- DNC Chair: He's gonna siphon votes away from us, which will result in Moss winning, which will result in the end of the progressive agenda as we know it.
- Mars Harper: Know what? If you're worried about vote-spliting, maybe you guys should be the ones to drop out.
- DNC Chair: The Democratic Party? We should drop out?
- Mars Harper: I got the president. What do you got?
- Tom Kirkman: [during the State of the Union] If name-calling and petty grievances are what serve for debate in this great chamber, then Congress truly is in a sorry, sorry state. All you wanna do is tear things down. It is shameful. The system is broken, and you people broke it.
- Tom Kirkman: [watching on TV] Well, I really screwed that up, didn't I?
- Tom Kirkman: This doesn't make sense. It's good for their states, their constituents, and they don't care? I mean, it's obvious they don't care about a bridge collapse in North Carolina. The bodies are still being pulled out of the rubble.
- Mars Harper: All due respect, Mr. President, I've been in this town a hell of a lot longer than you have, and if there is one constant to which you can set your watch, it's that this, too, shall pass.
- Tom Kirkman: So you're a watch guy, too?
- Mars Harper: Takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'.
- Tom Kirkman: It's becoming the story of my life. What else we got?
- Mars Harper: Priority number one has got to be tapping a first-rate campaign manager. Did you check the list?
- Tom Kirkman: I did. But I wanna talk to someone who's not on it. Lorraine Zimmer.
- Mars Harper: She deputied Moss' run.
- Tom Kirkman: So she'd know the playbook on him. Could be invaluable. I also hear she's party agnostic, and I would like you set up the meet.
- Mars Harper: Will do, sir. Now, you need to lobby some senators, so maybe put on a suit.
- Secret Service Agent #1: It's not a clean site, but we made a buffer between POTUS and the RPs.
- Dontae Evans: RPs?
- Seth Wright: Uh, real people.
- Tom Kirkman: I'm not sure about this. What am I supposed to do, the speech?
- Seth Wright: Well, just, um... just feel it out when you get up there. Wing it.
- Tom Kirkman: Wing it? That's an interesting communications strategy, Seth.
- Mars Harper: Seth, we need to change the narrative.
- Seth Wright: Uh, y-yeah. Uh... I, um... I have some ideas to run by Mark.
- Mars Harper: Don't bother.
- Seth Wright: Uh, well, he's my boss.
- Mars Harper: The communications director is no longer in the employ of the United States government.
- Seth Wright: Oh, my god, you fired him.
- Mars Harper: Chiefs of Staff sometimes have to do that, Seth.
- Mars Harper: The news media needs a new story. Steer them on to the infrastructure vote coming up.
- Seth Wright: I don't think that's gonna be enough to distract the press from last night. They're like a dog with a bone.
- Mars Harper: Well, you know how to get a bone away from a dog, don't you?
- Seth Wright: I really hope you're not gonna say "shoot the dog."
- Mars Harper: We're in the barrel here.
- Seth Wright: Yeah, that's another phrase that's always confused me. People say it all the time around here.
- Mars Harper: In the barrel of a gun pointed at you.
- Seth Wright: Yeah, I don't think that's it.
- Mars Harper: Seth, change the narrative. Or you and Mark can meet up at the public library for the résumé-writing workshop. I hear it's very informative.
- Isabel Pardo: I need five minutes with the president.
- Mars Harper: Not happening today.
- Isabel Pardo: When I was hired, I was told he wanted to make the Office of Social Innovation a priority.
- Mars Harper: He does. We all do. Who wouldn't?
- Isabel Pardo: I have a proposal to repurpose some USAID funding for anti-parasitic drugs in Africa. Fifty cents a year per child...
- Aaron Shore: [approaching] I wanna update you before the principals' meeting.
- Isabel Pardo: I'm talking to him.
- Mars Harper: Thank you, Isabel.
- [leaving with Adam]
- Mars Harper: She doesn't appear to like you very much.
- Aaron Shore: Appearances can be deceiving.
- Mars Harper: What news from the national security advisor?
- Aaron Shore: Puerto Rico. The hurricane has near incapacitated the saline industry, specifically the production of sodium chloride injection bags.
- Mars Harper: That's pretty specific.
- Aaron Shore: It could put us in a vulnerable position.
