Should the Dems watch West Wing in order to learn how to run a campain?

I'm watching West Wing and it's starting to be so much like how to run a campaign. Vinick is going to hit Santos with voting for a bill and then voting against it. It's a flip-flop strategy.

Although I don't really think he has revealed himself yet.

He's meeting with the minute men on the border and cut a deal with the christian right. For their support, he'll put anti-choice judges on the bench and he's always been pro-choice in the past.

I used to like him and now my respect for the character is quickly going down the toilet.

and then denied it on Hardball, saying that no place in the Constitution does it say that there should be a litmus test for appointing judges.

I like the Alan Alda character but, of course, the Republicans will never select his as their candidate.

I'm still not liking him all that much because he's pandering. The thing with the minutemen bugs the hell out of me. Vinick is too willing to bargain.

so...the Dems doing it like they do on t.v. isn't really going to help all that much.

different situations on campaigning and possibilities that could happen. The democrats just need to stop bullshitting around.

When you can script your opponents, their attacks, and the public reactions. The writers get their strategies from actual strategists, not the other way around.

The West Wing world is way too civilized compared to reality.

History has shown that hard negative campaigning works. And then there's the West Wing media, which is remarkably pliable to the campaign's manipulations.

The problem is many Democrats have decided to take a large amount of corporate donations. In order to please them, they have to water down their more populist tendencies. The votes from the Democratic base are assured, but the end message is one that is rather mild if not pale because of the corporate influence, and it may fail to attract voters in the middle, which was the case in 1994 until today as far as the Senate and House are concerned. The problem is special interest money and corruption in the party hierarchy.

nuff said

(though I have never watched any of them)

Yes, both pander, both don't want to go negative but they do.

And, it is getting too close to home. The reason, I think, is that we do have a perceived equally divided country - on non-issues that demagogues use to mobilize their troops.

Either we are too complacent in our lives - no urgent problems of survival so that we concentrate on non-issues like abortion and gay rights - or we have been led there.

And because we appear to be so equally divided, each candidate has to work on the margins that will determine the outcome, hence pandering to fringes, in both sides, to get elected.

The sad reality is that so many are just turned off by these tactics that they stay home and not vote.

And... I don't buy it that one should not bother to vote because of the machines. I know that many here follow the conspiracy theories in everything, including 9/11, but in reality we have enough investigative channels to expose anything really nefarious.

I like the West Wing's campaign storyline :kick:

Last night's show was great...shows how campaigns have to change their message hour by hour.

The leak "scandal" is playing out well, too.

I love Janneane Garafalo's character.

not cowl to the far right of their party. :eyes: