
Here’s the deal with the issues, Arnie … I can get in line with you on everything except abortion. Nothing’s gonna make me change my mind on that … but I’m guessing you wouldn’t want me to.

A small smile appears on VINICK’s face.

CUT TO: EXT. - WHITE HOUSE – NIGHT

VINICK gets out of an SUV and heads into the West Wing. We see him walking through the foyer, accompanied by Secret Service agents and security personnel.

CUT TO: INT. - TOBY’S OFFICE – NIGHT

CHARLIE comes into TOBY’s office.

CHARLIE
Toby, do you have a copy of the - ?

CHARLIE trails off as TOBY stands staring out his office window. They watch VINICK walks down the hallway outside the Communications bullpen. TOBY and CHARLIE exchange a look. As VINICK continues toward the Oval Office, we see ANNABETH in the doorway of the Roosevelt Room watching him go past. Finally VINICK encounters CJ, standing outside the Oval.

CJ
The President’s waiting for you, Senator.

There’s a knock on the door, and VINICK goes inside the Oval Office. The Secret Service agents close the door and stand watch outside. CJ walks away, glancing back at the door as she goes.

CUT TO: INT. – OVAL OFFICE – NIGHT

BARTLET and VINICK are moving to take their seats on the sofas facing each other.

VINICK
Mr. President, I’d hate to think that you were consulted by Democrats on the Hill about doing something as irresponsible as playing games with the debt ceiling.

BARTLET (staring levelly at VINICK)
Have a seat.

VINICK (sitting)
But I’d like to think they’d follow your leadership – if we could agree on a way out of this mess.

BARTLET
You came to the right place.

VINICK
Good. What did you have in mind?

BARTLET
Democrats withdraw the minimum wage amendment from the debt ceiling bill. You pass the bill – then you give them a vote on the minimum wage. 

VINICK
You’ll lose a vote on the minimum wage.

BARTLET
We might be able to shame enough Republicans into doing the right thing in an election year.

VINICK
How about you withdraw the minimum wage amendment – we pass the debt ceiling clean – then I round up enough Republican votes to pass the minimum wage increase.

BARTLET
You can get that doen?

VINICK
We have Republican Senators in seven states with higher minimum wages than the federal level. California, it’s a buck-fifty higher. We don’t want jobs moving to lower-wage states. I can get you the votes.

BARTLET
What do you want from me?

VINICK
I announce the deal.

BARTLET (chuckles)
I know a few Democratic candidates for President who wouldn’t be happy watching you take credit for this.

VINICK
Well, then, let them pass the debt ceiling for you and get you the minimum wage increase.

BARTLET
Anything else?

VINICK
Help me keep a secret.

BARTLET
What’s that?

VINICK
That I just gave you more than you asked for. (beat) Let me hang around for a while – as if we’re, you know, really slugging it out in here.

BARTLET
Can I get you anything?

VINICK
Where’s the ice cream?

CUT TO: INT. - WHITE HOUSE KITCHEN – NIGHT

As the camera pans through the empty kitchen, with its ovens and food racks and plates, we hear VINICK and BARTLET talking. Eventually we see them sitting at a metal table next to the freezers, eating ice cream out of a variety of three-gallon containers in front of them.

VINICK
I think I could live on coffee ice cream.

BARTLET
Hardest thing about this job is knowing this stash is down here 24 hours a day.

VINICK
How’s your health?

BARTLET
Good days and bad days. Good days aren’t as good as they used to be. Kind of like, a speeded-up version of aging. You’ve had better days, huh?

VINICK
Yeah. Whatever happened to separation of church of state?

BARTLET
It’s hanging in there … but I’m afraid the Constitution doesn’t say anything about the separation of church and politics.

VINICK
You saying that’s a good thing?

BARTLET
I’m saying it’s the way it is – always has been.

VINICK
You think the voter really needs to know if I go to church?

BARTLET
I don’t need to know, but then I’m not gonna vote for you anyway. (beat) It’s not up to us to decide what the voters get to use in evaluating us.

VINICK
A little odd, coming from someone – who wasn’t exactly completely open about his health.

BARTLET
That was a big mistake.

VINICK
Was it? What did we know about Lincoln’s health, when he was running? Nothing. (beat) Washington, Jefferson … what about FDR’s health? And when he died in office, did people say, ‘Gee, why didn’t he tell us he was sick?’ No. Did they say, ‘I wish I didn’t vote for him’? No.

BARTLET
I don’t know how you plan to handle this religious thing in the campaign.

VINICK
Yeah, well, that makes two of us.

BARTLET
I could find a way to let it slip that I think a candidate’s religion or how often he goes to church is not relevant to choosing a President.

VINICK
You’re going to say that on the way into church? 

BARTLET
Are you accusing me of politicizing churchgoing?

VINICK
You’ve had an awful lot of photo ops on the church steps.

BARTLET
I went to Mass every Sunday long before I went into politics.

VINICK
I did, too.

BARTLET
Why’d you stop?

VINICK (pause, considering)
One Christmas, my wife gave me a very old edition of the King James Bible … 17th century. It was, it was a real find for a book collector. It was, it was a thrill just to hold it. Then I read it.

BARTLET (chuckling)
You can’t take it literally.

VINICK
Yeah, well, that’s what my priest friends kept telling me. But the more I read it, the less I could believe. I could not believe there was a God who said that the penalty for working on the Sabbath was death. (beat) I couldn’t believe there was a God who said the penalty for adultery was death.

BARTLET
I’m more of a New Testament man myself.

VINICK
I couldn’t believe that there was a God who had no penalty for slavery. The Bible has no problem with slavery at all. (beat) Lincoln could’ve used a little help from the Bible.

BARTLET (getting up to go to the freezer)
You think Lincoln was an atheist?

VINICK
I hope not. That would mean all those references to God were just purely political.

BARTLET (returning with another container of ice cream)
He didn’t make any until he started running for office.

VINICK
No – and he certainly was a doubter.

BARTLET
What about you?

VINICK (beat)
You gonna try to save my soul?

BARTLET
Sorry.

VINICK
Let’s just say I struggled for a long time with that book – and then finally, I just gave up the struggle.

BARTLET
The only thing you can pray for in this job is the, strength to get through the day. You can try coffee if you want, but – prayer works better for me. (pushing the new container towards VINICK) Try the pistachio.

VINICK digs his spoon into the ice cream.

CUT TO: EXT. - WHITE HOUSE – NIGHT

VINICK is talking with a group of reporters and camera operators on the White House lawn.

VINICK
Yes, we have reached an agreement on the debt ceiling bill. We will pass it within the hour and send it to the President for his signature before midnight.

REPORTER 1
What about the minimum wage amendment?

VINICK
We’ve agreed to have a separate vote on the minimum wage increase tomorrow.

REPORTER 2
Is it going to pass?

VINICK
Yes, it will. I’ll vote for it and I guarantee you there’ll be more than enough bipartisan support to pass it.

REPORTER 1
Senator, are you going to reconsider Reverend Butler’s invitation to his church this weekend?

VINICK
I fully support Reverend Butler’s position. (beat) I mean, I appreciate his invitation, and, uh …

There is a long pause as VINICK thinks.

VINICK
Look … I respect Reverend Butler. And I respect his church too much to use it for my own political purposes. And that’s exactly what I’d be doing if I went down there this Sunday.

CUT TO: INT. - BUTLER’S HOME – NIGHT

BUTLER is watching TV coverage of VINICK’s White House press conference. The chyron reads SENATOR VINICK STRIKES MINIMUM WAGE DEAL WITH WHITE HOUSE.

VINICK (on TV)
Because the truth is it would just be an act of political phoniness. I may be wrong, but I, I suspect our churches already have enough political phonies in them.

BUTLER watches the TV, his brow furrowed.

REPORTER (on TV)
Senator, do you or do you not -

VINICK (on TV)
I don’t see how we can have a separation of church and state in this government if you have to pass a religious test -

Now we back outside the White House with VINICK and the reporters.

VINICK
- to get in this government. And I want to warn everyone in the press and all the voters out there … if you demand expressions of religious faith from politicians, you are just begging to be lied to.

Back to the TV in BUTLER’s house.

VINICK (on TV)
They won’t all lie to you, but a lot of them will – and it’ll be the easiest lie they ever had to tell to get your votes.

Back to outside the White House.

VINICK
So, every day until the end of this campaign – I’ll answer any question anyone has on government. But if you have, you have a question on religion, please, go to church. Thank you.

VINICK turns to leave, the reporters shouting after him. We see a shot of BARTLET watching the coverage on TV, looking pleased. He picks up the remote and turns off the television.

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

The West Wing and all its characters are properties of Aaron Sorkin, John Wells Productions, Warner Brothers Television, and NBC. No copyright infringement is intended.

The West Wing Transcript
Episode 6x20 – In God We Trust
Original Airdate: March 23, 2005 

WEST WING TRANSCRIPT: Season Six - Ninety Miles Away (S6E19)

THE WEST WING
6x19 - “NINETY MILES AWAY”
WRITTEN BY JOHN SACRET YOUNG
DIRECTED BY ROD HOLCOMB

Transcribed by Walking, Talking, And Yelling At Clouds
(kegofglory.blogspot.com)

Link To My Blog Entry For This Episode

TEASER

NINETY MILES AWAY

MONDAY MORNING

FADE IN: INT. - LEO’S OFFICE – NIGHT

It is still dark. Snowflakes fly outside. LEO walks into his office, turns on a light, sits at the desk and picks up the phone. He dials a long string of numbers. 

LEO (as the call is answered)
Jorge, por favor. (pause) Ah, canceladas. (beat) Por ahora, no? (pause) Y esto esta conectado con este rumor?

We see BARTLET slowly walking down the hall, using his cane.

LEO (VO)
Que mierda, Jorge. (beat) No se, no se. (beat) No quiero perder esta oportunidad. (beat) Inventaremos algo, okay?

CUT TO: LEO on the phone.

LEO (into phone)
Gracias, Jorge. (pause) Hasta luego.

[TRANSLATION OF LEO’S CALL:

Jorge, please … Ah, canceled … Not for now? … And this is connected to this rumor? … What the hell, Jorge … I don’t know, I don’t know … I don’t want to lose this opportunity … We’ll come up with something, okay? … Thanks, Jorge … See you later.]

LEO sits back thoughtfully in his chair. He looks at his whiteboard, with ‘330’ written at the top. He stands and walks to the whiteboard, erasing the number as BARTLET appears in his doorway.

BARTLET
Leo, you know what time it is?

LEO (as he replaces ‘330’ with ‘329’)
Good morning, Mr. President.

BARTLET
I’ll be the judge of that. It’s a little after 5 am. (sitting) 5:13, to be precise.

LEO
It wasn’t my favorite thing calling you.

BARTLET (grabbing a book from a pile on Leo’s end table)
Yeah, I had to run the gauntlet upstairs.

LEO
That can be special.

BARTLET (reading)
‘The world breaks everyone and afterwards many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially.’ When he was good, he was very, very good, and when he was bad, he was horrible -

LEO
Hemingway was a monster. He hated his mother, treated four wives miserably, trashed his friends, grew paranoid, had breakdowns, and like his father, killed himself.

BARTLET
Well, aside from all that, why are you harassing me at 5:13 am?

LEO
I’ve been on the phone. There’s a rumor about Castro.

BARTLET
There’s always rumors about him.

LEO
And at some point, they’ll be true. We’ve been laying groundwork and making progress – slow, granted -

BARTLET
A year, but who’s counting?

LEO
But if the talks we’ve cobbled together with Cuba blow up, and this (referring to the whiteboard) number reaches zero, and we’ve got nothing to show for it but -

BARTLET
And for this, you’re reading Hemingway again?

LEO
It’s been ten years.

BARTLET
I remember. In 30 days, you read the complete works of.

LEO
It was hot. It was dry. I had time on my hands. Changed my life, well … not Hemingway, exactly.

BARTLET
Sierra Tucson can do that.

LEO
Sir … I’ve got an idea.

CROSSFADE TO: INT. - OUTSIDE LEO’S OFFICE – LATER THAT MORNING

MARGARET comes to LEO’s door to find the office empty. She turns to CHARLIE outside the Communications bullpen.

MARGARET
Charlie – have you seen Leo?

CHARLIE
He’s gone.

MARGARET
Gone?

CHARLIE (as they both walk towards the foyer)
I saw him packing up when I came in a couple of hours ago.

MARGARET
That would be night.

CHARLIE
Yeah, it was still dark out.

CUT TO: INT. - HEMINGWAY HOUSE IN CUBA – DAY

A man opens the door to allow LEO to step inside.

LEO
Muchas gracias.

As LEO walks up the steps, he meets a MAN inside.

MAN
Senor McGarry - you made it successfully. (they shake hands) How was your trip?

LEO
The boat ride wasn’t a lot of fun.

MAN
Ah, the weather. It’s been bad.

LEO
Seemed like a good idea at the time.

MAN
Bienvenido. Please, enter la finca de Senor Ernesto Hemingway.

LEO
Gracias.

The two walk through the corridor of the mansion.

CUT TO: INT. - OVAL OFFICE – DAY

BARTLET is working at his desk, DEBBIE next to him. CJ and CHARLIE enter from her office. As they do, both BARTLET and DEBBIE check their watches.

CJ
Mr. President -

BARTLET
7:53.

DEBBIE
7:49.

BARTLET
It’s 7:53, and I had 7:53.

DEBBIE
It doesn’t reflect kindly, sir, if I may say so, to what looks nothing so much like trying to welsh on a bet.

CJ
Mr. President, you requested the EPA’s ozone standard report. I know Leo had it, but -

BARTLET
We’ve been expecting you. I had 7:53, and Debbie’s watch stopped.

CJ (beat)
Sir?

BARTLET
Just a small wager about how long it would take before someone came to inquire about where Leo might be.

CJ
I don’t understand.

BARTLET
Who knew he was such an Ernest Hemingway fan that he’d drop everything and go and visit Hemingway’s house?

CHARLIE
The one in Idaho or the one with the six-toed cats in Key West?

BARTLET
Good question, Charles Young. You know, I forgot to ask.

CUT TO: INT. - HEMINGWAY HOUSE IN CUBA – DAY

The MAN leads LEO through the house.

LEO 
Me da mucho guo estar aqui, especialmente en esta casa. [I’m glad to be here, especially in this house.]

MAN
Esta muy necesitada de un buen retoque. [It’s starting to sorely need attention.]

LEO
A lo mejor podriamos ayudar en eso. [Maybe we could offer some help with that.]

MAN
Creo que tenemos apurarnos. [I think we should hurry.]

LEO
Por eso es que estoy aqui. [That’s why I’m here.]

The MAN leads LEO around some corners and down a few steps. LEO stops as he sees who is sitting in a chair waiting for him.

MAN IN CHAIR
You admire Ernesto?

LEO
Very much. His writing. The best of it.

MAN
Senor McGarry, le presento al Presidente de Cuba.

And now we see the man in the shadows waiting for LEO is Fidel Castro himself.

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

ACT ONE

FADE IN: INT. - WHITE HOUSE HALLWAY – DAY

As CJ exits the Mural Room, CHARLIE is there to meet her as they walk.

CHARLIE
The bug people are coming today.

CJ
How about ‘Good morning? Coffee? Eggs over easy?’

TUESDAY MORNING

CHARLIE
Seems there’s a suspicion there may be termites.

