#i recognize we have had a bunch of unqualified press secretaries in the previous administration irl

[thebreakfastgenie]

@firefallnz said:

can I point out that, despite what WW seems to think, chief of staff to the FLOTUS is a real nithing job, a dead end for anyone ambitious. I'd much rather see her as Press Secretary, or assistant CoS (which shafts Sam, sooo sad)

I wanted to respond to this on the post, because I'm glad you brought it up! You're right about FLOTUS's CoS not being a particularly prestigious job, although I think it depends on the FLOTUS. Hillary Clinton had a West Wing office and played an active role in the administration (Bill referred to them as "buy one get one free.") But Helen Santos is clearly not following the Hillary model.

I like the symmetry of Josh and Donna being chiefs of staff, which is why I left it in for this AU, but I also think Donna wouldn't have a very prestigious job yet. Donna's experience is seven years as an assistant and one campaign cycle, even in the AU where she gets a degree. I don't think Donna would stay Helen's chief of staff longterm (whereas I do think Josh stays on as chief of staff for the full two terms or close to it, even though it doesn't usually work like that in real life), but a couple of years in that role would get her some more experience and networking opportunities. First Ladies often have a "pet project:" Michelle Obama's was child nutrition, Melania's was theoretically bullying (we won't discuss that), I think Laura Bush's was literacy. So I could see Donna's job ultimately being essentially an advocate/lobbyist for an issue Helen picked, similar to what we see Amy doing with women's issues in season 4 when she works for Abbey.

I think Josh's suggestion of deputy press secretary makes sense for her, given what her role ended up being in both campaigns (I'm not wild about Donna getting promoted so fast on the Russell campaign because it's very unrealistic, but it is what it is). Donna is not at all ready to be deputy chief of staff in 2007. Josh worked on the hill and various campaigns for like a decade before he started working as a senior staffer for first Hoynes and then Bartlet's campaign. Even Sam's qualifications for that job are a little thin; he's spent most of his career practicing law, but his history with Josh is an asset (I recognize Donna has that too, but your old friend who you have a strong working relationship with is different from your girlfriend).

Josh also has a bunch of unnamed rarely seen staffers as deputy chief of staff, and there are other staff roles Ed and Larry's, but Donna does seem to be communications/press oriented. Donna isn't ready to be press secretary yet, either; CJ had worked on several state level campaigns, worked for Emily's List, and had significant experience as a public relations experience in the private sector before she joined the Bartlet campaign and she's still treated as green for a press secretary. But deputy press secretary absolutely.

Like I said, I can see Donna using chief of staff to FLOTUS as a short-term position with networking potential, but I'm also not sure what Donna's level of ambition really is. Seasons 6 and 7 show her as ambitious, but that's always been a point of contention for me because ambition was never one of Donna's major personality traits before that. She does want to advance her career, but I don't think working for Helen is a dead-end job.

I have spent some time trying to decide what Donna does after she leaves Helen's office and I still don't know.

Here’s the season 6/7 Josh/Donna (but mostly Donna) storyline I want to see:

Donna decides she wants to finish her education. If you leave the Gaza arc in at the beginning of the season, you can tie this into Donna’s near-death experience and her previously expressed concerns about being an “also dead.” Donna reaches out to Charlie, who took college classes as a non-traditional student while working in the White House. With Charlie’s advice and encouragement, Donna starts taking classes. Josh is supportive when she tells him, but the tension comes in later when he realizes she’s not available as often as she used to be. It’s not that he really needs her outside her regular hours, it’s just that he misses her, but he’s incapable of dealing with his emotions.

Donna juggles her classes and her job, and eventually graduates. I know in theory this would take two years, but it works better if she can get it done in one season, so if she takes classes over the summer we can probably fudge it a little. Josh is thrilled for her, buys her a nice gift, and throws a little celebration at the White House (which he plans with Charlie). IF Donna attends her commencement ceremony Josh is there, but in my experience non-traditional students often don’t and at larger universities it’s pretty common for even traditional students to skip. However, there is something to be said for Donna giving those reasons for not going at the beginning of the episode, then deciding to go by the end. Donna has her diploma framed and Josh helps her hang it over her desk.

Everything is good, until Josh finds out Donna is applying for jobs and kind of loses it. She reminds him that the point of getting her degree was to do more with her life, which he knew, but he’s afraid of losing her. He calms down, but tension lingers. Donna eventually does get a job, and I like the idea of keeping the opposing primary campaigns set up, but Josh and Donna are speaking. Their friendship continues, with a bit of distance, as they transition from being codependent to a healthier friendship. If Donna is still working for Russell, it’s important to address how she feels about it, and her opinion of Russell as a candidate. The parallel between Donna working for Russell and Josh working for Hoynes in the flashbacks will be brought up. This may lead to an argument, as Donna thinks Josh is being a hypocrite and Josh thinks it’s different because he left Hoynes for Bartlet. Even once the Santos campaign has the budget to hire Donna, she chooses not switch because she wants to do something on her own, even if Russell isn’t “the real thing.”

Eventually Donna does end up working for Santos during the general election. I’m not sure if I’d leave in the angst over hiring her, because in this version Josh and Donna aren’t estranged, but I do think it would be interesting to explore the legitimate political barriers to hiring her. Ultimately we get Josh and Donna on the same campaign, on more equal footing, and their relationship proceeds more or less as it does in canon. The kiss in the Cold happens, the room key mix up happens with the added element that Josh and Donna have been hanging out in each other’s rooms regularly as friends, but he freezes up when it comes to taking the key in front of people, because the kiss has fundamentally shifted their relationship. They still have the Election Day hook up, but with less ambiguity about what it means. As soon as it happens, it’s understood they’re together, though they don’t talk about it until they go on vacation. Donna becomes Helen’s chief of staff and inauguration day proceeds as we saw.