The presidential candidates journey to Iowa, where democrats Russell and Santos, and republican Vinick, are all told by their handlers that when they appear before before the corn growers association they must support subsidies for the use of corn-derived ethanol as fuel, regardless of their true feelings.

Senator Vinick, now the Republican Presidential nominee, receives advice from former Bartlet political consultant Bruno Gianelli on how to win all 50 states in the general election, and more specifically in the near term how to present his religious views to the public and pick a running mate. Meanwhile, Bartlet wrestles with getting a minimum wage hike passed by attaching it to a bill necessary to raise the debt ceiling, and with how to unify his party in the face of a three-way race for the Democratic nomination.