Plot

In this episode Santos

Matt Santos

Matthew Vincente "Matt" Santos is a fictional character on the American television show The West Wing, played by Jimmy Smits. His initial appearance is as a Democratic U.S. Representative from Houston, Texas. According to West Wing writer and producer Eli Attie, Santos was based on the then...

 finds himself in the middle of a situation in which a black child is shot dead by a Latino Police officer in LA

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

. Josh calls in a trusted black advisor from Washington and advises a visit from Santos to the bereaved mother. However, this turns into a farce when the Secret Service stop her sister from coming to the house, and the child's father angrily throws Santos and his advisers out of the house.

Santos does not want to be seen as the Latino Presidential candidate who must condemn what the officer did. It is a dilemma and Lou

Louise Thornton

Louise "Lou" Thornton is a character in the NBC television series The West Wing portrayed by Janeane Garofalo. The character's first appearance is in Season 7 of the series.-Character biography:...

 feels Santos is not happy with her advice. Further, Santos is scheduled to speak to a church congregation in LA and he will have to bring up the tragedy. The black and Latino community are at loggerheads with each other, for various, complex reasons. However, the former group is the "undecideds" of the episode's title; the relatively and unusually high number of blacks who are not supporting Santos is a concern because the election can't be won without them, and they don't hate Arnold Vinick

Arnold Vinick

Arnold Vinick is a fictional character on the television series The West Wing played by Alan Alda.-Biography:A Republican senator from California and Republican presidential nominee, he is narrowly defeated by Democrat Matt Santos in the 2006 presidential election, with Vinick winning the popular...

. Josh

Josh Lyman

Joshua "Josh" Lyman is a fictional character played by Bradley Whitford on the television drama The West Wing. For the majority of the series, he was White House Deputy Chief of Staff in the Josiah Bartlet administration...

 calls C.J.

C. J. Cregg

Claudia Jean "C. J." Cregg is a fictional character played by Allison Janney on the television serial drama The West Wing. From the beginning of the series until the sixth season, she is White House Press Secretary in the administration of President Josiah Bartlet...

 to see whether the President

Josiah Bartlet

Josiah Edward "Jed" Bartlet is a fictional character played by Martin Sheen on the television serial drama The West Wing. He is President of the United States for the entire series until the last episode, when his successor is inaugurated...

 will show his support at the church, but C.J. declines to even bring it to the President's attention. Ellie

Eleanor Bartlet

Eleanor "Ellie" Emily Bartlet Faison, M.D. is a fictional character played by Nina Siemaszko on the television serial drama The West Wing. Ellie is the middle daughter of President Josiah Bartlet and Abbey Bartlet....

's wedding is imminent and C.J. and Kate have their hands full with a situation developing in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...

. Josh goes to visit Toby for the first time since he was fired for leaking the NASA information, and Toby angers Josh by saying the President won't help him with the crisis in Los Angeles because he's sure Santos will lose the election. But Josh goes back to see Toby when Toby's prediction came 100% true, and Toby bluntly tells him that Santos won't win because he quit his job in Congress to do important but small-scale work in Houston, and Josh doesn't know for sure that he's capable of making the impossible decisions that a President must face every day--"that's why the other guy wins".

Leo

Leo McGarry

Leo Thomas McGarry is a fictional character played by John Spencer on the television serial drama The West Wing. The role earned Spencer the 2002 Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. McGarry's character, the former United States Secretary of Labor, begins the series as the White...

flies in to LA to introduce Santos. Earlier a tentative Lou gives Santos his speech. Predictably Santos throws it in the trash. He tells his wife of his total frustration of being in the middle simply because he is a Latino. She tells him there is no right thing to say and he should speak from the heart.

When Santos gives his unscripted speech to the black church community, he is a success. He talks of compassion, and does not condemn either the dead child (he was in a stolen car) or the officer (he thought the child had a real gun instead of a toy pistol).

As the episode ends, Santos and his wife leave the church, hand in hand, to rapturous applause.

External links

• The West Wing Episode Guide