Summary
Smith talks romantically about the American West, telling Saunders she needs to see it for herself. He lists all the beautiful things about America and Saunders looks smitten with his vision of the country. Smith then tells her that his father always told him, "Don't miss the wonders that surround you, because every tree, every rock, every anthill, every star is filled with the wonders of nature." Saunders's eyes get misty as she gets caught up in Smith's description.
Saunders tells Smith that she's from Baltimore and she's had to work since she was 16 years old, even though her father was a doctor and could have given her an allowance. "...For a woman you've done awfully well," says Smith, and thanks her for helping him with his bill, marveling at her intelligence and talent. He tries to guess her name and she finally tells him it's Clarissa.
Smith tells Saunders that he wants to put his boys' camp near Willet Creek, and Saunders stops for a moment, realizing that that's where they're building the dam. She holds her tongue as he dictates more plans for the camp.
The next day in the Senate, Moore goes and takes his seat near Saunders in the press gallery, asking why she summoned him to come in. "There's the principal actor in our little play: Don Quixote Smith," Saunders says, pointing at Smith. She also points out McGann and Paine, and notes that when Smith gets up in the Senate and mentions Willet Creek, McGann and Paine will both be shocked.
As the Senate is called to order, Saunders motions for Smith to stand and propose his bill and he does, bellowing loudly. As everyone stares at him, he says that he has a bill to propose and everyone laughs. He reads the bill aloud, his voice quaking nervously and his hands shaking. As he makes the announcement that the camp would be situated on Willet Creek, Paine and McGann look frightened and McGann flees the press gallery, as Saunders turns to Moore, vindicated.
As Smith finishes his speech about the boys' club, a group of young boys in the upper gallery erupt in cheers, jubilant about the bill. Smiling, the president of the Senate calls order, and the other senators begin to clap for Smith, smiling warmly.
In a car, McGann complains about Smith, worrying that Smith is going to start asking questions when he finds out they are building a dam at Willet Creek. They try to think of ways to prevent the bill from moving forward, and McGann thinks they should use Paine's daughter Susan to distract Smith.
The next day, when Smith arrives at work, whistling furiously, there is a large group of people asking about the bill. Saunders ushers him into his office and he finds a bunch of letters on his desk about the bill. Reading one of them, he realizes he is supported by people all over the country.
Smith thanks Saunders tenderly, taking her hand, when suddenly the phone rings. It's Susan Paine, who tells Saunders that she's been tasked with distracting Smith from going to the Senate the next day, to "turn [her] glamor on him." Saunders is shocked, as Susan asks to speak to Smith. Smith is excited when he hears she's calling, and happily if nervously accepts her invitation. Exasperated, Saunders puts on her hat and tells Smith they have to go shopping before tomorrow.
Later, Saunders and Diz Moore drink at Moore's house and discuss the situation. Saunders complains, "I don't mind who gets licked in a fair fight, Diz. It's these clouts below the belt I can't take. Sic-ing that horrible dame on him when he's goofy about her...Paine!" Moore tells Saunders that Paine is likely to become the next president, so she ought to be nice, but Saunders continues to complain. Moore encourages her to drink and they go out to the bar to drink more.
At the bar, Saunders tells Moore she feels like a mother, sending her kid off to school for the first time. Drunk, Saunders tells Moore that she is sick of the corruption and wants to quit for good. She then tells Moore that she wants to get married, and Moore suggests they go do it that night and Saunders smiles, thinking about what Smith told her about the West. She tells Moore that he can back out of marriage if he doesn't like her first name, "Clarissa." Suddenly overtaken with a passionate sense of purpose, Saunders resolves to clear out her office right then and there, and rushes out of the bar to do so.
When Saunders arrives at the office, Smith is there looking over some papers. She sarcastically refers to the party he went to and to Susan Paine, calling it all "horseradish," to a bewildered Smith. She then tells him that she's quitting and marrying Diz, before showing Smith plans for the dam at Willet Creek and telling him that he's meant to just be a stooge. She leaves the office in a huff, crying as Moore reminds her that they are going to get married.
Smith goes to Paine and complains about the dam, asking questions. Paine remains calm and tells him he doesn't know anything about the dam, as Smith asks bluntly, "Who's Taylor?" and reveals that he knows Taylor initiated the dam to "get graft."
McGann goes and phones Taylor. The scene shifts and we see Taylor scolding Happy Hopper for nominating Smith, who is causing more problems than they had anticipated. Taylor threatens Hopper, tells him he's going to Washington to deal with Smith, and orders him to take instructions from Ken Allen.
Taylor goes to Washington, much to Paine's chagrin. Smith rings the doorbell at Paine's while Taylor is there, and Paine tells McGann not to let him in. Taylor overrides Paine's authority and admits him. Upset, Paine tells Taylor that he cannot manipulate Smith, an honest man, in the ways that he is accustomed to manipulating people. "I won't stand for it...I don't want any part of crucifying this boy," says Paine, as Taylor laughs condescendingly, mentioning that he has been advising Paine for 20 years and bankrolling his career. He threatens to ruin Paine's career and orders Paine to go explain the dam to Smith, saying, "...if he can't find enough facts to break you with, you just send him to me and I'll give him a couple of good ones."
Paine agrees to let Taylor speak to Smith, saying that he likes Smith and feels protective of him. Taylor sends Paine back to his office and goes to speak with Smith himself.
Analysis
As Smith begins to draft his bill for the boys' camp, the viewer begins to see why he is such a compelling leader to his community, and why, curiously enough, he might stand a chance speaking up in Washington. The very things that the press makes fun of him for—his simple awe and wonder at nature and all of the American ideals—is what lights him up when he begins drafting the bill with Saunders, and it is in this moment that she (and the viewer) see what make him such a compelling American. He loves the country with an earnest joy that is rare.
Thus we see that Smith's heroic virtue is his sentimentality, his ability to appreciate what is around him. It is precisely because he is not cynical and worldly like his peers that he is so unique and special. His ability to replicate his sense of wonder and give it to others is what causes the sarcastic Clarissa Saunders to get misty at the thought of an anthill.
Paine and McGann are confused and surprised when they learn that Smith might turn out to be an effective senator after all. While his affect is laughable, his voice cracking and his hands shaking, his bill proposal at the Senate is compelling enough for a large group of young boys to cheer for him at the end of it, and for his fellow senators to clap for his plan for the boys' camp approvingly. The purity of his vision is easy to stand behind, as it reflects American ideals in such a straightforward way.
In their drinking and reveling, Saunders tells Moore that she feels motherly towards Smith about the ways that Paine is manipulating him, but her deep concern, the fact that she gets hung up on it, belies her romantic feelings for him. While Smith seemed dopey and provincial on first meeting, Saunders now has more tender feelings towards the hapless stooge, and her protectiveness has as much to do with her affection for him as it does with her sense of what is right and her aversion to the corruption of Washington political crooks.
Matters get considerably more complicated when Smith gets wind of the dam project and begins to ask questions. He was appointed precisely because Hopper thought he would be too naive to uncover the corruption his state, but when Saunders tips him off, he proves much more inquisitive than these cynical politicos initially believed. His inquisitiveness, a threat to Taylor's power, puts a number of politicians' jobs on the line, as we see what a monopoly Taylor has on the political stage in his state.
