About the talking fast thing, it gets on my nerves too, but it seems in character with the nature of the show. To me it shows how fast the pace of things are. The challenge of each one of the character’s job positions is the fact that there’s always something going on, and that they have to be 3 steps ahead of the game. So they speak fast or abbreviate terms so they can communicate efficiently, quickly, and effectively.
As far as Wednesday’s episode, I missed the first half hour so I’m not sure what was really going on, but the last half hour did just seem to drag. Of what I saw, the more interesting character was the old navy man Bartlett and Leo were consulting with. I just thought it was so cute how Bartlett and Leo deferred to him. He was very much in command of the situtation and presented a strong, steady force, and he knew he was a reassuring presence for Bartlett. He made me feel safe and reassured, and I’m just a viewer watching, not the fictitious President of the US. He was a trip! 
As far as Donna and Josh, I really don’t want to see them get together, but I have a feeling they might. It seems like the show is just building the sexual tension between them. I really don’t care to see them get together because that would just detract from the plot, but none of the screenwriters asked me. [shrug] We’ll see what happens.
BTW, two of those nominations were for Best Supporting Actress for The West Wing. She’s never been nominated for Best Guest Actress on that show.