The West Wing, Season Six

Leo:
Just skip to the part that's going to piss me off

Toby:
That's going to be all of it.

Bartlet:
I'm not bombing half the Middle East because it's going to make us all feel better.

Leo:
He doesn't like chaos. We bomb some apartment building in Gaza or a camp in Syria there'll be consequences. And we can't tell him what they're going to be. Will we get drawn into a war in the Middle East? Will suicide bombers be climbing onto buses in Passaic, New Jersey instead on Tel Aviv and Haifa? ...The President is looking for answers and we don't have them.

Bartlet:
They want peace but I have to blow something up first?

Leo:
I think they are willing to haggle on the peace part.

Bartlet:
That usually work in the past?

Leo:
Sir, the Lincoln Battle Group will be in position sometime tonight; they're awaiting your order to strike Nassan and the Syrian camps in the morning.

Bartlet:
What?

Leo:
We can't wait for Farrad. The risk of losing Khaleel Nassan is too great. We have intel linking Iran to the martyrs, it's sketchy in spots, but overall it's a compelling case. I'm recommending you include Iran in the attack.

Bartlet:
General Alexander went ahead with plans for these bombings?

Leo:
At your request.

Bartlet:
I said I'd consider it when the time was appropriate! I did not ask-

Leo:
He was trying to anticipate your eventual need, sir. At my urging...Mr. President, please, Congress, the Joint Chiefs, the American public, your own staff, everyone disagrees with your assessment of the situation.

Bartlet:
Killing Palestinians isn't going to make us feel safer. They'll kill more of us, then we'll have to kill more of them. It's Russian Roulette with a fully-loaded gun!

Leo:
We can't allow terrorists to murder our citizens-

Bartlet:
Why would they do it? Why would Palestinians murder American government officials? They never have before. They're deliberately provoking us, Leo. They know that we have to retaliate. They've studied us; they want us to overreact-

Leo:
This isn't overreacting. It's the appropriate, balanced-

Bartlet:
Tell me how this ends, Leo! You want me to start something that may have serious repercussions on American foreign policy for decades, but you don't know how it ends!

Leo:
We don't always know how it ends!

Leo:
...The Lincoln will be in position in a few hours, and then you are going to have to give the go-ahead for the bombings.

Bartlet:
...Or what?

Bartlet:
Whether you choose to do this today or ten years from today, you will face the same geography, the same neighbors, the same ancient animosities. More years of bloodshed and pain will not change those facts. The only path to a real and lasting peace is through negotiation.

Mukarat:
They've done everything in their power to undermine moderate leadership. Don't they understand when they blow up leaders of Hamas with bombs, all those Palestinian homes, they only make them stronger? Boys and girls, they no longer want to be doctors, teachers, engineers. Now, they all want to be martyrs.

Leo:
I can't support this decision. For a short period, we may be welcome. But what happens when we have to start kicking in doors? Declare martial law? Enforce curfews --

Bartlet:
Once they establish a rule of law, and their economy settles down, they'll be quiet --

Leo:
This isn't a romp in the desert! You're committing American lives to something that may go on for decades!

Bartlet:
[angrily, nearly shouting] How are we not involved now-- [suddenly goes quiet, looking back at the house, then, quieter, shaking his head] We can't keep having this argument.

Leo:
No, sir, we can't. If my counsel is no longer of use to you, perhaps-

Bartlet:
So, if I disagree with your advice, you have to threaten me?

Leo:
This is your own League of Nations, and it will ruin you like it ruined Wilson.

Bartlet:
Okay. I'll need your successor in place before you leave.

Kate:
The tragedy is that the Palestinians and the Jews are so much alike.

Charlie:
How's that?

Kate:
All through history no one's wanted either of them.

Bartlet:
Any ideas on how to break the logjam?

Josh:
Too bad Congress isn't here. They'd just cook the books and hold a press conference.

