On Thu, 2 Apr 2009 00:20:52 -0700 (PDT), riverman wrote:

On Apr 2, 12:07*am, Ken Fortenberry
wrote:
wrote:
In light of a recent discussion...

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/...eal-spotlight-...

What was the premise of the recent discussion ? Was it that
West Wing somehow paved the way for Obama ? I don't know,
there may be some validity to that but I think it's more a
case of West Wing and Obama both appeal to a certain segment
of the voting public.


I think its credible that the PLOT of the West Wing indoctrinated
(innoculated?) Americans to the concept of a candidate such as Obama.

Er, no, or at least, not completely. The main error is applying it to
"Americans" (ignoring for the moment that folks in the Andes are "Americans,"
too) as a whole. Most "Americans" never saw and know little about "The West
Wing." It was its primary audience of (allegedly-)educated guilty white
liberals that would have received further "indoctrination" to the enrapturement
of an Obama.

There are tons of anecdotes about life imitating art, its not
unprecedented that the combined popularity of WW, the fuzzy boundary
between reality and TV that pervades our culture, and the vague
similarities in teh plot could have had an impact on voters. At the
very least, it would have softened the 'such a thing has never
happened' reaction. More likely, some folks saw and consciously
decided to participate in the similarities. I saw the parallels weeks
before the election, when there was pressure from the DNC to have
either Hillary or Obama step out to resolve internal dissent. I was
waiting for BO to come roaring back at the convention and win by a
last-minute impassioned speech.

Right. Just like Jeb Bartlet or Jimmy Smits - you know, real American saviors -
would have made...it's too bad Leo died - he might have been a real help to an
Obama administration...

HTH,
R