Walking And Talking And Yelling At Clouds: Election Day, Part 1

Original airdate: April 2, 2006

Written by: Lauren Schmidt (6)

Directed by: Mimi Leder (1)

Synopsis

Election day is finally here, and as the stress levels grow - coupled with the lack of any actions still needing to be taken - we see characters resort to snapping at one another, obsessing over exit poll details, and ... falling into bed together. Will and Kate try to navigate the future of their relationship, as Charlie and CJ begin to map out her professional future. And a tragedy we all knew was eventually coming finally arrives.

"There's nothing left to do, Josh."

One of the things The West Wing does well - and it's helpful that it does, considering the political-world-centered focus of the series - is sweep us up into fast-paced stories with quickly changing events, often just over the course of a day. We've seen it in episodes like Five Votes Down or The Short List or Hartsfield's Landing or any of the State of the Nation themed episodes. just for some examples; and it's really come to the fore with the frantic campaign-centric episodes since Opposition Research. The stories hurtle along, with unexpected twists and turns, as we watch the characters swerve from crisis to crisis and try to overcome the hurdles popping up in their way in practically impossible timeframes.

This episode is similar, yet different. Election day has finally arrived, after the long eventful path through the primaries and the convention and the campaign against Vinick, the voters will finally choose the next President, and the day will be a hectic one - but at the same time, literally everything that needs to be done is already done. The preparations are finished, the drive-time radio spots are set, the surrogates are ready to pop up on cable news, the get-out-the-vote plans are in operation - and that drives action-oriented campaign managers like Josh and Bruno absolutely nuts. What do they do when there's nothing left to do?

Well, as it turns out, since this is also the horniest episode of The West Wing ... they figure out some things to do. We open in the hotel bar the night before the election. Louise is treating the staffers to some high-priced Scotch (on Josh's dime), and then we see them start to pair off for the night, finding a bit of companionship and passion on this final night before it's all decided. We see Edie and Lester head upstairs together (Lester is the outreach staffer for the Black community whom we met in Undecideds):

Then bright-eyed 23-year-old Otto and hardened campaign veteran Louise pair off:

Followed by Ronna and Cindy, a staffer we haven't met yet:

Josh watches all this with surprise and bemusement; he's been so focused on running the campaign he hasn't noticed the romantic couplings that are always going to happen among young people thrust together for months in a high-stress environment. But Donna knows.

Josh: "Did you know that?"

Donna: "About Ronna and Cindy?"

Josh: "Any of 'em."

Donna: "Yes."

Josh: "Which one?"

Donna: "All of them."

And speaking of Donna, all this animal attraction in the air brings us back to that night in The Cold, when Donna and Josh kissed after the news of Matt's surge in the polls, and then she tried to leave her hotel key for Josh only to be stymied by Ronna and Edie. She's spent the entire evening casting meaningful glances at Josh:

And now that everyone else has headed upstairs, she purposefully gets up and moves to sit next to him.

Josh, beginning to get the point, asks, "Do you want another drink?" to which Donna replies, "No." Then she gets up and heads to the elevator. Josh downs his Scotch and stands, then ...

SMASH CUT: opening credits, theme music, commercial break.

Finally. What so many West Wing viewers have been expecting or hoping for, all the way from Donna bringing Josh a cup of coffee in Pilot, from the note Josh wrote in Donna's ski book Christmas present in In Excelsis Deo, to "If you were in an accident, I wouldn't stop for a beer/If you were in an accident, I wouldn't stop for red lights" in 17 People, to Josh dropping everything to dash halfway around the world to be at Donna's side after she was nearly killed in Gaza, to the moment where Josh turned her away from the Santos campaign and wistfully watched her depart in The Ticket.

Janel Moloney and Bradley Whitford had created such a deep, relatable connection between their characters, an unspoken bond that never quite got to romantic love, but you could feel it right around the corner, that their getting together almost had to be inevitable. Moloney has said right from the start she intentionally played the role of Donna as if she was secretly in love with Josh, and that clearly came through in her acting. The undeniable chemistry between the two, in my view, ended up dooming the role of Mandy in Season 1 and making her character completely useless; Josh has his "soul mate" of sorts, we don't need an ex-girlfriend around mucking up the stories for no reason.

Anyway, that's all background. Josh and Donna have done the deed, they've finally had sex, and they both seem to be in pretty good spirits about it (good enough spirits, in fact, that they'll end up doing it again by afternoon, but that comes later).