Abbey:
[about Leo's heart attack] Stress actually restricts the flow of blood to the coronary arteries. What I'm saying is it's physiological. Unless you wanted him meditating his way through intelligence briefings and sleeping in a flotation device... There's nothing you did-

Bartlet:
I fired him.

Abbey:
What?

Bartlet:
Last night at Camp David, I fired him. What does that do to the flow of blood?

Toby:
We're fumbling. Our diplomatic strategy is a game of telephone.

Bartlet:
Read the coverage. We're doing fine.

Toby:
Today, sure, and the second day's story is how you pulled it off. But the third-day story is that Congress doesn't want to pay, that our coalition's fraying, that the spokes are coming off the wheels-

Bartlet:
It's a couple of days. This was totally unexpected.

Toby:
No, it wasn't. Not with Leo's history with alcohol, with pills. Mr. President, surely you had a process in place.

Bartlet:
Not for this. You think we'd even be doing this without him?

Toby:
No, sir, but Leo is one person and there are 290 million more and they come first.

Abbey:
You think this is your fault? It's not.

Bartlet:
He's my best friend. I'm not the kind of person who has best friends.

Abbey:
Because your life is your work, and so is his; your work.

Bartlet:
What are you trying to say?

Abbey:
You chose this; both of you. You're running a country, for God's sake, not a tree house.

Bartlet:
Well, Leo stays in the tree house if he wants to. We'll work around his recovery; half-days, whatever it takes.

Abbey:
He's not going to work half days. He's not going to work around his recovery. He's not going to do whatever it takes.

Bartlet:
That's his decision.

Abbey:
And we know what that decision is going to be.

Bartlet:
So I should wake him up and fire him again? Because it worked so well the first time?

Abbey:
Let's talk about this time. You've got to keep him out of that job. He'll kill himself for you if you don't.

Bartlet:
I'd like to know why my Treasury Secretary's on national television denouncing a tax cut I never saw because of an estimate I never asked for.

Josh:
We did offer to brief you on the details.

Bartlet:
Brief me now.

Josh:
We're not quite ready to brief you on the details.

Bartlet:
Because you made a complete hash of it; the Leadership's sole request before taking up peacekeeping.

Toby:
We're close to 60 Democratic votes.

Josh:
It's just that you might face a decision about the fall legislative agenda.

Bartlet:
What is that?

Toby:
Would you prefer a bill to appoint an American monarch...

Josh:
...or a ban on the institution of marriage, except in casinos and department stores.

Bartlet:
You tell the Speaker and the Majority leader that with my newfound royal authority, with all my free time now that my marriage has been banned, and with the support of every NATO member in my pocket I'm sending those peacekeepers to the Middle East. If Congress wants to feed them, pay them, or ever bring them back, that's entirely up to them.

Toby:
I assume we're free to play with the language on that.

Bartlet:
We're done here.

Leo:
Mr. President.

Bartlet:
A morphine drip, and we can skip the formalities. I might get one myself... wheel it into meetings with the joint chiefs. You're not fired, Leo. You can delegate, work part-time. Bring the morphine with you for all I care.

Leo:
You... You remember... what you told me... when you offered me the job?

Bartlet:
"I need you to jump off a cliff."

Leo:
And I did. And I'd do it again. But you need a new... chief of staff.

Bartlet:
We came here to put the job first. Spend our lives for something that would outlast us. I just thought we'd have a longer line of credit is all. I'm gonna need that list of names.

Leo:
Only one name.

C.J.:
[to Margaret] You're an odd woman and I've never quite understood you. But you are extremely capable and you run this office like a Swiss watch. And you're tall, which is reassuring. Leo may need you and if he does, that's okay. But if he's willing to part with you, I hope you'll stay.

[After Toby and Josh have both "resigned" after C.J.'s promotion]

Bartlet:
I'll make this quick. I don't know if I'm comfortable working this closely with a woman. Maybe it's time for me to call it a day, give the VP a chance to steer the ship.

