On The Day Before - TWW S3E5

Original airdate: October 31, 2001

Teleplay by: Aaron Sorkin (48)
Story by: Paul Redford (7) & Nanda Chitre (1)

Directed by: Christopher Misiano (6)

Synopsis

• As the White House hosts a dinner honoring Nobel laureates, Toby and Sam try to deal with a surprise House vote to override the President's veto of an estate tax repeal bill. Josh works to avoid a primary challenge to President Bartlet. CJ slaps down a reporter trying to score publicity points at her expense. And when two Americans are killed in a targeted bombing in Israel, the President and Leo scramble to find a way to prevent wider bloodshed.

"We threw an elbow."

This episode is all about throwing elbows.

Let me explain. Or, at least, sum up. The phrase is illustrated by Leo's story about the Boston Celtics' coach Red Auerbach telling his player Bill Russell to throw an elbow once, on national TV, and he'd never have to do it again. The Bartlet administration finds some novel ways to throw elbows over the course of this one evening, with the hope the effects will linger with their opponents.

The main plotline involves the estate tax repeal bill and the President's veto, which was discussed in the previous episode. Even as President Bartlet is issuing his veto, word comes that House Republicans are getting ready to call an almost immediate vote to override. This comes as a bit of a surprise to the staffers who felt secure they held enough votes to prevent that outcome:

Toby: "Why would they hold a vote if they didn't think they could override?"

President: "They wouldn't." 

Toby and Sam go into emergency mode, setting up the Roosevelt Room to call people at the Capitol to figure out who they lost and who's on the fence, but it takes only a few moments to discover that a Tennessee congressman has switched his stance and brought four others along with him. Leo calls the congressman to the White House to negotiate.

Here's where we see a different approach from the last time we saw the administration in this position. In Five Votes Down, Leo and Josh went into all-out bully mode, throwing the weight of the Presidency around and threatening congressmen with electoral consequences if they didn't stick with the administration on the gun control bill. Here, Leo, Toby and Sam are asking what they need to give Rep. Kimball in order to come back and vote against the override.

Leo: "You're going to have to give away something, but don't give away the store."

It turns out Kimball wants the White House to back off on things like grazing fees, farm subsidies, and production flexibility contracts. Toby and Sam are irked that such small-stakes stuff could be what costs the President in this veto override fight, but when Kimball holds out for an FDA crackdown on illegal antibiotics in milk, they've just about had enough. Sam comes up with a novel idea - "throwing an elbow," so to speak:

Sam: "What's on the table, don't you ... Grazing fees, farm nets, milk subsidies; what's on the table. Aren't they the same things a farm district Republican would want?"

Toby: "Yeah."

Sam: "Let's offer it to them."

Toby: "Offer it to who?"

Sam: "Republicans. Royce. He'll carry six Republicans. That's seven votes. First off, when Kimball and his four see we're going to win, they'll hop onboard so we've got a bigger margin. Second, CJ can make a big deal out of bipartisanship but mostly -"

Toby: "We threw an elbow." 

The plan is hatched. Kimball is told to go pound sand, and the moderate Republican congressman Royce is offered the same deal Kimball was pushing for. Turns out, he doesn't want that deal - all he wants is for the Democrats to not mount a conservative opponent against him, who wouldn't even work with the White House anyway. Toby agrees, and the override vote is destined to fail.

Also happening during this busy night, a Palestinian suicide bomber kills two Americans visiting Israel on a goodwill soccer trip. President Bartlet and Leo work to try to reduce tensions, knowing they can't stop the Israelis from taking whatever retribution they deem necessary. As Israeli jets are warming up at their bases, investigators find a link between the explosive used and a terrorist leading a small splinter group. Under American pressure (or, if you will, elbow-throwing), the Palestinian government arrests the terrorist and hands him over to the Israelis, putting the lid on the pressure cooker for the time being.

President: "We'll withhold the $100 million in NGO aid if they don't hand him over?"

Leo: "Yeah."

President: "And you think handing him over puts the pin back in the grenade?"

Leo: "For a day."

