There is not a second in this speech where he gives an explicit reason to vote for HIM, but the entire speech lets us know he’s the person to vote for.
Exactly. Its proof that he believes in the sacred idea of government for the people, by the people. Its never solely about the person who is president but rather what they can do to further the ideals of democracy and the wishes of the voting population. The person who holds The Office of The Presidency is but a caretaker and a living representative of a system greater than just one person.
I like to imagine that Vinnick was watching this speech, and at the end was like "It might be harder to run against him, but that's the kind of man I wanna run against."
MikeJames6 I agree with you up until your insult. As the others said, the writers agreed with you, vinick winning would have been great. But they didn’t think it would be in good taste to have Leo die, and then also have them lose the election. They didn’t drop the ball at all.
@MikeJames6 Iirc the performance was based on Obama's stoic composure (they thought he happened to be the best match for the story they wanted to tell; they didn't expect he was going to run)
“See if you can get Josh on the phone.”-President Bartlett I love how Bartlett looks at Zoey and sees her smile. He knew her hope for the future told him Santos was the best option. Great scene!
Bartlett concealed his illness because he didn't think he could win the nomination or the election if people had known. The actor's proper name is Estevez, but thought his career would be hurt with a Latin sounding name. Now an actor and character who are Latin might get the nomination for president.
One of the best and most beautiful moments of the show. Even as a Pakistani citizen, I am truly inspired by this speech. It may be fiction, but it is not a delusion. We should set this as the standard for our leaders, and ourselves.
If John Spencer hadn't died, it was very possible the show would have been picked up for an 8th Season. But with him gone and so many other actors leaving (only Whitford would have remained as a credit character from the first season, as Maloney didn't get into the main credits until Season 2), and only Smits and POSSIBLY Alda from the main credits for later seasons, without John Spencer, the execs didn't see any chance of the show continuing to be a success. I think it could have been, but... ah well. We did get five and a half good seasons (let's forget most of season 5 and a good chunk of season 6) out of it, which is more than you can usually ask for. Five seasons, as a rule, is the maximum number of seasons for which any show that isn't a crime procedural can be expected to be good. (It's the rule of 5.)
+chubbychuckle Aaron Sorkin left. It's possible the reasons seasons 5 (and chunks of 6) are seen as so bad because we'd been spoiled by earlier seasons that were so good. But I think the reason I felt it was bad was two things. For one, they changed the camera work so that it was much jerkier and shakier than it had been. Instead of smooth pans and sharp cuts, we had jerky movement. Like they'd moved from a steady-cam to shoulder-mounted camera. The other reason, and the main reason was the writing and the way the characters changed. The witty back-and-forth of the characters morphed into angry tirades more often than not, and the yelling (that happened only occasionally in the first four seasons, and was extremely uncomfortable) became commonplace, particularly in Season 5. There are other, specific things (Joshua Malina/Will Bailey moving to the VP's office when he was supposed to replace Sam, for example) that are disappointing. It just wasn't a good show in season 5 and most of season 6. Watching it now, you can press through to the good stuff (rare though it may be in Season 5 in particular) if you marathon the show, but we couldn't back in the day. And week after week of mediocrity starts to wear on you.
Nah, Spencer had nothing to do with the show ending. The show was still really good but the overall cost of the show was elevated to a level that the ratings no longer could sustain to make a profit for the show.
There are only a handful of our current politicians who would consider giving such a speech. But even if they did, none of them can deliver words like Jimmy Smits, so none of them will ever have the slightest chance of getting the nomination from a major party. Too bad for us.
And, I think it was as good as any theatrical movie I have ever seen. The Brothers in Arms scene at the end always blows me away. As Leo said, Watch This.
I love the whole feel of this episode. Its shot in such a different way then the show normally is, it gives you the impression of a real event going on.
I love the look Santos and his wife exchange before he steps out. You can practically hear them thinking to each other: Matt: Okay, I'm going to do it now. Helen: Go win this thing.
I don't see that from her. I think her look was complete loyalty and love and trust. She looked like she was telling him I love you no matter what happens.
Sometimes, In the current political climate, I need to see scenes from WW. Yes, they are imaginary. But, I don't think that they are fake. I would like to believe in something better. Something we can all embrace.
Sorkin and crew wrote the ideal. These were how our leaders should be. Beholden to the ideals of their political side, but working for the betterment of all the people. That's not what we have today. Hell, that's not even what we had then.
You know. there was a time when our leaders inspired imagination. Life is shitty enough on it's own, leaders are meant to take us out of the dirt and show us if we work together, tomorrow will be better. I know it's funny to some, but leaders through history were those that lead us through the dark to a brighter tomorrow.