[C.J. looks confused; after a moment, Toby starts giggling, which sets everyone off, and C.J. realizes the prank]

Bartlet:
[to Toby] You're weak. You have a weak will. You should have held it. See if she pulled out the Continuity of Government plan.

Will:
He cracked up at the mere suggestion of the VP...

Toby:
[Still giggling uncontrollably] I had a whole thing on spending time with my kids, I went up.

C.J.:
You are bad, bad men.

Bartlet:
In the service of a vengeful god.

Will:
On behalf of the Vice President and myself and every man who's ever had a Wonder Woman fantasy, it's a bright day.

C.J.:
Get out.

C.J.:
You got the energy quarterly?

Bartlet:
I got it right here, thank you.

C.J.:
I'd like it back.

Bartlet:
How about you get your own copy?

C.J.:
We're not ready to assess domestic nuclear storage facilities, sir. The team hasn't evaluated all the options and I haven't presented you with complete information.

Bartlet:
You don't think this is a good start?

C.J.:
I think it's you doing my job for me. You're looking at this based on DOD's call. Their perspective is valid, but it's only one perspective, and until we've gathered all the others, if you need something to read, I recommend the new Benjamin Franklin bio. It's a real page turner. [Grabs papers and begins to exit] Thank you, Mr. President.

Debbie:
What was that?

Bartlet:
I just got spanked.

Debbie:
Hmm... Sorry I missed it. She still nervous?

Bartlet:
I don't think so, no.

Bartlet:
[to C.J.] I'm noticing a distinct slackening of awe, a certain lack of trembling in my presence.

Toby:
On a scale of 1 to 10 - 10 being C.J. and 1 being a chimp throwing feces - where do I rank?

Annabeth:
How do you get women? Briefing the press is a seduction.

Toby:
Briefing the press isn't a seduction. It's war!

Josh:
My testosterone is flying.

Donna:
Try not to get it on anyone.

Annabeth:
[about Josh] He totaled a hybrid with an SUV. He's like an eco-terrorist in reverse.

Leo:
One difference between the Mahatma and myself. I warn you there are others. You may browbeat me into using the breath spirometer. You may mother me about wound care. You may dole out the Vicodin like my AA sponsor. You may even entertain me with nutrition lectures.

Nurse:
You need to eat.

Leo:
You may not - may not - offer fashion advice.

Donna:
I wasn't heroic. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Santos:
'Settle for less?' This is from the guys that are running Bob Russell for President?

Hoynes:
[to Josh] It's time to start leading. You're never going to be Leo McGarry to Jed Bartlet. But you can be Leo to me. I'm running for President. I want you with me. I want you to run my campaign.

Bernard:
Did you pick out that tie, or is it government-issue?

Charlie:
My sister bought me this tie.

Bernard:
The things we put up with for family.

Josh:
I'm going to need a converter for China, and I can't find my garment bag.

Donna:
I think baggage claim is in the next terminal over.

Josh:
You used to love it when I couldn't dress myself without you.

Donna:
I used to love peppermint ice cream, too, but now those little pieces of candy, they get stuck in your teeth in a way that I find irritating.

Will:
[to Josh] He's smart enough to take your advice... Bob Russell might be the next President of the United States. You get in now, you can make him the candidate you want him to be. After that we make him the President we need him to be.

Leo:
Ever see Arnie Vinick campaign? He'll go into those high school gymnasiums in Iowa and New Hampshire and blow them all away. He'll shake every hand in the joint, kiss every baby, hug every widow on Social Security and sound smarter and more honest than any Republican they've ever seen. Because he is.

Will:
[About Bob Russell] He's not stupid.

Josh:
That's your bumper sticker?

Will:
You have to care who's going to sit in that chair after Jed Bartlet is gone.

Josh:
I do. That's why I don't want Bob Russell to be President.

Bartlet:
[woken by his staff, in his cabin on Air Force One] I thought you were gonna let me rest.

