Head writer Aaron Sorkin began musing last year about bringing a conservative Republican character into The West Wing. The new addition would give voice to the other side of the arguments made so passionately and articulately by the show's liberal Democrat characters.
In order to do that properly and fairly, Sorkin and the Executive Producer Tommy Schlamme faced a challenge. Some extreme right-wing characters had in the past been portrayed very negatively on the program, but in order for this new counter-voice to work as a character, he or she would have to be sympathetic. Furthermore, he or she would have to be likeable while going toe-to-toe with established, beloved characters like Toby Zeigler (Richard Schiff) and Josh Lyman (Brad Whitford). The new character had to espouse right-wing positions on issues just as fervently as those characters espouse liberal ones without seeming strident or heartless.
Enter Ainsley Hayes (played by Emily Proctor). We first meet the Republican lawyer when she, as Josh puts it, "kicks Sam's ass" during a face-off on political talking-head program "Capital Beat". The occasion of Sam Seaborn's (Rob Lowe) public humiliation (he verbally moves a town prominent in his argument from California to Oregon - something Ainsley points out on-air) is occasion for much good-natured snickering in the West Wing until President Bartlet (Martin Sheen), impressed by Ainsley's performance, orders Leo McGarry (John Spencer) to hire her as White House co-counsel.
The rest of the episode unfolds relatively predictably. Leo resists the President's directive (he likes, Bartlet says, to surround himself with smart people who disagree with him); Sam and CJ are mortified at the idea. Ainsley, called to the White House, is astonished to be offered the position, and then defiantly turns it down. It is in this scene (in which John Spencer simply shines) that Ainsley's complexity and likeability begin to emerge. She is obviously knocked off-balance by the job offer (she thought she was being called on the carpet for whipping Sam on the talk show, and came loaded with righteous indignation at the impropriety of such a move). At the same time, she valiantly struggles to cover her discombobulation at the turn of events and maintain her dignity.