- Mars Harper: How so?
- Aaron Shore: Unexpected military conflict arises, we could be left short-handed. We need to find a way to shore up the medical products manufacturing sector.
- Mars Harper: I'll look into it.
- Felix Silva: The chair of the DNC's in the Roosevelt Room. She'd like a word.
- Mars Harper: I can't stand that woman.
- [turning off a nearby TV set]
- Mars Harper: Why are there so many god damn television sets in this god damn place?
- Mars Harper: Looking for office space? I believe this room is spoken for.
- DNC Chair: It's not too late, Mars.
- Mars Harper: Too late for what, Meg?
- DNC Chair: It's not too late for him to drop out of the race.
- Mars Harper: But we already filled out the statement of candidacy with the FEC, and you know what a pain in the ass those folks can be about giving anything back.
- Tom Kirkman: You'd think I was Khrushchev at the UN, when the real story should be the Senate putting political expedience above doing anything virtuous. Hell, doing anything at all. Not to mention what nobody's mentioning, is that absolutely everything I said last night...
- [yelling at the TV]
- Tom Kirkman: ...was the truth!
- Mars Harper: Maybe it's not what you said, Mr. President, so much as how you said it.
- Tom Kirkman: Oh, please. So I offended their delicate sensibilities? These sons of bitches are gonna use this to bring down the infrastructure bill, I know it.
- Mars Harper: Last check, OLA says that we've got the numbers to pass the bill.
- Tom Kirkman: Was that last check before last night? We need to get the vice president here. She has the ear of the Democratic caucus. We need her to start whipping support for the vote now.
- Seth Wright: How's Florida?
- Emily Rhodes: It's humid and infuriating. How's D.C.?
- Seth Wright: Cold and infuriating.
- Emily Rhodes: I bet it is, especially after last night.
- Seth Wright: Oh, you watched?
- Emily Rhodes: Yes, Seth, I watched the president deliver the State of the Union.
- Seth Wright: What'd you think?
- Emily Rhodes: You mean policy-wise or...
- Seth Wright: Emily, what'd you think?
- Emily Rhodes: It was refreshing, actually. It was nice to hear some honesty in and about the swamp.
- Seth Wright: [snickering] Maybe you could convey that to the swamp, 'cause we're getting absolutely murdered up here.
- Seth Wright: The president's been... you know, different, since you left.
- Emily Rhodes: Different how?
- Seth Wright: I don't wanna say unmoored, but, um, you were always sort of the Kirkman whisperer, and, uh, I thought if you could... if you could come back, you know, just maybe for a visit.
- Emily Rhodes: I don't know, Seth. My mom's not doing so well and needs me here, so...
- Seth Wright: I get it. I do. Maybe just think about it?
- Emily Rhodes: Okay, I'll think about it, all right?
- Seth Wright: You know that phrase "in the barrel", like "We're in the barrel"? Where does that come from?
- Emily Rhodes: What? I don't know, like, going over the falls in a barrel?
- Seth Wright: Mmm, I don't think that's it.
- Emily Rhodes: [surprised to find Hannah in her apartment] What the fuck is this about, Hannah?
- [Hannah shows her a video on her phone]
- Emily Rhodes: Where did you get this?
- Hannah Wells: From your friend Valeria. After she tried to kill me.
- Emily Rhodes: And you think that has something to do with this?
- Hannah Wells: Unless provided with a better explanation, yes.
- Emily Rhodes: The president directed me to backchannel information to the Russians. But beyond that, I cannot divulge any details. Whatever happened between you and Valeria, I wasn't a part of it.
- [seeing the gun in Hannah's hands]
- Emily Rhodes: What are you gonna do? Torture me?
- Hannah Wells: [taking her phone back] I have to attend a disciplinary hearing. You think they'd be interested in this?
- Emily Rhodes: You really think the FBI doesn't already know?
- Hannah Wells: If I find out you're lying to me, it would be redundant to say "I know where you live", right?
- Tom Kirkman: Morning, Pen. Checked it all last night.
- Penny Kirkman: Thanks, dad.
- Tom Kirkman: You know, I was thinking... I'd like you to call me Mr. President like everybody else.
- Penny Kirkman: [sarcastic] Ha, you're so funny.
