Back in February, I noted the similarities between Barack Obama and Matt Santos, the character played by Jimmy Smits during the final Season of The West Wing who went on the become President at the end of the series.
Well, the similarities didn’t end there:
Watching “The West Wing” in retrospect — all seven seasons are available on DVD, and episodes can be seen in syndication — viewers can see allusions to Mr. Obama in almost every facet of Matthew Santos, the Hispanic Democratic candidate played by Jimmy Smits. Santos is a coalition-building Congressional newcomer who feels frustrated by the polarization of Washington. A telegenic and popular fortysomething with two young children, Santos enters the presidential race and eventually beats established candidates in a long primary campaign.
Wearing a flag pin, Santos announces his candidacy by telling supporters, “I am here to tell you that hope is real.” And he adds, “In a life of trial, in a world of challenges, hope is real.” Viewers can almost hear the crowd cheering, “Yes, we can.”
Comparisons between Senator John McCain and the “West Wing” Republican candidate, Arnold Vinick, a white-haired Senate stalwart with an antitax message and a reputation for delivering “straight talk” to the press, also abound. Vinick, played by Alan Alda, is deemed a threat to Democrats because of his ability to woo moderate voters. And he takes great pride in his refusal to pander to voters, telling an aide: “People know where I stand. They may not like it, but they know I’ll stick with it.”
Even the vice-presidential picks are similar: the Democrat picks a Washington veteran as his vice presidential candidate to add foreign policy expertise to the ticket, while the Republican selects a staunchly conservative governor to shore up the base.
Not only is life imitating art in some respects, but the lines are blurring just a little when Jimmy Smits campaigns for Obama.
Of course, some of the similarities are a bit forced. As Ron Chusid points, out the Vinick character is more like the John McCain of the 2000 campaign than the John McCain that has emerged during the course of this race. And the race between Santos and Vinick was much closer than the Obama/McCain matchup has proven to be over the past six weeks. Nonetheless, the resemblances are uncanny, which leads one to wonder if the result will be the same.
Not to mention the fact that Santos not only was initially uninterested in the White House, but was actually planning to leave Congress early and return to private life — until Josh Lyman won him over with his “you’re too good at this” appeal.
Yea, I remember that.
Actually, Bravo’s been rerunning the last two seasons of TWW recently and I’ve been watching those on TiVo.
Man, I liked that show but sometimes their sense of self-importance was just really annoying.