The Great West Wing Rewatch: 2.11 "The Leadership Breakfast"

Joel:  A big part of why I love this show, is that it shows pretty much an idealized version of a presidential administration. People are there who truly want to work hard to make America a better place. I bring that point up a lot in these episode reviews, but every now and then, I love getting to watch them play the political games as well. This episode is full of people with hidden agendas, some we know about at the beginning, some we don’t find out about until later, and our heroes are a bit blindsided at one point. But man do they regroup in this episode. There’s a scene, and it’s a small scene in the context of the whole episode, but is shows everyone in a brief huddle trying to come back from an unexpected attack. In a manner of seconds they come back with a retort, as well as a snappy line that is smart, witty, and will be what is quoted by the news cycle and will be the line that sticks in the head of the american public. Yes, this is an idealized administration wanting to do what is right, but at the same time, they can play the game when the game needs playing.

Chris: And this is why nobody in politics trust each other, let alone members of an opposing party, Toby was talking candidly to Ann Stark and being mostly friendly with her and then she uses things said in those moments as ammo against the White House. However, it’s sort of difficult to come to the defense of Toby because homebody is literally the communications director for the president and has been for at least 3 years by this point. So whenever Leo or someone else is yelling about the White House staff being undisciplined and you sit back and think “well, that seems a tad harsh,” you can be reminded of this exact instant. However, this also shows how you can have the smartest political minds in the country and simple stuff could still fall between the cracks.

A good president stands on the Truman Balcony in his/her underwear.