The West Wing
S2E6
· The Lame Duck Congress

Ainsley Dismantles Sam's Small Business Myth with Hard Data

In Sam's office at night, Ainsley paces and challenges his anti-regulation stance on small businesses, revealing that one-third fail due to employee fraud—not external pressures—and that perpetrators are overwhelmingly white male executives with advanced degrees. Disarmed by her data, Sam concedes his reversal, shares his doughnut, and invites her to reteach him from the start. This intellectual pivot humanizes their partisan clash, building rapport and showcasing Ainsley's prowess as a turning point in their dynamic amid the Treaty push.

Plot Beats

The narrative micro-steps within this event

3

Ainsley challenges Sam's understanding of small business failures, pivoting the conversation toward employee fraud.

neutral to confrontation

Sam acknowledges employee fraud as the cause, prompting Ainsley to reveal surprising demographic data about fraudsters.

confrontation to surprise

Sam, disarmed by Ainsley's facts, capitulates and invites her to start her argument over from the beginning, sharing his doughnut as a peace offering.

surprise to capitulation

Who Was There

Characters present in this moment

2
Sam Seaborn
primary

Disarmed surprise yielding to impressed concession and budding admiration

Sam engages in heated debate from his seat, initially resists with skepticism and racial profiling retort, then concedes reversal after Ainsley's stats, stammers in disarmament, offers his doughnut, and invites her to reteach the issue from the start.

Goals in this moment
  • • Grasp the accurate dynamics of small business fraud
  • • Bridge ideological gap with Ainsley through honest dialogue
Active beliefs
  • • Truth emerges from rigorous challenge, even from opponents
  • • Personal biases must yield to superior evidence
Character traits
intellectually humble open to persuasion gracious in defeat passionate debater
Follow Sam Seaborn's journey
Ainsley Hayes
primary

Triumphantly confident, blending sharp wit with genuine pedagogical eagerness

Ainsley paces energetically while delivering precise fraud statistics on small business failures, confidently countering Sam's racial bias assumption with data on white male executives, then accepts and bites into the offered doughnut, sealing her intellectual dominance.

Goals in this moment
  • • Correct Sam's misconceptions with empirical evidence
  • • Establish intellectual credibility and foster mutual respect
Active beliefs
  • • Facts transcend partisan narratives in policy debates
  • • Employee fraud, not regulation, is the core threat to small businesses
Character traits
confident intellectually assertive data-driven poised under fire
Follow Ainsley Hayes's journey

Narrative Connections

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Key Dialogue

"AINSLEY: "Then you know that a third of them fail. One third of all small businesses lose money and fail. Not because of rent hikes, or big businesses squeezing them out, but because of why?" SAM: "Employee fraud.""
"SAM: "You reversed my position.""
"AINSLEY: "Well, not to let the facts interfere with a good story, but 80% of violators are white. Fraudulent employees are three times more likely to be married, they're four times more likely to be men, 16 times more likely to be managers and executives and guess what, professor, they're five times more likely to have post graduate degrees." SAM: "Take the doughnut. Start from the beginning.""