The Debate - TWW S7E7

 

Original airdate: November 6, 2005

Written by: Lawrence O'Donnell (14)

Directed by: Alex Graves (29)

Synopsis

• Presidential candidates Matt Santos and Arnie Vinick face off in a debate, televised live on NBC.
  

"You have no idea what this feels like. 'Terrified' doesn't begin to describe it." 

Live broadcasts of scripted TV shows can be seen as a gimmick, an attention-grabbing effort to raise awareness or ratings of a struggling show, or maybe something to showcase the particular improvisation talents of the show's cast. For The West Wing, while Season 7 ratings were a definite disappointment from the early days of the series, I think this live episode - while, yes, a bit gimmicky - fits into the world of that drama very well. It's an event that would have happened live inside that universe; it's more of a news broadcast than a typical scripted drama; and the idea of doing the debate between Matt Santos and Arnie Vinick live fits perfectly into what would have happened in the world of that election campaign.

 

Not to mention Alan Alda could show off his experience with live stagework here; while Jimmy Smits was a bit less confident and comfortable with being onstage live, I think he does a fine job (except for his shifty eyes looking at something offstage a time or two). And to be honest, the topics of the debate and how the candidates handled them and described their positions makes this a really strong entry in The West Wing series. 

Let's delve into the history of live TV episodes first, shall we? Obviously, at the beginning of television in the late 1940s-early 1950s, everything was live. Before the development of videotape technology, television cameras allowed no feasible way of recording a TV event, other than pointing a film camera at a monitor and recording the show off that (which was done, in certain instances, leaving us with the only lasting evidence of some of those early TV classics). Eventually, as videotape/recording technology became more accessible and less expensive, entertainment television production moved almost exclusively to being recorded for later broadcast. It's just easier ... you can fix errors by getting another take, you can edit the shows down into precise lengths for scheduling purposes, there's no possibility of a flubbed line or technical mistake ruining the broadcast.

Of course, things like news, sporting events, award shows and the like continued to air live, but for the most part, entertainment television became almost exclusively pre-recorded since the 1960s. As time passed, the idea of a network TV episode being broadcast live became something of a publicity stunt, or a way to show off a particular actor or clever technical approach. It's almost always going to be harder than the usual filmed/videotaped performance, but pulling off a live telecast can be exciting for both the performers and viewers. Some examples of live broadcasts leading up to this 2005 West Wing effort included an episode of Gimme A Break in 1985, the entire season of Roc in 1993, two episodes of ER in 1997, and episodes of The Drew Carey Show in 1999, 2000, and 2001. There was also a rather celebrated live TV movie remake of Fail Safe (starring George Clooney) that aired in 2000.

As I mentioned above, the subject of a Presidential debate seems tailor-made for being a live TV episode. It just fits - the nervousness of the candidates/actors that we see as they prepare to go onstage, the reactions of the audience, the extemporaneous, almost ad-libbed delivery of some lines (even though the episode was scripted, both Smits and Alda were allowed to go off-book a little if they felt like it). Another odd thing about this was that the episode was actually performed twice; once for audiences in the Eastern, Central, and Mountain time zones, then again a couple of hours later for the Pacific time zone, in order to hit prime time in the largest viewing areas. Now, pretty much all we viewers have access to is the second, West Coast version of the episode - that's what's available on streaming services like HBO Max or Amazon Prime, and that's the version on the official DVD release versions. The original, first, East Coast version is, well, pretty much impossible to find, unless you know someone who happened to record it when it first aired in 2005 and still has access to that old, grainy VHS tape. I know I watched that East Coast version when it originally aired, but I'm sure I've never seen that version since - and obviously, I don't have the memory to figure out what was different between the versions (some online sources say the order of topics is different, and there are some dialogue differences; the versions aren't radically different, but they aren't identical, either. Another little tidbit is that the mother of Lawrence O'Donnell, who wrote the script for this episode, was in the audience and can be seen behind moderator Forrest Sawyer ... or at least, could be seen if anyone could have access to that version of the broadcast).