Here's something about this that I found really interesting - Josh has been, from the start of the show, a driven, politically minded, highly focused operative who sets a goal and doesn't stop until he gets it. That's the mindset that made him the Deputy Chief of Staff he was, the mindset that drove him to take an unknown member of Congress and put him on the doorstep of being elected to the highest office in the land - yet throughout this day, as he keeps coming back to what this might all mean between him and Donna, he's the one with the emotions on his sleeve and she's the one that's driven to finish the job and see Santos elected.

Josh: "How are you feeling?"

Donna: "I really want to win this thing."

Then later when he answers her call and his first response is, "I didn't know if you needed some space," she quickly lets him know she just wants to tell him that the first exit polls are in. And then after their "afternoon delight" tryst, while Josh is thoughtfully offering some water, Donna's mind is on a new law in Minnesota that might be skewing the exit poll results. Several times during the day Josh gets a little squishy emotionally about what's happening relationship-wise, and Donna is all business because this day is so important to her and her work on the campaign. It's a cool little character flip.

As I said, though, the day is incredibly frustrating for the top staffers, because there's just nothing left to do. Also left with nothing to do is Matt; after casting his vote, all he can do is wait until the results come in. For a guy who's been on the move constantly for months, this is ... strange.

Matt (back home as they await election results): "What do I do here all day?"

Helen: "You could sleep."

Matt: "Naw, I don't think so."

Helen: "Come on."

Matt: "I don't think I can close my eyes."

(Helen comes near, plants a deep kiss on Matt)

Helen: "Then we'll find something else to do."

Guess what? More sex! I told you this was a horny episode.

Josh and Bruno, meanwhile, obsess over the little things. Both of them freak out over what we'd now call "crosstabs" in the exit polls, how certain segments of voters are being oversampled or undersampled, how they can't trust the information they're getting in those polls, and how frustrated they are because they just can't possibly know how the actual votes are going to play out once they're cast. Josh and Louise deal with their lack of control and the stress in their own ways, but mostly by giving Otto more potential speeches to write. It starts with two, a victory speech and a concession speech. Louise then directs him to write one if Matt fails to sweep the Hispanic vote. Then she tells him to write versions for Matt winning the popular vote and losing the Electoral College, and another for the reverse outcome. Josh chimes in to tell him to write another version for things ending up too close to call. Otto winds up banging his head against the hotel corridor wall.

At last, Josh rants so much about the polling data Louise has to shout at him to stop before he storms out of the campaign war room. Donna is delegated to go outside to make sure his head hasn't actually exploded.

Donna: "You've been working 18, 20-hour days for the last year."

Josh: "Yeah."

Donna: "It's here. There's nothing to do but let it run its course. (pause) There's nothing left to do, Josh."

We get a couple of storylines back in the White House. Charlie has a stack of job offers for CJ, who is not interested in the least (she wants to wait until after Christmas to start thinking about the future, but as Charlie says, "CEOs are busy people, they set up their January meetings in November"). Charlie's pestering does make her consider the oncoming finality of the Bartlet administration, though, as she takes a moment to let that sink in in the Oval Office.

Not until Charlie brings up the point that he'd like to keep working with her once they're out of the White House does she finally agree to start looking at those potential offers.

CJ: "Why are we still talking about this?"

Charlie: "Honestly?"

CJ: "Yeah?"

Charlie: "You're a smart and savvy woman who could easily consider world domination as her next career move. (pause) And I'd like to continue working with you. If that's a possibility."

CJ: "Right. (she stabs her fork into her salad) You can pack up some of these for me to take home tonight."

And the story of Will and Kate continues. As we've learned, they've also become a romantic couple (more horniness!), but with the end of the administration coming, their personal future is also in question. Will makes an offhand comment about perhaps going back to running campaigns in California, which brings Kate up short. She hadn't really considered Will might leave town - and she's frankly a little confused herself about how that makes her feel. She comes to his office to apologize for cutting him off so abruptly, and their feelings for each other get a little more defined.

Will: "It got weird all of a sudden."

Kate: "Yeah."

Will: "Was it something about California?"

Kate: "No ... California's a lovely state."

Will: "Doesn't mean I have to move there."

Kate: "What?"

