Posted in: NBC, Opinion, streaming, TV, TV | Tagged: aaron sorkin, biden, Harris, nbc, The West Wing

The West Wing Creator Sorkin "Walks and Talks" Back NYT Editorial

On Sunday, The West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin got a reminder from President Joe Biden and VP Kamala Harris that real life isn't a TV show.

Just so there's no confusion? We really, really love Aaron Sorkin's Martin Sheen-starring The West Wing – a big show on our rewatch list. Along with the amazing cast and laser-sharp writing, we always appreciated how the show was able to take some of the deeper-dive governmental stuff and educate the viewers on what it all means. That said? We never saw it as something that was a political reality as much as a political "Gee, why can't we be like this" fantasy. Sheen's President Josiah Bartlet was the perfectly flawed POTUS for pretty much any generation – just as much as Santa Claus is the perfect person during the holidays to give our presents. Symbols but something to realistically aspire to because…. well… the real world rocks a bit different.

That brings us to this past weekend, with Sorkin penning an editorial for The New York Times, where he offered Democrats what he believed would be the perfect answer to their candidate issues if President Joseph Biden stepped down from the 2024 POTUS election. And that began a public relations "walk and talk" back that played out like a three-act script:

ACT I: Sorkin believes that an open DNC Convention should end with Republican Mitt Romney being the Democrats' nominee – noting that the move would be "a clear and powerful demonstration that this election isn't about what our elections are usually about it, but about stopping a deranged man from taking power."

In fact, Sorkin shared exactly how the Romney move would give the Democrats the big win: "Surely Mr. Romney, who doesn't have to be introduced to voters, would peel off enough Republican votes to win, probably by a lot. The double haters would be turned into single haters, and the Nikki Haley voters would have somewhere to go, Ms. Haley having disqualified herself when she endorsed the leader of an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the government."

ACT II: Reactions to Sorkin's editorial are about as receptive as you would expect them to be when someone recommends passing over VP Kamala Harris for someone from the party that gave the country Donald Trump. While that was going on, President Biden made it official: he would not be accepting the nomination to be the Democrats' nominee in the 2024 POTUS race – and that he was throwing his full support behind VP Harris. And President Biden wasn't the only one quick to throw his support behind VP Harris – a whole lineup of big-name Democrats, members of Congress, unions, and more wasted little time throwing their support behind VP Harris. Along with that, the donations began flowing – reportedly breaking past the $50 million mark well within 24 hours after VP Harris made it clear that she plans to earn and win the nomination during next month's convention.

ACT III: With a whole lot of famous faces – including cast members from his beloved series – posting their support and writing checks, Sorkin had a bit of a "mea culpa" about that whole NYT editorial thing. Piggybacking off of The West Wing star Joshua Malina's social media, Sorkin offered, "I take it all back. Harris for America!" Proving once again that even the greatest scriptwriters in the world are no match for the drama that we, as a society, can create with the snap of a finger.

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