C.J.:
I'm so sorry, sir. State just got a heads-up from the IAEA that they're gonna report tomorrow that the South Korean government has admitted to conducting an experiment to enrich uranium. [as C.J. is talking, Bartlet is looking down at his legs and his arm, in some realization] South Korea is not releasing any details. We need you to get on the phone and get the President to come clean. We can't ask China to help stop North Korean nuclear experiments if the South is doing it too. [she picks up a phone] Get us a secure line with the South Korean President.

Bartlet:
[softly] C.J....hold it.

C.J.:
Sir?

Bartlet:
...I can't move.

[moments later, the President is taken on a stretcher to another part of the plane]

Surgeon General Griffith:
Progressive paralysis, he had trouble with his hands, now it's both legs and his right arm...

Bartlet:
[sarcastically] So much for being staff-dependent in China.

Surgeon General Griffith:
Fairbanks is closer, but Anchorage is better--

Bartlet:
I've got better doctors up here than I do down there.

C.J.:
Mr. President, we can't take the chance--

Bartlet:
Let's not pretend we didn't know this was gonna happen.

C.J.:
No, Mr. President, I didn't know...

Bartlet:
I mean, we always knew it was gonna happen someday. I'm ready for it, you better be too.

C.J.:
Mr. President, we can't land in China--

Bartlet:
[sternly] This plane is going to China. That's a direct order from your Commander-in-Chief.

Bartlet:
[about to be carried downstairs] I'm just saying, you drop me, that's a moment that follows you the rest of your life.

Margaret:
There's someone here from NASA. He needs to speak to whoever's in charge, and at this point I have no idea who that is.

Leo:
Maybe, keep the philosophical questions to yourself?

Josh:
What happened to the good old days when a couple of hacks with cigars chose the nominee in a smoked filled back room?

Leo:
They didn't do so bad, did they?

Josh:
We need a back room.

Santos:
Wow. Hi.

Josh:
How ya doin'?

Santos:
You lost?

Josh:
Could be. Could be.

Santos:
Come on in.

Josh:
Um, sorry to bug you at home, but there wasn't time to wait for you to get back to Washington.

Santos:
I'm there next week.

Josh:
I'm on a bit of a deadline. It's a filing deadline.

Santos:
Josh, Josh, Josh.

Helen:
Matt?

Josh:
It's a little crazy, I know.

Santos:
I'm not running for Congress again, Josh. You came a long way and I'm sorry about that, but it's just...

Josh:
I'm not talking about Congress.

Bartlet:
If I'd wanted to exercise, I'd have never become an economist.

Bartlet:
Is upholding the sanctity of marriage our job? I raised my right hand and swore an oath to uphold the Constitution.

Sen. Wilkinson:
Where was your left hand, Mr. President?

Toby:
[to Josh, about leaving to run Santos' campaign] You can't leave. We're not done here.... You're going to walk into the Oval Office and tell the President you just found a better horse?

Josh:
What are you going to do when this is done?

Toby:
Whatever I can to stave off the chaos, mayhem and self-interest that lies just beneath our civil disguise.

Josh:
So, not the private sector?

Toby:
The money would have to be unbelievable.

Santos:
I wanted to start this journey in the place where it all started for me. Soon, we will be inundated by the polls, the punditry, and prognostications, all the nonsense that goes with our national political campaigns. Well, none of that matters. This is the place that matters. Because everyday, children walk in to this schoolhouse to glimpse their futures, to ask for hope. They may not know they need it yet, but they do. And I'm here to tell you that hope is real. In a life of trials, in the world of challenges, hope is real. In a country where families go without health care, where some go without food, some don't even have a home to speak of, hope is real. In a time of global chaos and instability where our faiths collide, as often as our weapons, hope is real. Hope is what gives us the courage to take on our greatest challenges, to move forward together. We live in cynical times, I know that. But hope is not up for debate. There is such a thing as false science, there is such a thing as false promises, I am sure I will have my share of false starts. But there is no such thing as false hope. There is only hope.