Okay, to the episode ... we open with both Vinick and Matt nervously getting ready to take the stage, both of them griping in some manner with the rules of the debate as they were negotiated. This is already a bit odd - remember, at the end of The Al Smith Dinner Matt seemed ready for "a real debate, just you and me," and in Freedonia it was Matt insisting on free-flowing debate rules instead of the stodgy, minute-counting, colored-light-enforcing rules this episode tells us the Santos campaign insisted on. As they begin their opening remarks, Vinick asks if they can scrap the rules they had laid out and just have a more freewheeling conversation about their policies and stances, moderated by the host. Again ... sounds more like Matt than Vinick here.

Matt agrees, and the debate topics start with border issues/immigration; move on to tax cuts and the federal budget; then education; health care; jobs; gun control; and finally energy policy. (In the DVD version there's a short section on the death penalty, too, but I'll get to the differences between the DVD and streaming versions.) It's a lively discussion, with both candidates getting animated and trying to talk over each other a few times, and Matt gets things visually interesting by coming out from behind his podium:

Which requires him to get a hand-held microphone so he can be heard (luckily the television production crew happened to have a couple of them ready, what are the odds?) ... naturally, not to be outdone, Vinick also comes out to get a microphone and roam about the stage.

Of course this is more an NBC/entertainment presentation angle than something that might happen at an actual debate, because the network wants to give viewers a visually interesting hour of television that involves more than two men standing behind podiums for the entire show. (I also couldn't not think of the 2016 presidential debate where Donald Trump appeared to stalk Hillary Clinton around the stage and lurk menacingly in the background while she spoke, but that debate was designed for the candidates to be standing up and moving around.)

Let's break down each topic a bit, including differences between versions. You see, the episode you see on HBO Max is the version that was cut down after the original broadcast to be used in reruns and in syndication - that version has been edited down to 43 minutes and has a couple of added commercial breaks built in that weren't in the live broadcast. The original live episode only had commercial breaks after the opening titles, before the end credits, and one break in the middle of the episode, and has a 50-minute run time - that's the version on the DVDs. I'll be totally frank here - the DVD version is far, far better. There are several speeches in the 50-minute version that make callbacks to earlier episodes, or explain a candidate's position far better than the trimmed-down bargain-basement 43-minute offering.

And a great example comes right up front, on the topic of the border. In the streaming version, Vinick starts off saying he'd double the Border Patrol, and Matt jumps right in to talk over him asking why he doesn't triple it before steamrolling the conversation. It doesn't seem very Santos-like to try to verbally run over Vinick like that, particularly given Matt's earlier concern about Vinick "filibustering" the entire hour ... and as it turns out, that section has been edited all to hell and completely ruins the opening part of the discussion over immigration. In the original 50-minute version, Vinick goes on from his plan to double the Border Patrol to explain why he thinks it's necessary, and how it will send a message to Mexico and to migrants about how the United States is taking illegal immigration seriously. Then Matt's question about tripling the Border Patrol is part of his response to Vinick's statement - it's not a rude butting-into-someone-else's-speaking-time thing at all. Not only that, but Matt's major point (made in Message Of The Week first, and also brought up in the pre-debate scenes here) about how Vinick's tax cut plan and his plan to also double hiring for the Border Patrol are in conflict gets left out of the streaming version, too, but it does survive in the longer DVD version. The editing process really lets us down here.

Also completely missing from the streaming version is a discussion over the Central American Free Trade Agreement, which was also a topic in Message Of The Week and caused Matt some trouble when Vinick used his vote for it in committee and his vote against it on the floor of the House to paint Santos as a flip-flopper. Those votes gets referenced here, too, and Matt does a good job of explaining his position and his differing votes ... but you have to watch it on DVD to get that part. 

Vinick: "I'm proud to say that I cast that vote in the Senate. How did you vote on CAFTA, Congressman?"

Matt: "I don't think there's anyone left in the country who doesn't know how I voted on CAFTA, Senator."

 

As you also would in order to see Forrest Sawyer ask Matt if he thinks Vinick is using immigration issues against Santos only because he's a Latino; Matt dodges that question, sort of, but the uncomfortable pause before that speaks volumes - and you don't see it at all in the edited streaming version.