@@smk3390 The last time there was a "ideal president", it was Kennedy, and even he was flawed. I mean, he appeared so great that the mafia had to kill him. The same thing happened to RFK.
I think you've nailed the core message of the entire show right there. Yes, it is fictional, and yes, real-world politics doesn't live up to the ideals of the show, but the show encourages us to believe that such ideals are possible in our government and motivates us to work towards improving it.
While definitely a rhetorical device, the "it has been suggested to me" and "it has been asked of me" set-ups are also a nice way for Sorkin to give Santos the role of next generation leader for the DNC. The old ways are gone, and perhaps with them, some of the flaws of the party as well.
Such clever camera angles and framing to make what are probably a couple dozen extras on a mostly empty soundstage, look and feel like a packed convention center with thousands of people
Actually it was shot in the arena in Anaheim California where the hockey team plays. At the time it was called the Arrowhead Pond I believe. And there were a lot more than a couple dozen extras. It was was actually a couple thousand. I was one of them. I was on a Disneyland vacation and leading up to the park there were flyers posted everywhere for the open call for extras. I still have my Santos, Bob Russell and Baker signs.
Small mistake at 4:04 when victory balloons can be seen dropping from the rafters on the TV. If TOBY were running that convention, he'd have a meltdown like he had during the Justice Mendoza confirmation. That whole Tempting Fate speech/rant he gave to the staffers including Ginger and Bonnie was hilarious. He even had another moment like that when Ed (or Larry) walked into his line of sight on Election Night: "Hey. I see one victory balloon before this thing is called and... *YEAH, YOU BETTER RUN!!!"*
The most ironic part of this episode? Santos' speech is all about the delegates' "Democratic right to vote"...but he gets the nomination when President Bartlet twists the arm of the New York delegation chairman.
I wouldn't say it's ironic, at least not totally. Hoynes and Russell are in it for power. Baker is in it for whatever reason. Santos is in it for progress much like Bartlet wanted. Hoynes and Russell just do a better job of fooling the voters into thinking that they care about them.
Has anyone noticed just how EERILY accurate this was? Aside from the close election, they got everything else right. A young, minority candidate against an old, "moderate" candidate. (Okay, let's pretend McCain wasn't a total sell out and pretend he was actually moderate.) The Vinick Campaign had a young handsome (but unlike real life, not moronic) VP candidate. The Santos campaign went with an older, established statesman. Maybe they watched the 2004 Convention speech. Anyone who saw that knew that 2008 was either gonna be Clinton or Obama.
The West Wing definitely helped influence the real life 2008 election, and this entire political campaign was definitely based off of the actual candidates. Still really cool, though!
+Three00Jews Considering how it was two years before the 2008 election, and Obama wasn't a real candidate until he won Iowa. (granted, I was working for him [in what my relatives called a "hopeless, pointless cause"]in Oregon for months before he won Iowa.) Unless the writers were seers, they couldn't have seen the 2008 election coming. I was an Obama campaign person, and even I didn't see it coming. I just thought it would be cool to be involved.
Looking at your comment three years later but just wanted to say that you're exactly right. After 2004, Obama became more notable and people who worked on the West Wing said that Santos was in part inspired by Obama. You hit the nail on the head.
If you notice this is one of the scenes shot later - they started to have budget issues, so you never see full wide shots to see that they didn't have very many extras. A lot of close-in shots creating the illusion of a full convention floor.
Hillary had also clinched the nomination before the convention. Here, the convention is deadlocked, plus there was Baker's floor campaign to worry about.
Bartlett made Santos the nominee with the backroom deal he made with the teachers union. And a nuclear disaster made Santos president by damaging Vinnick. President Lucky Boi
Whatever the criticisms of the latter seasons, this felt very much like the West Wing. The steadfast looks of belief from Helen before to the heavy but playful pride immediately afterward. This was Matt Santos standing tall on the biggest stage with his own message, un-curated by literary luminaries and lighting his own way. Josh sees he didn't need to drive the car, just start the engine.
@@flyboy152 While it is a continuity error, the reality is that there is a mechanism by which graduates of the federal service academies can join a different service.
@@michaelashtonjr.ashohara1414 it's most likely an error but it's possible to go to another service academy say air force and go Navy. It's possible to do that it involves conditional release from your service component. It's not easy it has been done. You still because your still commissioning in the miltiary it's just your joining a different service branch.
i never noticed that the person introducing santos said he went to the air force acadmey when he went to anapolis, naval acadmey, never noticed it before
I always wonder why Obama never thought about hiring Sorkin or Wells as his speech writer, or even as his senior advisor. Has he never watched the show?
