Josh Crushes Donna's RU-486 Jubilation with Campaign Calculus
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Josh and Donna arrive at the hotel, setting the scene for their conversation about the FDA's impending approval of RU-486.
Donna asks about mifepristone, leading to the revelation that RU-486 is being approved by the FDA.
Donna celebrates the approval, but Josh immediately deflates her excitement by pointing out the political complications of the timing.
Josh lists the three main political problems the FDA's timing will cause for their campaign, emphasizing the disruption to their planned news cycle.
Donna questions whether RU-486 isn't one of their campaign issues, highlighting the tension between political strategy and personal beliefs.
Josh abruptly ends the conversation and heads into the hotel, leaving Donna to handle the bags, showcasing their strained dynamic.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Ruthlessly pragmatic with underlying campaign-driven urgency
Directs Donna to the hotel while driving, calmly explains RU-486 facts, counters her celebration with pragmatic breakdown of three political risks (news cycle hijack, pro-lifer backlash, process stories), exits car decisively, and walks into hotel to check in, leaving her stranded with bags.
- • Protect the campaign's news cycle dominance
- • Minimize electoral risks from RU-486 timing
- • Political timing trumps personal or principled victories
- • Campaign survival demands sacrificing short-term idealism
Jubilant idealism swiftly curdling into sarcastic frustration
Questions Josh about mifepristone/RU-486 and FDA approval from passenger seat, bursts into exuberant 'Hallelujah' song, pulls car over abruptly, exits vehicle, challenges the Monday timing, and delivers sarcastic retort about handling bags alone after his departure.
- • Celebrate RU-486 as a progressive women's rights milestone
- • Probe Josh's strategic reservations on the issue
- • Medical advancements like RU-486 are unambiguous moral goods
- • Campaign principles should align with personal values
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The bulky luggage bags, stuffed with campaign gear, remain unclaimed in or near the car as Josh prioritizes check-in; Donna is left to handle them alone after he walks away, physically embodying her sidelining amid clashing ideals and the campaign's merciless demands.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The hotel's shadowed exterior in chilly New Hampshire night serves as abrupt arrival point where car pulls over; it frames the tense roadside clash of idealism versus pragmatism, Josh entering alone while Donna remains curbside, heightening isolation in campaign travel grind.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
FDA's impending RU-486 approval sparks Donna's jubilation and Josh's dire warnings, positioned as independent regulatory force whose Monday timing threatens Bartlet campaign optics amid MS scandal recovery and re-election launch.
Pro-lifers invoked by Josh as volatile adversaries whose outrage over RU-486 will erupt, fueling backlash that derails campaign messaging and amplifies re-election vulnerabilities in New Hampshire.
The press emerges in Josh's prophecy as scavengers ready to spawn damaging 'process stories' from RU-486 fallout, prioritizing campaign missteps over issues and stealing focus from Bartlet's defiant re-election narrative.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
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Key Dialogue
"DONNA: (singing) Hallelujah!"
"JOSH: A, it will get folded into our news cycle when we want it to ourselves. B, it will give the pro-lifers something to scream about. And C, it'll look like the campaign screwed up, so the press'll write a process story instead of writing about our issues."
"DONNA: (sarcastically) Sure, I'll get the bags."