- Tom Kirkman: I'm sorry I've been so busy. I would like you and I to have dinner tonight.
- Penny Kirkman: Oh, I can't. I have plans.
- Tom Kirkman: Plans?
- Penny Kirkman: Yeah. You're not the only one who's busy.
- Tom Kirkman: I've got an event in Iowa tomorrow.
- Penny Kirkman: The capital of Iowa is Des Moines.
- Tom Kirkman: Oh, yeah? What's the capital of South Dakota?
- Penny Kirkman: You tell me.
- Tom Kirkman: [feigning ignorance] Bismarck.
- Penny Kirkman: That's North Dakota.
- Tom Kirkman: I know. I just wanna make sure you did.
- Tom Kirkman: I'm gonna have to do a lot more traveling in the coming months 'cause of the campaign. And I realized I never talked to you about me running again. How do you feel about it?
- Penny Kirkman: Well, I mean, it's kinda shitty, but I'll be okay.
- Tom Kirkman: Penelope Kirkman, your mother would've washed your mouth out with soap.
- Penny Kirkman: Dad, I saw the way you yelled at those people in Congress. You can't get all weird about my saying one curse word. Also, no one washes anyone's mouth out with soap anymore. That's totally not a thing.
- Tom Kirkman: Okay, who are you and what have you done with my daughter?
- Penny Kirkman: I gotta go. I'm gonna be late for school.
- Tom Kirkman: [to himself] Good chat.
- Tom Kirkman: How's the whip count?
- Mars Harper: Closer than we'd like.
- Tom Kirkman: Is this Darby? Are people getting cold feet because of her?
- Mars Harper: It's possible. We could go back to Haskell or Carlin, repack the suitcase with their pet projects.
- Tom Kirkman: There's too much pork in the bill as it is.
- Tom Kirkman: Emily, I didn't know you were coming in today.
- Mars Harper: Neither did I. Didn't see her name on the schedule.
- Seth Wright: Oh, uh, it was a last-minute addition.
- Seth Wright: How's your mom?
- Emily Rhodes: She's hanging in. Ovarian cancer's a bitch.
- Seth Wright: Are you, uh, thinking of staying in Tampa for a while?
- Emily Rhodes: I don't know if I'm built for D.C.
- Seth Wright: I wish you'd come back. Emily, you know him better than anybody else. You guys have been together since before he was president. And it's not like you'd need to take your old job back.
- Emily Rhodes: God forbid.
- Seth Wright: Okay, putting aside the fact that I almost shit my pants every time he walks by, Harper's really good at what he does. And he knows everybody. Obviously, that's why Kirkman brought him in. But... something's missing. Someone's missing.
- Emily Rhodes: I was Chief of Staff. What do you do after that?
- Seth Wright: They're creating new jobs around here all the time. You could be whatever you want. You know that.
- Mars Harper: Lorraine Zimmer's here.
- Tom Kirkman: Right. Bring me up to speed on what she's been doing since she got Moss elected president.
- Mars Harper: She started her own PR and crisis management firm. Mainly corporate clients. They just helped a new app go public, something called Enjoy My Wheels. They're disrupting the car rental biz the way Uber killed the taxi. Apparently, folks can just rent out their own cars. Stock's going through the roof.
- Lorraine Zimmer: The history of American presidential elections certainly has its conventional wisdoms.
- Tom Kirkman: An Independent candidate has never won.
- Lorraine Zimmer: Not since George Washington. And there's never been a third party incumbent, so I feel the same way about conventional wisdom as I do about conventionality.
- [she blows a raspberry, and Tom laughs]
- Lorraine Zimmer: I mean, there's no certainties. There's only outcomes. But that being said, I do like to have as much information as possible at my disposal. So I had my girl do some quick polling, and I have never seen anything like it. You, Moss... 'cause, yeah, it's gonna be Moss. And a generic Democratic candidate. At this point, it is a virtual three-way dead heat. I mean, even Ross Perot only pulled 19% in '92.
- [impressed whistle]
- Lorraine Zimmer: This is gonna be a fascinating election. I honestly cannot wait.
- Tom Kirkman: Well, I've heard great things about you, Lorraine, but you're even more impressive in person. We will be thrilled to welcome you aboard.