After the border, the debate moves on to tax cuts (which Vinick is for, anywhere and everywhere, even in Africa, as we'll hear shortly) and tax/budget policy. The streaming version doesn't give Matt much of a voice on this topic, but edited out of that and still available on the DVD version is an actual description of Matt's tax plan - increase taxes by 1% on those making over $1 million, 2% on those making over $10 million, and 3% on those earning over $100 million. He also points out the discrepancy of the wealthy using tax breaks and loopholes to pay a lower effective tax rate than people earning under $100,000. 

Then on to education. Matt has put improving public education at the forefront of his campaign right from the beginning in Opposition Research, so he has some things to say. Vinick thinks the government is spending too much on programs that don't work (like Head Start), and wants to encourage voucher programs to supply more federal money for private schools. There's not a lot of difference between versions here, just a little bit of extended discussion where Matt accuses Vinick of "giving up" on Head Start and public education, and pledging the existence of his potential second term on his success at improving education during his first.

This is also a section where a member of the audience jumps out and shouts, "You're the liar!" at something Vinick says. I think that's the show's way of showing some of the increasing polarization in our society, where a usually genteel and respectful event like a Presidential debate can be struck by a rude, outspoken heckler. It's the decline of decorum that's gradually been seen more and more since the Newt Gingrich days of the mid-1990s, and naturally, it's even worse now, with members of Congress cat-calling the President himself during State of the Union addresses.

Then to health care, where Matt gives a strong defense of moving towards universal health care. This is where the candidates each come out from behind their podiums, taking handheld microphones to move about the stage (so it looks more interesting). Vinick defends big pharmaceutical companies and insurance firms, and when he hits Matt on the fact his plan won't help that many people, Matt doubles down - he doesn't want to just make moves toward universal health care, he wants a true public option, giving all Americans the chance to sign up for Medicare. Of course, these proposals of universal health care and a "public option" were growing topics of discussion in the mid-2000s, and elements of both were original parts of bills considered by Congress in 2009, but were removed before final passage of the Affordable Care Act.

I think Matt makes a great point when Vinick attacks his Medicare plan as being both too costly and too "socialist":

Matt: "If you had the option of choosing Medicare instead of your private insurance companies, you would save big money, at least 20 percent."

Vinick: "That's crazy. Medicare taxes would skyrocket."

Matt: "Yes, the Medicare tax would have to go up, but it would still be much less than your present health care insurance premiums. I don't know about you, but if you give me a choice between something called a premium and something called a tax, my only question's going to be, which one's gonna be cheaper?"

When the topic of AIDS drugs in Africa comes up, and the problems of cost and distribution are addressed, this is where Vinick really shines. When he first says his answer to these problems in Africa are "tax cuts," it's almost a laugh line - are tax cuts the Republican answer to literally everything? But Vinick goes on to make a great case. His closing comments on the topic are powerful and striking.

Vinick: "Some African tax rates are the highest in the world. In Tanzania, the 30% rate kicks in at $475 of income, plus this 20% value added tax that they put onto everything. Those high tax rates have made it impossible to build capital in those countries. So, as a result, nothing gets built: not roads, not factories, not anything. Poor African countries have the lowest wage earners in the world, but a company like Nike, for instance, can't put a factory in there because of those oppressive tax rates. Taxes have killed any possibility of economic development. They've killed any hope of those countries helping themselves. And the result is they become completely dependent on charities, on loans. You know ... here's the worst part: you know why those tax rates are so high? Because of us. Because they have to prove to us they can make enough money to pay back their loans. But taxes can't raise any money if they kill the economy. So, it turns out that the tragic, unintended consequence of our good intentions toward Africa, our kindness, is that we have forced these countries to lock themselves into an economic depression. If we don't urge these countries to lower their tax rates, they will never grow their economies. People will live lifetimes of unemployment. Disease will be rampant. Poverty will be permanent. Children will be hungry.

"And our charity will never be enough. Never."

And after that powerful line delivery is where the original broadcast version/DVD episode has its only ad break placed. 

We then move on to jobs, and this is where - after Matt says his economic plan will create 1 million new jobs - Vinick famously answers Forrest Sawyer's question about how many jobs he will create with a one-word answer: "None." His point, of course, is that government and politicians don't actually "create" jobs, it's up to them to get out of the way of business so that entrepreneurs and business owners can actually create jobs for American workers. We go off a bit into government regulation of bad actors like Enron in the business world (a topic which brings the fired-up candidates face-to-face for a moment)

and then Vinick's attacks on the word "liberal" cause Matt to rise to the defense of the word, the topic, the position. I think it's a fine defense, too.

