West Wing Question
 

How did Bartlet get the senator to remove the gay marriage ban? It seemed like the other guy had the upper hand. Then CJ came and mentioned to the press that it was removed.

Don't understand.

They were talking all along about how Wilkins would back down if Bartlett personally threatened a veto. Wilkins apparently got the nerve to attach the amendment to the bill after Bartlet made some comment at a breakfast about marriage being between a man and a woman, and Bartlet must have set the record straight (so to speak) in the private meeting with Wilkins.

But Barlett always said he wouldn't veto or even threaten a veto. Seems like a crucial scene to miss - a reversal like this.

I wonder if there was a behind the scenes deal...

Or maybe it's just a plot hole

I think it might have been an empty threat, but one delivered directly by the president. Earlier when Toby went to see Wilkins, he couldn't say whether Bartlett would veto it, so Wilkins just dismissed it.

And from the way he's portrayed, Wilkins seemed a little weak in that Hoynes could help pressure him into attaching the amendment in the first place. I think a tough word from the president would probably make him back down.

i might have missed it but did they say how the rumor about CJ started? was it hoynes?

I don't think so. Hoynes was responsible for Wilkinson putting the gay marriage ban on the budget. After what CJ said to him last episode about her coming out about the night they slept together I doubt it was him.

so how did it get out then?

The rumor about CJ got started because someone with a blog speculated that she was gay, and since she didn't immediately deny it, the rumor developed a life of its own, spreading out to the mainstream media. There was no conspiracy behind it, and that was part of the point: just the rumor that she was gay was destructive to CJ's credibilty. (We've come a long way, but we still have a long way to go.)