Donor leverage versus presidential integrity: Ted Marcus' theatrical ultimatum (cancelled fundraiser / demand for public posture) forces Josh, Leo and the President to choose between short-term donor-driven theatrics and longer-term moral/political pru...
Donor leverage versus presidential integrity: Ted Marcus' theatrical ultimatum (cancelled fundraiser / demand for public posture) forces Josh, Leo and the President to choose between short-term donor-driven theatrics and longer-term moral/political prudence.
Events in This Arc
Josh arrives at Ted Marcus's Bel Air mansion and is immediately rebuffed — Marcus ignores his handshake, coldly announces House Resolution 973 (a bill to ban gays in the military) …
Josh brings a donor ultimatum: Ted Marcus will pull tonight's fundraiser unless President Bartlet publicly denounces bill 973. Toby immediately reframes the problem — a public denunciation would grant the …
In a tense, late-night confrontation in the study, President Bartlet refuses donor Ted Marcus's demand that he publicly threaten a veto on an anti-gay bill as a symbolic gesture. Bartlet …