McCain vs Clinton/Obama = Vinick vs Russell/Santos?

[CharlieG]

Has anybody else started to notice the similarities between the candidates in the West Wing election and the real thing?

McCain and Vinick are both elderly, moderate Republicans from the West. Santos and Obama are both youthful, minority, outsider 'change agents'. Russell and Clinton are both boring, unlikable front runners who act as if the nomination is their's for the taking.

Russell and Clinton seem fairly close on policy. Santos is slightly to the left of Obama and Vinick to the left of McCain, but only just.

Please... please let real life mirror art.

[NorthBhoy]

Hilary isn't my cup of tea, but a comparison with Bingo Bob is a little rough Charlie!! Can we get Martin Sheen to lean on the head of the teachers union?

[jo172]

Does that make Mike Huckabee that Don Imus guy who Vinick originally wanted for Veep?

[jo172]

And while I'm at it, in the episode where Bob Russel is trying to fill the debate with dodgy nutjobs, can Ron Paul be the one who wants to abolish all takes and pretty much everything and is quite clearly presented as a psycho?

[CharlieG]

Originally Posted by jo172

Does that make Mike Huckabee that Don Imus guy who Vinick originally wanted for Veep?

Yes! It was Don S. Davis though (from Stargate SG-1).

NB - GWB doesn't quite measure up to the Jed Bartlet standard. Robert Ritchie lost, remember?

Rudolph Giuliani kinda fits as Glen Allen Walken, though - a political career defined by a couple of days and a Presidential campaign that flopped completely.

[la47]

The charming third option Edwards just dropped out too.

It'd be interesting if the Convention was anywhere near as dramatic

[la47]

Keep in mind also, the original script had Vinick winning, but after Leo died in real life they changed it

[MightyFighting]

Santos L. Helper?

[Fevola4God]

Originally Posted by CharlieG

Has anybody else started to notice the similarities between the candidates in the West Wing election and the real thing?

McCain and Vinick are both elderly, moderate Republicans from the West. Santos and Obama are both youthful, minority, outsider 'change agents'. Russell and Clinton are both boring, unlikable front runners who act as if the nomination is their's for the taking.

Russell and Clinton seem fairly close on policy. Santos is slightly to the left of Obama and Vinick to the left of McCain, but only just.

Please... please let real life mirror art.

Vinick is to the right of McCain. Stronger on economics and free markets and more of a social liberal (I refuse to label social liberalism left wing. Somehow government intervention on economics is leftist policy yet government intervention socially is right-wing policy).

[Man City Blues!]

Bill Clinton = John Hoynes. For obvious reasons

[MrMeaner]

Originally Posted by la47

Keep in mind also, the original script had Vinick winning, but after Leo died in real life they changed it

I was about to mention that.

Also, NB's right on Hillary having much more substance than Bingo Bob.

[jo172]

To update this thread a bit ...

John Hoynes = John Edwards?

The adulterous ex-vice President (candidate) who ends up a clear third between the two front runners.

If Biden becomes the VP candidate he's definitely Leo McGarry, the older, more experienced Democrat brought in for his foreign policy nous.

Hope he doesn't cark it on election night

[likka]

LOL, the two are scarily similar... except Obama is the front runner in this case.

[Mr Q]

Originally Posted by jo172

Hope he doesn't cark it on election night

I think we're reasonably safe from the parallels going that far. After all, I can't see Obama winning Texas and South Carolina or McCain winning Vermont, Maine and California.

[Admiral Afterworld]

I could be wrong but wasn't another reason Arnold Vinick didn't win because The West Wing wasn't renewed for another season? So that, combined with the death of the actor who played Leo McGarry, made the writers figure the series should end with Matt Santos winning?