Bartlet4America News Archive

Real Chris Beck would love a date with 'West Wing' flack

BECK Would be honored to work for Bartlet
by Peter Ames Carlin
The Oregonian

There's a cover-up taking place in the White House.

Does it reach all the way to the Oval Office? I'm not sure. But now that the rumors have flown from Portland to Hollywood to Washington, D.C. -- or a realistic facsimile thereof -- it's reasonable to expect answers: What did President Bartlet know, and when did he know it?

Why is someone trying to set up "The West Wing" spokeswoman C.J. Cregg with former Oregon legislator Chris Beck?

The scandal began about 16 minutes into last Wednesday night's episode. In the midst of a show that revolved in part around Oregon's assisted suicide law, the appearance of a familiar name rattled loudly in a lot of ears.

Cregg, the perpetually lovelorn Bartlet spokeswoman already distracted by the debate on assisted suicide, bumped into a colleague outside her White House office. After a quick exchange about environmental organizations, she caught Cregg's eye.

"And there's a guy want you to meet," she said, smiling conspiratorially. "Named Chris Beck."

Which came as a surprise to the real-life Oregon pol and environmentalist named Chris Beck.

A former legislator and current project manager for the Trust for Public Lands, Beck -- who like Cregg is 40ish and single -- said he would be more than happy to hit the town with the fictional White House spokeswoman.

"She's my kind of woman," he said. "She's smart and quick-witted and holds her ground. I generally don't like flacks, but I would absolutely go out with her."

And what if his new White House connection leads to a job offer? "Oh my God, of course!" he said. "I'd go to work for the Bartlet White House. It'd be an honor."

But Beck, who describes himself as an occasional watcher of "West Wing," will first have to give up his habit of channel-surfing between that show and "The Bachelor." And according to NBC spokeswoman Liza Rindge-Peterson, who spoke with Debora Cahn, the "West Wing" writer who crafted last week's show, the real Beck shouldn't hold his breath waiting for a call from Cregg.

"It was purely a coincidence," she said of the dueling Chris Becks. %%