Just then Sam comes up with two cups of coffee and says gently, "Hey, you know what? No problem shouting in public, but I think..." Donna: "Take off the Bartlet button?" Sam: "Yeah." She sighs and accepts some coffee as Sam says that Josh told him she was still out there. Isn't he sweet? He brought her coffee. What's Josh's excuse? She asks if he wants to "get a muffin." Is that what the kids are calling it these days? Sam says, "Yeah, I'll walk you." She asks what's going on. Sam says it's raining in Oregon. Donna says that Josh was talking about that before: "Apparently, all his other problems are solved." Sam explains, "If your guy's going to win big you don't want it to rain. There's less motivation anyway because of the blowout, and you have no idea how fast these things can become a race." Okay, but isn't it the case that Oregon is the only state where 100\% of votes are cast by mail? Wouldn't that obviate the weather issue for most voters? Or does everyone wait until the last minute to drop theirs off in person? You know, just in case the night before the election, the incumbent is caught driving around with an open can of Pabst Blue Ribbon in the car, savouring its great mountain fresh taste. You wouldn't want to have already voted in that case.

Sam and Donna arrive at the muffin cart, and Donna orders a banana muffin. It looks like Sam pays for the muffin and then confesses to Donna: "I did something last week." He spills the whole Wilde/Bailey/widow story, concluding, "I must have had too much Pabst Blue Ribbon in the bar with Will. That great mountain fresh taste must have gone to my head." Donna doesn't seem especially surprised. Sam says it didn't cost him anything: there wouldn't be an announcement unless Wilde won, and that was never going to happen: "It's like the Secretary of Agriculture saying, 'Sure, I'm ready to assume the Presidency should the eighteen who come before me die.' Why not?" Donna: "So, why not?" Sam says it's a two-point race right now. Donna says it's very exciting. They start walking again and Sam says it's not, mentioning the prospect of going back on his word to a recent widow. Donna: "Why go back on it?" Sam replies, "Because the alternative is taking ninety days off to go home, lose by twenty points to a Republican Committee Chair I hate, and never be able to run for public office for real, which is something I maybe wouldn't mind doing one day." Donna: "Once five and six o'clock roll around..." She kind of adjusts his lapel. Sam says that's exactly what he was thinking. Donna: "Except..." Sam: "What?" Donna: "There's an El Niño thing going on in Southern California today and..." Sam: "No." Donna says it's supposed to start raining in a few hours. Sam looks slightly anxious and says he's going to go back to the office. As he starts to leave, he remembers something and suggests to Donna that she give him the button. She does.