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April 24, 2002
Isn't That George W. in 'West Wing' Plot?
NY Post
As "The West Wing" gears up for a re-election battle next season, the show's creator is preparing fictional President Bartlet to run against a character that sounds an awful lot like President George Bush.
"I want to have two characters in which I can dramatize that conflict [between] the know-it-all and the guy without gravitas who somehow relates to the everyman," says creator Aaron Sorkin.
The race between Bartlet (played by Martin Sheen) and a Republican opponent echos what Sorkin considered an intriguing aspect of the Gore-Bush campaign two years ago.
But "that doesn't make one of the characters Bush and one of the characters Gore," he said.
The fictional Republican opponent is Florida Gov. Robert Ritchie, who has been mentioned several times but never seen - and so far not cast.
Sorkin says he's "uncomfortable getting into personal politics" and calls his interest in the current president narrow.
"Nothing else about Bush interests me: the oil thing, baseball, drugs when he was a kid or not. All I need are the qualities for that conflict" between a smart politician and a man-of-the-people-type candidate.
Sorkin insists he isn't courting controversy. He says he had his fill of that after criticizing the news media for "waving pom poms" instead of providing objective news coverage of the Bush administration.
Although the Emmy-winning "The West Wing" is as much a character study as political pageant, Sorkin has been criticized for lecturing, especially in the terrorism episode. He denies any such intent.
"There are no lessons I want to teach you or lessons I feel capable of teaching you or lessons I feel need to be taught," he said.
"I have a story to tell every week. . . . I just like telling my stories."
Posted by MorganG at April 24, 2002 08:50 AM