 

Matt: "Liberals got women the right to vote. Liberals got African-Americans the right to vote. Liberals created Social Security and lifted millions of elderly people out of poverty. Liberals ended segregation, liberals passed the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, liberals created Medicare. Liberals passed the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act. What did conservatives do? They opposed every one of those programs, every one, so when you try to hurl that word 'liberal' at my feet, as if it were something dirty, something to run away from, something that I should be ashamed of - it won't work, Senator, because I will pick up that label and I will wear it as a badge of honor."

 

Right after this is an entire topic that was cut completely from the streaming/syndicated 43-minute version. Forrest brings up the death penalty, and asks each candidate if they'd favor a moratorium on federal executions. Matt says, "Yes. That's it" and Vinick says, "No. I think we've covered that subject." That's all there is to it, an easy little bit to edit out.

 

Gun control is next, and that doesn't take much time, either. Vinick, of course, as a conservative constitutionalist, says the government can't pick and choose who's worthy to own guns; Matt's approach is not to control guns, but control the bullets - tax bullets, put trackers and information on those bullets so that they can be instantly traced back to the person who purchased them. An interesting notion, to be sure, but since 2005 we haven't seen much of any movement towards improving the situation with the availability of guns (or bullets) in American society. Matt says there were 200 million guns owned by Americans in 2005; current estimates are that number has almost doubled, to over 390 million guns in 2018.

 

(What I do find interesting is while the moderator covers hot-button issues like immigration and gun control and the death penalty, perhaps the top hot-button issue in American political culture, abortion, isn't mentioned at all. This is particularly odd considering that abortion was the primary subject of the previous episode, and would have been fresh as a news topic at the time of this debate. Heck, that pro-life TV ad attacking Santos as supporting "abortion on demand" only hit the airwaves a few days prior, the topic would have been in the front of mind of the media as a whole - as an in-universe news issue it's surprising it wasn't included in this debate; as an entertainment-intended TV show it's less surprising Lawrence O'Donnell didn't bring it up again just a week after the series had already discussed it.) 

The final topic of the debate is energy policy, high gasoline prices, foreign oil supplies, and renewable energy. It's a pretty wide-ranging discussion, and it does show more differences between the candidates: Matt wants to encourage renewable resources, and stop the idea of drilling for oil in nature preserves; Vinick wants the federal government to get out of the way, let oil wells go into remote places where people don't go, and let the market decide which technologies and types of energy should succeed.

We also get to see more differences between the DVD and streaming versions. If you watched the 43-minute episode, you saw Vinick ask the crowd how many of them have gone to the Grand Canyon, getting a lot of applause. He kinda-sorta compares that to the Arctic Natural Wildlife Reserve, but doesn't make a big contrasting point. The longer DVD version shows a much clearer point made, where he first asks the audience if any of them have been to ANWR (no response at all) and how only rich people with private planes would ever see that nature preserve.

Another little bit edited out of the 43-minute version (and a good edit, I'd say) is Vinick comparing Democrats' attacks on oil workers, driving them out of work just because of what they do, with the Red Scare of the 1950s and people losing jobs because of what they thought and said. Not a great comparison there, Arnie. The short little shouting match over campaign contributions also goes on a bit longer in the 50-minute version, with Forrest Sawyer slapping both candidates down and telling them to stop unless they have proof of undue influence of contributions over either candidate.

And a little tidbit that will linger in the series - Matt clearly states his opposition to nuclear energy, while Vinick strongly asserts his support of nuclear. That's going to mean something in a few weeks.

We get to closing statements to wrap up the debate. They're well-done, I suppose - again, both candidates get their statements edited between the DVD 50-minute version and the streaming 43-minute episode, and it makes them both worse. Matt talks about the free market, and makes a nice illustrative comment about why he doesn't see himself as "the Latino candidate" - neither of which makes the shortened version, nor does his final thanks to the audience (which is a bit weird to not hear, to be honest). He gets in this zinger in both versions:

Matt: "But to his credit, the Senator's very honest about the fact that he has no health care plan, no education plan, no jobs plan, no energy plan. All he has is a tax plan. After he cuts taxes, what's he going to do for the next four years?"

