Character

Farmer

shrewd transactional opportunistic humorous subsidy-dependent essential neglected rural-based pragmatic struggling economically vulnerable

Archetypal figure in President Bartlet's campaign anecdote. A farmer charges $50 to haul a car from a muddy hole, marking the tenth rescue that day. When the driver asks about plowing time, the farmer reveals he fills the hole at night to generate business. Bartlet deploys the story outdoors at a campaign site to equate Republicans with the farmer: they block energy progress nightly while posing as helpers. The figure underscores opportunistic obstruction, sharpening the administration's push for renewables amid crowd cheers.

1 appearances

American Agriculture

Also known as: the farmer, FARMER (anecdote), the farmers, FARMERS (general group), farmers, SMALL FARMERS

Farmer's Journey

A timeline through the narrative

1 moments

S4E1 · 20 Hours in America Part I

Bartlet Stakes the Energy Claim — 'Reach for the Stars'

Amused and economical — represents opportunism rather than malice in the anecdote.

Appears only within Bartlet's anecdote as the pragmatic farmer who 'fills the hole with water' at night — a rhetorical device that makes the President's accusation vivid and memorable.

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