Sam Pitches Bipartisan Flip to Republicans
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Sam devises a bold strategy to extend their concessions to Republicans, aiming to flip votes and ensure bipartisan victory.
Toby and Sam align on the plan to offer concessions to Republicans, recognizing the strategic potential to secure a bigger margin.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
persistent
Reports on Buckland's demands and suggests offering him something, overruled by Leo.
- • Negotiate with or neutralize Buckland's challenge
Vulnerable to momentum shift (inferred)
Kimball spotlighted as defector heading four votes ripe to rejoin upon sensing White House victory, key domino in Sam's cascade effect for widened margins.
- • Maximize concessions from flip
- • Align with winning side
- • Bandwagon with victors secures gains
- • Farm demands paramount
Neutral (referenced opportunistically)
Royce invoked by Sam as prime farm-state Republican target to deliver six GOP votes via concessions, central to the pitch's math flipping override dynamics without physical presence.
- • Secure farm concessions for vote bloc
- • Influence House override outcome
- • Farm issues drive Republican votes
- • Bargains yield policy wins
Determined urgency laced with tactical excitement
Sam swiftly catches up to Toby exiting Leo's office, urgently halts him with 'Hang on,' and delivers a rapid-fire pitch to extend concessions to Republicans like Royce for six votes, detailing vote flips, margins, C.J.'s spin, and amplified 'elbow' impact.
- • Convince Toby to pursue bipartisan concessions for GOP votes
- • Secure larger margin to defeat estate tax override and enhance PR
- • Farm-state concessions appeal universally across parties
- • Bipartisanship optics amplify aggressive countermeasures like Leo's leak
Pragmatic focus shifting to intrigued approval
Toby strides out of Leo's office post-directive, pauses when Sam intercepts, listens intently, affirms with terse 'Yeah,' probes 'Offer it to who?,' and concludes pitch with sharp recognition 'We threw an elbow,' signaling alignment.
- • Process Leo's directive while evaluating new tactical input
- • Assess Sam's proposal's fit with aggressive override strategy
- • Calculated aggression deters opponents per basketball analogy
- • Vote flips require mirroring incentives across aisles
annoyed
Emerges from office, questions negotiation status, shuts down Josh's Buckland offer, delivers hardline directive to aggressively counter defectors and challengers like Buckland via leaked blackmail threat, and invokes basketball analogy to justify public 'elbow'.
- • Push aggressive countermeasures against defectors (Campos, Kimball) and challenger Buckland
- • Avoid discussing immunity deal
Discussed as demanding a seat at the table and continuing to challenge publicly.
- • Secure cabinet position or concessions from White House
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
FDA crackdown on milk antibiotics cited in Sam's pitch as extendable concession bait for Republicans, mirroring Democrat offers to lure Royce's bloc amid farm-state horse-trading fueling override flip.
Republicans targeted directly in Sam's pitch as recipients of Democrat concessions via Royce's six-vote bloc, transforming them from override adversaries into bipartisan allies to crush defection chain and showcase unity.
Narrative Connections
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Themes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
Key Dialogue
"SAM: What's on the table, don't you...? Grazing fees, farm nets, milk subsidies--what's on the table. Aren't they the same things a farm district republican would want? TOBY: Yeah. SAM: Let's offer it to them."
"SAM: Republicans. Royce. He'll carry six Republicans. That'll be seven votes. First off, when Kimball and his four see we're going to win, they'll hop onboard so we've got a bigger margin. Second, C.J. can make a big deal out of bipartisanship but mostly-"
"TOBY: We threw an elbow. SAM: On national TV."