The Great West Wing Rewatch: 3.6 "Gone Quiet"

Joel: One of the fun things about The West Wing, is how even though it’s a show about people who either work for the most powerful man on earth or who are the most powerful man on earth, their problems can still remind you of your own, even when it comes to issues at work. As I watch CJ trying to make sure there is some sort of response in store for the “Why do you want to be President?” question, I’m reminded of plenty of times where something in my life seem to be so much of a given, that nobody really worries about it until it comes up for real and everyone realized that nobody is prepared at all. While on one hand it’s alarming that things get missed by the people who are supposed to be in charge of keeping our government from crumbling to the ground, on the other hand it can be comforting to watch, knowing that it doesn’t happen to just you.

I also love the time the episode takes to highlight the loopholes being used to finance campaign ads. Trust me, as we continue to head forth into the election season this year, you will be seeing your fair share of ads that are cleverly constructed to get around the rules. And once you know exactly how these ads are designed, they’re going to stick out like a sore thumb to you. In fact, it might be the best way to get through political ads, is by playing a game of “Let’s figure out which ones were funded by soft money.”

Chris: This was a surprisingly light episode considering it was framed around losing a submarine in potentially hostile waters but, as it was pointed out, it’s best not to overreact. On the election side of things, they’re wading the murky waters of campaign finance and what they can and can’t do with “soft money” when it comes to advertisements. Ultimately, they come up with an option that’s way morally easier to swallow than what was originally proposed but it was glimpse on just how gross the situation is when you’re talking about what you can and cannot do with campaign donations, and this is without even touching on exactly who can donate and how much. This is also before the whole “corporations can donate like people” thing came to the public forefront. They always say that politics is like watching how sausage gets made, doing so will drive as far away from it as possible, that’s how I am when it comes to political donations and all the weird loopholes. Sure, it’s a necessity of any successful campaign but it all feels mind-bendingly gross, even if Aaron Sorkin cleans it up a bit.

A good president has a good answer if somebody asks them why they want to be president.