Map Politics: Ohio for the Race, New Hampshire for the President
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Josh humorously questions when Georgia became politically unwinnable, referencing historical tensions with Sam's agreement.
Joey announces reconsidering Ohio as winnable, physically updating the electoral map, sparking debate on resource allocation.
Toby challenges Joey's strategy, refusing to propose reallocating funds to Ohio, citing financial constraints and strategic hesitance.
C.J. explains the President's personal and political attachment to New Hampshire, detailing the sensitivity of its electoral status.
Josh mediates by humorously acknowledging the President's dilemma between New Hampshire pride and electoral pragmatism, deferring further discussion.
Joey updates the electoral map to reflect New Hampshire leaning towards Ritchie as the staff exits, concluding the debate.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Controlled, pragmatic; acting as a pressure-relief valve to keep workflow and morale intact.
Josh observes the argument and intervenes to de-escalate: he reframes the choice rhetorically, orders a tactical pause ('Put a pin in it'), and redirects the group toward debate preparation, effectively ending the room-wide confrontation.
- • Prevent a fractious fight from derailing debate prep
- • Buy time to revisit the decision later with less heat
- • A stalled or shouted argument will cost the team momentum
- • Decisions that risk internal cohesion should be tabled until after immediate tasks are completed
Neutral, focused on facilitating Joey's communication and the map interface.
Kenny is cued parenthetically in Joey's lines and functions as the technical/interpretive conduit in the room; his presence is implied though he speaks no quoted lines in this exchange.
- • Ensure Joey's points are communicated accurately to the group
- • Support the polling team's presentation mechanics and clarity
- • Accurate translation and facilitation smooth internal debate
- • Operational support matters in charged strategic discussions
Defensive and wistful; she feels the moral and relational cost of conceding the President's home state.
C.J. defends the President's emotional stake: she articulates New Hampshire's symbolic weight for Bartlet, frames losing it as an embarrassment, and argues against the cold reallocation of resources on personal and reputational grounds.
- • Prevent the campaign from abandoning New Hampshire without exhausting other options
- • Protect the President's dignity and the symbolic value of his home-state connection
- • Personal history and symbolism matter in politics and can affect voter behavior
- • Political strategy should account for human and reputational costs, not just arithmetic
Agreeable and slightly disengaged; supportive but not driving the conflict.
Sam offers a brief interjection ('I was going to say'), signaling tentative agreement with Josh's opening point and mild engagement in the broader strategic debate before the room moves on to prep.
- • Echo shared understanding of campaign losses (e.g., Georgia) to contextualize the current discussion
- • Support the team's move toward practical planning without escalating the argument
- • Electoral setbacks are cumulative and should inform tough choices
- • Maintaining team momentum is important during high-pressure prep
Protective anxiety mixed with exasperation; he resists the cold trade-off out of loyalty or practical caution.
Toby objects sharply on practical and moral grounds: he refuses to be the messenger to the President, interrupts Joey's calculus with a boundary, and grounds his objection in the political and human cost of the choice.
- • Avoid delivering news to the President that will harm his dignity or the campaign
- • Push for a less brutal presentation or alternative messenger for politically sensitive concessions
- • Certain political choices carry disproportional personal cost that the President should not be asked to endure lightly
- • Some decisions should be mediated by trusted messengers rather than bluntly by analytics-driven strategists
Clinical confidence; mildly impatient with sentimental objections, focused on numbers rather than feelings.
Joey initiates and executes the strategic shift: he touches the touchscreen to move Ohio back into play, argues the arithmetic, rebuts C.J.'s emotional objection, and ultimately—after the group stands to leave—alters the map to assign New Hampshire to Ritchie.
- • Reclassify states based on winnability to maximize limited ad dollars
- • Persuade senior staff (and ultimately the President) to accept a resource reallocation from New Hampshire to Ohio
- • Electoral math must drive resource allocation regardless of sentimental attachments
- • The campaign cannot afford emotional loyalty if it costs the election
Absent but implicated: embarrassed/prideful as characterized by staff concerns.
President Bartlet is discussed by C.J. as the emotional center of the dispute—his attachment to New Hampshire is the substantive reason staff resist conceding the state; he is affected though not present in the room.
- • Maintain dignity and personal connection to his home state (implied)
- • Win re-election while preserving personal legacy (implied)
- • Home-state identity matters politically and personally
- • Being forced to campaign in a home state that is in play would be humiliating
Not present; invoked as a practical alternative to defuse interpersonal awkwardness.
Bruno is referenced as a suggested alternative messenger by Joey ('Let Bruno'), but is not physically present; his mention functions as a strategic escape valve for uncomfortable communications.
- • Serve as a credible messenger for difficult political concessions (as implied)
- • Absorb political fallout when needed (as implied)
- • Some political messages are best delivered by campaign professionals rather than White House staff
- • Third-party messengers can preserve internal relationships
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The Saybrook Institute's interactive touchscreen map is the operative device: Joey uses it to visually reclassify Ohio from red to gray and, after the discussion breaks, to change New Hampshire's status to Ritchie's. It functions as persuasive evidence and a decisive interface where strategy becomes visible and irreversible.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Ohio is invoked and visually reclassified on the map as a newly winnable battleground; its change in status is the pivot of resource-allocation debate and the strategic argument's justification.
The Saybrook/ Debate Camp room functions as the strategic container for the argument: a sterile meeting space where data-driven decisions collide with personal loyalties. It's the locus where campaign math is made public and staff relationships are stress-tested.
New Hampshire functions as the symbolic stake at issue—the President's home state whose potential loss embodies personal humiliation. It is the state staff debate about conceding and messaging centers upon, and it is ultimately reassigned on the map to Ritchie.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
The Democratic Party is the implicit institutional backdrop: its interest in preserving seats and winning the presidency informs the cold calculus Joey advances. The party's need to allocate limited resources underlies the conversation, even if it isn't named as an active speaker.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
No narrative connections mapped yet
This event is currently isolated in the narrative graph
Key Dialogue
"JOEY: Okay, let's start. I'm taking Ohio out of the red and putting it back in play."
"C.J.: No, I'm with Toby. I don't think you understand how the President feels about his home state. He's a New Hampshire Bartlet. It's been home for centuries. He's a Democrat elected to the statehouse with close to 60% and the fact that the state's in play is a real embarrasment for him. He doesn't want to campaign there because that's embarassing too, but we really can't..."
"JOSH: Joey, no kidding-- if you asked the President which he'd rather win, New Hampshire or the election, he'd have to think before he answered. Put a pin in it; we'll come back after prep. Thanks."