Hawkeye is My President
Julian Sanchez | November 8, 2005, 11:55am
Like Russell Roberts at Cafe Hayek, I caught a bit of the live presidential debate on The West Wing this weekend, and I'm about ready to slap on a "Vinick '08" button. That's the surprisingly secular Sen. Arnold Vinick, the GOP candidate played by Alan Alda, who actually is the die-hard free-marketeer that the liberals who make shows like The West Wing seem convinced all Republicans really are. Asked how many jobs he'd "create" as president, he fires back: "None," explaining that he'll cut (federal) jobs and leave job creation to the private sector. They couldn't totally resist caricatures—Vinick's secret to development in Africa, as to everything else, is "tax cuts" (though he does go on to explain that he means bloated and corrupt governments are blocking Africa's success), and he inexplicably refuses to agree he'll never "go to war for oil," though here too, adds the excellent point that in a global market, worries about who physically controls oilfields are overblown.
As Radley Balko observes, "It's a sad state of affairs when the most eloquent defense of free markets, private initiative, and limited government uttered by a politician in two decades has come from a fictitious presidential candidate played by an actor with leftist politics." Alas, a Zogby poll shows Vinick trailing by 30 points.
James Anderson Merritt | November 9, 2005, 12:00pm | #
Akira said, "given that people who would identify with the ficticous Vinick's politics wouldn't be caught dead watching the Democratic wet-dream that is 'The West Wing.'"
What are you talking about? "West Wing" is the show my wife and I love to hate! That is to say, we never miss it, we get caught up in the character interchanges and plot twists, but we gag in unison whenever the Bartletistas get their liberal way by riding roughshod over the Constitution.
The fact that Akira may be right in general may also go to explain why politics has become such a polarized bloodsport, in recent years. Nobody tries to walk in the other guy's moccasins anymore, much less watch the other guy's TV show.
"West Wing's" Bartlet was the kind of Democratic President that Democrats who were disgusted with Clinton's misbehavior wanted in the Oval Office: a liberal with integrity, brains, and an ability to "keep it in his pants." He was a flawed, but basically good man, whom even (principled) Republicans could respect, and with whom they could work.
Senator Vinick is the kind of Republican that Democrats (and probably a great many GOP who can't stand the fundies) wish would get the GOP nomination: also a mostly principled, basically good guy, who (like liberal democrats believe of themselves) wants the best for America but merely disagrees with the liberal Democrats about "how to get there." Interestingly enough, we are seeing that the West Wing liberals seem to like best those Republicans who have a strong libertarian streak. Congressman Santos asks, "where are the liberal Republicans, sir?" Although the implication is that Vinick doesn't qualify, from where I sit, he IS the liberal Republican -- so close to libertarian that his election might precipitate the implosion of the Libertarian party and any significant libertarian movement outside the GOP.
I have waited for years, for "The West Wing" to give us anything close to a real Libertarian. With Emily Procter's Ainsley Hayes character (whom I am still convinced was modeled after Virginia Postrel), they came very close indeed, but she didn't last. Now, with Arnold Vinick, they appear to be taking another shot (though I am also troubled by his refusal to pledge not to go to war over oil -- is he in the Intelligence or Foreign Relations committees, and does he know something that we and Santos do not about what's coming?).
On the other hand, the real GOP candidates, including GWB, did a pretty good job of talking libertarian talk in the past several elections, and we see how that worked out for America. Perhaps Vinick will eventually stand revealed as a poseur. You can bet I'll keep watching, just to see.
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