- Lorraine Zimmer: Oh. Mr. President, that's so very sweet of you, but I didn't say I was coming aboard.
- Tom Kirkman: I-I'm sorry, I thought by you coming here to the White House, that meant you were interested.
- Lorraine Zimmer: Yes, I wanted to meet you.
- Tom Kirkman: [realizing] Moss. I've heard rumors that Moss is not happy with his current team.
- Lorraine Zimmer: The man's very rarely happy.
- Tom Kirkman: Are you joining his campaign?
- Lorraine Zimmer: He has asked, and I am considering it.
- Tom Kirkman: Do you mind if I asked why you're not interested in joining my campaign?
- Lorraine Zimmer: You've never run for office. You've never done retail politics. You've never campaigned. Mr. President, people like you and they like that you're Independent. They sure liked your wife, and they were sorry for you when she died. But aside from that, I don't know who you are. And I can't sell a product if I don't know the brand.
- Tom Kirkman: I understand. Thank you for your time.
- Mars Harper: In the future, I'd appreciate a heads-up when former staff come to the building. Especially when former staff happened to previously hold the job that I currently possess.
- Seth Wright: Yes, of course. Uh, it won't happen again.
- Mars Harper: [glancing at the waiting press corps] They're smelling blood, so cut their fucking noses off.
- Seth Wright: The president's not focused on coverage, he's focused... look, I know it's not the White House's place to, uh, suggest lines of inquiry to our partners in the press, but come on, guys, don't you ever get tired of these tabloid obsessions? Why not clear your palate? Ask about the school lunch initiative, or, uh, what we're doing on veterans' affairs. Why don't you ask about the bridge collapse which highlights exactly why we need this infrastructure bill? You could ask about Annabelle Martin, thirteen years old, from Asheville. She lost both parents and a brother in the tragedy in North Carolina. Ask about things that are important.
- Seth Wright: Which monster invented this?
- Emily Rhodes: A genius monster of Cincinnati.
- Seth Wright: Seriously, who puts chili over spaghetti?
- Aaron Shore: Hey, don't judge. I was in India, street vendors were hawking steamed hornets on top of fried snails.
- Seth Wright: Oh, come on, I am not responsible for the cuisine of my people, okay? I've never even been there. But if you are gonna eat hornets, I hear steamed is the way to go.
- Tom Kirkman: Aaron, thank you for making us aware of the Puerto Rico issue. It could easily have been overlooked.
- Aaron Shore: Actually, sir, we may be overlooking something else. The industry on the island needs help, sure, but we could be doing more in the way of humanitarian aid for the local population. A little goes a long way there.
- Tom Kirkman: I'll talk to the sponsors, add some language to the rider.
- Aaron Shore: Thank you, sir.
- Emily Rhodes: Since when do you care about Puerto Rico?
- Aaron Shore: I care about all unincorporated U.S. territories.
- Emily Rhodes: Right. Isn't your new girlfriend Puerto Rican?
- Aaron Shore: Oh, you keeping tabs on me now?
- Tom Kirkman: Okay, enough, you two. As much as I enjoy this conviviality, I had an ulterior motive to bring you all here tonight.
- Tom Kirkman: I know that I surprised all of you with my announcement to run. And I'm sorry I didn't share that decision with you. But each one of you has been with me since the beginning of this ride, Emily even longer. And since Alex died, you've become the people I trust the most. So I need your opinion, your advice. This election, can I win it?
- Emily Rhodes: [simultaneously] Yes.
- Aaron Shore: It's a wide-open race.
- Tom Kirkman: Okay, okay. As well-intentioned as your bullshit responses are, come on, I need you to be honest. Tell me what you really think. Tell me the truth.
- Seth Wright: Uh, it's not impossible. But, uh, and this has nothing to do with you, I don't see a clear path forward for any Independent candidate. There are too many structural obstacles for you to circumvent, particularly without the support of a party organization. This is one of the reasons a lot of people are jumping ship. They're looking for their next jobs.
- Aaron Shore: As a member of the Republican Party, Moss will score conservatives and the older demographic, and those people vote. The Democratic nominee will take the progressives, and if it's Darby's, to be blunt, she'll pick up African-Americans, and, you gotta assume, other racial minorities. It's a tough needle to thread. And think of it this way. You could punch your ticket as the guy who put the coutry back on track after an historic tragedy. Posterity will remember you well. But if you run, and if you lose, if you come in third, that's your legacy.
