Hartsfield's Landing: Pure Democracy's Midnight Triumph
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
A reporter on TV describes the significance of Hartsfield's Landing, New Hampshire, as the registrar begins calling the roll of voters at midnight.
The registrar calls the names of voters, including Lillian Braddock, who is casting her first vote, as the crowd applauds.
The scene dissolves to end titles, fading to black as the Hartsfield's Landing election concludes under the banner 'America's first primary'.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Enthusiastic reverence for small-town electoral purity
Reporter's voice narrates live from desk TV, extolling Hartsfield's Landing's rustic infrastructure and profound democratic role for the superpower, setting the stage for the registrar's voter roll call amid the bullpen broadcast.
- • Amplify the primary's national significance
- • Frame New Hampshire ritual as superpower bedrock
- • Local democracy ignites global power
- • Humble venues birth mighty processes
Proud communal facilitation with joyful formality
Registrar, moonlighting school principal, calls voters by name on ceiling-mounted TV—Claire Abernathy, Diana Abernathy, Barney Braddock, and Lillian Braddock—noting and congratulating Lillian's first vote at 18, her voice threading communal ritual through live broadcast.
- • Officiate the historic midnight primary flawlessly
- • Celebrate new voter's milestone to inspire turnout
- • Every vote upholds democratic heartbeat
- • Youthful participation renews the republic
Steady determination in democratic exercise
Claire Abernathy steps up to the polling counter on TV broadcast, casting her ballot into the box amid initial cheers, embodying resolute civic duty in Hartsfield's Landing's spotlighted ritual.
- • Fulfill voting obligation promptly
- • Contribute to town's prophetic primary
- • Individual votes sustain national democracy
- • Local primaries shape superpower destiny
Contented participation in shared ritual
Diana Abernathy advances to the counter following Claire, dropping her ballot to swelling applause on the live TV feed, linking familial resolve in the small-town electoral pageant.
- • Cast vote in sequence
- • Uphold family tradition in primary
- • Collective action strengthens democracy
- • New Hampshire leads the nation's voice
Satisfied civic fulfillment
Barney Braddock steps forward to the counter as called, plunging his ballot into the box amid cheers captured on White House TVs, anchoring the sequence of grassroots resolve.
- • Exercise franchise decisively
- • Support Hartsfield's symbolic primacy
- • Routine votes forge electoral power
- • Community unites in democratic dawn
Thrilled milestone achievement with communal joy
18-year-old Lillian Braddock strides to the counter for her debut vote, celebrated by the registrar's announcement and congratulations, dropping her ballot to thunderous applause climaxing the broadcast sequence.
- • Cast inaugural ballot triumphantly
- • Embody generational renewal in primary
- • First votes inject fresh vitality
- • Youth secures democracy's future
Explosive communal elation
Crowd erupts in applause with each voter's ballot drop—Claire, Diana, Barney, and especially Lillian—filling the town venue with waves of cheers broadcast live into the White House bullpen.
- • Celebrate each vote's democratic import
- • Amplify primary's prophetic energy
- • Cheers affirm electoral faith
- • Small-town joy powers the nation
Quiet vindication blending presidential gravitas with subtle relief
Bartlet walks purposefully out of the bullpen accompanied by a Secret Service agent, exiting the frame as televisions broadcast the Hartsfield's Landing primary victory, providing a silent presidential witness to the symbolic domestic triumph amid ongoing crisis.
- • Depart the bullpen to advance crisis management elsewhere
- • Absorb the morale-boosting primary win as narrative closure
- • Grassroots democracy fortifies national resolve
- • Symbolic victories sustain leadership through global peril
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Ceiling-mounted television dominates the bullpen view as a staffer passes beneath, broadcasting the registrar's roll call and voters' ballot drops from Hartsfield's Landing; it pierces crisis frenzy with domestic triumph, serving as narrative bridge to closure and symbolic counterpoint to Taiwan stakes.
Ballot box receives folded votes from Claire and Diana Abernathy, Barney Braddock, and Lillian Braddock in sequence under the banner on live TV; as sturdy wooden repository, it embodies raw democracy's mechanical heart, each thud catalyzing applause and White House catharsis.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Polling counter in Hartsfield's Landing town hall basement hosts sequential voter advances—Abernathys, Braddocks—dropping ballots amid cheers on broadcast; simple countertop crystallizes grassroots purity, teleported into bullpen as emblematic antidote to geopolitical brinkmanship.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Bartlet's mention of Hartsfield's Landing primary symbolically connects to the registrar calling voters, highlighting democracy's purity in both macro and micro contexts."
Themes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
Part of Larger Arcs
Key Dialogue
"REPORTER ([on TV]): "Two roads, no traffic lights and Town Hall's a filing cabinet and a countertop in the clerk's basement. But Hartsfield's Landing, New Hampshire, is where democracy begins for the world's only superpower. It's 12:01am, and the registrar of voters who's also the principal and only teacher at the Hartsfield's school, calls the roll of voters.""
"REGISTRAR ([on another TV]): "Lillian Braddock, Lillian's 18, everyone! This is her first vote. Please step up and cast your vote. [beat] Congratulations, Lillian.""