I'm a huge (HUGE) fan of Aaron Sorkin's 'The West Wing,' and I'm betting many, many Kos readers are, as well. I started going through the seasons on DVD's for the umpteenth time a couple months ago. Saturday, I finished Season 3, and only tonight did I get enough free time to begin Season 4 (the last season Sorkin was with the show). The first episode is called '20 Hours in America.' It has always been one of my favorites, but watching it again through the lens of the election, the financial crisis, and everything happening in our country right now, I have an even greater appreciation for it.
It's a long episode (it was broken up into 2 parts when it ran on NBC), so I won't bore you with a long recap, but I want to hit some key plot lines.
President Bartlet is running for re-election against Governor Ritchie, a Republican whose main (only?) appeal is that he speaks like Southern-folk. The Dow is tanking on the bankruptcy news of a large fictional U.S. bank. Three key staffers were left behind by the motorcade leaving a stump site in Indiana, and through a series of transportation gaffes, must spend the entire day with middle-class farmers who have practically nothing in common with the trio. This site does a good job with the episode summary, and you can read the entire script right here.
I tried to find a place online where you can watch the entire episode, but I was unable. Any help???
The part of the episode that really hit home with me is this:
On their way back to the White House, here's what Toby tells Josh:
TOBY
If our job teaches us anything, it's that we don't know what the next President's gonna face. And if we choose someone with vision, someone with guts, someone with gravitas, who's connected to other people's lives, and cares about making them better... if we choose someone to inspire us, then we'll be able to face what comes our way and achieve things... we can't imagine yet. Instead of telling people who's the most qualified, instead of telling people who's got the better ideas, let's make it obvious. It's going to be hard.
JOSH
Then we'll do what's hard.
I think this is what Obama is trying to do, and what we, as his supporters, must try to do as well. Make the choice obvious! We do not know what lies in the future, but we have found a man who has vision, someone with the God-given ability to inspire, someone who Americans can follow into the unknown.
Before I close this diary about '20 Hours in America,' I want to link to another Youtube clip from this episode. It's one of the best soliloquies of the entire seven seasons of The West Wing. President Bartlet is giving a speech just hours after learning that two pipe bombs have exploded at a swimming meet at fictional Tennyson University, killing 44. The speech is brilliant beyond brilliant, and when I need inspiration, this is one of my go-to clips.