Fascinating article. Life imitating art.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8567.html-snipped-
The clearest similarity is between Barack Obama and Jimmy Smits’ character, Matt Santos, the principled three-term Mexican American congressman from Texas. Just like Santos, Obama is tall, young and brown with a smart attractive wife and a couple of small children. Nobody gave Santos much credit as a presidential candidate because of his short congressional career, but after some early stumbles the people fell in love with his vision and judgment.
Hillary Clinton’s role is a twist on the plot. Instead of the not-so-bright Vice President “Bingo Bob” Russell, it is as if smart and aggressive first lady Abby Bartlett is running for president. Clinton, like the fictional Vice President Russell, began the race as the presumptive Democratic nominee that not many people loved but had all of the early advantages. In the series, the vice president used his position to muster the party machinery in his favor, but over time had trouble keeping up with the charming newcomer.
Then there is Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who is perfectly filling the role Alan Alda played, Arnold Vinick, the older maverick Republican senator from the West (California in the show). Due to his willingness to buck Republican Party orthodoxy from time to time, Sen. McCain, like Alda’s Vinick has trouble with the right wingers who are accustomed to having much more influence with the GOP nominee.
The only role left open in our real life remake is that of Jed Bartlett, the fictional president on the television show with the Wisdom of Job to head off a crisis. In Season Six of the West Wing, the contest for the Democratic nomination is so close that it goes to the convention. The Democrats are faced with the prospect of a split convention and mayhem. Sound familiar? The only person in the party who has the standing to bring everyone together around one candidate is the sitting president, played by Martin Sheen.
In normal times, Bill Clinton would fill this role without competition, but these are not normal times. Instead of the vice president, it is Abby Bartlett – err – Hillary Clinton, the president’s wife who is running and Bill Clinton has thrown himself into her campaign as if it was his own, willing to risk his post-presidency halo to see her elected.
Our real life version may require a few people to fill Jed Bartlett’s shoes. Let’s start with Al Gore. As the should-have-been president of the United States from 2000, Great Protector of Mother Earth and recent Nobel Prize winner, he has the stature to rally a lot of Democrats to his choice. However, his influence on the candidates may be one-sided. Obama would surely have to listen to Gore if Clinton were to be chosen, but it is not so clear that the Clintons would defer to the former vice president if he were to choose Obama in the end.
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