CJ
This is a revelation.

CHARLIE
In the White House.

CJ
Hold the eggs.

CHARLIE
Two companies want to do some tests. It could be some kind of ant as well – carpenter ant, maybe – and there’s fear it might be related to the outbreak of the woolly adelgid.

CJ
The woolly what?

CHARLIE
They’ve been attacking hemlocks in the Smoky Mountains and across Virginia … and they’re closing in.

CJ
You’re making this up.

CHARLIE
You gave me the briefing book! What do you think, the Roosevelt or the Mural Room?

CJ
Are these people coming here to sit and talk?

CHARLIE
Well, they may have to munch around a bit.

CJ
Munch? Just, keep them far away from me, thank you.

CHARLIE
They do handle a very large constituency.

CJ
You mean a small constituency.

CHARLIE
Well, size doesn’t count.

CJ (as they’ve reached LEO’s office)
Changing the subject right now – any word from Leo?

CHARLIE
Still in Hemingwayville, as far as I know.

CJ
Did you know he even read Hemingway?

CHARLIE
History, books about fishing, thrillers, Graham Greene, Charles McCarry …

CJ
But you never saw him reading Hemingway?

CHARLIE
Can’t say I did.

CHARLIE walks away as CJ looks around LEO’s office.

CUT TO: INT. - SITUATION ROOM – DAY

Some intelligence officers sit around the desk, including CIA DIRECTOR ROLLIE, as KATE comes into the room.

ROLLIE
He is 79 years old, so it could be true.

KATE
Where’s the report come from?

ROLLIE
Miami.

KATE
Miami. Well, that’s reliable. 

CJ enters the room.

KATE
CJ, a report’s come in the last hour that Fidel Castro’s seriously ill.

CJ
Has it been verified?

ROLLIE
No, we have nothing firm yet.

KATE
It’s from Miami.

CJ
So it could be accurate, it could be wishful thinking.

KATE
There’s a lot of Chicken Little down there, or it could be the cover for something else. There’s a history of everything, from assassination attempts and psy ops forays to invasion plans.

CJ (looking at ROLLIE)
I thought all that had stopped.

ROLLIE
The CIA did -

KATE
Yeah.

ROLLIE
We’re talking years, decades back.

KATE
Wasn’t that long ago.

CJ
How long before you can nail down the information?

ROLLIE
Well, there’s a rabid Cuban-American community that could be involved, old zealots, young hotheads, and a ton of agencies – FBI, DEA, NSA, NIA, INS - 

CJ
Which doesn’t answer my question.

KATE
We may never get a straight answer – Miami, South Florida, South Florida, Miami … it’s Chinatown.

CJ
I don’t care. Pin it down.

CJ exits as KATE looks over her paperwork.

CUT TO: INT. - OUTER OVAL OFFICE – DAY

BARTLET is talking with DEBBIE as CJ comes out of the Oval Office.

BARTLET
By the way, I haven’t collected my winnings yet.

DEBBIE
Excuse me, sir -

CJ
Mr. President?

DEBBIE
- I think that would be my winnings.

CJ
Sir, there’s a rumor about Castro.

BARTLET
Debbie, let’s pull up the drawbridge for a couple of minutes.

DEBBIE
I’ll sound the trumpets, alert the gatekeeper, and I think – get the federal government to attach your wages.

BARTLET (as he closes the door behind him and CJ)
Believe me, they already do. 

CUT TO: INT. - OVAL OFFICE – DAY - CONTINUOUS

BARTLET
Castro’s always dying. He’s dying from hypochondria, or the exiles are trying to kill him, (lighting the fireplace) or the CIA’s trying to kill him. You know, he collapsed a couple of years ago – same thing, endless rumors. Then he reappears in fresh fatigues, trimmed beard, and launches into a speech of such length and intensity, it would’ve put away William Jennings Bryan.

CJ
NSA seems to think even if it is a false alarm, it may be significant.

BARTLET
That’s kind of what Leo said.

CJ
Why am I, suddenly getting the feeling that there’s something going on with Leo besides Ernest Hemingway?

BARTLET (beat)
My apologies, CJ. Look, before you were Chief of Staff, we began secret exploratory meetings in Canada with representatives of the Cuban government.

CJ
Leo’s gone to Canada?

BARTLET
Actually, no. Cuba.

CJ
With perhaps a thermometer and a stethoscope?

BARTLET
And an offer. A new deal.

CJ
And what does he say?

BARTLET
I’m waiting to find out.

CJ
And when you find out, is it your plan to tell the rest of us who try and help you two run this place?

BARTLET regards CJ, a slight smile on his face.

BARTLET
Hmm. One night in 1961, shortly after the Bay of Pigs fiasco, President John F. Kennedy sent Pierre Salinger out on a mission – come back with a thousand Cuban cigars by morning. Petit Upmanns is what the President smoked, and before 8 am the following morning, Salinger had managed to corral 1200 of them. JFK smiled, thanked him, lit one up – then he opened his desk drawer and pulled out a long piece of paper, which he signed immediately. It was a decree banning all Cuban products from the United States, and ever since then, we’ve had an embargo against that mosquito of an island 90 miles away which has never worked, while long before we threw out our anachronistic policies towards Russia and China that are thousands of miles away and far more complex.

CJ
If these meetings become public the reaction in the Cuban-American community and on the right will be ferocious.

BARTLET
If the Cuban government makes certain accommodations before that -

CJ
The Florida primaries are right around the corner, this comes out, sir -

BARTLET
Heh, this comes out, we can bring out the shovels and bury the Democratic candidates in that little fiesta.

CJ
You sure the country’s ready for this?

BARTLET (beat)
Who knows who’s gonna be sitting here next? Who knows what’s gonna happen after Castro? All I know for sure is there’s a moment here, and before I’m gone and he’s gone – I am not going to let it pass.

CUT TO: INT. - WHITE HOUSE HALLWAY – DAY

CLIFF is walking past the Communications bullpen and CJ comes out another door and joins him.

CJ
Oh, what a beautiful morning, oh, what a beautiful day.

CLIFF
You wanted to see me?

CJ
I find that highly improbable.

CLIFF
Been here three weeks. Bring me in, coach.

CJ
All right, sport. You know Senator Rafe Framhagen?

CLIFF
I don’t like this already.

CJ
He called the President and then Leo and then me, and guess what that means. 

CLIFF
None of you wanted to talk to him, which leaves me.

CJ (as they reach her office)
See? You do know the Senator.

CLIFF
What’s not to know? Brilliant, bilious, impossible. Fires staffers for putting paper clips backwards on briefs.

CJ
Which way on a paper clip is backwards?

CLIFF
And that one other thing.

CJ
I’ve heard. Practically day and night.

CLIFF
A wooden leg. Passes out in his car, though, they say.

CJ
There you are, your assignment. Godspeed and l’chaim.

CLIFF nods, stands and exits.

CUT TO: INT. - MURAL ROOM – DAY

An exterminator, CYRUS YOLANDER, is searching around the walls with a flashlight as CHARLIE watches.

YOLANDER
Oh, yeah, you’ve got all the indications all right.

CHARLIE
Indications of what? 

YOLANDER
Subterranean termites. You know, these fellows outnumber us a thousand to one. Pile all them up, and all us up – ten times the weight of all the folks in the world. Probably swarmed in through a crack I saw in the foundation. There was some damage under a window.

CHARLIE
Swarmed? What window?

YOLANDER
Window near that weird round room, looks over the Rose Garden.

CHARLIE
The Oval Office?

YOLANDER
Man – people appeared from every which way. Never seen such a thing. (reaching in to scrape part of the wall) Maybe some evidence here.

CHARLIE
Hey, that’s a 200-year-old mural!

YOLANDER (looking around the room)
Oh, yeah. How many rooms you got here?

