Vinick: I don't see how we can have a separation of church and state in this government if you have to pass a religious test to get in this government. And I want to warn everyone in the press and all the voters out there, if you demand expressions of religious faith from politicians, you are just begging to be lied to. They won't all lie to you but a lot of them will. And it will be the easiest lie they ever had to tell to get your votes. So, every day until the end of this campaign, I'll answer any question anyone has on government, But if you have a question on religion, please go to church.

Vinick: I read about that education plan you introduced in New Hampshire. That's pretty gutsy stuff.
Santos: Saw the ethanol speech.
Vinick: Well, that wasn't gutsy so much as suicidal. Or so my staff tells me... My staff is very proud.
Santos: Well, if they weren't, I was.
Vinick: You're not an ethanol fan?
Santos: Not until today.

Vinick: I've always won the Latino vote in California. Why should I give up on that now?
Bruno: Well, I don't know. Let me think. Well, maybe because you're running against a Latino candidate who's going to get about... 2,000 percent of the Latino vote.

Vinick: If Santos takes California, game over.
Jane: A Republican can win the Presidency without winning California.
Vinick: And a Democrat can't. This isn't some sentimental, home-state thing. This is about winning. I don't have a 50-state strategy anymore. I have a one-state strategy: the one state that has everything: big cities, small towns, mountains, deserts, farms, factories, fishermen, surfers, all races, all religions, gay, straight, everything this country has. There's more real America in California than anywhere else. If I can win California I can win the country.
Jane: That's a nice speech; just don't say it into any microphones. Because everyone else in the 49 other states thinks that California is a giant psycho ward.

Vinick: It is truly an honor to be here tonight. I would...You know, I've watched every televised Presidential debate that this country has ever had. And every time I heard them recite the rules, I always thought that meant they're not going to have a real debate. When the greatest hero of my party, Abraham Lincoln debated, he didn't need any rules. He wasn't afraid of a real debate. Now I could do a 2-minute version of my Sensible Solution stump speech and I'm sure Congressman Santos has a memorized opening statement ready to go. And then we could go on with this ritual and let the rules decide how much you're going to learn about the next President of the United States, or we could have a debate Lincoln would have been proud of. We could junk the rules. We could let our able and judicious moderator ask us questions. And we could forget about whether each of us has the exact same number of seconds to speak. We could have a real debate if that's all right with you, Matt.
Forrest Sawyer: Um, Senator, according to the rules, candidates may not direct...
Santos: No, please. [to Vinick] You mean like a Senate debate? What are you going to do, filibuster me? Are you going to grab the microphone for a whole hour?
Vinick: No, no, no. We tell the American people what they need to hear, no more, no less. I suspect the audience will reward brevity.
[The audience laughs and claps.]
Santos: Okay, let's have a real debate.

Vinick: Liberals who are opposed to tax cuts anyway always say you can't cut taxes until you've cut spending. I say we can lecture our children about overspending until we run out of breath or we can just cut their allowance. I'm a cut-the-allowance kind of parent.

Vinick: Over a 26-year career in public service, I'd probably do a lot of things differently if I could do them over again. But my job is to make the best decision I can with the information at the time. You know, if you do something for 26 years you should keep getting better at it. I'm better than I used to be because I have better information. I have more experience making tough decisions. And I have more mature judgment. And that's what I think this country needs now, more than ever. We have troops on the ground in Kazakhstan and more on the way. That's the choice that President Bartlet made to try and keep Russia and China from slipping into war there. Now, the next President is going to have to take over that situation the first hour on the job. That's the most important issue that's facing the country in this campaign. Not who said what about nuclear power 25 years ago. Or did one of us use too strong a word in a debate. The real decision Americans are going to have to make is who do they want as their next Commander-In-Chief.

Vinick: Politics is about practicality.
Hodder: Not if you think abortion is murder.
Vinick: Whether you do or not, Roe v. Wade has been the law of the land for decades. Most of the country is not ready to change that. Neither am I.
Hodder: Well, that's not the party's position.
Vinick: I joined this party because the liberals were the ones who always wanted something from the government. We just wanted government to leave us alone. Especially when there's no consensus otherwise. I'm trying to lead the majority who agrees on that, not the minority who wants to enact their version of Leviticus into law.

Vinick: We lost independents because a nuclear power plant almost had a meltdown after I said nuclear power was completely safe.
Bruno: That is water under the bridge. Now we've got to...
Vinick: If it's water under the bridge, how come I'm still ducking reporters on the campaign trail?

Vinick: What do you have in California?
Lawyer: You don't want to be the official greeter at a vineyard, do you?

Vinick: Whatever happened to the separation of church and state?
Bartlet: It's hanging in there, but I'm afraid the constitution doesn't say anything about the separation of church and politics.

Vinick: You think a voter really needs to know if I go to church?
Bartlet: I don't need to know, but then I'm not going to vote for you anyway.

Walken: Franz Ferdinand, who was the nephew of the Austro-Hungarian emperor, was killed by a group called the Black Hand. And because they were a Serbian nationalist society, the empire declared war on Serbia. Then Russia, which was bound by a treaty, was forced to mobilize, which meant that Germany had to declare war on Russia. Then France declared war on Germany, and that was World War I. Because the emperor's nephew was killed. Now I thought you all had some good ideas, but somebody ought to make it clear to the people in this room that someone is in charge.
Season Five

Walken: This is a weird-looking room.
Debbie: Truman called it the crown jewel of the federal penal system.
Walken: You a Truman fan?
Debbie: Yes, sir.
Walken: Me, too.... If Truman were alive today, he'd be a Republican.
Debbie: Oh, I doubt that very much.

Walken: What are the chances Zoey Bartlet's still alive?
Casper: Hard to say, but I think yes she probably is. They'll want to milk this for all its worth.
Walken: Get your people in place, Admiral. We don't go today unless we're provoked. [to Casper] Find her and find her fast. But if Zoey Bartlet turns up dead, I'm going to blow the hell out of something, and God only knows what happens next.