TV Squad: Is the real election following a West Wing script?
Posted Feb 21st, by Bob Sassone
Were The West Wing writers psychic or just very clever in their reading of the political landscape?
Several writers, including Stephen Siilver at NorthStarWriters.com, have noticed that the current Presidential election is very similar to the election that The West Wing had in its final season and a half. The show had a Democrat that inspired people by his speeches but didn't have much experience (Matt Santos), a Republican from the West that even liberals liked because he wasn't too far right (Arnold Vinick), and a candidate that had already been in the White House as a VP (Bob Russell). Does that sound like Barack Obama, John McCain, and Hillary Clinton?
It's not a perfect comparison because there are enough elements to the story that are different (Obama is a Senator while Santos was a Congressman, there was a Democrat in office for 8 years, not a Republican, and Clinton is hardly the inept empty shirt that Russell was), but it's close enough to make you scratch your chin. And it gets more interesting when you look at the photo above. It was taken in September 2005, just when the new season of The West Wing was gearing up. Show producer and writer Eli Attie says that he actually modeled Santos after Obama! Attie was a speechwriter for Al Gore in 2000 and got to know about Obama through Obama staff member David Axelrod.
And as Paul Harvey says, and now you know the rest of the story.
http://www.tvsquad.com/2008/02/21/is-the-real-election-following-a-west-wing-script/