- Tom Kirkman: Yeah. Emily, what do you think?
- Emily Rhodes: I think you can do it. But I think you're asking the wrong thing. "Can I win?" makes the question about you, when the question should be about the country. So it's not "can I win?", it's "Why am I running in the first place?". So why are you?
- Dontae Evans: Holy shit. You're the press secretary.
- Seth Wright: Uh, for now, yeah. You are?
- Dontae Evans: Dontae Evans. I'm the, um, director of online engagement. I mean, my boss is director of online engagement, but she hasn't shown up the last couple days.
- Seth Wright: Okay, well, I need someone to come along on the president's Iowa trip, handle online messaging. Can you do that?
- Dontae Evans: Yeah.
- Seth Wright: [turning to leave] Great.
- Dontae Evans: What, like, right now?
- Seth Wright: Now would be great, yeah.
- Dontae Evans: You're on Twitter, right?
- Seth Wright: Bane of my existence, Dontae.
- Dontae Evans: Maybe you saw this hashtag I created a couple days ago. "The system is broken", it's called. I can show you...
- Seth Wright: Let's just keep it moving, Dontae.
- Tom Kirkman: Remind me why I'm taking this trip to Iowa now.
- Mars Harper: Caucuses are big two-party platforms. It can't hurt to get there and steal some of their oxygen. Consider it a campaign-launcher.
- Tom Kirkman: And you don't think it's more important that I stay here and twist some arms?
- Mars Harper: We have twisted everything that is twistable. It's in God's hands now. I will let you know when the vote is in. In the meantime, stay part of the story.
- Deputy Director, FBI: Breaking and entering, infiltrating civilian computer systems, hacking personal phones without a warrant. Do you have anything to add?
- Hannah Wells: Just that I don't see any cameras, so this seems like a lot of grandstanding for an audience of one.
- Deputy Director, FBI: I wouldn't take these proceedings so irreverently, Agent Wells. Your career's in the balance.
- Hannah Wells: I did my job, Deputy Director. I protected my president. Who has been cleared of any wrongdoing, by the way, by both the Attorney General and Special Counsel West.
- Executive Assistant OIC: It was the special counsel himself who provided us with these many examples of your transgressions.
- Deputy Director, FBI: I'm not sure you appreciate the gravity of the situation here. Unless you're of the mind that agents of the United States government can kill people in allied countries without consequences.
- [noticing her reaction]
- Deputy Director, FBI: Oh, do I have your attention now?
- Executive Assistant, NSB: After much conversation, the British are opting not to prosecute for the sake of our special relationship. But they've made it clear you're persona non grata in the UK.
- Deputy Director, FBI: I've promised we'd settle accounts. We'll have your badge, Hannah.
- Hannah Wells: Everything I have done, everything, has been to protect this country. You can't just throw...
- Deputy Director, FBI: That's enough. We're done. You're lucky to have been dismissed without charges.
- Seth Wright: The Senate voted on the infrastructure bill.
- Tom Kirkman: What's the tally?
- Seth Wright: Failed. 48-52.
- Tom Kirkman: Son of a bitch.
- Seth Wright: Also, sir, we got word that there may be a glitch at this event.
- Cornelius Moss: Mr. President!
- Seth Wright: Ugh, Moss.
- Tom Kirkman: Oh, great. I'll see you at the car.
- Cornelius Moss: So it was your plane that was holding us up. I should have known it. You know Lorraine Zimmer, of course.
- Tom Kirkman: Yes.
- Cornelius Moss: Lorraine has decided to rejoin my team.
- Lorraine Zimmer: If I can fit you into my schedule.
- Tom Kirkman: Congratulations to both of you.
- Cornelius Moss: Ah, campaigning, am I right? Then again, I don't suppose you'd really know about that, would you?
- Tom Kirkman: Seth, why am I staring at an empty room?
- Seth Wright: I think this is the glitch that I mentioned, sir. Let me find out more.
- Seth Wright: Hey, what's going on?
- Advance Team Supervisor: We're shrinking the room.
- Seth Wright: Yeah, I can see that. Why?
