Philadelphia. As Santos walks offstage, he asks Josh, "California?" He reminds Josh that he thought the state was too big, but Josh insists, "That was then." "That was yesterday," Santos points out. Josh insists, Santos unconvinced, that he rethought the idea, and that this makes more sense financially. Instead of buying costly California media and campaigning in Ohio, they buy spots in Ohio and get news coverage of the California trip. Voilà, free media. Why, Lou! Hello! Back as if she hasn't been gone for weeks, she's at the table backing up Josh's argument. Wouldn't it be better if this were all in musical format? Like Santos says, "California?" Josh emphatically answers, "California!" And then a bevy of backup singers, led by Lou, come prancing in doing jazz hands in formation and explaining their logic. It would definitely make this episode a billionty times more entertaining than it is right now. They could chant behind Josh, "Build the lead! Press will explode! Other states will folllll-looooooow." And Josh and Lou join in for the big finale, "California's the keeeeeeeeeeey!" At that, how could Santos do anything but agree? And then in an emphatic last line, Santos adds, "But I want a full schedule of California events tomorrow. From breakfast till lights out." And exit stage right. [Wild applause.]

Vinick is also in Philly, not shaking hands. As his group walks in, they run into Santos and his gang in the hallway. There's a stare-off, and Santos heads the opposite way to the elevator, looking much more assured than Vinick.

Once inside, Vinick says that he wants Santos out of the building before he goes on, so that the media doesn't ignore Vinick's speech for a Santos press conference. Jane moves to turn off the TV featuring said press conference, but Vinick wants to watch it. Santos delivers a smooth answer to a nuclear-power question that makes him look understanding that San Andreo was just an accident, yet also correct in his history of opposition to building nuclear power plants. Jane puts a stop to the "woe is me" that starts to take over the room and shuts off the TV. She instructs Vinick to stick to his own message throughout the rest of the race, but he's defeated as he contends that the press won't let him talk about anything but San Andreo. "Forget about the press," Jane instructs. But Vinick won't: "That's not how I got this far. I don't duck the tough questions." Jane condescendingly tells him that the straight talk isn't right for every situation, but Vinick vents his frustration: the campaign she's running now doesn't represent the real Vinick. He knows the accident won't just go away like the rest keep thinking it will, and asserts that he needs to address it. There's fighting back and forth; voices are being raised. Finally, Vinick says, "I should do a till-they-drop press conference on the nuclear accident." Jane and Bruno are against the idea, but Bob mentions that it worked for someone else on another issue. That's all Vinick needs, and he tells them to set up a press conference in front of the plant in California the next day.