The Votes Vanish
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Backstage, Leo receives a devastating call revealing that five crucial votes for the bill have been lost, shattering the celebratory mood.
Josh joins Leo backstage and reacts with shock to the news of the lost votes, immediately demanding names and springing into action.
Josh informs C.J. about the lost votes, and she reacts with visible shock, marking the spread of the crisis through the staff.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Focused and unflappable: prioritizing protective routines even as aides panic.
Secret Service operatives are present around the President and the exiting motorcade; one agent taps at the car radio and calls 'Here we go. Move it out.' They enforce security and egress protocols as staff scramble.
- • Protect the President and expedite a secure exit from the event.
- • Maintain perimeter and prevent disruptions during sudden staff movements.
- • Security protocols must be followed regardless of political emergencies.
- • Physical safety takes precedence over operational or political concerns.
Stunned disbelief that shifts into strained composure; initial shock masking immediate concern for presidential optics and media fallout.
C.J. is caught mid-exit, told by Josh the count — she goes 'buggy eyed' and struggles to maintain composure. Her shock becomes infectious: she visibly registers the political danger and quickly mentally recalibrates toward messaging and containment.
- • Preserve the appearance of calm for the President and the cameras.
- • Assess and limit messaging damage before the public or press can exploit it.
- • Help prioritize who must be contacted and what the public story will be.
- • Perception shapes political reality; panic backstage leaks into the press narrative if unchecked.
- • The White House must always appear in control, even while it triages.
Buoyant and earnest on the surface; engaged in mobilizing rhetoric and not yet tinctured by backstage panic.
President Bartlet is on the podium delivering his closing appeal to citizens to contact their representatives — he remains onstage and largely unaware of the numeric collapse reported backstage, continuing the performance that will soon be undercut by the staff's discovery.
- • Rally public support to influence congressional votes.
- • Deliver a memorable and morally persuasive speech.
- • Maintain presidential dignity and connection with the audience.
- • Public pressure matters and can sway elected officials.
- • Moral clarity and eloquence are effective political tools.
Quietly unsettled — professionally attentive to language/optics, with an undercurrent of personal anxiety about how the D-section improvisation will be received amid a brewing crisis.
Toby is watching the President on a TV monitor and momentarily interjects 'Take a beat.' He observes the speech and, while not the center of the phone-scramble, registers the shift from rhetorical triumph to backstage crisis and remains ready to protect the President's words.
- • Ensure the President's message remains defensible despite the sudden crisis.
- • Monitor the speech for lines that could be weaponized politically.
- • Support colleagues in shaping rapid talking points if needed.
- • Words matter — a brilliant delivery can be undercut by political reality.
- • Even in crisis, message discipline must be preserved.
Controlled urgency: outwardly terse and composed while communicating a stressful, high-stakes discovery that demands immediate containment.
Leo is backstage, answers an incoming call, and delivers the terse, detonating line 'We lost five votes.' He is immediately in command — pushing for verification and driving staff into action while balancing procedural calm and urgent control.
- • Verify the floor count and identify which votes flipped.
- • Mobilize staff and whip resources quickly to recover votes.
- • Prevent the political optics from becoming a rout.
- • Every single floor vote is consequential and recoverable with rapid action.
- • Timely, clear information and chain-of-command are the only cures for panic.
Adrenalized and angry beneath a veneer of professional focus: panic translated into tactical movement and sharp demands.
Josh reacts instantly — incredulous, demanding names, and snatching up a phone to start calling. He attempts to convert shock into directed activity: ordering lists, pressing for facts, and weaponizing contacts to stem the hemorrhage.
- • Obtain the names of the defecting votes immediately.
- • Coordinate an immediate outreach plan to recoup votes.
- • Control damage to administration credibility.
- • Information is leverage; naming names produces corrective action.
- • Rapid, targeted pressure can reverse close, last-minute defections.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The podium anchors Bartlet's public performance during the speech segment immediately before the backstage report: it is the visual focal point of the declared victory and the physical marker separating onstage triumph from offstage crisis.
A backstage T.V. monitor relays Bartlet's speech into the anteroom; it provides the sensory overlap where applause collides with incoming bad news, allowing Leo, Toby and others to experience the public moment while phones scream with private crisis.
The President's limousine is the vehicle for the staff's egress after the speech; as the backstage team confronts the lost votes, the limo and motorcade choreography proceed under Secret Service direction, embodying the tension between public movement and private emergency.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The backstage anteroom is the operational heart of the event: a cramped coordination space where the live feed, ringing phones, and immediate staff reactions converge. It is where Leo receives the whip's call, where Josh organizes outreach, and where public applause becomes a backdrop to tactical triage.
The back hallways and stairs funnel the celebrating crowd and staff from the ballroom toward exits; it is the transitional spine where C.J., Sam, Toby and others process the speech and where Josh informs C.J. and amplifies panic when the five‑vote deficit is confirmed.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Leo's receipt of the devastating news about the lost votes directly leads to Josh's aggressive confrontation with Katzenmoyer to reclaim one of the votes."
Key Dialogue
"LEO: We lost five votes."
"JOSH: Give me names."
"JOSH: 802. Five votes jumped the fence."