CHARLIE
One hundred and thirty-five.

YOLANDER
Whew, I better get on it, this might take a while.

CHARLIE
If you don’t find more trouble, what do you plan to do?

YOLANDER
Sentricon Termite Colony Elimination System should do the trick.

CHARLIE
What does that involve?

YOLANDER
Dig some holes – install some stations – drop in a few grams of Recruit II … and wait.

YOLANDER grabs his bag and heads out, revving up his drill.

CHARLIE (following)
Okay, hold on a second. I’m coming with you.

CUT TO: INT. - SENATOR FRAMHAGEN’S OFFICE – DAY

CLIFF peers through the door and sees SEN. FRAMHAGEN sleeping at his desk, as his RECEPTIONIST stirs him awake.

RECEPTIONIST (VO, whispering)
Mr. Senator, Cliff Calley is here.

The RECEPTIONIST steps out to the outer office.

RECEPTIONIST (to CLIFF)
The Senator will see you now.

CLIFF stands, sighing, and enters, knocking at the door.

FRAMHAGEN
Yeah, come on in, son, what are you drinking?

CLIFF
Diet Coke’ll be fine.

FRAMHAGEN (chuckling)
Diet Coke. Oh, that’s a Georgia drink. In Florida we drink orange juice. Fresh, shipped up every week. Vitamin C. We can inject it with something, if you like.

CLIFF (chuckling)
No.

FRAMHAGEN
So they sent you, did they?

CLIFF
I have that privilege, Senator.

FRAMHAGEN
I remember you. Yeah, we breed lawyers around here like minks, except we can’t wear you in the wintertime. (as a woman enters with a glass of orange juice) Well, here’s Linda Lee. Do me a favor, darling, would you freshen mine up, too?

The woman takes FRAMHAGEN’s glass and exits.

FRAMHAGEN
That is a sashaying piece of pulchritude, isn’t it? Well, uh … some people say that beauty and brains don’t go together. Well – I’m talking smart pulchritude around here. You know why you’re here, don’t you?

CLIFF
There’s the water table in the Everglades, the, the hurricane damage on the Gulf -

FRAMHAGEN
They didn’t tell you.

CLIFF
I’m sorry, sir?

FRAMHAGEN
Of course not. Send ignorance to combat truth, huh? All right – well, you go back over there, you – you tell those people, those people the Senator so graciously tried to call, who didn’t bother to call the Senator back – you tell them, that I’ve heard it, too. The rumor.

CLIFF
What rumor?

FRAMHAGEN
That Castro thing. And somebody knowledgeable better come see me right quick. Hey, when Leo was Chief of Staff, I could heckle him a little. We used to bend our elbows together right in this room … down home, back when. Now he’s gone. Probably only that NSA gal, huh?

CLIFF
Gal?

FRAMHAGEN
You like repeating things, son?

CLIFF
I seem to be getting good at it.

FRAMHAGEN
Yeah - yeah, you go back a couple of years, get her out of those power suits, back into the Sunshine State – there’d be some serious pulchritude. She’s a buttoned-up babe now.

CLIFF
Babe?

FRAMHAGEN
I’ll bet she knows what’s going on.

CLIFF
You mean Kate Harper.

FRAMHAGEN
Just a warning shot across the bow. If some heroic new Cuban agenda is being contemplated by the Bartlet administration, it’s gonna backfire. The House may have that bill that waters down the embargo, but my Cuban-American constituents are just gonna raise bloody hell over that bill with Democrat candidates – and no such bill is ever gonna see the light of day out of my Commerce committee. Now, did you get that, son? Or do you want to repeat some of it?

CLIFF stands silently and walks out of the office.

FADE OUT.
END ACT ONE.
* * *

ACT TWO

A shot of the White House, snow on the ground, the wind blowing.

FADE IN: INT. - CJ’S OFFICE - DAY 

MARGARET ushers CLIFF into CJ’s office.

MARGARET
CJ – Cliff’s here?

CJ (sighs)
Yeah.

CLIFF (entering, sarcastically)
What’s next, boss, that was so much fun.

CJ
You saw the Senator?

CLIFF
I’m full of Vitamin C.

CJ
Nothing stronger … ?

CLIFF
I think his orange juice was spiked.

CJ
What’d he want?

CLIFF
I’m not really sure.

CJ
You’re not really sure?

CLIFF
This repeating thing must be contagious. (beat) Look, I assumed it was going to be an infamous doddery Senator who’d run out of paper clips, but it seemed to be about Fidel Castro.

CJ (looking up)
You got my attention.

CLIFF
A rumor about his -

CJ
Health. Whether he’s alive or dead.

CLIFF
I gather he was wondering if the White House was behind it, or part of it, or up to something.

CJ
What is this city? Just one big game of Telephone?

CLIFF
Is there anything I should know?

CJ
There’s a rumor about Fidel Castro’s health.

CLIFF
Yeah. One other odd thing … he suggested I talk to Kate Harper.

CJ
Well, she’s the Deputy National Security Advisor.

CLIFF
I don’t think that’s it.

CJ
Why’s that?

CLIFF
I can’t exactly put my finger on it. The Senator just sort of indicated between refills something other than that. More.

CJ stands and goes to the door.

CJ
Margaret, get me Kate Harper.

CLIFF (as CJ returns to her desk)
Let me guess, then – back to the bench for me?

CJ
This is disgraceful, I’m actually starting to like you.

CLIFF turns and walks out of the office, crossing paths with MARGARET in the doorway.

MARGARET (to CJ)
She’s gone for the day.

CJ looks up, somewhat surprised.

CUT TO: INT. - PRESS BRIEFING ROOM – DAY

TOBY is dealing with a raucous press corps shouting questions.

MARK (VO)
Does the White House have specific knowledge about Mr. Castro’s health?

TOBY
The last time the White House had firsthand knowledge of Mr. Castro’s health was 1959.

MARK (VO)
But we’re hearing that he canceled a rally to denounce the US on Malecon Boulevard, and that several posters of the Cuban President have been removed from the capital.

TOBY
Well, that could mean he’s dead. Or it could mean the Communist government took down some Castro posters and plans to replace them with more flattering photos, as they did six years ago.

KATIE
Vice President Russell said that he voted for the embargo in 1996, and will continue to support it until this horrific dictatorship is brought to its knees. Is he speaking for the White House?

TOBY
The Vice President said that at a campaign rally.

MARK
But if Castro is no longer in control, how would the White House react?

TOBY
We don’t react to hypotheticals.

MARK
In a post-Castro world, would the State Department consider declassifying Cuba a terrorist state?

TOBY
Only if they reacted to hypotheticals, which they and I both don’t. (referring to another reporter) Yeah, you.

STEVE
Steve. Uh, the CIA issued a report that Cuba has replaced, uh, East Asia as the destination for pedophiles and sex tourists.

TOBY
No,I can’t issue you a visa, next question.

The reporters laugh.

KATIE
Hoynes’ campaign may be collapsing, but Russell says he wouldn’t rule out military intervention to secure a democratic transition in Cuba.

TOBY (wryly smiling)
Yeah, they’re, they’re campaigning – in Florida.

MARK
What about Santos? With his surprising victory in California, will the White House -

TOBY
I, I just answered that question! If you wanna, uh, cover the campaign, take your questions to Florida! Steve, please!

STEVE
Uh, here in Washington -

TOBY
Thank you!

As we hear STEVE continue with his question, we CUT TO: INT. - BAR – NIGHT.

STEVE (VO)
- Senator Framhagen said, ‘The worst thing a President can do is send mixed messages …’

As the sound of the press conference fades out, we see KATE walking inside the bar. She appears to see someone at a table. She sighs and walks over to the table, where the man (ANDY) stands to meet her.

ANDY
She’s a blonde now.

