# The West Wing: La Palabra **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 10, 2005, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-la-palabra/293818 "2005-03-10T13:16:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-la-palabra/293818/1 "2005-03-10T13:16:34Z")
Well, if nothing else, I feel a little smug after last night. I predicted a couple of weeks ago that some plot device would knock VP Hoynes and Russell out of the race. And it happened last night. Otherwise… I liked how desperate the Santos’s were when they were told the campaign ran out of money. It seemed to be a very real discussion to me when they were talking about mortgaging the house and coming up with a back-up plan in case they had to drop out. I liked how Santos described how he wanted the kids back in his old neighborhood to see him running for President in Texas. And how he refuses to become “the latino Candidate”. I’m very happy with how idealistic Santos is as a candidate, yet is still maintaining a sense of realism. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-la-palabra/293818/2 "2005-03-10T13:54:10Z")
Did anyone else’s eyes pop at the profile shot of Mrs. Santos? Yowza! Baby got back! ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-la-palabra/293818/3 "2005-03-10T14:24:21Z")
Hoynes has an established history of womanizing, so it’s not like it’s out of the blue. Still, it felt a little _deus ex machina_ somehow. Unfortunately, I missed Mrs. Santos’ ass. But I’ll be sure to look for it when they rerun the episode. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-la-palabra/293818/4 "2005-03-10T16:15:57Z")
> [@cuauhtemoc](#): > > Unfortunately, I missed Mrs. Santos’ ass. But I’ll be sure to look for it when they rerun the episode. Or you can just buy last month’s Playboy, where Teri Polo was “featured”. I taped the episode but haven’t watched it yet… ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-la-palabra/293818/5 "2005-03-10T16:49:58Z")
A [photo](http://heavenlycelebrities.com/Pics/teri_polo/pages/teri13_jpg.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-la-palabra/293818/6 "2005-03-10T17:42:39Z")
I sort of felt it was a place holding episode. They needed to move Santos from his third place position to the top tier and this was their way of doing it. But there wasn’t really a lot of excitement. I wonder why they even bothered having Tim Mathison on this episode. How long was he on screen for - twenty seconds maybe? Has anyone been following the primary results so far? How close are Santos and Russell now? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-la-palabra/293818/7 "2005-03-10T18:41:22Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > Has anyone been following the primary results so far? How close are Santos and Russell now? I don’t think they ever mentioned delegates, but last night they noted that Santos had finished last in every primary, then won Arizona and New Mexico. On Super Tuesday, Santos won California, but Russel won every other state. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-la-palabra/293818/8 "2005-03-10T19:17:09Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > A [photo](http://heavenlycelebrities.com/Pics/teri_polo/pages/teri13_jpg.htm). Too bad that website doesn’t have any pictures of her during her run on _Sports Night_. I fell in love with her as a redhead. ---
**Author:** ![Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ass_For_A_Hat)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-la-palabra/293818/9 "2005-03-10T21:25:05Z")
So, other than convincing him to run, what has Josh done to get his guy the nomination? Going in, you assumed Santos would be the inexperienced idealogue, and that Josh was the seasoned politicial wonk. At every turn though, Santos has proved more saavy at the political angles than Josh. I’m really enjoying the campaign storyline. The crap back at the White House…not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-la-palabra/293818/10 "2005-03-11T05:00:13Z")
Have they said what state Arnie Vinick is the Senator of? ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-la-palabra/293818/11 "2005-03-11T13:13:32Z")
California, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-la-palabra/293818/12 "2005-03-11T13:31:26Z")
I’m assuming Josh has taught Santos how to present himself as a candidate to the country at large, how the national process works, how to not pander to specific segments. Leo, who is probably the smartest political operative in that world, told Josh he did a great job with the Santos campaign - he took an unknown Congressman and turned him into a viable candidate for VP. But that was before Santos won California. And Vinick is from CA. The Governor said he didn’t want to end up endorsing Vinick, but he would if none of the Democratic candidates got their act together. (paraphrased)