Locking Down the Census Swing Votes
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
The White House team reviews the pork-laden Appropriations Bill, highlighting absurd expenditures.
Mandy outlines the strategy to secure swing votes on the Commerce Committee, focusing on Gladman, Skinner, and Joe Willis.
Toby dismisses concerns about Joe Willis, assuming he'll follow party lines, revealing overconfidence.
Leo pressures the team to secure the votes without embarrassment, underscoring the high stakes.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Attentive and focused; quietly ready to execute practical tasks that will make the meeting run smoothly.
Cathy stands with the group, present as a communications/logistics aide; she listens as the plan crystallizes and is poised to support meeting logistics and operational follow‑through.
- • Prepare and support the team logistically for the 11 a.m. meeting.
- • Ensure communication channels and materials are in place for persuasion.
- • Operational reliability is critical to successful political execution.
- • Senior staff need dependable aides to convert strategy into action.
Assured and a little impatient — convinced that political dynamics (and human decency) will produce the desired vote.
Toby catalogs a sympathetic‑sounding appropriation (Susan B. Anthony home) and expresses breezy confidence that Janice Willis' husband will follow party direction; he frames persuasion as both rhetorical and predictable.
- • Contain embarrassment by controlling the message around sensitive appropriations.
- • Assume and communicate confidence that key swing voters (like Willis) will be manageable.
- • Language, optics, and rhetorical framing matter deeply in persuading votes and public opinion.
- • Certain congressmen (e.g., Willis) will behave predictably under party/peer pressure.
Irritated and cautious; a steady concern with avoiding public or political embarrassment for the administration.
Leo reads aloud a litany of suspicious appropriation line items, expresses alarm and incredulity, and finishes by warning staff not to embarrass him — asserting command and the expectation of flawless execution.
- • Prevent any tactical or public error that could sink the Appropriations Bill.
- • Ensure staff handle the negotiation quietly and without spectacle.
- • Small errors and bad optics will magnify into major political problems.
- • The staff must operate with discipline to protect the President and the administration.
Direct and businesslike, operating from pragmatic urgency to secure payoffs for votes.
Mandy pushes the tactical plan: identifies Gladman and Skinner as two swing votes, asks bluntly what's in it for them, and sets the bargaining frame — she is the transactional mind converting program lines into political currency.
- • Flip Gladman and Skinner by offering concrete programmatic incentives.
- • Neutralize the sampling prohibition by persuading the necessary swing votes.
- • Votes are moved by tangible payoffs rather than abstract arguments.
- • Tactical, targeted concessions (Power Zones, rail, teachers funding) will be effective leverage.
Confident and flippant on the surface, masking a pragmatic readiness to manage the coming legislative scrape.
Josh initiates the movement from bullpen to Leo's office, offers sardonic asides (shower tile joke), and trades barbed repartee with Leo — positioning himself as the tactical, quick‑witted organizer who keeps tone light while steering focus to logistics.
- • Maintain control of the messaging and logistics for the Appropriations negotiation.
- • Diffuse tension with humor while keeping staff focused on practical next steps.
- • Political problems are best handled by quick, pragmatic fixes and human management.
- • Lighthearted banter eases stress and preserves team cohesion in high‑pressure moments.
Earnest and slightly exasperated — seeking clarity about how abstract budget figures translate into public impact.
Donna asks direct, clarifying questions about the surplus and follows Josh into Leo's office; she functions as the curious, grounded interlocutor whose questions surface the political moral stakes behind numbers.
- • Understand the real meaning and ownership of the budget surplus.
- • Hold the staff accountable to clear explanations about policy choices.
- • Money taken from citizens should be accounted for transparently.
- • Staff should be able to explain policy in plain terms rather than political jargon.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The tall metal file cabinet anchors the bullpen beat physically: Josh stands at it, then moves from it toward Leo's office. It functions as a staging point for movement and a tactile reminder of bullpen workflow and bureaucracy.
The Appalachian Transportation Institute funding line is read aloud by Leo as emblematic pork — a concrete example that sharpens staff outrage and frames the moral and political argument against needless earmarks.
The $1.5 million truck-stop parking study line is singled out by Leo as another absurd addition, serving as ammunition in staff conversation about the emotional and rhetorical stakes of the Appropriations Bill.
The 'Power Zones' label is referenced by Toby as a negotiable policy payoff — non-material but treated as an object-like bargaining token that can be offered to persuade holdout representatives.
The line for federal funding for 100,000 new public school teachers is invoked by Toby as a substantive Democratic payoff — it represents what the administration can credibly claim in return for political support.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Leo's office functions as the operational battleground for triage: senior staff assemble around the desk to inventory pork, plan outreach, and receive Leo's managerial cautions — a locus of authority and pressure.
Josh's bullpen is the pragmatic entry point where informal questioning (Donna about the surplus) turns into formal tactical business; its proximity to Leo's office makes it the staging ground for immediate escalation to senior staff.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Josh and Sam's discussion about the commerce report introduces the census data issue, which becomes the central legislative battle."
"Josh and Sam's discussion about the commerce report introduces the census data issue, which becomes the central legislative battle."
"Josh and Sam's discussion about the commerce report introduces the census data issue, which becomes the central legislative battle."
"Toby's dismissal of concerns about Joe Willis sets up the later confrontation where Willis asserts his independence."
"Toby's dismissal of concerns about Joe Willis sets up the later confrontation where Willis asserts his independence."
Key Dialogue
"MANDY: We have a meeting with Gladman and Skinner, and they represent two of the three swing votes on the Commerce Committee."
"TOBY: Janice Willis' husband."
"LEO: Just don't do anything to screw up or in any way embarrass me okay?"