Barack Obama & John McCain... 2008?
I still get emotional every time I watch President Josiah Bartlett announce Matthew Vicente Santos and Leo Thomas McGarry as the Democratic ticket on "The West Wing." During a majority of the Bush years, Aaron Sorkin’s creation gave progressive Americans an outlet once-a-week to feel like there was an administration that cared for them.
As the 2008 Election continues to play out, I can’t help but notice how very similar to the popular NBC show it is all becoming. Here are just a few of the parallels:
Republicans: The Republicans nominate Arnold Vinick (John McCain), the socially moderate Republican, over the Reverend Bob Baker (Mike Huckabee). Vinick feels pressure to select the Reverend as his VP to pacify the religious right. He even says, “I have to reach out to the pro-life Republican base, we have to give them some reason to come out to the polls.” Vinick eventually chooses a different Southern conservative to appease the Dobson’s of the world, time will tell if McCain does the same.
Democrats: On the Democratic side, it is a little different because Matt Santos is going up against an imbecilic VP who no one likes. In reality, we are very lucky to have two candidates who are very well-liked. The similar part comes with the brokered convention that the Democrats have on the show and that they will probably have in real life.
Brokered Convention: A lot has been made in the last few days about the Republicans having things settled while the Democrats continue to fight it out. On the show, Kristin Chenoweth had the perfect response:
Greg Brock, The (fictional) New York Times: “Would the White House care to comment on the expected contrast between the high degree of organization and discipline in the Republican Convention and the Democrats anticipated free-for-all?
Annabell Schott, Press Secretary: “I believe the American people will be the beneficiaries in that they will be presented with a clear choice: Do they want to be governed by people who are animated or animatronic?”
Lastly, there are a lot of people who are wanting Senator Obama to pull a Romney and step aside for party unity, with the presumption that he will be next in line. When Matt Santos was facing a similar situation, he gave a speech that has been etched into the minds of fans as something we thought could only happen on television… until we met Barack Obama.
I give you one of the best television moments in history:
