A Good Day (The West Wing)

"A Good Day" is episode 127 of The West Wing. This episode was said to have played a hand in defeating Tony Blair's government in the British House of Commons on January 31, 2006, in what became known as the "West Wing Plot".^[1] The plan was allegedly hatched after a Conservative Member of Parliament watched the episode.

The episode was directed by cast member Richard Schiff.

Plot summary

Congressman Santos masterminds a plot to vote down Republican legislation in the House that would de-fund the President's program for stem cell research. Josh and his replacement as Deputy White House Chief of Staff, Cliff, know that Speaker of the House Haffley planned a vote for a day when many Congressmen leave D.C. to head home for the weekend, so they stage a fake exodus and then have a large group of said Congressmen hide in the Vice President's office. A freshman Democrat is not comfortable with stem-cell research, but Santos is able to convince him to stay with the plan, and the Democrats arrive en masse to shock Haffley and keep the funding plan moving forward full speed.

A group of middle school children who are part of the Future Leaders for Democracy visit the White House and seek out Toby to discuss abolishing the voting age. One of the young men is outspoken, articulate and not willing to accept pat answers, so an impressed Toby has the group stay longer than expected at the White House and attend a press conference where the President discusses youth rights. Kate has to deal with an impending invasion of Canada: a dispute between hunters from the U.S. and Canadian authorities has the area in a low boil, and a Pentagon representative confirms for Kate that they have a plan to invade the area if necessary. Kate, who is getting angrier by the moment but seems to enjoy spending time with Will as he gets briefings on the issue, then talks to the Canadian ambassador who wants a deal on timber rights. Kate solves the situation by telling the local authorities that any hunters who don't leave the area immediately will lose their licenses forever.

President Bartlet is less than happy to be meeting with his old rival from Japan (played by Mako), with whom he split (not shared) the Nobel prize. He remembers that the Japanese economist, who is much more conservative than Jed is, stiffed him on the cab after the Nobel Prize reception. The men later have a civil and informative conversation where the Japanese man warns of the plan to reduce Japan's holdings of U.S. dollars due to the American currency's declining value. Jed later laments that his plans to cut the budget deficit were sidetracked by various conflicts and disasters, and refers to this in a presidential press conference.

References

External links

• The West Wing Episode Guide