Michigan
Detailed Involvements
Events with rich location context
Michigan is dissected as the flawed poll's origin—its 1,170 industrial voters skewing national views on Bartlet versus governors—serving as the debate's punching bag, its weaknesses catalyzing consensus for broader sampling.
Evoked as a skeptical shadow over national optimism
Referenced battleground exposing data invalidity
Industrial heartland embodying unrepresentative pitfalls
Bruno spotlights Michigan's swing-state potency for garroting GOP via tobacco, now nullified by Josh's haste; merges with prior poll woes, propelling MS-scarred critique.
Razor-sharp battleground tension
Illustrative lost opportunity
Phantom revolt in heartland
Michigan is cited as a critical swing state sensitive to policy positioning; naming it narrows strategic options and amplifies the caution urged by Josh and Bruno's analysis.
Strategic caution; used to temper moral zeal with electoral reality.
Electoral bellwether informing risk calculations.
Embodies the industrial, swing-vote concerns that shape national strategy.
Michigan is cited as a critical swing state vulnerable to movement if the Administration mishandles the needle-exchange issue; its invocation shapes the team's calculus about public messaging.
Described as electorally precarious in absentia.
Electoral battleground used to measure potential fallout.
Stands for industrial and Midwestern voters whose shift would be consequential.
Events at This Location
Everything that happens here
In a flashback to the White House Mess four weeks earlier, Toby demands a fresh poll post-MS disclosure, igniting debate among Josh, Sam, C.J., Ed, and Larry on the prior …
In the aftermath of a fractious strategy meeting, Bruno pulls Josh into the hallway en route to his office, bluntly confronting him for prematurely sending tobacco subcommittee press releases. Josh …
President Bartlet receives confirmation that the tax plan has passed technical vetting across Treasury, OMB, NEC and Hill counsel. He immediately pivots from validation to politics — ordering validators and …
After the tax plan is cleared and Bartlet orders validators lined up, a political emergency erupts around Ritchie’s attack on needle-exchange. Toby pushes a forceful, moral-and-evidence-based rebuttal; Josh immediately flags …