Josh:
[after Santos admits he only became a candidate to get a couple of months of media exposure for his education plan] I gave up everything for this! You aren't even in it to win?

Santos:
Maybe we have a different definition of winning, Josh.

Josh:
You're not making it easy.

Santos:
Well, you know if we're going to do this, I'm not going to make it easy.... I'm going to push every limit. And that's the campaign you get to run.

Josh:
What if I can't make that work?

Santos:
Well, then no one can.

Josh:
One idea is a big fund raising drive in the Latino community.

Santos:
I don't feel comfortable with that right now.

Josh:
Its a huge donor base you alone can tap.

Santos:
Josh, I don't wanna just be the brown candidate, I want to be the American candidate.

Josh:
How do you want to go broke? As the brown candidate or the American candidate?

Santos:
I want this to be a campaign of ideas... and these campaigns always wind up being about a candidate's high school transcripts.... You know, if we just took the money the campaign spent on personality contests and partisan side shows, we could solve this country's problems and shut down talk radio, all at the same time.

Josh:
New Hampshire is about retail politics. People here won't vote for you until you've had coffee in their house five times.

Leo:
We've been here seven trips around the sun. Done some things we're proud of, things we're less pleased about... It may be time for us to take our own temperature; an internal inventory... What's done. What's undone. What's done that we'd like to undo or do over.

C.J.:
Overwhelming response to the State of the Union. Thirty-six interruptions for applause.

Bartlet:
I don't know what's more embarrassing: that we count them or that I care.

Kate:
It's not just that it's futile. I mean, as long as Americans are willing to pay $60 a gram for cocaine some peasant farmer earning $60 a year is going to grow it. It's just so geopolitically counter-productive. We turn their villages into war-zones, we destroy their land, we poison their families with herbicides, and then we're surprised when they go vote for the socialists.

Debbie:
That wasn't very long.

Bartlet:
I couldn't sleep.

Debbie:
Couldn't or wouldn't?

Bartlet:
I have three daughters and a wife; two of whom are also doctors. If you presume I don't get enough of that sort of comment, you're really not using your imagination.

Leo:
Everyone's walking around here like we're finished. We have 365 more days.... For both of us, sir, this is our last game. Let's leave it all out on the field.

Vinick:
I read about that education plan you introduced in New Hampshire. That's pretty gutsy stuff.

Santos:
Saw the ethanol speech.

Vinick:
Well, that wasn't gutsy so much as suicidal. Or so my staff tells me... My staff is very proud.

Santos:
Well, if they weren't, I was.

Vinick:
You're not an ethanol fan?

Santos:
Not until today.

Donna:
Mr Johnson, your platform would include paying the President, the Cabinet and all members of Congress a salary of one dollar a year?

Mr. Johnson:
Hell, yeah. Make 'em get a real job.

Donna:
And you want to ban motorcycle helmets, color televisions, drop out of the UN, abolish Medicare and totally privatize Social Security?

Mr. Johnson:
You gotta get the government out of our damn pockets.

Donna:
Sir, are you sure you're a Democrat?

Bartlet:
All I have in this situation is influence. Influence and relationships. If you take that away from me, I am powerless!

Leo:
What? Prime Minister Graty thinks you are an intellectual snob. A Yankee Doodle windbag. Likely as not you would have made things worse.

Bartlet:
If an American dies and there is even the slightest suspicion of international intrigue, she's supposed to wake me.

Leo:
Since when? If I had used that rule, you'd be dead by now of sleep deprivation.

C.J.:
[about the President's valentine date] You're taking her to the opera?

Bartlet:
Verdi's Othello, romantic eh?

C.J.:
Isn't that the one where the guy kills his wife?

Bartlet:
It's in Italian, I'm hoping she won't notice.

Toby:
You're not planning on writing a constitution this week?