On the domestic front, in the last episode we heard about a "Buckland" who hosted the California labor leader Victor Campos at an Indiana Pacers basketball game, just after Campos had spurned a White House offer of a commission post. Now we meet the mysterious Mr. Buckland - actually Gov. Buckland of Indiana, a thorn in President Bartlet's side even though he's a fellow Democrat. His aides have been spreading attacks on the administration's environmental policy, hitting it as unfriendly to labor and business. Josh sits down with Buckland, because he thinks there's something more at play here:

Josh: "Jack, are you going to challenge the President in the primary?"

Buckland: "Let's have that drink."

Josh really isn't afraid of Buckland's chances of actually making noise in the Democratic primary, although challenging a sitting President running for re-election is almost unheard of; what he is concerned about, though, is the optics, relating to the President's recent admission of his health issues:

Buckland: "Well, if it isn't a serious challenge what are you doing in this room?"

Josh: "Your health! We don't like your health. You're a Heisman Trophy-winning football player, a US Olympian, you still run the New York Marathon and every time we see B-roll of you tossing a ball around at the local boys' club it makes people think the President's got to campaign in an oxygen tent." 

Buckland, however, is up against term limits. Unable to run for governor again, he wants to continue to have a position to fight for his issues. Josh is able to steer him away from causing trouble in a Presidential primary by basically offering him the post as Secretary of Labor. Not really using his elbows (even though Leo told Josh to do basically that by leaking word that Buckland was trying to blackmail the President), but a nice jiu-jitsu move.

CJ's elbow ends up right in the face of Sherri Wexler, an entertainment reporter who ends up on the White House beat to cover the dinner honoring the Nobel laureates. When the hard news of the bombing in Israel arises, Wexler twists CJ's approach (deflecting news about the dead Americans and the government's response) into making CJ look out-of-the-loop (shades of Lord John Marbury!). CJ has the comeback, showing up Wexler for her lack of knowledge and preparation right in front of the entire press corps:

CJ: "Since this is the President's first veto, I thought it might be helpful if we brushed up on the rules. Sherri, can you tell us how many votes it takes to override a veto?"

Sherri: "I'm sorry?"

CJ: "How many votes does it take to override, Sherri?"

Sherri: "A majority."

CJ: "Actually, it takes two-thirds."

Sherri: "Yes, a two-thirds majority."

CJ: "Yeah, 290. And how many votes does it take to sustain?"

CJ: "That should be easy. You just subtract 290 from the total number of members in the House, and add one. How many people sit in the House of Representatives, Sherri?"

And the final CJ elbow is thrown when Sherri angrily confronts her in the hallway:

CJ: "I changed my clothes because I didn't think it was appropriate to talk about the death of two teenagers while wearing a ball gown, and you knew that. Because you're stupid, but you're not stupid, you know what I'm saying? Security's going to take your press credentials. You'll call my office every day and I'll decide if you get into the room. I'm taking your spot on Pebble Beach - and you can do your standups from Lafayette Park."

Wexler: "Who the hell -"

CJ: "One more word out of your mouth and every local station in town but yours gets an exclusive with the President. Hunting season on me is over."

One other thing, played almost for laughs but ending in a really meaningful quote, is Charlie's situation with the impending investigation into the President's coverup of his MS. Charlie has been offered a deal, immunity in exchange for his testimony, and in turn each staff member steps up to encourage him to take it. Knowing Charlie's financial and family situation, immunity would save a significant amount of legal fees, and that's behind the encouragement of Sam, Toby, CJ, and finally Leo. But Charlie has an answer that Leo has no response to:

Charlie: "Doesn't immunity imply guilt?"

Leo: "Not necessarily."

Charlie: "And if someone in my position took a deal to protect himself ... what would that person be saying to his employer? That they were wrong to trust him."

Leo: "Don't be a hero."

Charlie: "Why not? I'll stay with my team. People should stop trying to get me not to do that."

We recall Donna and her date last episode with Cliff Calley, Republican Capitol Hill attorney who realized during their date that his assignment to Oversight meant he'd be in direct conflict with everyone in the West Wing for this congressional investigation. She spends the entire episode trying to find a minute to tell Josh about it, even while tying his bow tie to make him look like Tony Bennett:

When she finally gets the time, not only does she tell Josh about that contact, she admits she and Calley got together again even after they knew the conflict existed.

