Following the Script: Obama, McCain and ‘The West Wing’; Fiction foreshadows reality

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT: Following the Script: Obama, McCain and ‘The West Wing’
By BRIAN STELTER
Published: October 29, 2008



When Eli Attie, a writer for “The West Wing,” prepared to plot some episodes about a young Democratic congressman’s unlikely presidential bid, he picked up the phone and called David Axelrod....“I just called him and said, ‘Tell me about Barack Obama,’ ” Mr. Attie said. Days after Mr. Obama, then an Illinois state senator, delivered an address to the 2004 Democratic National Convention, the two men held several long conversations about his refusal to be defined by his race and his aspirations to bridge the partisan divide. Mr. Axelrod was then working on Mr. Obama’s campaign for the United States Senate; he is now Mr. Obama’a chief strategist.

Four years later, the writers of “The West Wing” are watching in amazement as the election plays out. The parallels between the final two seasons of the series (it ended its run on NBC in May 2006) and the current political season are unmistakable. Fiction has, once again, foreshadowed reality.

Watching “The West Wing” in retrospect — all seven seasons are available on DVD, and episodes can be seen in syndication — viewers can see allusions to Mr. Obama in almost every facet of Matthew Santos, the Hispanic Democratic candidate played by Jimmy Smits. Santos is a coalition-building Congressional newcomer who feels frustrated by the polarization of Washington. A telegenic and popular fortysomething with two young children, Santos enters the presidential race and eventually beats established candidates in a long primary campaign. Wearing a flag pin, Santos announces his candidacy by telling supporters, “I am here to tell you that hope is real.” And he adds, “In a life of trial, in a world of challenges, hope is real.” Viewers can almost hear the crowd cheering, “Yes, we can.”

Comparisons between Senator John McCain and the “West Wing” Republican candidate, Arnold Vinick, a white-haired Senate stalwart with an antitax message and a reputation for delivering “straight talk” to the press, also abound. Vinick, played by Alan Alda, is deemed a threat to Democrats because of his ability to woo moderate voters. And he takes great pride in his refusal to pander to voters, telling an aide: “People know where I stand. They may not like it, but they know I’ll stick with it.”

Even the vice-presidential picks are similar: the Democrat picks a Washington veteran as his vice presidential candidate to add foreign policy expertise to the ticket, while the Republican selects a staunchly conservative governor to shore up the base....

In both “The West Wing” and in real life...the Phillies played in the World Series during the election campaign.

As the primaries unfolded this year, “I saw the similarities right away,” said Lawrence O’Donnell, a producer and writer for the series who has appeared on MSNBC as a political analyst. Mr. O’Donnell had used Mr. McCain as one of the templates for the Vinick character in the episodes he wrote, though he said that “McCain’s resemblance to the Vinick character was much stronger in 2000 than in 2008.”...

In the same way that Obama surrogates have subtly knocked Mr. McCain’s lack of computer skills, the Garofalo character remarks to the Santos campaign manager, Josh Lyman: “Why are you always talking about high-tech jobs? Because Vinick uses a manual typewriter.”...

(W)hen an aide suggests a fund-raising drive in a Latino community, Santos snaps: “I don’t want to just be the brown candidate. I want to be the American candidate.” The Obama campaign has made similar assertions....

***

Santos emerges victorious weeks later, but only after a grueling election night. Online, some “West Wing” fans are wondering whether the show will wind up forecasting the real-life result as well....

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/arts/television/30wing.html

[Blue State Bandit]

1. West Wing will be on Bravo.

Friday (eastern)

08:00 AM THE WEST WING INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT
09:00 AM THE WEST WING DUCK AND COVER


Saturday (eastern)

08:00 AM THE WEST WING TAKE THIS SABBATH DAY
10:00 AM THE WEST WING LIES, DAMN LIES AND STATISTICS
11:00 AM THE WEST WING WHAT KIND OF DAY HAS IT BEEN
03:00 PM THE WEST WING LIES, DAMN LIES AND STATISTICS
04:00 PM THE WEST WING WHAT KIND OF DAY HAS IT BEEN


Monday (eastern)

08:00 AM THE WEST WING THE COLD
09:00 AM THE WEST WING TWO WEEKS OUT
10:00 AM THE WEST WING RED MASS, THE
11:00 AM THE WEST WING DEBATE CAMP
12:00 PM THE WEST WING GAME ON
01:00 PM THE WEST WING ELECTION NIGHT


Tuesday (Election Day) (TiVo for after you vote)

08:00 AM THE WEST WING WELCOME TO WHEREVER YOU ARE
09:00 AM THE WEST WING ELECTION DAY
10:00 AM THE WEST WING WEST WING SPECIAL EPISODE, THE


Enjoy!
Vote!

[DeepModem Mom]

2. Thanks for this info, ingin! nt