- Advance Team Supervisor: Because there's almost no one here.
- Seth Wright: Okay, and why is that?
- [returning to Kirkman]
- Seth Wright: So, apparently, and this is unsubstantiated, but Moss' campaign robocalled all of our confirmed attendees telling them the event had been canceled. Hence, the meager turnout. We have a field team out to try to fill seats. Still want to go through with this?
- Tom Kirkman: Absolutely not. Buy their lunches. Fix this.
- Mars Harper: Hey, buddy. I'm just as disappointed as you.
- Aaron Shore: Yeah, but what happened? I thought we had the votes, man.
- Mars Harper: I thought so, too. But legislation does get unpredictable in election years. Best I can tell, Darby took a couple of Democrats with her.
- Aaron Shore: Shit.
- Mars Harper: On a positive note, I did find a workaround for your saline situation. FDA is gonna let us import medical product from Ireland.
- Aaron Shore: Yeah, how is that supposed to help Puerto Ricans?
- Mars Harper: It doesn't, but it helps us. So, you're welcome.
- Aaron Shore: Mars, the whole point of this was...
- Mars Harper: Listen. Don't go behind my back to the president.
- Aaron Shore: Mars, I didn't go behind your back.
- Mars Harper: Asking for humanitarian aid is not your bailiwick. We have a history, yeah. But that doesn't mean that you get to cut the line. Everything goes through me.
- Seth Wright: [on the phone] I know it's short notice, but it's "rabbit out of the hat" time, okay? I need you to look at the entire caucus event calendar, see if there's something we can piggyback on.
- [hanging up]
- Seth Wright: You better not be playing "Fortnite", dude.
- Dontae Evans: Not all millenials play video games, dude.
- Dontae Evans: Do you remember the hashtag I told you about before we left?
- Seth Wright: I hope it doesn't hurt your feelings to say that I do not.
- Dontae Evans: Okay, after the State of the Union, I put this hashtag out, "the system is broken." You know what trending is?
- Seth Wright: I know what trending is, Dontae.
- Dontae Evans: [showing him his tablet] It's generating a ton of traffic. People are really responding to what the president said. They're posting videos, venting about broke shit, broke politics.
- Seth Wright: These videos, they're all coming from one specific event.
- Dontae Evans: Yeah. It's an abandoned mall. It's a protest. I guess they planned it to counterprogram the caucuses.
- [Seth leaves]
- Dontae Evans: Hey, where are you going with my tablet, man?
- Seth Wright: I gotta talk to the president.
- Dianne Lewis: I'm assuming the hearing resulted in termination.
- Hannah Wells: Well, I'm leaving now.
- Dianne Lewis: I can tell you about that video.
- Hannah Wells: How do you know about the video?
- Dianne Lewis: Because we shot it. How'd you like to come work for the CIA?
- Tom Kirkman: Thank you for letting me crash your party. I came here to Iowa to deliver a speech. And now that I'm standing here among you, it doesn't feel as relevant. Now, I don't know if you've heard, but I had my ass handed to me today. By the Senate. You see, we had a bill. A really, really good bill. A bill that was designed to help people like you, in places like this. To transform forgotten communities and turn them into revitalized ones. Communities of hope and industriousness. It was designed to help the people in North Carolina, who right now are suffering a loss that, unfortunately, I am far too familiar with. This bill would have helped them rebuild the failing infrastructure that surrounds them. But the Senate... the Senate killed it.
- Male Protestor: All they wanna do is tear things down!
- Tom Kirkman: It makes sense to be angry. Angry like all of you are. Hell, I am with you. But anger alone is no prescription. We need to figure out how to take that anger and turn it into action. So please tell me, how do we fix this?
- Female Protestor: It's unfixable!
- Tom Kirkman: Why do you say that, ma'am?
- Female Protestor: Because no one listens.
- Tom Kirkman: Okay. Okay, I understand that because I feel like that sometimes, and, hell, I'm the President of the United States. People have to listen to me. But I felt like that in the Capitol the other night. I felt like that today when the Senate voted down the bill. But if I'm gonna be honest, I think all of us might be a little guilty of not listening. Myself included. But I wanna do better. In fact, I promise you, I am going to do better. So, ma'am, here I am. Standing right in front of you. What do you want me to hear?