It's not impossible, but highly unlikely. It's almost as if they took that clip from an outtake? Can't believe it would get past the writers. . .but of course, it did.
joel1239871 I meant wrong in the context of the character's biography, Santos himself stated he graduated from the Naval Academy at Annapolis, not the AIr Force Academy at Colorado Springs.
“It’s been suggested to me that party unity is more important than your democratic rights as delegates.” How did we, the people who support our party because we believe it embodies our ideals, get from this to what’s happening right now in Chicago? It’s a sad day.
Looking forward to seeing this speech being given some attention with it's superdelegates/ordinary delegates focus if there really is a conflict between them with Bernie at this year's convention. . .
I wish the show could of continued one more season with the Santos Admin. It was foretelling of what we would have in 2008 with Obama. Hoping for a better 2021
I always thought the decision to make Josh weak and incompetent over the final season or two was a horrible decision. He didn’t mature and grow into the role, he just went along for the ride.
The show always swung from showing Josh's hyper-competence to his hubris to his anxious frenzies. Think of it as focusing on the painful moments while there's plenty of off screen triumphs
@@wasserperson I agree with you. Like all of us, Josh had many sides to his character, and he certainly wasn't perfect. But he DID grow. He also backslid at times (like after the election). Toby was my favorite character in the first 5 years of the show. But it was all Josh in the last 2 years.
it's a pity in the clip there is not the part when President Bartlet says something like "Find me Josh". that's how the story changed :-) Long Live The West Wing
Gabriel Nakamura There would've been a lot more lens flares if it had been directed by J.J. Abrams. I mean... there were an awful lot of lens flares, but the episode would have been comprised ENTIRELY of lens flares if J.J. Abrams had been in charge. EDIT: I love J.J. Abrams none the less. Here's hoping Star Wars VII is good!
In this episode. it was mentioned by Josh that Santos won the Texas primary, but a few episodes earlier one of the Vinick guys mentioned that Santos lost his home state. A great show, but it had a number of gaffes in it. One of the worst was in the last episode, "Tomorrow", when the Bartlets are musing about why Inauguration Day is January 20 in the dead of winter, and Jed spouts "Jefferson, Madison", even though it was actually March 4 until 1936.
@@thezacmurphy In the 7th season Election Day two parter, Bruno comments that "a Democrat hasn't won North Dakota in 40 years, which was true in the real world, but the Bartlet reelection episode three seasons earlier clearly declared that Bartlet "won the Dakotas".
Sending kind thoughts to Americans. I would claim they lost their way. I have nothing against Republicans except everything but what do they stand for? Ask them and they look over their shoulders at a rather obese former POTUS who was defeated over a year and a month ago and wait for his incoherence to guide them. I hope to be back again in a years time. Nothing has changed Texas. Neither have you.
I never liked what they did to Josh's character in this storyline. At every turn he fumbled and Santos picked up the ball and ran with it (this speech, the TV commercial change, etc.). He was never allowed to become a version of Leo demonstrating a real contribution to Santos' success. At one point he even apologized to Santos for not doing much, or the right thing, and Santos reminded him that Josh got him to run. But that was it. Josh got him to run then wasn't shown to be a leader in his own right. The character we spent all these years with failed to grow in those final seasons. He even needed Sam to come in and rescue him after the election. Too bad.
The best thing the Dems could do is show this speech, then show a Drumpty rally speech back to back. I know it’s a fictional moment in time, but it’s what every American, democrat or republican wants from our leaders. Someone truly for the people, not someone trying to stay out of prison. Not someone looking for the next sucker to come along. Not someone trying to take our rights away. Someone truly for the betterment of our democracy. Vote blue for American 🇺🇸❤️🇺🇸🤍🇺🇸💙🇺🇸
@@chubbychuckle Latino running for president, the presidents ex-chief of staff being named the Vice Presidential running mate, then one of them gets killed on the night of the election the exact same way as in this show
@@chubbychuckle oh man I can’t believe you actually responded after me after 6 years lmao but yeah it was VERYYYY similar lol, funny enough I watched WW after watching scandal and was like wait a minute this looks familiar
Lol in fantasy TV land the people choose their own delegate . In the real world the other people running all dropped out and party leaders decided who the nominee would be.
In the episode, President Bartlett did a deal with the teachers unions and that won Santos the nomination. The speech was ultimately just fluffy nonsense
I keep seeing your name pop up in the comments trash talking Democrats. We get it. You hate them. We understand what character you would be on a TV show like this. DoucheKing indeed. Keep hating a group of people indiscriminately. Works out well for most people. Ugh, you're like if a toilet was a person.
As great as the speech is, the camera work was abysmal. The camera catches a ton of empty seats and then they show a TV scene with the conventional hall packed. It spoils what was a really fine scene.