Freedonia (The West Wing)
Encyclopedia
"Freedonia" is episode 125 of The West Wing
. "Freedonia" refers to a fictional country in the Marx Brothers film Duck Soup.
and Santos is doing plenty of stump speeches
, and Josh
is desperately trying to find a "silver bullet" that will get his candidate into the local debate between front-runners Russell
and Hoynes
. Unfortunately both Hoynes and Russell plan to have a two man debate, as they are the two favorites and want to blockout Santos. Santos
and Josh embark on a plan to persuade them to open up the debate to all seven Democratic candidates and meet with the newspaper who is running the debate, but only Russell is half-way willing to listen.
Russell's aides have come up with an ad that is negative toward Hoynes, and Josh sends out men in chicken suits to confront Hoynes and Russell during their campaigns saying "why are you too chicken to engage in a debate?", a reference to a similar occurrence during the 1992 Presidential Campaign. Donna
is caught on camera berating one of the giant chickens.
Then, Josh and Santos's disagreements over how to run the campaign come to a head when Santos hires Josh's ex-girlfriend Amy Gardner
to help him prepare for the potential debate and help him gain the "presidential voice". Brilliant though she is, Josh finds out that the phrase the press are using for the candidates "The seven dwarfs" was coined by Amy, and that she is giving the same advice to everyone in the running. Josh fires her immediately, again, against the wishes of Santos. Santos and Josh battle over Josh's plan to take legal action at the district court to allow them into the debate.
Finally, Santos is shown a video of Josh's negative ad that underlines the debate issue. He doesn't like it, and rushes over to the local channel and does a presentation live to air. With his simple appeal to be allowed to take part in the debate, the phones go wild, and Santos is suddenly on the map.
The episode ends with all seven democratic candidates about to take part in a televised debate, using Santos' rules and the debate room setup that Josh had planned but never thought he would use.
The West Wing (TV series)
The West Wing is an American television serial drama created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999 to May 14, 2006...
. "Freedonia" refers to a fictional country in the Marx Brothers film Duck Soup.
Plot
It is five days before the New Hampshire primaryNew Hampshire primary
The New Hampshire primary is the first in a series of nationwide political party primary elections held in the United States every four years , as part of the process of choosing the Democratic and Republican nominees for the presidential elections to be held the subsequent November.Although only a...
and Santos is doing plenty of stump speeches
Stump speech (politics)
A political stump speech is a standard speech used by a politician running for office. The term derives from the custom in 19th century America for political candidates campaigning from town to town to stand upon a sawed off tree stump to deliver a standard speech...
, and Josh
Josh Lyman
Joshua "Josh" Lyman is a fictional character played by Bradley Whitford on the television drama The West Wing. For the majority of the series, he was White House Deputy Chief of Staff in the Josiah Bartlet administration...
is desperately trying to find a "silver bullet" that will get his candidate into the local debate between front-runners Russell
Bob Russell (The West Wing)
Robert 'Bingo Bob' Russell is a fictional character played by Gary Cole on the television serial drama The West Wing.After the resignation of Vice President John Hoynes due to a sex scandal in May 2003, the Bartlet Administration was forced to replace him with another Democrat...
and Hoynes
John Hoynes
John Hoynes is a fictional character played by Tim Matheson on the American television series The West Wing. Hoynes is Vice President of the United States during the first four seasons of the show....
. Unfortunately both Hoynes and Russell plan to have a two man debate, as they are the two favorites and want to blockout Santos. Santos
Matt Santos
Matthew Vincente "Matt" Santos is a fictional character on the American television show The West Wing, played by Jimmy Smits. His initial appearance is as a Democratic U.S. Representative from Houston, Texas. According to West Wing writer and producer Eli Attie, Santos was based on the then...
and Josh embark on a plan to persuade them to open up the debate to all seven Democratic candidates and meet with the newspaper who is running the debate, but only Russell is half-way willing to listen.
Russell's aides have come up with an ad that is negative toward Hoynes, and Josh sends out men in chicken suits to confront Hoynes and Russell during their campaigns saying "why are you too chicken to engage in a debate?", a reference to a similar occurrence during the 1992 Presidential Campaign. Donna
Donna Moss
Donnatella "Donna" Moss is a fictional character played by Janel Moloney on the television serial drama The West Wing. Donna is a recurring character during the first season, although she appears in every episode, making her a de facto regular...
is caught on camera berating one of the giant chickens.
Then, Josh and Santos's disagreements over how to run the campaign come to a head when Santos hires Josh's ex-girlfriend Amy Gardner
Amy Gardner
Amelia "Amy" Gardner is a fictional character on the American television series The West Wing, portrayed by Mary-Louise Parker. Politically skilled and a strong advocate on feminist causes, the character holds various jobs throughout the timeline depicted on The West Wing, both in public-advocacy...
to help him prepare for the potential debate and help him gain the "presidential voice". Brilliant though she is, Josh finds out that the phrase the press are using for the candidates "The seven dwarfs" was coined by Amy, and that she is giving the same advice to everyone in the running. Josh fires her immediately, again, against the wishes of Santos. Santos and Josh battle over Josh's plan to take legal action at the district court to allow them into the debate.
Finally, Santos is shown a video of Josh's negative ad that underlines the debate issue. He doesn't like it, and rushes over to the local channel and does a presentation live to air. With his simple appeal to be allowed to take part in the debate, the phones go wild, and Santos is suddenly on the map.
The episode ends with all seven democratic candidates about to take part in a televised debate, using Santos' rules and the debate room setup that Josh had planned but never thought he would use.