- Female Protestor: When the shop closed, I tried to find other work, but there's nothing.
- Tom Kirkman: [his voice fades as he talks] These are the kinds of things that we're not addressing. Party politics are interfering with your neighborhood...
- Seth Wright: I love this job.
- Seth Wright: At the risk of repeating myself, sir, you were amazing back there.
- Tom Kirkman: Come on, Seth, it was your idea. Give credit where credit's due.
- Lorraine Zimmer: I have a really big ego, so I can confess when I am wrong. Washington is an echo chamber. Time to time, I forget that. I think that what we're saying to each other is the same thing that folks are saying out there amongst themselves. The media made your State of the Union out to be a self-inflicted wound. But they are wrong. What you did is really resonating with Jane and John Q public.
- Tom Kirkman: Aha. My devious plan is working.
- Lorraine Zimmer: Ooh, and the Tom Kirkman I saw today, with that common touch, that empathy... that Tom Kirkman might make a pretty decent campaigner after all.
- Tom Kirkman: So am I to understand you're no longer working with Moss? Helping him with his dirty tricks?
- Lorraine Zimmer: He doesn't need my help with that.
- Tom Kirkman: You know, this is a win-win for you. If I manage to get elected, you'll be credited with accomplishing something that no one has ever accomplished. And if I lose, well, it'll be known as unwinnable fight.
- Lorraine Zimmer: I don't believe there's such a thing as an unwinnable fight. It all depends on what you are willing to do to come out on top. So, there are four things that I'm gonna need from you. Number one: unrestricted access. I need you, I get you. Number two: I need the authority to hire and fire all campaign staff. Their job is to get you elected, but they work for me. And number three: I need you to make fundraising a priority.
- Tom Kirkman: And number four?
- Lorraine Zimmer: Fuck me, I forgot what number four is.
- [he laughs]
- Lorraine Zimmer: But I reserve the right to come back to it in the future. Okay, you're sitting down. You wanna discuss my salary?
- Mars Harper: Congratulations on Iowa, sir. You took a chance there.
- Tom Kirkman: And we'll be taking a lot more. Oh, and by the way, Lorraine Zimmer decided to join our campaign.
- Mars Harper: Well, you made the most of a tough day.
- Tom Kirkman: We're not done yet. I wanna go around the Congress. I want you to start spitballing an executive action on infrastructure. Reach out to the National Economic Council, put Legal and DPC together. Let's start hammering this out.
- Mars Harper: Uh, will do. You heading up to the residence?
- Tom Kirkman: One more stop. Mars, go home. I'm starting to worry that your wife won't remember what you look like.
- Mars Harper: I heard you, uh, came up with the whole mall idea.
- Seth Wright: [stammering] Um, well, it... it was sort of...
- Mars Harper: I asked for a new strategy. It seems I got one. Oh, and by the way, I Googled that, uh, "in the barrel" thing. It turns out it was a form of punishment for petty criminals in the 19th century. They'd get put in a barrel, holes were cut at different heights, and then men would come by and insert their, uh... their manhoods into the holes for various reasons. So, turns out I was wrong. Oh, and I forgot, you're the new communications director. So, I guess, report to yourself.
- Tom Kirkman: I came here because I wanted to tell you that in the months since you've been gone, something's been off. With me. My compass has been off. And I would like you to come back to the White House. Emily, I need you to keep me honest.
- Emily Rhodes: The question I asked you at dinner, do you know the answer?
- Tom Kirkman: I think so. I thought a lot about what you said. And I think you're right. I started taking things too personally. This is not about me, this is about them. I serve the American people, even if Congress won't. Emily, we have an historic opportunity here. I'm beholden to no one; not to any party. We can do things they can't. So, what do you think?
- Emily Rhodes: I serve at the pleasure of the president.
- Tom Kirkman: [amused snicker] I hate it when people say that.
- Hannah Wells: Your headquarters are certainly an improvement from the Bureau.
- Dianne Lewis: Well, I'll pass your compliment on to the ghost of Allen Dulles. I meant to ask, whatever happend to Agent Rennett's daughter, the girl you brought back from London?
- Hannah Wells: She's with family friends. So, you were surveilling me, too.
- Dianne Lewis: It's what we do.