KATE
I wasn’t gonna come.

ANDY
And stand up a former CIA compatriot after all these years?

KATE (as they sit)
It’s a time I’d like to forget.

ANDY
It was a time of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower, but we will grieve not -

KATE
What do you want, Andy?

ANDY (takes a breath)
We’re not running off-the-reservation ops any more. We’ve changed.

KATE
Second time I’ve heard that today.

ANDY
No more dirty tricks. No more messing with elections. Even for Cabrera. Still, our, our assignment’s the same, Kate.

KATE
And you came all the way up here to tell me this?

ANDY
No. I just wanted to warn you guys over there that it’s a big mistake to be digging into the Cuban tar pit once again.

KATE
What are you talking about?

ANDY
Leo McGarry.

KATE
What about him?

ANDY
You can’t touch down in Cuba at his level. Whatever the precautions, word’s gonna leak out. Everybody’s on the take, or has an agenda, or is an agent, or a wannabe.

KATE
I don’t know anything about it.

ANDY (sitting back in his chair)
You played that beautifully.

KATE
I didn’t play anything.

ANDY
Whether you’re lying or covering because you can’t or won’t tell me, or - you’re telling the truth … the one thing we learned down there, you can’t beat history. The Bartlet administration can’t pull this off. It’s not gonna work. The President will be hung out to dry.

CUT TO: INT. - WHITE HOUSE HALLWAY – DAY

As CJ comes down the hallway, she’s confronted by KATE.

WEDNESDAY MORNING

KATE
CJ – why didn’t anyone tell me?

CJ
Excuse me?

KATE
I’m Deputy NSA and I don’t know Leo McGarry’s in Cuba?

CJ
Yeah. How did you find out?

KATE
It’s 90 miles away, it’s like driving to Baltimore. There’s three and half million Cuban-Americans, what -

CJ
Kate, do you know Senator Framhagen?

KATE
Florida. He is Florida, yeah, I knew him when I was stationed there in ‘95. It was my first posting.

CJ
Why would he say to ask you about Castro’s health?

KATE
I don’t know, maybe because he assumed I’d know about Leo’s trip.

CJ
How close is your source?

KATE
Very. (beat) Look, CJ, we don’t wanna get stuck in the muck down there again.

CUT TO: EXT. - PORTICO – DAY

CJ comes out the door to find BARTLET and LEO standing outside, hunched up against the cold.

BARTLET (to CJ)
Hey, look who’s back. (to LEO) She caught on, Leo, I had to spill the beans.

CJ
You saw him? Talked to him? How is he?

LEO
He’s alive, and I think he might finally be ready to deal, and he certainly can talk and talk. He agrees on the need for further private, unpublicized discussions bilaterally. The man’s indefatigable. No wonder he’s held sway for coming on 50 years. Still smoking cigars. I’m not sure he’s ready to fight for truth, justice, and the American way. I am optimistic, but we’ve been down this road before – I don’t wanna fail again.

BARTLET
It’s a beginning, an opening. Just thank God he didn’t ask about baseball, what I think about it, knowing what he thinks about it, that could’ve blown the whole thing right there.

LEO
He saw you pitch at the Orioles game, sir, had some pointers.

BARTLET
I’m sure he did.

CJ
Excuse me, sir. My fear is there seem to be rumors and more rumors and rumors within rumors.

LEO
When you’re talking about Cuba everybody seems to have secrets, and they never stay that way.

BARTLET
Yeah, you’re right. We don’t need to paint this guy as some kind of hero. It’s just time to deal with him, is all. Now, let’s put together a fail-safe response on how and what to announce about Castro’s health, about Leo’s trip. Then – if found out – public reaction, Congressional reaction, and the candidates … what to do about its impact on the primaries and the general election, and Cuba’s response, for that matter.

CJ
How soon?

BARTLET
How about the end of the day?

CUT TO: INT. - MARGARET’S DESK – DAY

CJ comes down the hall towards MARGARET.

CJ
Are they here yet?

MARGARET
They’re waiting in your office.

CJ
Can you get me something while we’re meeting? Kate Harper’s file?

MARGARET
I can’t.

CJ
Why not?

MARGARET
That would be classified as top secret, above my level.

CJ
So what do we have to do?

MARGARET
A formal letter of request, signed by you.

CJ
Write it, then. Forge my signature. You can do the President’s.

MARGARET
Well, yes, but - his is simple, just a sweeping garland formation. Yours …

CJ
Mine is what?

MARGARET
Angular, aggressive. I mean, your signature – (MARGARET gestures for CJ to come closer as she pulls a document out of a stack) See the baseline? The unevenly distributed pressure, some countermovement to the natural flow -

CJ
Which means what?

MARGARET
You’re concealing something.

CJ
It’s my signature! What, are you a counterfeiter, some handwriting analyst?

MARGARET
My great-uncle was, right after the Civil War, he was a dashing man with a moustache and one arm, and he -

CJ
Okay, by now we could have written it, and I could’ve signed it. Just go, do it.

CJ goes into her office. CLIFF and TOBY are waiting for her. A TV news report is on in the background.

CJ
How’s it going? Give me a progress report. Cliff?

CLIFF
I think there’s an opportunity to use the rumors of Castro’s health as deflection. Keep ‘em coming. I mean, it’s been a kind of Marx Brothers comedy anyway, his illnesses and the 29 doctors who surround him and claim he’s gonna live forever.

CJ
Yeah, I’m not sure how long that’s gonna fly.

CLIFF
Uh, then, there is support in the House to curb the embargo from both blue and red states. Midwestern Republicans ready to jettison the trade part, uh, Cuba’s an economic disaster area -

TOBY’s attention is drawn to the MSNBC news report on the TV. The banner reads ‘CONGRESSMAN CABRERA HOSTS RUSSELL RALLY IN DADE COUNTY, FL.’

CLIFF (VO)
- it desperately needs American grain, meat, technology -

TOBY
Who the hell’s this guy Cabrera? Introducing the Vice President, Congressman, seventh, eighth term – once ran an ad standing next to a picture of himself with the caption, ‘Convicted Felon.’

CJ
Thanks for the lesson in local color.

TOBY
Keeps winning every two years, keeps winning saying the same thing, same words. Cuba Libre, Cuba Libre! Then he gets here, doesn’t do or say a damn thing.

CJ
Toby, did you call Josh and Donna? I want to take the temperature in the campaigns.

TOBY
Somebody should make this son of a bitch obsolete.

As TOBY exits, we hear the news anchor speak with a photo and graphic of Vice President Russell on the screen. The graphic reads: BOB RUSSELL LEADS IN STATEWIDE PRIMARY POLLS; 5 POINT LEAD OVER SECOND-PLACE SANTOS; WRAPS UP THREE-DAY TOUR OF FLORIDA CITIES.

ANCHOR (on TV)
Vice President Bob Russell, the front-runner of the Democratic Presidential -

CUT TO: INT. - MURAL ROOM – DAY

CHARLIE is bringing in the entomologist experts, DAVID ORBITZ and RANDY WYSNIEWSKY. The two are carrying large display boards with pictures of insects.

ORBITZ
Has he been here?

CHARLIE
Who?

ORBITZ
The exterminator.

CHARLIE
There was a man yesterday.

WYSNIEWSKY
The Sentricon Termite Colony Elimination System?

CHARLIE
As a matter of fact, yes.

ORBITZ (as they all sit, setting up easels)
We don’t wanna quarrel with another company’s product -

WYSNIEWSKY
That’s not why we’re here. We can talk about the specifics of individual species like RIFA.

CHARLIE
R-I-F-A?

WYSNIEWSKY (showing CHARLIE a photo)
The Red Imported Fire Ant.

