Josh Lyman's moral/psychological struggle over whether to preserve principle or secure passage through transactional compromises (the 'buying a vote' dilemma).

Josh frantically catalogs missing votes while the Roosevelt Room ticks toward a legislative deadline, hunting absent Senator Grace Hardin and exposing the administration's vulnerability to public opinion. Will supplies a …

After the crowded strategy meeting breaks up, Josh lingers and, in a raw private moment with Bartlet, confesses the emotional urgency driving his tactics — that he will throw principle …

After the foreign aid fight collapses, President Bartlet converts defeat into a tactical pivot: he orders a 90-day pause — "set that clock for 90 days" — while refusing to …