On State of the Union night, Sam is being trailed by a magazine reporter who has a history with Sam---they were once engaged. That's distracting enough. So is the fact the speech is being delivered just weeks after the President was forced to accept a Congressional censure, which (as seen in flashbacks) weighs heavily on staffers' minds as they wrestle with including an anticancer initiative in the speech. Meanwhile, Josh can't get Amy Gardner to talk to him; and C.J. and Charlie are feuding.