Josh, who first was concerned about Donna creating a connection between his office and the House investigation, is now pretty ticked about this news:

We are left to decide for ourselves if there's some kind of jealousy there for Josh, or if it's purely anger at the potential for (even unintentional) leaks between the White House and the Republican investigation. Anyway, this episode was submitted for part of Janel Moloney's nomination for a Supporting Actress Emmy - I don't know if she really stood out in this episode (she's always good, I just thought she's had much better episodes character-wise in the past, but what do I know?).

So the elbows are thrown. The administration proves they're willing to step over reluctant Democrats and go to Republicans if that can get the job done; that they'll do what's necessary to exact justice in the Middle East; and that they won't stand for smarmy reporters scoring personal points at the expense of CJ. Just as things are starting to really heat up between the Bartlet White House and congressional Republicans, the battle lines are being drawn.

On national TV, no less.



Tales Of Interest!

- Stockard Channing returns to the opening credits, although she only has one scene (and she's sick in bed in that one).

- Timeline: CJ makes a comment that the President's veto of the estate tax repeal bill is his first veto since he took office 33 months ago. Counting from January 1999, that would place us in October 2001, which is when this episode aired. President Bartlet makes a reference to Yom Kippur, which in 2001 was September 26 and 27.

- Gail's fishbowl appears to have a seating place card, in reference to the dinner for the Nobel laureates.

- Yet another jarring note of how much things have changed in less than 20 years; can you imagine in today's political climate a Republican congressman who would be willing to buck his party on a veto override vote? Even for a promise of not trying too hard in the next election? Then, try to imagine a rural farm district in Tennessee electing a Democrat to the House. There are currently two Democrats from Tennessee serving in the House, but one is from Nashville and the other from Memphis.

- And let's make a special Trump-Ukraine-impeachment-GOP watchword-related note of Buckland's line to Josh:

"You can't offer me quid pro quo, it's against the law."

Yes, even in 2001 we were all aware of the law and the necessity for our elected officials to follow it. In 2019 a hefty proportion of one political party has apparently forgotten all about that.

- Janel Moloney was nominated for a Supporting Actress Emmy award for this episode (as well as her performance in War Crimes); that Emmy actually ended up going to castmate Stockard Channing.



Quotes    

President: "You know what we're starting with tonight?"

Josh: "No, sir."

President: "Hot pumpkin soup with a cheese gnocchi and a chevre brioche."

Josh: "Was anything you just said food?" 

-----

Toby: "'Cause if it's a show of strength and resolve, you don't wait to think about it."

Sam: "And if they override the veto, it's neither strong nor resolute."

Toby: "They don't have the votes to override."

Sam: "Says you."

Toby: "Says me, Josh, the office of the political liaison, legislative liaison, and the minority whip."

President: "Sometimes it's like I don't even need to be here." 

-----

Josh: "Sir, if the House successfully overrides the veto, we're gonna look weak."

President: "If the House successfully overrides the veto, we are weak." 

-----

Sam: "How did we lose votes since yesterday?"

Toby: "A low-in-the-polls President tells chicken-ass Democrats to vote against a tax cut in an election cycle, what could possibly have gone wrong?"

-----

CJ: "Na is sodium. Sodium comes from the English word 'soda,' so wouldn't it make sense for the periodic symbol to somehow be related to that? No, because Na comes from the Latin word 'natrium.'"

Margaret: "What does natrium mean?"

CJ: "It means sodium."

-----

CJ: "I'm going to change my clothes."

Charlie: "I'll watch."

Charlie. "No."

-----

Charlie: "I can't talk about it."

Toby: "You don't know what I was going to say."

Charlie: "Immunity?"

Toby: "Yeah."

Charlie: "I can't talk about it."

Toby: "I could have been talking about a flu vaccine."

Charlie: "That's immunization." 

-----

Josh: "After that, he can have a member try to attach an amendment to the override vote."

Donna: "What kind of amendment?"

Josh: "Doesn't matter. 'To qualify for the estate tax repeal, the estates have to have Astroturf.'"

