Tonight was one of those times, and it started off looking like things were going to go bad. We were all waiting for the bill repealing the Estate Tax to arrive. Josh and C.J. were getting ready for the State dinner, Toby and I were going to be working later on a speech to the Teacher's Union, but we were mostly just waiting. When my phone rang I figured it was to let me know the bill had arrived. Instead it was Tiffany in the Social Office telling me that seven Republicans were no longer coming to the dinner. Sitting there mulling that bit of information over, the phone rang again, this time it was Ginger telling me the bill had arrived.

I headed out, met up with Toby and filled him in on the Republicans. He asked if I wanted to postpone, and I said yeah. Big surprise when he immediately dismissed that suggestion. Then in the Oval Office everyone was talking about sending a message, saying we were strong. I knew it was going to be rejected when I opened up my mouth, but I had to say it anyway. My conscience wouldn't have let me be if I didn't at least ask if maybe we should consider waiting.

Suddenly it was the night of the President's MS announcement all over again. Sam speaks and everyone wastes no time in shooting him down. I've become the whipping boy for the senior staff. Why should they listen to me? I'm just the baby. I don't know what I'm talking about. And Toby was the most vocal, huge surprise there.

I'm tired of being ignored and treated like my opinions don't amount for something. I'm not dumb and I'm not naïve. I went to Princeton University, just rated the top over all school in the nation by U.S. News and World Report. I went to Duke Law School, consistently ranked in the top ten of law schools nation-wide. In the words of Connie, I-Went-To-Oxford-and-got-a-Ph.D.-in-Political-Economics-but-I-don't-know-who-Victor-Campos-is, that's not an easy get. I was a Congressional Aide and I worked for two of the top law firms in the country. I'm no slouch.

And yet there are times when I'm treated as if I don't exist around here. Toby left me out of the loop on the GDC speech. I was the last to find out about the President's MS. My ideas are ignored, because hey, Sam's loyal as a basset hound and even if we ignore him or kick him, he'll stick around.

Well, I'm tired of getting kicked around. And I figured that since everyone else does it, maybe I should start being a little more vocal and let people know I'm not going to go away quietly. I think Leo understood that when I took up C.J.'s defense after she misspoke on Haiti. The look in his eyes could have melted steel, but I wasn't going to back down. He'd had over a year to deal with knowing the President has MS, C.J. and I had a week. A week.

A week in which to deal with the fact that we'd been lied to, that we'd help perpetrate that lie to the American public, and that we were going to be investigated because of it. It wasn't even our fault, and yet we knew we were going to be hauled in front of lawyers and grilled mercilessly looking for the slightest change in facts. We planned on the President announcing he wasn't going to run again, and then within a matter of minutes the game plan changed and we were running to catch up again. So pardon us if in our grief and lack of sleep one of our own misspoke. Instead of showing solidarity, Leo acted like he was ready to toss her out to the wolves. I also noticed that Toby and Josh were noticeably quiet on the whole subject as well.

Then the new people came in. Bruno and his band of merry men, all set on telling us how we should run a campaign. As if none of us didn't know that already. We were the ones who got President Bartlet elected in the first place. We took him from single polling numbers to the White House. And yet we were all getting taken out to the wood shed for a verbal thrashing on how wrong we were doing it.

Bruno acting like he was Leo, trying to run the show. Ordering us around in front of Leo, directing Doug and Connie to do tasks that were asinine and ignoring us. Doug with his pinched looks and horrible writing. I'm used to Toby making comments on my writing, telling me I need punctuation, I'm being too flowery and fanciful, but where does he get off re-writing an entire speech without so much as consulting me? And what is Connie's purpose, other than to sit there looking doe-eyed and explain to us what Doug really meant? She certainly didn't bring anything to the Victor Campos meeting, except to undermine me and tell me to suck it up and show a little humility in the face of being blackmailed. Yeah, way to go Connie, great advice there.

And that whole Victor Campos meeting and the way it was set up. Leo and Bruno arguing and talking about me like I wasn't even in the room. I can do the job. Leo knew that, but Bruno wanted one of his people there so that the message got back to him correctly and to distinguish between the White House and The Campaign. Of all the idiotic things. How exactly are we supposed to distinguish between the two? From the moment a public figure is sworn into office he immediately begins thinking about his next term unless he's hemmed in by term limits and can't run again.

Which brings me back to tonight. Bet you were wondering how this all tied in. Tonight had all the markings of a Lifetime made-for-television disaster movie. We thought the House didn't have the votes to override the veto. Seven Republicans weren't showing up for dinner, the House leadership was calling for emergency meetings, and Leo suddenly wasn't so sure they couldn't pull off the override. Nobody listened to me when I cautioned against vetoing right away until we were sure, because Toby was so sure.

Then we were scrambling to get the votes back. Being held hostage by Kimball and his laundry list, stalling for time, for a while there it felt like we were chickens running around without our heads. That was until we talked to Leo.

In a moment the mood changed. We were still nervous, but now we had some direction, we had our fight back. It was a classic Leo moment. There are times it's so obvious he and the President are best friends, given their penchant for spouting homilies. Throwing an elbow on live television, brilliant strategy.

Josh was dispatched to deal with the governor and Toby and I headed back to deal with Kimball. Then the idea came, after the slap down earlier I was wary, but willing to take a chance. Call me crazy, but what if we took these proposals to the Republicans. Toby was silent for a moment and I braced for the tirade, ready to put up the good fight in the face of his opposition.

Instead, he was Batman to my Robin. The Dynamic Duo was back. We dismissed Kimball with all due speed. Perhaps he'll think twice next time he wants to mess with the President. You can bet he'll know exactly what happened to him when he hears about the bi-partisan compromise. The meeting with Royce went not as well as we would have hoped, he gave us cause to think about our friends and enemies, but we still made the deal. It felt like old times again, and it was wonderful.

So now I sit in my office, on that incredible adrenaline high that comes from pulling something off in the knick of time. I watch the tape of C.J. taking the entertainment reporter to task and I realize that we're all getting back on our game. It feels like it did in the beginning when we were all wide-eyed and fresh, ready to take on the world. But it's better now, because we have the experience. We know what defeat tastes like, but we also realize we still know how to pull off a victory. That's what tonight taught us.

I don't want to go home, I want to continue to fight the good fight, but that will have to wait 'til tomorrow. I just hope we remember this feeling and the unity we had. The next time the Democrats think we're weak, the Republicans think we're smug, and especially the next time Bruno and his gang think they need to teach us lesson, I hope we remember this moment and stand up and say hunting season on us is over.