The West Wing

I like politics; naturally I was drawn towards 'The West Wing', the TV show on NBC. I only watched few episodes of the show in the past seasons. When the new season started I was delighted to see that the producers chose one of my favorite actors to play the presidential candidate. Ergo, I have been watching 'West Wing' religiously (with Tivo's help).

In the 'West Wing', it's time for presidential elections. The primaries are over, congressman, Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits) won the Democratic primary and he is mainly campaigning on 'education'. Senator, Arnold Vinic (Alen Alda) has won the Republican nomination and he wants to cut taxes.

Last Sunday was the debate time for the both leaders. 'West Wing' pulled a stunt, (for lack of a better word) by having the debate aired live on NBC with 1 or 2 minute breaks. In a surprising move (hinted in previous episode) both candidates proposed to put the rules aside, and debate like president Lincoln and Douglas. I agree that such a fiasco would never be a real life thing, however it was written very well, and superbly acted. I don't like what Republicans stand for, however on Sunday senator, Vinic (Alen Alda) made it very heard for me to hate their ideology. The producers of the show were very successful in making both the candidates very much likeable.

As far as the debate was concerned, I thought senator Vinic won it. However, as you can see on NBC.com 70% say that Santos won, and Vinic 29%.

NBC: West Wing - Show website
The Washington Post: Who Won the 'West Wing' Live Debate?
The Washington Post: A Debatable Ploy by NBC - I don't agree with the author's take