Sam Reveals Leaked MS Attack Ad, Accusing Kahn's Mole
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Sam and Kevin Kahn discuss the possibility of acting as emissaries between the Bartlet and Ritchie campaigns, hinting at a desire to maintain civility.
Sam apologizes for the past open mike incident, revealing lingering tension between the campaigns.
Sam reveals the existence of an attack ad against President Bartlet, shifting the conversation to accusations of espionage.
Kahn admits prior knowledge of the attack ad, confirming Sam's suspicions of a mole within the Ritchie campaign.
Sam declares the Bartlet campaign's disinterest in the stolen ad, while Kahn promises to investigate the leak, leaving the encounter unresolved.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Feigned casualness masking underlying resentment and strategic calculation
Kevin Kahn dines across from Sam, proposes monthly lunches as emissaries and pushes for the Clean Campaign pledge, downplays the open-mic humiliation with feigned nonchalance, recognizes the attack ad tape upon viewing it, admits his side's prior knowledge, and pledges to investigate the alleged mole.
- • Establish regular backchannel communication to manage campaign hostilities
- • Secure Bartlet's signature on the Clean Campaign pledge
- • Deflect blame for the attack ad leak
- • Past slights like the open-mic incident are water under the bridge for diplomacy
- • Investigating moles will restore credibility without admitting fault
Cautiously conciliatory shifting to sharp suspicion and controlled anger
Sam sits at the table engaging in dialogue, agrees to monthly emissary meetings, apologizes sincerely for the open-mic incident, reveals the attack ad by describing its arrival and passing the tape to Kahn, then directly accuses Kahn's campaign of harboring a mole.
- • Build a channel for de-escalating campaign tensions
- • Expose and confront the source of the leaked attack ad
- • Protect the President's hidden MS condition
- • Ritchie's campaign has infiltrated Bartlet's staff with a mole
- • Personal diplomacy can mitigate escalating political warfare
N/A (not present)
President Bartlet is invoked solely as the target of the leaked opposition attack ad discussed and shared between Sam and Kahn, heightening the stakes of their confrontation without his physical presence.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The anonymously mailed attack ad videotape serves as the explosive plot catalyst: Sam describes its anonymous delivery to him, verbally identifies it as targeting the President, and physically passes it across the table to Kahn, who instantly recognizes it and admits prior viewing, transforming a cordial lunch into a mole-hunting accusation and narrative pivot toward betrayal.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The restaurant provides neutral, daylit ground for rival campaign emissaries to attempt civility amid clinking silverware and checkered tablecloths, its mundane public setting contrasting the escalating paranoia as the tape exchange warps casual lunch into a tense inter-campaign showdown, underscoring fragile truces in political warfare.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Sam's sharing of the attack ad with Kahn leads directly to the rain-soaked confrontation and physical altercation."
Themes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
Key Dialogue
"KAHN: "What do you think of the two of us having lunch or coffee once a month? We can be emissaries. We can maybe help keep things under control if it gets bad.""
"SAM: "Somebody made an attack ad and sent me a copy." KAHN: "This is 'Morality, Truth,...' We've seen it.""
"SAM: "You've got a mole. We don't need it, we don't want it." KAHN: "Thank you. I'll get to the bottom of this.""