Will: "If it means you and I would have to end --"

Kate: "No ... God, no --"

Will: "If you're planning on staying in DC --"

Kate: "I would never ask you to --"

(simultaneously)

Will: "I could stay with you."

Kate: "--stay with me?"

(pause)

Will: "You spend the night at my house more often than not."

Kate: "Which makes me...?"

Will: "A really good date."

Well, at least until the point where Will is stunned that Kate actually voted for Vinick.

(That's still a pretty sexy look from a gal who just admitted her political leanings are opposite that of her boyfriend.)

As the evening comes, and polls start to close, and states start to be called for one candidate or another, the hope grows in the Santos war room. Pennsylvania and South Carolina go for Santos, and the optimism is high. (Josh, though, is still not convinced, not trusting the poll numbers.) The Vinick war room seems to be in agreement, with Bob telling Bruno he did his best, and the San Andreo nuclear accident (Duck And Cover) was the uncontrollable event that changed everything. But things are still close, the polls have been neck and neck ever since San Andreo, and a lot of states have yet to be called.

For the first time, we get a mention of Leo. There's been no talk of him at all throughout the day, not a word about how he's dealing with the chaos and stress of election day. But at last, Annabeth's alarm goes off and she says she needs to go wake him up.

Annabeth: "Leo's gonna sleep through the whole damn thing, I gotta go get him up."

Of course it's Annabeth, sweet Annabeth, who's been falling for Leo ever since at least Mr. Frost, who was singing Stevie Wonder love songs about Leo in Welcome To Wherever You Are - and since we, the viewers, already know the fact John Spencer passed away the previous December, we know Leo's fate must somehow be the same. It doesn't mean we're ready for it. And it hits even harder when it's sweet, lovable Annabeth who makes the discovery in Leo's hotel room.

Annabeth: "Leo?! Somebody help me! Call 911!"

As Secret Service agents rush into the room, the camera pulls back, slowly exiting, backing away down the corridor, as if it can't bear to show us what's inside, and can't bear to be a part of the tragedy that we all knew was coming, but is finally here.

All in all, a top-notch episode with some memorable moments and lasting impact. And even so ... there's no final outcome of the Presidential election yet. That's coming in Part 2.

Tales Of Interest!

- The only West Wing episode directed by well-known director and producer Mimi Leder. Leder started out directing two episodes of L.A. Law (prior to John Spencer joining the show, alas), got her feet under her with 13 episodes of China Beach, and was another part of the ER/West Wing pipeline, directing 11 episodes of ER. She went on to direct movies like Deep Impact and The Peacemaker and is currently producer and sometimes director of the Apple TV series The Morning Show.

- Election Day 2006 was Tuesday, November 7. However, in Welcome To Wherever You Are we were told Halloween was on a Thursday, and Election Day was five days away (which would have been either November 5, 2002, or November 5, 2013 - neither of which fits in any conceivable way into the world of the show). So ... the writers did a terrible job of having their calendar fit the actual calendar, for some reason.

- You have to think at the top of the cold open, when Louise asks the bartender for "Scotch, please - your best," if Aaron Sorkin had still been writing her request would be for "Dewar's, rocks" instead. If you know, you know.

- The shot of Matt and Helen landing at the Houston airport in full morning sunlight says it's 6:36 am. Sunrise in Houston on November 7 isn't until 6:40 am. Also, when Louise is counting down until the polls open, she's doing that at 7:00 am Central Time - polls in the Eastern time zone can open in some states as early at 6:00 am local, which would be 5:00 am in Houston, so ... if she's just counting down until the Texas polls open, what's the deal with all the Josh/Teddy talk before that?

- Have Matt and Helen moved since late September? The Santos home we see depicted in an establishing shot is not at all the same place we saw as the Santos home in Running Mates. The interior appears the same, though - but I don't think that staircase would work in the house we see in this picture.

The Santos house in this episode

The Santos house in September, in Running Mates

- Why'd They Come Up With Election Day, Part 1?

Well, this is kind of a toughie, but ... it's election day. And it's the first of a two-part episode.

Quotes

Louise (on the treadmill): "I was hoping to escape you people for a little while."

Edie: "Yeah, well, the front desk clerk gave you up."

Louise: "What'd he say, Lou Thornton's down on the treadmill, go seek her out?"

Edie: "No, he said he opened the gym for a lady with liquor breath and crazy eyes."

