In God We Trust (The West Wing)

"In God We Trust" is episode 130 of The West Wing.

Plot

Senator Vinick wins the Republican nomination for the Presidency and begins working on his campaign and senior Republicans are knocking on his door to vie for the VP slot on the ticket. He gets political advice from Bruno about choosing a vice president and how to deal with the latest controversy of Vinick's church attendance, or lack thereof. Meanwhile the Democrats are stuck in a three-way race in the New Jersey primary for enough delegates to win the Democratic nominations; Russell barely leads Santos and Hoynes is a distant third. Bartlet tries to show unity in the party by wrangling the candidates: until there is a nominee, he remains the head of the party and therefore forbids Santos or Russell from attacking each other during the convention so as to keep an image of unity on the party's figure. Vinick notices that if neither Santos nor Russell had Bartlet's political instincts; if they had, he'd be twenty points behind.

At the same time, Bartlet struggles with getting a minimum wage hike passed by attaching it as a “rider” on a bill necessary to raise the debt ceiling. This gets Vinick's attention, and he ends up going to meet with Bartlett personally in the Oval Office at the request of the Majority Leader. They talk very briefly, quickly agreeing on a solution which would allow Vinick to announce the minimum wage deal and would not give credit to the President or Democrats. However, Vinick mentions to Bartlett that he would like it to appear as if they debated the matter for a long time. Bartlett and Vinick sneak out together to the White House kitchen, where they discuss whether or not a candidate's religious beliefs should be a matter for public consumption. Eventually, when Vinick goes outside to talk to the press, he emphasizes that he will not put up a “phony” religious façade to win the presidency, preferring honesty instead.

External links

• The West Wing Episode Guide