In the DVD version Vinick makes a mention of the heckler being taken out, and how being tough enough to withstand people like that isn't enough by itself to be a leader, and making the tough choices is what makes the difference. And he has something to say about Santos, too, included in both edited and unedited versions:

Vinick: "I believe both of us want what's best for this country, we just have different ideas about how to go about it. I think it's fair to say that Matt has more confidence in government than I do. I have more confidence in freedom - your freedom."

And that's the live episode. A good choice to go live for this debate, I thought - it really does fit. Both candidates expressed themselves well, both candidates made excellent points in different subjects. While the edits to the streaming version mostly make things worse, I hope you can find access to the 50-minute original broadcast version somewhere (I'm told renting the version on Amazon Prime gets you that one, although I can't confirm).

Back on the campaign trail with our next episode - with only about eight weeks to go until the election.

Tales Of Interest!

- Going from what we learned in The Al Smith Dinner - that it is soon after Labor Day (stated by GOP Party Chairman Hodder), and the debate is on a Sunday night (the debate offer made by Vinick), that puts this episode at Sunday, September 10, 2006.

- This is the first episode of The West Wing that does not include any members of the original cast. That also gives us the opportunity to see which cast members the producers deem worthy of inclusion in the opening credits, whether or not they appear. Over the years the number of actors shown in the opening credits has ebbed and flowed, up to as many as 13 in some instances - of course, there are several who don't appear in the credits unless they are actually in the episode. That's what makes this particular entry interesting in seeing who gets the nod, even if they're not onscreen.

• Alan Alda
• Kristin Chenoweth
• Allison Janney
• Mary McCormack
• John Spencer
• Bradley Whitford
• Jimmy Smits
• Martin Sheen

So ... Kristin Chenoweth appears in every episode's credits, but not Richard Schiff. Or Janel Moloney. Or Joshua Malina, Dulé Hill, or Stockard Channing. Just an example of some of the cost-cutting going on in Season 7.

- There's another little difference between the 50-minute broadcast version and the edited 43-minute version on HBO Max, and this one is kind of hard to justify. In the section on energy policy, global warming comes up. This is what we see and hear in the longer, unedited version:

Vinick: "The same people that were telling you that we were going to run out of oil by the end of the 20th century are now trying to scare us with global warming theories."

Matt (immediately jumps in on Vinick's final word): "Theories?"

Vinick (pause): "Yeah, global warming theories, that all it is."

Matt: "You don't think that there is a, a consensus, going about that global warming is --"

Vinick: "Oh, oh, no, all they're talking about is an increase of one degree in the earth's temperature --"

Matt: "I cannot believe that you're saying that, sir."

In the edited, 43-minute version, everything goes exactly the same except that Vinick drops the word "theories" from his first line, which makes Matt's urgently delivered line "Theories?" sound odd, since it's a word Vinick never said. This first made me think the DVD version was the "lost" East Coast broadcast, since it included the word and the streaming version did not ... however, every other scene (that's in both versions) is word-for-word and move-for-move exactly the same, so that's not the answer. Did the studio purposely edit out the word "theories" in that version for re-run/syndication? If so, why? That's very strange.

I now have perhaps a different theory ("theories?" lol). The existing transcript of this episode that's up at westwingtranscripts.com has some subtle differences from the West Coast video version available for us to watch, and this little exchange is one of them. This is how the transcript reads:

Vinick: "The same people that were telling you that we were going to run out of oil by the end of the 20th century are now trying to scare us with global warming theories."

Matt: "Theories? You don't believe in the overwhelming, scientific research that --"

Vinick: "No, you know what you're talking about? You're talking about one degree change in the earth's temperature in the last hundred years."

Matt: "Senator, you have obviously not seen the scientific research --"

So here's what I think ... the transcript site has the original East Coast broadcast version, or, at least, was transferred from the original copy of the script. In that broadcast, Alan Alda included the word "theories" as written, Jimmy Smits jumped in with "Theories?" and continued with his line. In the West Coast version that we can all see now, Alda dropped the word "theories" from his line, Smits jumped in as the script said, then both actors reacted as they realized what Smits said didn't make sense with the word Alda left out. You can see Smits kind of half smile and react as he tries to get back on script on the fly, and Alda throws in the extra line "Yeah, global warming theories" to help cover. So what we see on the edited, 43-minute version is what went out over the airwaves to the West Coast that Sunday night in 2005, while the "unedited" 50-minute version is not.