ORBITZ
And we’re members of I-F-A-H-I to thwart the spread of RIFA, and we’ve got charts to show you (pulling out display charts) of the spread of the chinch bug, the black-legged tick (WYSNIEWSKY continues to show CHARLIE more photographs), the viral-spreading mosquito, and this very year’s infestation by the Mormon cricket. Here.

ORBITZ holds out a glass tube containing a Mormon cricket. CHARLIE stares at him, then reluctantly takes the tube as WYSNIEWSKY speaks.

WYSNIEWSKY
We are entomologists, and while some control is necessary, these others -

ORBITZ
The exterminator.

WYSNIEWSKY
- have lost sight of how insects help preserve the diversity of life and are essential to the ecological web.

ORBITZ
Insects can spread disease, but they are also crucial to studying how diseases are spread.

WYSNIEWSKY
But now the newest discovery, and perhaps most important, is they can play a crucial part in learning about our own history.

ORBITZ
Like this great White House. Think Abigail Adams and the War of 1812, the burning of this building. Now, I’ll wager … we go into these walls and we will uncover all kinds of information and revelations as yet unknown.

WYSNIEWSKY
And now helping solving crimes. Forensic entomology, my special field, is invaluable in, uh, measuring exposure of the victim, whether, uh, homo sapiens, uh, felis cattus, uh, canis, uh, familiaris -

ORBITZ and WYSNIEWSKY share a chuckle as CHARLIE continues to look on stonefaced.

WYSNIEWSKY
- to determine the time of death, or even the method of murder.

ORBITZ
You’ve gotta make a decision. Do you simply want to wipe out the infestation or … (showing CHARLIE another display board of ant anatomy) use these little pioneers to journey into our past and unveil its secrets for the first time?

CHARLIE scoffs, as if the two are joking with him. He looks down, then back up, seeing them both gaze steadily back at him awaiting an answer.

CUT TO: INT. - WHITE HOUSE HALLWAY – DAY

MARGARET, wearing a coat and gloves and carrying a briefcase, walks through the hall and into CJ’s office.

CJ
You got it?

MARGARET
They checked my clothes … patted me down, searched my shoes – my best shoes – practically X-rayed me -

CJ
But they didn’t do any personality profile?

MARGARET (beat)
That didn’t even occur to me.

CJ
Yeah. What were they thinking?

MARGARET (opening the briefcase)
Here it is. (handing over a file) Kate Harper. (as she leaves) Close the door?

CJ
Yes.

CJ looks over the file. The cover sheet reads:

WARNING: SPECIAL ACCESS REQUIRED

TOP SECRET

File Name: HARPER, KATE

File No: C-347

CJ opens the file to find page after page of highly redacted documents, black marker blocking out large sections of the text.

FADE OUT.
END ACT TWO.
* * *

ACT THREE

FADE IN: INT. - CJ’S OFFICE – DAY

CJ is sitting on a chair by the couch, still looking over KATE’s file. There is a knock at the door and CHARLIE enters.

CHARLIE
CJ … 

CJ (not looking up)
Charlie, tell me you have good news.

CHARLIE
I’m not sure.

CJ
Entertain me. Enlighten me. Raise me up to the rooftops, please.

CJ closes the file and stands.

CHARLIE
I think this has more to do with the lower depths.

CJ
Oh, no, it’s coming back to me now. Bugs.

CHARLIE
Rhinotermitidae.

CJ
Is that the guy in the suit I saw with the gizmo yesterday?

CHARLIE
It could be.

CJ
And he found - ?

CHARLIE
Rhinotermitidae.

CJ
We’re not tenting the White House.

CHARLIE
No. We’re drilling walls, unearthing foundations. There is this other group who are suggesting that we observe them before killing them.

CJ
The ones in the Mural Room with the animatronic -

CHARLIE
Insectilatronic, apparently. They say we can find out remarkable things from the termites – about lumber conditions, about when the White House was built, burned, rebuilt. What Presidents smoked, ate, smelled like.

CJ takes a beat.

CJ
This, Charlie, is not a tough choice. For once, our policy can be clean and simple. Just – excuse me – kill the damn bugs.

CHARLIE nods curtly and exits.

CUT TO: INT. - TOBY’S OFFICE – DAY

TOBY is on the phone with DONNA, who is in the midst of a loud demonstration in Florida. The scene cuts back and forth.

DONNA (VO)
Who is this?

TOBY (into speakerphone, loudly)
Toby. I wanted to ask you about this Castro thing.

DONNA (into phone, with a finger in her other ear)
I’m sorry, I can’t hear you.

TOBY (into speaker, shouting)
Donna, it’s Toby! It’s Toby Ziegler!

DONNA (into phone)
It’s so crazy in here, wait a minute.

TOBY (into speaker, shouting)
Hello?

DONNA has moved to the end of the hallway, a bit further from the noise.

DONNA (into phone)
Toby?

TOBY has switched the line on the call to DONNA, and now hits the speed dial for another number. As it’s answered:

TOBY (into speaker)
Josh?

JOSH is outdoors at a Santos rally in Florida, with all sorts of chanting and yelling.

JOSH (into phone, a finger in his other ear)
Toby?

TOBY (on phone)
We’re not talking to each other.

JOSH (into phone)
Then what’s making my phone ring?

TOBY (into speaker)
I don’t know, the thing’s got a mind of its own.

JOSH (into phone)
Hey, what’s with Castro? What’s going on with that?

TOBY (into speaker)
That’s what I wanted to ask you.

JOSH (on phone)
I, I can’t hear you, it’s, it’s crazy down here. (into phone) It’s Guatemala.

TOBY (now hearing nothing on the line)
Hello? (he punches the button to go back to the line with DONNA) 

DONNA (into phone)
I lost you. How are you?

TOBY (into speaker)
What’s going on down there, Donna?

DONNA (on phone)
You wouldn’t believe it. (into phone) This state, it’s unreal. It’s like -

TOBY (into speaker)
Guatemala?

DONNA (into phone)
Hey, that’s good, you a speech writer?

TOBY (into speaker)
What’s the impact of this Castro thing?

DONNA (on phone)
It’s unbelievable. (into phone) Castro’s become Che, is he alive or dead? He’s wallpapering the primary.

TOBY (into speaker)
Wait, what, uh, Donna, hold on one second.

DONNA (into phone)
Toby, I’ve got … (she looks at her phone)

TOBY (switching back to JOSH’s line)
Josh? Josh! Josh!

CUT TO: INT. - CJ’S OFFICE – NIGHT

LEO is in CJ’s office as she walks to her desk.

LEO
CJ, I should apologize for you not knowing about the trip to Cuba.

CJ
Yes, you should.

LEO
I thought it was worth the risk. I still do.

CJ
Well, while you were gone we all got calls from Rafe Framhagen. I sent Cliff over, who said the Senator may have been three sheets -

LEO
Yeah.

CJ
And he had these questions about Kate Harper and Cuba, as if she knew something.

LEO
If you’re concerned, why don’t you pull her file?

CJ
I did.

LEO
And this has been the long way around to what?

CJ
A lot of blackout.

LEO
Aren’t you getting sidetracked here, Kate Harper, Navy, father, Navy, formerly CIA, wasn’t it?

CJ (handing KATE’s file to LEO)
Africa, blackout. Kosovo, blackout. Iran, blackout. She got around. (as LEO looks it over) You’re in it.

LEO (surprised)
That’s impossible.

CJ
Turn the page.

LEO (as they sit)
1995. Florida. (beat) But why is it in her file? (handing the file back to CJ)
The CIA must have been monitoring us.

CJ
The rest is blacked out, what is it?

LEO
We had a gathering of the Bay of Pigs veterans from both sides for the first time. And it was remarkable. These aging warriors, enemies, fellow countrymen – and I had high hopes. We were pulling together, strand by strand, a dialogue with the Cuban-Americans and Cubans.

CJ
Never heard any of this.