Donna: "And still it's hard to figure why Congress can't get anything done."

-----

Buckland: "You can't offer me quid pro quo, it's against the law."

Story threads, callbacks, and familiar faces (Hey, it's that guy!)

• Donald Dolan, from the Executive Clerk's Office who ends up bringing the estate tax repeal bill to the White House, is played by Scott Michael Campbell (Brokeback Mountain, Shameless, Flight Of The Phoenix).

• Jack Buckland, the governor of Indiana, is played by Kevin Tighe (best known for Emergency!, also Road House, Eight Men Out).

• The Democratic Representative trying to get favors from the administration in return for his vote against the veto override is played by Cliff De Young (a long list of character appearances, mostly on TV, stretching all the way back to the 1970s).

• As far as the President's "first veto in 33 months," there was an education bill veto referenced in In This White House, and The Portland Trip featured the President using a "pocket veto" on a bill against same-sex marriage. 

• In Ways And Means Bruno tells Leo that California labor leader Victor Campos had turned down a commission post from the White House, and then was seen at an Indiana Pacers game with "Buckland." That name ruffled feathers, and I inferred he was some sort of Republican bigwig. Here we discover he's actually the Democratic governor of Indiana, but is still a thorn in the administration's side and is threatening a primary challenge.

• We know that even though he's a dyed-in-the-wool liberal who went to protests with his sister in 1968 (Somebody's Going To Emergency, Somebody's Going To Jail), Toby has a special place in his heart for veterans (In Excelsis Deo). Here we see his office has a replica of The Three Soldiers statue, added as part of the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial in 1984.

• We get a great sampling of Josh's experience in congressional affairs, as he knows all the tricks one side can use to delay a vote on something they don't want voted on (stage an exhibition, ask for a journal vote, offer amendments).

• Most of the time (which occasional exceptions) over the past two-plus seasons, we've seen President Bartlet's desk set up with his glass collection on his left and the phone and a lamp on the right. Here we see that reversed, with the collection of glass items on his right and the lamp moved to the left.

• In another shot we see a different selection of photographs on the desk facing the President. While the photo of Abbey, one of Zoey, and another of Jed and Abbey together remain from previous episodes, we also get one that appears to be of daughters Zoey and Ellie together. Another could be a grandchild (we know there's a granddaughter, referenced in Pilot). Still no pictures of the third Bartlet daughter, Elizabeth, though (as far as I can tell).

DC location shots    

• None

They Do Exist! It's The Real Person, or Thing    

• Josh mentions Tony Bennett as a goal for appearances with his bow tie; Donna mixes that up with Tom Jones. 

• Kary B. Mullis was indeed the 1993 Nobel Prize recipient in chemistry, he was indeed born in 1944 in North Carolina, and received his undergraduate degree at Georgia Tech and his doctorate at the University of California-Berkeley.

• While CJ says she's wearing Diane Cook, that does not appear to be an actual fashion designer; likewise the Indianapolis Post-Dispatch is not a real newspaper.

• We see Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey in the background on C-SPAN2.

• Gov. Buckland is mentioned as a Heisman Trophy winner, so John Heisman must exist in this universe.

• In a rare reference to a real global political figure, President Bartlet refers to Arafat (Yasser Arafat, President of the Palestinian National Authority and Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization). 

• Abbey is reading Man Of The People: Harry S. Truman, a biography by Alonzo Hamby. A real book about a real President.

• Leo tells a story about real-life members of the Boston Celtics basketball team, player Bill Russell and coach Red Auerbach.

• Josh brings up the trademarked term Astroturf as an example of a amendment that could help extend the voting time in the House.

• Representative Royce quotes Oliver Wendell Holmes.

• For products, we see Toby has a (logo barely hidden) Starbucks cup in the Roosevelt Room.

• Remember how Keeper Springs water seemed to be a constant presence in the White House towards the end of Season 2? Now, anyway, it seems the show is at least trying to hide the label, but it's clearly the same brand on CJ's desk.

End credits freeze frame: The staff meeting in the Oval Office before the President's phone call with the parents of the Americans killed in the bombing.