Lessig:
The document is just a beginning. A constitutional democracy succeeds only if the constitution reflects democratic values alive in the citizenry. Which is why our most important job is to instill those values in their leaders through discussion and debate.

Toby:
I don't think a strong executive is such a good idea... Half the faculty at Yale Law describes the American Presidential system as one of this country's most dangerous exports... It is a recipe for constitutional breakdown!

Lessig:
Well, I can see this is going to be a vibrant discussion.

Josh:
How about our exclusion from the debates. Let's try that.

Ned:
So, what do we do? Film chicken coops and say they're too chicken to debate us?

Josh:
I want two volunteers. I want them in giant chicken suits. I want them in my office first thing in the morning.

Josh:
We can't afford a huge, glitzy ad buy, so we run something feisty, funny, out-of-the-box. Turns our one minute of prime time into a national sensation.

Aide:
Santos on ice skates, wearing a goalie outfit, pledging to defend America?

Josh:
[pause] Closer to the box than that.

Santos:
[in a live TV ad] Good evening. I'm running for President and if you don't know who I am, I wouldn't be surprised. I've been shut out of tomorrow night's debate for suggesting that it actually be a debate and this is the only ad I can afford. I got in this to improve a broken school system, to fix entitlement because they're going bankrupt, to expand health coverage because it will save money if fewer people show up in emergency rooms. What I found is that Presidential campaigns aren't about these things. They're about clawing your opponents' eyes out as long as you don't get tagged for it. So how about this: I will never say anything about my opponents or anything about anything without saying it myself, right into the camera. You might not get to hear much of me but when you do, you'll know I stand by it. I'm Matt Santos and you better believe I approve this ad.

C.J.:
You want me to hire Cliff Calley? No. He's the wrong choice. And he's irritating. And he's obnoxious.

Leo:
That's worked for us in the past.

[Josh yells angrily outside door]

Josh:
[after seeing that Margaret is quite pregnant] Am I seeing things? or is she...

C.J.:
Very.

Josh:
Wow. I didn't know she was pregnant.

Leo:
She's pregnant.

Josh:
I didn't even know she was married... [beat; Leo and C.J. stare at him] Right. How is the President doing?

Cliff:
I turned you down.

C.J.:
Nobody turns us down. We're like the Mob, only less violent. Ultimately responsible for more death and destruction.

Toby:
Sometimes I think, what if I were at UNICEF or United Way pulling together the AIDS fight, or back in New York turning the public school system around? Would that be a more effective use of my 24 hours? Not this. Not pushing on the ocean.

Will:
[on the tiff with Canada] The Vice President advocates a hard line.

Kate:
Permanent lockout in the NHL? Maple syrup embargo? Turn off Niagara Falls?

Kate:
[to the Canadian ambassador] Ambassador, listen carefully. An hour ago I reviewed the United States' contingency plan to invade your country.

Will:
Uh...there's a contingency plan...

Kate:
1789, amended in 1815, the calligraphy is beautiful. And if one more "deal" is floated in this room, I'm gonna ask DOD to reactivate it. [walks out]

Santos:
The Governor has already endorsed Hoynes... Nothing I say tomorrow is going to make a difference. We need to focus on electing a Progressive candidate. Then we can take on all the tough causes.

La Palabra Rep:
Now all we need is a progressive candidate.

Josh:
It's been two days since the press asked me a policy question. And I think that was about the smoking policy on the plane.

Reporter:
If the election were held today...

Santos:
People would be surprised, because it's usually held on Election Day.

Senator Framingham:
We were close once, back then.

Leo:
No. Senator, we just drank back then. We were never close.

Vinick:
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 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. They won't all lie to you but a lot of them will. And it will be the easiest lie they ever had to tell to get your votes. So, every day until the end of this campaign, I'll answer any question anyone has on government, But if you have a question on religion, please go to church.

Bartlet:
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 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. 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.

Vinick:
You think a voter really needs to know if I go to church?

