In this episode Bruno (Ron Silver) tells Shelia (Patricia Richardson) and Vinick (Alan Alda) that a senator hasn't been elected since 1960, referring to John F. Kennedy. Three years after this episode was aired, in the 2008 Presidential Election Senator Barack Obama was elected to become the 44th President. However, Obama's Republican opponent was fellow Senator John McCain.
At about the same time as this episode aired, a real-life news story developed that closely followed the plot. In the show, a religious conservative claims to have private assurances from Vinick that future Supreme Court appointments would be "anti-abortion". In real life, a conservative leader claimed that he had similar inside information about the President's most recent nominee for the Supreme Court. It's common for West Wing to develop plots loosely based on news stories, but unusual for a news story to develop at about the same time as a similar plot thread from the show.
Ron Silver, who played Bruno Gianelli, was a long-time Democrat. He switched sides and actually spoke at the 2004 RNC, mimicking his character (Bruno Gianelli), who switched sides from working with the Democratic Bartlett White House to working with the Presidential Republican Arnold Vinick Campaign.
At this point in the series, the episode is tied with The Long Goodbye (2003) for fewest main cast members appearing in an episode at three. It was surpassed later in the season in The Debate (2005).
Arnold Vinick states that he is not a veteran of a foreign war. Alan Alda, who actually did serve in the military, including a tour in Korea, is best known for playing Captain Hawkeye Pierce on the show M*A*S*H (1972).