The Great West Wing Rewatch: 4.9 "Swiss Diplomacy"
Joel: The Hoynes storyline in this episode is upsetting. Not for the character himself, but because it shows a reality of Washington. The Presidential election cycle just ended. It’s going to be four years before another election is held. We are literally as far away from a Presidential election as we can get, and yet for Hoynes (and I’m sure several other people in Washington) it’s time to start campaigning all over again. Sure it’s not the “Vote for me,” on the road type of campaigning we see during the actual year of an election, but make no mistake, it’s still campaigning. I remember being a kid and thinking that four years was forever (mind you, I was six at the time so it was two thirds of my lifetime) and surely we needed to hold elections at least every year. But now, it seems like half of the first four years is focused on getting the second four years. And even then, some of the second four years is focused on the making sure the next guy is from the same party. A...