Which then begs the question, why did the producers decide to edit the word "theories" back in to the DVD version, taking a line from the East Coast broadcast and editing back into the West Coast version, even while leaving both actors' reactions to the dropped word that - after the edit was made - didn't appear dropped at all? Again, it's both strange and odd.

- Why'd They Come Up With The Debate?

Well, this one is pretty obvious - it depicts the one and only presidential debate of the 2006 campaign.

Quotes    

Matt: "Well, Canadian laboratories have helped create some very important products --"

Vinick: "Nothing like the miraculous drugs that the American pharmaceutical industry has given to the entire world."

Matt: "Given to the world? I guess you haven't seen their prices lately."

-----

Vinick: "Now, an unthinking liberal will describe the airline bankruptcies as the evil capitalists screwing the worker again --"

Matt: "I, I didn't say that, Senator, I don't think you should put words in my mouth."

Vinick: "Oh, I know you didn't say it, you're not an unthinking liberal. Are you?"

  

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

• Forrest Sawyer, who actually was a news anchor for NBC and MSNBC at the time, appears as the debate moderator.

• The heckler who stands up and calls Vinick a liar before being ejected from the arena is Christopher Misiano, one of the series' executive producers who had also directed 24 episodes of The West Wing up to this time.

• Vinick and Matt spar over CAFTA and Matt's voting-for-it-before-voting-against-it "flip flop" that we saw in Message Of The Week. Vinick also boasts about his proposed guest worker program (introduced in that same episode), and Matt brings up his version from six years ago. At least, we see those exchanges on the DVD version, not the edited streaming version.
  

• Vinick talks about the school voucher program in Washington, DC, providing public funds for students to attend private schools. We saw the mayor asking President Bartlet to back that plan (with an assist from Charlie) in Full Disclosure.
  

• The topic of AIDS drugs in Africa and dealing with their costs came up in In This White House.
  

• The issue of what to do about American workers losing jobs to trade deals overseas was quite the problem for Josh in Talking Points.
  

DC location shots    

• None, the entire episode is live on the debate stage set.
  

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

• Vinick brings up Abraham Lincoln as the greatest President of his party.
  

• The Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), which is discussed in the DVD version although not the streaming episode, was not only a plot point in Message Of The Week, it existed in real life (passed in July 2005). Similarly, Vinick's pledge to double the Border Patrol was first made in that episode, too.
  

• Vinick asks the audience to "Google it right now" when he criticizes Matt for saying he'll make the country number one in education in 10 years.
  

• Vinick lists off the real-life universities of Harvard, Stanford, Cal Tech, the University of Texas, and MIT.
  

• Vinick says Africa's oppressive tax rates are the reason why Nike can't open up a factory there.
  

• The Trade Adjustment Assistance Program is an actual federal program; despite Matt's insinuation it was a new program the Democrats had brought about, it has actually been in effect since 1974 (with a reauthorization in 2015).
  

• Matt brings up Enron as an example of a company that can get away with plundering profits from the public without government oversight.
  

• The Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Clean Water Act are all actual federal laws.
  

• Sawyer mentions "record high gas prices this year." American gasoline prices did get high in 2005, breaking records at least three times before August 15, when the national average was $2.50 per gallon. If you're curious, that works out to an inflation-adjusted $4 per gallon in 2024, so that would have been pretty high.
  

• Vinick talks about an oil well in a McDonald's parking lot in Long Beach. That actually exists, on Cherry Avenue in Signal Hill, California - not technically the city of Long Beach, per se, but in the area, and right next to the Long Beach airport.

• The Toyota Prius gets a shout-out by Vinick, as he says its popularity proves government shouldn't be picking winners and losers in the energy field. The Prius (and Josh's disinterest in buying one) was also a topic in The Hubbert Peak.
  

End credits freeze frame: Since there were no pre-filmed segments from which to pull a screenshot from, it's fitting that the end credits rolled over a black screen.

Previous episode: The Al Smith Dinner

Next episode: Undecideds