Senator Powers, in the middle of a tough re-election campaign with a local hero, finds that he has an additional potential obstacle to his re-election -- an illegitimate daughter.

Being accepted in Washington takes a back seat when Sophie goes head-to-head with the rest of the family.

It's Caitlyn and Theodore's anniversary and Margaret is insistent that Sophie not join the family for dinner. Meanwhile, the campaigning Senator is in need of some publicity, but he didn't expect it to come from Theodore's botched suicide attempt -- which results in Bill being shot in a very undignified location.

Margaret, Jordan and Bradley scheme to discredit the Senator's opponent, the now-handicapped, former-pro footballer, Joe Bowman. The result is a faked videotape of Bowman hopping out of his chair. The press discovers the tape is a fake, and as a last-ditch effort to save his aids from being fired, Bill visits Bowman and is startled by what he finds.

The Senator and his aides have no choice but to offer Joe Bowman a public apology -- in spite of his paralysis secretly being a sham. Meanwhile, Bowman sets his sights on seducing Caitlyn to have someone inside the Senator's camp. Caitlyn finds herself simultanously charmed and repulsed by Mr. Bowman and contemplates having an affair. Meanwhile, Bill and Margaret share a spontanous night of passion.

After thier unexpected night of passion, Bill considers ending his relationship with Jordan in favor of the a chance at returning the fire to his marriage -- leaving Jordan fuming and shocked. Meanwhile, Caitlyn can't get Joe Bowman out of her head, and Bradley gets a major high from the pain killers he's taking for a kidney stone.

The Powers household is invited to attend a ball in the Senator's honor, but Margaret conveniently forgets to invite Charlotte until it's too late. Theodore stays behind to wait for Caitlyn, but winds up spending a romantic evening with Charlotte when they get snowed in. Caitlyn, meanwhile, slinks off to Joe Bowman's hotel room, and the blizzard keeps the rest of the Powers clan trapped in their limo.