Bartlet Demands Roush Coverage, Dismisses House Strategy
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Bartlet confronts C.J. about the lack of national press coverage on Elliot Roush, his former New Hampshire opponent now running for school board.
C.J. resists Bartlet's push for national attention on Roush, emphasizing the inappropriateness of presidential interference in local elections.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
frustrated
sits reading papers in bedroom, summons C.J., demands national press coverage for Elliot Roush's school board race as human interest story, declares disinterest in retaking the House, reluctantly concedes after C.J.'s argument
- • secure national press coverage for Elliot Roush
- • escalate confrontation to express moral fixation over House strategy
Professionally composed yet urgently concerned, masking frustration with poised conviction.
Enters bedroom, closes door, reports Charlie's relay, explains local coverage limits, sits to argue ethics and political risks, invokes democracy's acceptance of losses, secures concession, and exits gracefully, embodying press secretary's gatekeeping role.
- • Block unethical presidential intervention in local election
- • Prioritize midterm House strategy and party unity
- • Uphold democratic norms and press office integrity
- • Presidential involvement in local races undermines fairness
- • Democracy demands respecting electoral outcomes, even unfavorable ones
- • National politics must not sacrifice House recapture goals
Undisclosed, dutifully functional in absentia.
Referenced by C.J. as the aide who relayed Bartlet's summons, underscoring his behind-the-scenes facilitation of high-level staff communications in the White House hierarchy.
- • Efficiently relay presidential requests to staff
- • Maintain seamless Oval Office coordination
- • Personal aide loyalty prioritizes President's needs
- • Discreet messaging preserves operational flow
N/A (absent, but evoked as unworthy threat by Bartlet).
Intensely discussed as Bartlet's former New Hampshire rival now front-running school board race at 53%, catalyst for Bartlet's push for national 'human interest' coverage and C.J.'s ethical blockade.
- • Win New Hampshire school board seat decisively
- • Leverage polling lead for local authority
- • Local races merit national validation via principled ties
- • Opposition history amplifies story value
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
New Hampshire frames the contentious local school board race where Elliot Roush leads at 53%, invoked by Bartlet to justify national press demands and countered by C.J. as off-limits terrain, symbolizing grassroots democracy clashing with D.C. power plays in post-assassination midterm calculus.
Adjoins the immediate bedroom setting for this private confrontation, its threshold-like proximity evokes liminal presidential vulnerability where personal moral fixations breach into staff duty, echoing prior tensions but here internalized as Bartlet retreats to papers post-concession.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
U.S. House recaptures dismissed twice by Bartlet as irrelevant against Roush, clashing with C.J.'s insistence on prioritizing it over local distractions amid balanced midterm flips.
C.J. cautions that congressional Democrats will view Roush focus as abandonment, eroding faith in White House commitment to their midterm House battles.
C.J. explicitly warns that Bartlet's intervention will 'galvanize the Republicans,' handing them midterm ammunition to rally against post-assassination Democratic gains.
New Hampshire School Board election becomes the flashpoint, with Roush's 53% lead prompting Bartlet's on-record endorsement bid framed as 'human interest,' fiercely rebuffed by C.J. as improper national meddling in local governance.
Congress invoked via its Republicans and Democrats, whose reactions to Bartlet's potential local meddling—C.J.'s warned galvanization and abandonment—underscore broader partisan perils.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Bartlet's obsession with the Elliot Roush school board race is consistent throughout, culminating in his discussion with C.J. about it."
"Bartlet's obsession with the Elliot Roush school board race is consistent throughout, culminating in his discussion with C.J. about it."
"Bartlet's initial confrontation with C.J. about Roush escalates to his declaration of disinterest in winning back the House, showing his deepening moral preoccupation."
"Bartlet's initial confrontation with C.J. about Roush escalates to his declaration of disinterest in winning back the House, showing his deepening moral preoccupation."
Key Dialogue
"BARTLET: "Why has there been no press mentioned that the fact that Elliot Roush was an opponent of mine in New Hampshire?""
"BARTLET: "I don't care about winning back the House!""
"C.J.: "Then that's the way it is. In a democracy, oftentimes, the other people win.""