Constituency of One
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| “Constituency of One” | |
|---|---|
| The West Wing episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 5 Episode 93 |
| Written by | Eli Attie (teleplay) Eli Attie and Michael Oates Palmer (story) |
| Directed by | Laura Innes |
| Guest stars | Mary-Louise Parker Jesse Bradford Gary Cole Tom Skerritt NiCole Robinson Renee Estevez Erinn Carter |
| Production no. | 176055 |
| Original airdate | October 29, 2003 |
| Season 5 episodes | |
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| List of The West Wing episodes | |
"Constituency of One" is episode 93 of The West Wing.
[edit] Plot
After Josh is hailed as the "101st Senator" in a newspaper profile, he clashes with conservative Senator Carrick (Tom Skerritt), a Democrat from Idaho. Carrick withholds his approval of a backlog of military promotions so he can secure an expensive but worthless missile launcher that was promised to him by a Republican President to be built in his home state. Toby creates a "message calendar" and wants Will Bailey to take over his Communications Director duties, but Will gets an offer to become the Chief of Staff and top advisor to new Vice President Bob Russell and accepts it, enraging Toby--who's also mad because Leo says Toby can't become an advisor due to the troubled state of the Bartlet Administration. Leo has his own problems; C.J. is confronted by the White House Press Corps over an EPA report on "clean coal" that was apparently censored by the Administration. C.J. finds out that Leo did censor it, and when she says so he orders her to say she was wrong and screwed up, leaving C.J. more frustrated than ever over the sorry state of affairs. President Bartlet is still dealing with his wife's departure to Manchester, and finds out that a HHS committee has reopened a bill to add violence-prevention funding. He blames Amy Gardner and blasts her for her actions, while Amy also gets no support from Josh when he learns she gave flattering quotes about him for the "101st Senator" article. While the President later apologizes to Amy for blasting her, Josh is too busy dealing with Senator Carrick and avoiding talk of his birthday to talk to her, so she quits her job and leaves the White House. Josh eventually calls Carrick's bluff and gets the military promotions lock lifted, but at an enormous price - Carrick resigns from the Democratic party, and switches his allegience to the Republicans. A stunned Josh is left holding Carrick's resignation letter, just as the staff (including the President) suprise him with a birthday party.
