The Great West Wing Rewatch: 2.7 "The Portland Trip"

Joel: One thing I love about this show is how busy everyone seems all the time. The walking and talking gimmick, used to show that everyone is always on the move, is the biggest example from the show, so much so that it’s one of the tropes most associated with The West Wing. But there are other things as well, and this episode is a prime example. At the start of the episode we learn that the Assistant Energy secretary is going to be taking the trip with everyone for the sole reason of getting a chance to speak with the president on the way back. That’s how slammed full the schedule is. A meeting, that we’re assuming is rather important, (Because what meeting with the president isn’t?) has to be crammed into the schedule by having it on Air Force One while the president is traveling. That’s mind boggling.

Meanwhile, back at the White House Josh has a lengthy discussion with a gay congressman from the Republican party about supporting a bill that prohibits same sex marriage. The idea of being a member of a political party vs. supporting every single thing that the party stands for is clearly something that Aaron Sorkin has put a lot of thought into. He will later touch on the subject again in The Newsroom in a scene similar to this one. He doesn't out and out say that this is a problem caused by a two party system, but he does acknowledge that it often results in people choosing the “lesser of two evils.” After talking with Josh, the congressman has an interaction with some other Republicans that implied he was more upset about the bill than he led Josh to believe, and may not be entirely happy about having to side with everything Republican.

Chris: And lo, President Bartlet sayeth to the commoners below him, “Thou shalt not make fun of Notre Dame before they playeth Michigan.” We’ve talked numerous occasions about how well the opposing view is portrayed in West Wing and whereas that isn’t necessarily the case in this episode with Congressman Skinner and Josh because Skinner was basically using the same empty argument against same-sex marriage that’s been regurgitated for decades. However, it is interesting how the percentages have shifted since 2000 with people in favor of laws banning same-sex marriages. It’s one of those weird moments where you feel like there’s actually been a slow growth towards progress in the 16 years since. And of course, there’s no telling how accurate those percentages are or where Sorkin got the information from but it doesn’t necessarily feel that far off from what it probably was. But the interesting this with all of this is the emphasis of how Congressman Skinner isn’t as affected by this proposed bill even though he’s gay himself and how his core beliefs and attachment to the party outweighs his convictions about his sexual preference. It’s a viewpoint that gets overlooked plenty of times because a lot of us get locked into this single issues that we allow to define where we stand politically. And I suppose that’s the problem with the 2 party system the country has been in, you have to pick the party that fits your personal beliefs the most but it’s never a perfect fit. There’s plenty of people (quietly raises hand) that tend to economically identifies more with Republican but stands firmly with Democrats on social issues. So what is someone to do in that case? Or vice versa? My own political ideology makes me feel gross when the words “picking the lesser of two evils” are used and the same goes for those that simply decide to not vote at all. However, where’s the moral high ground when somebody doesn’t want to vote because they don’t really feel much of a conviction to vote for any particular candidate? The “vote because it’s your civic duty” demand doesn’t sound too applicable in this situation. It’s in those moments in which those write-in options on the ballets look more and more appealing and it’s better than nothing because, as our Lord and Savior Aaron Sorkin has written, “decisions are made by those who show up.”

A good president doesn’t actually make CJ sing.