LEO
There was also an election recount underway, Congressman Cabrera.

CJ
Yeah, I know the one.

LEO
I was Secretary of Labor. And Rafe Framhagen showed up, and we started drinking … (heavy sigh) and I made a fool of myself. Talk about three sheets to the wind. And when I got back, it was over. It had all fallen apart. I should’ve never left. So, I vowed then - if there was ever a chance I’d put it back together.

CUT TO: INT. - BAR – NIGHT

ANDY, who we’d seen earlier at a table in the bar, is drinking at the bar. KATE comes up and takes a seat next to him.

ANDY
If we had a cigarette, a lighter, and the password, we could be back ten years.

KATE
Except it’s so loud in here now, I’d never hear the password. 

ANDY
Don’t you miss it? When you were undercover?

KATE
I miss the excitement … dressing up and down, disappearing into character.

ANDY
And now look at you … wearing suits, and sitting in meetings with amazing people. You’ve changed.

A pause as KATE thinks about this.

ANDY
I saw your ex-husband not long ago. He’s still down there.

KATE
Why’d you call me again?

ANDY
I wanted to apologize.

KATE (beat)
For what?

ANDY
I knew back then what was going on … what it was doing to you. I should have, protected you better.

KATE
Woulda, shoulda -

ANDY
No, but it’s – there’s more to it than that.

KATE
It’s too late now, Andy. It was too late then.

ANDY
I know. I know. Part of my 12 steps to make a fool of myself … especially to those people who maybe I made fools of.

KATE (beat)
Thank you.

A pause, then ANDY leans in close to KATE.

ANDY (into KATE’s ear)
They have all of it down there now, Kate. Leo McGarry’s trip, the deal he’s trying to make with Fidel … they’re gonna break the story.

KATE
You’re sure?

ANDY
Yeah. Don’t get caught in this again when it goes to hell. (ANDY sits back on his stool again) Cuba – it scums everybody it touches.

CUT TO: INT. - WHITE HOUSE HALLWAY – NIGHT

KATE, in a coat and scarf, walks down the hallway. She removes her gloves, then we see entering CJ’s office. She sits, sighing, across from CJ.

KATE
It’s freezing out, and I’m walking back here thinking this is a building I never thought I’d be in.

CJ
Mm, maybe it’s a place you never quite get used to.

KATE
One time, my father was gone with the Pacific Fleet, and my mother and I were left at the Key West naval base. There was no housing, so for a while we lived in this – boiling trailer with no air conditioning. The wind shook it at night and rocked me to sleep. (beat) It’s a long way from here.

CJ (pause)
Kate, what’s going on?

KATE (beat)
Tomorrow morning, Cuban-American factions are going public with Leo’s visit to Cuba. 

FADE OUT.
END ACT THREE.
* * *

ACT FOUR

FADE IN: INT. - OVAL OFFICE – NIGHT

BARTLET enters the Oval Office, where CJ, KATE, CLIFF, LEO, and TOBY are waiting.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT

CJ (as everyone sits) 
Mr. President, it is clear now that the news of Leo’s trip is going to break.

KATE
We don’t know what it’ll be, audio, eyewitness testimony, photographs, but we know it’s coming.

TOBY
CNN’ll get it, then the networks.

BARTLET
A delightful prognosis.

CJ
We can try and spin it – it was Cuban representatives who initiated the conversations. We said we’d listen, agreed to nothing, accepted nothing -

BARTLET
No, I hate that. 

TOBY
We have to look at the consequences, the South Carolina and Florida primaries are less than two weeks away.

KATE
And there’ll be no mercy in the Cuban-American community. We’ll be drawn and quartered.

TOBY
It won’t go away by the general election.

CLIFF
Russell will find a way -

BARTLET
Yeah, I can hear his soundbites already.

TOBY
Santos is a mystery, I have no idea what he’s gonna do. Bet he probably doesn’t know, either.

BARTLET
And the Republican candidates, Walken and Vinick?

CLIFF
I think Vinick probably agrees with what you’re trying to do, but publicly he will step back and let Framhagen and Walken put on their war paint and gather around Little Big Horn.

BARTLET
Wasn’t exactly the image I was hoping for. (beat) So, Republicans and Democrats alike will distance themselves from this act of madness of the Bartlet administration.

LEO
I think it’s time we look beyond regrets and elections, sir.

BARTLET (beat)
It’s here, isn’t it?

LEO
Another cliff, yes, sir.

BARTLET
Toby?

TOBY
Jump.

BARTLET
CJ?

CJ nods, silently.

BARTLET
Get me some air time. I’m going to have a few words with the nation. (standing) Debbie!

CJ
When?

BARTLET
As soon as possible, we’re not gonna wait for the story to break.

TOBY (as DEBBIE comes in the door)
I think it’s only fair to let the candidates know what’s coming.

BARTLET 
I agree.

DEBBIE
Sir, the Vice President is still waiting.

BARTLET
Get Senator Vinick on the phone first, and then Congressman Santos, and then I’ll see the Vice President.

Everyone heads out to take care of their tasks as BARTLET stands behind his desk.

CUT TO: INT. - SENATOR FRAMHAGEN’S OFFICE – NIGHT

FRAMHAGEN pours vodka into a glass of orange juice. He takes a drink as LEO appears in the doorway, knocking.

FRAMHAGEN (as LEO enters)
Leo … thanks for coming all the way over here. (beat) Been a long time. (beat) You care to join me?

FRAMHAGEN brandishes the bottle of vodka.

FRAMHAGEN (chuckling)
No, I’m only fooling, I know you don’t any longer. Kinda wish more people around here did, uh … what’s Hemingway’s word?

LEO
Utilize? How’d you find out?

FRAMHAGEN (as they sit at a table)
Boat captain. Deckhand. Limo driver, gas attendant, does it matter? It seems to me we got a lot more done around here when we were utilizing. Got along better, too. Left and right, elephant and mule. Course, these days that’s one place where my point of view is in the minority.

LEO
Not the only place, Senator. Demographics are changing in your state.

FRAMHAGEN
You were Scotch, as I recall, the good stuff, huh? Just, just the way it poured?

LEO
Younger Cuban-Americans don’t care. (FRAMHAGEN scoffs) The Cuba effect on Florida’s going the way of too much utilizing.

FRAMHAGEN
Mmm – so for the younger Cuban-Americans, your solution is to have an old man with MS send another old man who’s had a heart attack, to check on the health of a third old man – a man who could be, should be, and God willing soon will be dead.

LEO reacts with a tight smile.

FRAMHAGEN
It’s too late for the Bartlet administration to go legacy-shopping in Cuba, Leo.

LEO
If I had come to you first, what would you have said? Mmm, no. We had to change the calculus, or you’d bury us.

FRAMHAGEN
I am gonna bury you, Leo.

LEO
After 45 years, it’s time to admit the embargo isn’t a reason for or a solution to Cuba’s tragic reality.

FRAMHAGEN
The reason for Cuba’s tragic reality is Fidel Castro, a vicious dictator who refuses to allow free press, free elections, who jails even the slightest opposition. You, you want to legitimize his government.

LEO
The Good Ship Legitimacy sailed decades ago, he’s there, has been for a very long time.

FRAMHAGEN
The State Department lists Cuba as a terrorist state. The State Department, Leo! The FBI just busted a Cuban espionage operation, arrested ten spies.

LEO
When we’ve tried reforming a Communist regime through embargo and severing relations, we’ve always failed. When we sought change through engagement and trade, we’ve succeeded.

FRAMHAGEN
What about the law, Leo? Congress has codified the embargo. US sanctions cannot be lifted against Cuba until all political prisoners have been freed, until political parties and labor unions have been legalized and free elections have been scheduled. Now, no American President can just overturn the will of the people. 