-----

Josh (studying exit polls): "Think my head's gonna explode."

Donna: "Maybe we should ... take a walk or something. Try to - destress a little before the next numbers come in."

(pause; Donna speaks over Josh's shoulder)

Donna: "You wanna take a walk? Or ... something?"

-----

(This little exchange lives rent-free in my head, given the social media/Fox News/X/Facebook disinformation landscape we live in here in 2025)

Louise: "Do you really think somebody's going to look at Bernard's Blogland and mistake what they see for network news?"

Josh: "I think it could affect turnout, yeah."

Louise: "How big do you think the readership of Bernard's Blogland is?"

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

On-screen news anchor Ivan Allen is back again. Allen has played roles as a news anchor in multiple TV shows and movies over the years, including Sicario and Apollo 13, and has popped up multiple times in The West Wing ever since A Proportional Response.

We get an even better look at Josh's chest than we did in The Cold; remember, in In The Shadow Of Two Gunmen Josh had life-saving surgery to repair a collapsed lung and a damaged pulmonary artery after being shot in the attempt on Charlie's life. Yet, there's no sign of any surgical scar on that chest.

Bruno is burning off some election day anxiety with a beautiful lady - if you remember Election Night in 2002, Bruno celebrated Bartlet's win with a bevy of good-looking female companions (or tried to, when he wasn't being blocked by CJ pestering him).

Jane and Bob have a little discussion after the polls open in the West.

Jane: "California, Nevada, Washington, and Idaho, polls are now open everywhere, people."

Bob: "Alaska and Hawaii aren't open yet."

Jane: "The two states on which the outcome of the Presidential race so often depends."

Bob: "Like Idaho was ever the linchpin."

What we will discover in the following episode is that it is indeed one of those other states Jane mentions that proves to be the "linchpin" deciding the election. Bob was sarcastically close, he just named the wrong state.

"Baker" is mentioned as one of the Democratic politicians available to "pick up and fly wherever we need." Pennsylvania Governor Eric Baker was a major player in the path to the Democratic nomination, first the front-runner for the nomination who stepped away from running in In The Room for family reasons, then jumped back in during the chaos at the Democratic convention in 2162 Votes, only to see his chances fade once word of his wife's hospitalization for depression came out (probably the "family reasons" Baker used to drop out of the race in the first place). Baker will be coming up again in a bit.

The romance between Will and Kate continues. They first regarded each other quizzically as potential partners in Drought Conditions; in Undecideds Will's backside proved a distracting sight for Kate; Kate invited Will as her "plus one" in The Wedding; they had their first real "date" in Will's office watching the Vice Presidential debate in Running Mates; and in The Cold we discovered Kate had left her bra behind at Will's place. Now we're discovering Kate spends more nights than not at Will's house, and Will is willing to continue his career remotely in order to stay in DC with Kate ... except, of course, for the perhaps deal-breaking fact that Kate voted for Vinick and not Santos.

DC location shots

None. There's an establishing shot of the White House showing cars passing by on Pennsylvania Avenue; in reality, traffic has not been allowed on that part of Pennsylvania Avenue since 1995, after the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, so this footage pre-dates the debut of The West Wing as a series by at least four years.

(Also, the sun is seen to the southeast of the White House, which would indicate it's rising and it's the morning, not the evening of 5:01 pm shown - although that is an accurate sunset time for Washington DC on November 7.)

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

It's a bottle of Glenlivet scotch that Louise ends up with in the cold open - if you look closely it appears to be a Glenlivet 21 Year single malt, which goes for around $300 a bottle currently in 2025; there are also bottles of Budweiser visible on the table. And Edie talks about Cheetos and Diet Sprite.

Josh is seen squeezing some Pepsodent into his mouth for a quick breath freshener.

Otto is wearing a Stanford sweatshirt.

Bruno's pre-election-day girl Carrie is a Yale grad ... well, almost-grad.

The CNN and MSNBC logos are seen at various times. C-SPAN is also mentioned. (There's also a Dell logo on the computer monitor here.)

The job offers and board of directors positions Charlie delivers to CJ include Johnson & Johnson, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, SBC, General Electric, and the Kennedy school (the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard).

Foo Fighters appear in person, rehearsing for the election night party at Santos headquarters. We actually heard the Foo Fighters' song Learn To Fly in the background of the Georgetown bar scene in Mr. Willis Of Ohio.