Toby Rebuffs Sam's Mao-Fueled Call for Revolutionary Oratory
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Sam reads the draft speech to Toby, who critiques it as pedestrian and lacking impact.
Sam rejects Toby's suggestion of an easy fix, insisting the speech should inspire radical change.
Sam proposes quoting Mao's 'permanent revolution' to energize the speech, sparking debate.
Toby dismisses the idea of quoting Communists, leading to a heated exchange about radical approaches.
Toby insists on taking a walk to clear their heads, emphasizing the need for practical solutions over rhetoric.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Fervently idealistic, bordering on defiant frustration with creative mediocrity
Sam reads the uninspired speech draft aloud from paper, sighs deeply while crossing out bland phrases like 'none of the above,' passionately argues for explosive oratory invoking Mao's 'permanent revolution,' and challenges Toby's resistance with dark humor about Communist elegance.
- • Transform the bland draft into inspirational, heart-pounding rhetoric
- • Convince Toby to embrace radical language to spark policy innovation
- • Great oratory can inspire implementable ideas and revolution
- • Elegant phrases from unexpected sources like Mao hold universal power
Building frustration masking deep exasperation from repeated professional defeats
Toby prompts Sam to read the draft, agrees on minor fixes like rephrasing priorities, pauses thoughtfully on 'permanent revolution,' firmly rejects quoting Mao Tse-tung, raises his voice in accumulated frustration over six months of rejected ideas, sighs, and proposes walking the plane to reset and get blood flowing.
- • Refine the speech into pragmatic, deliverable content without empty radicalism
- • De-escalate tension via physical reset to enable productive brainstorming
- • Radical rhetoric without policy is irresponsible demagoguery
- • Viable ideas require prior substance, not just oratorical flair
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The Final Draft of the President's Portland speech functions as the contested core artifact; Sam reads it aloud for review, self-critiques its uninspired tone by crossing out phrases like 'none of the above,' and proposes infusing it with Mao's 'permanent revolution' rhetoric, driving the ideological clash toward revision amid deadline pressure.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Portland looms as the unspoken sword of Damocles, referenced implicitly through Toby's deadline warning before landing; it galvanizes the debate, transforming abstract rhetoric into a ticking clock that demands a polished speech for the morning podium, heightening stakes in the airborne crucible.
Air Force One's staff cabin confines Sam and Toby in a high-stakes nighttime workshop, where Toby hunches at a scarred desk under harsh lights and Sam paces restlessly; the airborne isolation amplifies their rhetorical clash, turning the space into a pressure cooker for forging the administration's education vision before Portland.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Sam and Toby's struggle over the education speech's quality narratively follows through to C.J.'s conflicting announcements about the speech's policy shifts, showing the ongoing tension in message control."
"Sam's push for a 'permanent revolution' in education policy parallels Bartlet's revolutionary idea to confiscate and sell the tanker's oil, both reflecting the administration's desire for bold, transformative actions."
"Sam's push for a 'permanent revolution' in education policy parallels Bartlet's revolutionary idea to confiscate and sell the tanker's oil, both reflecting the administration's desire for bold, transformative actions."
Key Dialogue
"SAM: Oratory should raise your heart rate. Oratory should blow the doors off the place. We should be talking about not being satisfied with past solutions, we should be talking about a permanent revolution."
"SAM: The Little Red Book. TOBY: You think we should quote Mao Tse-tung? SAM: We do need a permanent revolution."
"TOBY: Yes, yes I have, and I got shouted down in every meeting! I'd love to write a speech about a radical new approach to education, but we don't have one!"