Bartlet:
I don't need to know, but then I'm not going to vote for you anyway.

Vinick:
Whatever happened to the separation of church and state?

Bartlet:
It's hanging in there, but I'm afraid the constitution doesn't say anything about the separation of church and politics.

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.

Vinick:
(watching Bob Russell and Matt Santos on TV) If either one of these guys had the political instincts of Jed Bartlet, I'd be 20 points behind right now.

Leo:
How are you feeling, Sir.

Bartlet:
Vexed, riled, irked.

Leo:
The Republican Convention.

Bartlet:
Ticked, honked, pissed.

Leo:
You can't take it personally.

Bartlet:
That's what I keep telling myself. But when you start telling yourself that, it's too late: you're already taking it personally.

Vinick:
For in the end, the presidency is more than a simple catalog of policies pursued, crises weathered, battles lost and won. It is a stewardship, a sacred trust, a commitment to sacrifice every fiber of your being, every thought, every moment, every ... every everything, in service to your nation.

Toby:
Arnold Vinick just positioned himself as Jed Bartlet's natural successor.

Annabeth:
How'd he do that?

Toby:
Without one mention, without so much as an allusion to either one, he managed to dismiss Russell and Santos as puny dwarf-like children trying to get a seat at the grownups' table.

Bartlet:
Werner Von Braun's autobiography was titled 'I Aim for the Stars.' Mort Sahl joked, he should have added 'Only Sometimes I Hit London.'

Will:
[as Santos enters] Quick, hide the ouija board.

Santos:
See, they can afford ouija boards. Josh still has us reading chicken entrails.

Bartlet:
A national security leak during the Democratic convention! Are we working for the Republicans now? They're going to whack us for the security leak and then whack us again for dithering over saving the lives of brave astronauts.

Abbey:
[about the Democratic convention] What are they doing?

Bartlet:
Eating their young.... It's a free-for-all. I think Aaron Burr's got 20 votes.

Leo:
You have to quit, Congressman. We have to unite behind a candidate.... We need these last days to put our message before the American people.

Santos:
You think either of them can beat Vinick in the Fall?

Leo:
Who knows? But you step aside for the good of the party; people won't forget. The President and I won't let them.

Santos:
Will I have a chance to address the convention again?

Leo:
Of course.

Santos:
You know I'd been hoping to stand here tonight under very different circumstances, and I have been asked by people that I respect to take this opportunity to support one of the other fine candidates who have made this race with me, to help decide who our nominee will be. But I can't do that. I can't do that because it's not my place to decide who our nominee should be. That decision is yours and yours alone. Now there has been a great deal made about Governor Baker's decision not to disclose his wife's minor medical condition. Many people believe that he should have. But I don't believe Governor Baker failed to disclose it because he was ashamed or embarrassed. I think he didn't disclose it because we're the hypocrites, not the Bakers; because we're all broken, every single one of us, and yet we pretend that we're not. We all live lives of imperfection and yet we cling to this fantasy that there's this perfect life and that our leaders should embody it. But if we expect our leaders to live on some higher moral plain than the rest of us, well we're just asking to be deceived. Now it's been suggested to me this week that I should try to buy your support with jobs, and the promise of access. It's been suggested to me that party unity is more important than your democratic rights as delegates. That's right it's not. And you have a decision to make. Don't vote for us because you think we're perfect. Don't vote for us because of what we might be able to do for you only. Vote for the person who shares your ideals, your hopes, your dreams. Vote for the person who most embodies what you believe we need to keep our nation strong and free. And when you have done that, you can go back to Seattle, and Boston, to Miami, to Omaha, to Tulsa and Chicago, and Atlanta with your head held high, and say, "I am a member of the Democratic Party."

Leo:
[about a potential VP candidate] Do you want me to get the President to lean on him?

Josh:
He told me that he'd kick the guy's ass all over the school yard, if it came to that.

Leo:
Who is it?

Josh:
You.