Opposition Research
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| “Opposition Research” | |
|---|---|
| The West Wing episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 6 Episode 121 |
| Written by | Eli Attie |
| Directed by | Christopher Misiano |
| Guest stars | Marlee Matlin Annabeth Gish Sam Robards Steven Eckholdt Karis Campbell Evan Arnold Bill O'Brien Frank Kopyc |
| Production no. | 2T5011 |
| Original airdate | January 12, 2005 |
| Season 6 episodes | |
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| List of The West Wing episodes | |
"Opposition Research" is episode 121 of The West Wing.
[edit] Plot
Candidate Matt Santos starts up his presidential campaign in New Hampshire, where he and Josh immediately disagree on campaign philosophy. Santos is keen to expound his policy on education, but Josh wants to go slower, and let the voters get to know him. Santos is, however, resistant to all this "hand shaking". The press are closely following events in New Hampshire, and actually believe this campaign is a ploy on Josh's part to garner more votes for Hoynes,as Santos is such a rank outsider. Will is busy with Russells campaign, but engineers a reunion between Josh and new Russell campaign staffer Donna.
Josh tries to recruit help from Bartlet's son-in -law, but this fails miserably. However, Bartlet gives Josh a very helpful pointer about voters in New Hampshire, and Bartlet's daughter Liz contributes $2000 to the Santos campaign, which, when it is made public, is as good as an endorsement from the President. The whole episode explores the relationship between Josh and Santos,and how they are going to have to work together for Santos to win this campaign. As Josh tells him "I gave up everything for this! "But Santos feels uncomfortable in New Hampshire. The episode ends on a positive note as one of the Santos aides tell Josh excitedly that both Hoynes and Russell have started making education an important issue.
The "opposition research" of the title refers to the work Josh has hired Joey Lucas to do in order to garner information about the other candidates. However, Santos expressly asked Josh not to do this. He is annoyed that Josh went behind his back, but Josh tells him quietly that he was, in fact getting background information on Santos himself.
