A newly energized administration prepares to take on soft money, increase addiction treatment, and remove mandatory minimum sentencing.

Comments made by Surgeon General Dr. Millicent Griffith concerning the medical effects of marijuana appear to reverse the President's stance on legalizing the drug.

Josh covertly brings a psychiatrist to the white house to meet with the President who has been unable to sleep for five days.

Sequestered in North Carolina to prepare for the one and only debate between Bartlet and opponent Robert Richie, the staff and several consultants (incl. Andrea Wyatt and Joey Lucas) flash back to the days just before and after the president's first inauguration, which were marked by an ill-advised choice for attorney general and ongoing concerns about fertility for then-married Toby and Andrea. In the present, Sam plays Richie in mock debates and raises Bartlet's ire, while Leo and the joint chiefs try to convince the president not to treat increasingly aggressive Qu'mar, whose defense minister Bartlet ordered assassinated (late last season), with kid gloves, and the staff keeps pestering Toby about his on-again, off-again relationship with Andrea, until he makes a startling revelation.

Toby falls prey to a practical joke by the rest of the staff, after which everyone but Leo takes off for the debate in San Diego. Sam makes a side trip to Newport Beach to explain to the congressional campaign manager of the late Horton Wilde why the campaign has to fold even though Wilde is still on the ballot; what Sam doesn't expect is a stalwart named Will Bailey who, determined to keep the ideas of the campaign alive, continues to hold campaign events and do door-to-door canvassing. In San Diego, a nervous w.w. staff readies itself to spin for the president, but when Bartlet and Richie go head to head in a unique debate format, Bartlet tears Richie apart on states' rights, education, taxes, etc., by being precisely the intellectual snob everyone had accused him of being and using it to his own advantage. Back in DC, Leo and Jordon Kendall meet with the Qu'mari ambassador to the U.N., and Leo warns Qu'mar to back off its campaign to charge Israel with the assassination of Defense Minister Abdul Shareef. After the debate, Sam returns to Newport to meet once more with Will at a bar, during which Sam makes a surprising offer.

As results come in across the country, Sam is focused on a single congressional election that will determine his own future. After realizing she accidentally voted for the Republican nominee, Donna tries to find a Ritchie supporter who will "swap votes" with her. The President tries to hide a recurrence of his M.S.

Sam finds himself in a tricky position after the election in Orange County takes an unexpected turn. Toby and his ex-wife also find themselves in a delicate position, but decidedly one of their own making. And CJ tracks down the self aggrandizing source of some Process Stories.

The president, first lady and w.w. staff travel to Orange County, Calif., to campaign for Sam's bid to win the 47th District congressional seat -- the Nov. winner in the heavily Republican district was, amazingly, a liberal Democrat who, more amazingly, had died a few weeks prior. The president orders Toby to fire Sam's campaign manager, a staunch realist, and take over the campaign with a more idealistic approach. Some conservative voters approach Andrea Wyatt in a bar and give her grief about her out-of-wedlock pregnancy, and Toby and Charlie step in forcefully, landing them in jail. Donna talks, on behalf of Sam's campaign, with a state labor leader who turns out to be a Communist.

The assassination of Shareef threatens to become public, the president speaks at Zoe's graduation, and the unthinkable happens.

Zoey Barlet has been held for over a day. An international crisis looms that could have serious repercussions for the administration, let alone the hostage.

A Supreme Court Justice dies, forcing the administration's hand on picking a desirable replacement who can be confirmed by a hostile Congress.

A fact finding codel to the Middle East is torn apart by an explosion. Key members of the administration and their loved ones are caught in the mess. The President is forced to consider retaliatory military action in the unstable area, with possible repercussions that could last decades.

A federal prosecutor's threat to indict Toby on another charge has the potential to affect the impending election.

President Bartlet and his current and former staffers come together for Leo's funeral.

Two weeks before the inauguration, CJ and the rest of the Bartlett administration consider what they will do next. CJ examines her relationship with Danny and considers whether or not to suggest to the President pardoning Toby.