LEO
It’s not the will of the people. It’s a few loud and shrinking number of Cuban-Americans.

FRAMHAGEN
Who came here stripped of everything, who floated over here in some little leaky boats, their kids in one hand and their dreams in another. And how many of whom did we turn away? May God forgive us -

LEO
No one, no one’s disputing that.

FRAMHAGEN
And who have become monumentally successful, and too many of whom have become Republicans, right, Leo?

LEO
But, who we’ve also pandered to for far too long. I’m bringing you a possible breakthrough.

FRAMHAGEN
Awww, there’s no such thing.

LEO
We’re starting with an executive order to provide food and dollars to the United Nations -

FRAMHAGEN scoffs.

LEO
- the Department of Treasury liberalizing business travel to Cuba, working to involve Cuba in curbing narcotrafficking and terrorism, rather than treat them as part of the problem.

FRAMHAGEN
And there’s the toothless, gutless foreign policy we’ve all come to expect from the Bartlet administration. Just give away the store, probably billions of dollars, without getting a single concession in return, right?

LEO
Extradition treaty.

FRAMHAGEN
He’s gonna re-sign the extradition treaty?

LEO
We’re talking.

FRAMHAGEN
You’re talking? Sure, he’ll romance you. He’ll waltz you around through the summer until he gets what he needs -

LEO
Maybe he’s legacy-shopping, too.

FRAMHAGEN
Which is cash, he needs cash. That’s why he’s talking to you in the first place. We finally got the bastard where we want him, on the verge of economic collapse -

LEO
Well, that’s what we said in 1963.

FRAMHAGEN
He’ll take your money, Leo – our money – and he’ll renege.

LEO
The rest of the world’s already there. If we don’t get our foot in the door, US business interests and your - poor, maligned Cuban-Americans will be left out in the cold.

FRAMHAGEN
Oh, that is really good. The Bartlet administration is gonna save Castro for the sake of American business? (chuckling) That’s rich.

LEO
So you’re gonna go to war? So a few geriatrics can get their cabanas back? That’s the trouble, with our policy. Your rigor mortis stance, it’s holding hostage the Cuban-American community you say you so love, and by proxy has held hostage the whole country. The world, time has passed them by, Castro won. Rafe – it’s time. It’s long past time.

FRAMHAGEN (as they both stand)
Whatever dumb thing you do to prop up Castro will be reversed next year. Because if you do it, you lose Florida in the election, and the Presidency with it.

LEO
Your bottom line is you care more about American politics than relieving the plight of the Cuban people, just like in 1995.

FRAMHAGEN
Which year was that?

LEO
The one where Cabrera won the election recount, and it turned out his sister-in-law, who worked for you, was the chief monitor.

FRAMHAGEN
Cabrera did win that election.

LEO
He was a convicted felon, and you knew at the same time we were meeting, talking with Castro’s people.

FRAMHAGEN
I came down there … I remember we had a drink -

LEO
We could have had a deal, ended all this insanity a decade ago.

FRAMHAGEN
It was you who took me aside, invited me for a drink. Now you’re gonna climb up on your high horse, huh?

LEO
That’s what I got to live with.

FRAMHAGEN
We were close once – back then.

LEO
No … Senator, we just drank back then. We were never close.

LEO exits.

CUT TO: INT. - SITUATION ROOM – NIGHT

KATE is sitting alone, writing on a pad. LEO enters.

KATE
Hey.

LEO
I was looking for you.

KATE
The President goes on air any minute. Thought I’d watch it down here.

LEO
Alone?

KATE 
Yeah.

LEO (sitting)
Cuba. Florida. - You know a lot about them, you were there in the ‘90s, 1995, maybe?

KATE
Yeah.

LEO
Yeah. I was there – only a few days, and … I can’t remember much at all. Led me to lock myself away for 30 days, dry out. But I believed then, and I believe now, this fight is worth it.

KATE
There’s gonna be hell to pay tomorrow.

LEO
If I’d only gotten it done ten years ago, Jed Bartlet could be spared it, I wish -

KATE
The CIA would’ve never let the embargo go away then. They’re against ending it now.

LEO
What about you?

KATE
I was in favor of it then.

LEO
And now?

KATE (shrugging, shaking her head)
I don’t know. It’s not about me, it’s about the President and - what you want for him. And this is something.

LEO
Yeah.

LEO gets up to leave, then turns back to KATE.

LEO
Did we meet back then?

KATE
Do you remember me?

LEO (thinking, then slowly shaking his head)
No. (pause) Do you remember me?

KATE looks back at LEO silently.

The screen goes white as a flashback begins.

FLORIDA, 1995

It is dark. KATE, with straight brown hair, is smoking a cigarette, one eye bruised. Behind her a drunken LEO, with a bit more hair stumbles his way towards some parked cars. He drops his glass and we hear it shatter. He struggles to stand against one car, breathing heavily, then starts to pass out. KATE grabs him before he slides to the ground.

KATE
Where are you going?

LEO (pointing)
That car, I think that …

LEO steps up against the car door and collapses again, KATE catching him under the arms.

KATE
Okay, okay … why don’t I drive?

LEO
Naw …

KATE
Yeah. (taking the keys from LEO) I think I’ll drive.

LEO (as KATE starts to guide him toward the door)
I’m fine.

KATE (getting LEO to the passenger door)
Here you go.

KATE opens the passenger door and helps LEO inside. He falls into the seat, nearly spilling back out the door.

KATE
Okay, okay, okay. That’s good.

KATE closes the door, walks around the car and gets into the drivers seat. As she puts the key in the ignition:

KATE
Where are you going?

LEO (groggily)
Why not drive off into the sunset?

KATE (starting the engine)
Yeah, I think we missed it.

LEO
Something happened to your eye.

KATE
Well, you should see the other guy. (as she begins to drive) Where are you staying, are you at a hotel?

LEO
On Calle Ocho, got a suitcase, pack it, airport, if I can find it, hmm. (mumbling) I’m gonna remember this.

KATE
No, you won’t.

LEO
Yes, I will.

KATE
No. (beat) But I will.

LEO
Gonna put my head down. (leaning against the window) Just for a moment. Thank you.

CROSS FADE back to the present. INT. - LEO’S OFFICE – NIGHT

LEO is sitting in his office, staring into space, as we hear BARTLET’s address on TV.

BARTLET (VO, on TV)
My fellow Americans – in 1961, President John F. Kennedy bought some cigars. They happened to be from a country called Cuba, and since that day, nearly 45 years ago, no American has been able to do it again, and it’s time for that to change. (as LEO turns his attention to the TV) This is not about cigars, of course, but about our relationship with a country that is only 90 miles away.

CUT TO: INT. - OVAL OFFICE – NIGHT

BARTLET is at his desk delivering his address.

BARTLET
Change is not going to come easy. It’s not going to be a change without passionate discussion and disagreement, but a change there can and will and must be. The Cuban people -

CUT TO: INT. - SITUATION ROOM – NIGHT

KATE is alone listening to the address.

BARTLET (VO, on TV)
- and the Cuban-American people have suffered too long under intolerable circumstances on both shores.

CUT TO the Oval Office again.

BARTLET
My dream is that every one of the hundreds of thousands of Cubans who draw lottery cards every year -

CUT TO LEO’s office.

BARTLET (on TV)
- to win one of the the 20,000 slots allowing them to come to America in search of a better life and freedom, will finally have the chance to find that freedom -

PULL BACK on an exterior shot of LEO’s office, the TV visible through the window, snow falling in the night.

BARTLET (VO)
- in their own country as well. And that the one and a half million Cuban-Americans, who have for so many decades longed to return to their homes, will finally have the chance to once again see the land of their fathers and forefathers.

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

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The West Wing Transcript
Episode 6x19 – Ninety Miles Away
Original Airdate: March 16, 2005