Is the real election following a "West Wing" script? Santos was modeled on Obama!

[DeepModem Mom]

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/

[TooBigaTent]

1. Or was it the other way around? nt

[Bucky]

2. Santos was pretty clearly a Kerry-Cisneros hybrid

Also, Jimmy Smits gave his character, for some odd reason, a Georgia accent. How odd.

[Bucky]

3. On deeper thought, the Santos-Russell dichotomy is a very old pattern for the Dems

Santos vs. Russell
JFK vs LBJ
Bobby Kennedy vs Hubert Humphrey
Gary Hart vs Walter Mondale

and (don't shoot) Bill Bradley vs Al Gore

We frequently pit a passionate, thoughtful idealist against an experienced and seemingly compromised DC insider.

[democrattotheend]

4. I was thinking about that the other night

How much Obama's campaign seems reminiscent of Santos, and with McCain as the GOP nominee, I could see the general being reminiscent of the Santos-Vinick campaign, with the electoral map being altered.