# Ready to start watching another series on DVD- West Wing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 26, 2013, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ready-to-start-watching-another-series-on-dvd-west-wing/653999 "2013-03-26T12:47:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2013, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ready-to-start-watching-another-series-on-dvd-west-wing/653999/21 "2013-03-27T19:37:45Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I like the show as well, but I wonder what conservatives think of it. The Bartlett administration is sort of a liberal fantasy. They have Jack Ryan as their fantasy President. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2013, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ready-to-start-watching-another-series-on-dvd-west-wing/653999/22 "2013-03-27T21:20:33Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I like the show as well, but I wonder what conservatives think of it. The Bartlett administration is sort of a liberal fantasy. The show was a life preserver during the dark days of George W. Bush. > [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I detest MASH, I thought he was just a smart ass, but Alda was great in TWW. One of the things they did in later seasons were to try to have more conservative characters, like Ainsley Hayes, Joe Quincy and Jack Reese. Alda’s Senator Vinick was a Republican that most liberal Democrats wouldn’t really mind - a socially liberal guy just a bit obsessed with taxes. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2013, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ready-to-start-watching-another-series-on-dvd-west-wing/653999/23 "2013-03-28T05:02:22Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > One of the things they did in later seasons were to try to have more conservative characters, like Ainsley Hayes, Joe Quincy and Jack Reese. Alda’s Senator Vinick was a Republican that most liberal Democrats wouldn’t really mind - a socially liberal guy just a bit obsessed with taxes. Not really. It really is a fair accusation against _The West Wing_ that it was a liberal fantasy. You only saw two kinds of conservatives: bad conservatives who existed for the liberals to oppose and good conservatives (like the ones you listed) who supported what the liberals were doing. So the conservatives in _The West Wing_ only existed to make the liberals look good. I mentioned Jack Ryan in my previous post and Tom Clancy did the exact same thing in his books, only with the ideologies reversed. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2013, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ready-to-start-watching-another-series-on-dvd-west-wing/653999/24 "2013-03-28T16:33:16Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Not really. It really is a fair accusation against _The West Wing_ that it was a liberal fantasy. You only saw two kinds of conservatives: bad conservatives who existed for the liberals to oppose and good conservatives (like the ones you listed) who supported what the liberals were doing. So the conservatives in _The West Wing_ only existed to make the liberals look good. Not true. During the Santos/Vinick debate episode, he gave very cogent defenses of conservative positions. From [the West Wing Wiki](http://westwing.wikia.com/wiki/Arnold_Vinick#Presidential_Debate): > [@](#): > > During the debate, Vinick tried to paint Santos as a typical liberal Democrat who would raise taxes to pay for intrusive big-government programs while still leaving the federal budget unbalanced. The Senator laid out a libertarian agenda, proposed tax-deductibility for health insurance costs, explained why he had voted for the Central American Free Trade Agreement, opposed a moratorium on the federal death penalty or any new gun control legislation, promised to open part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration, and declared his strong support for nuclear power. He was heckled by a member of the audience for claiming that Head Start didn’t work, but perhaps his most surprising comment and show of blunt honesty was his remark that he would not create any new jobs, saying that in a free society entrepreneurs, not the government, created jobs. Because Santos had just criticized Republican economic policy for relying too heavily on tax cuts, Vinick’s continued insistence that tax cuts would improve the economy initially drew hostile laughter from the audience. However, Vinick’s explanation behind the theory proved eloquent and logical. ---
**Author:** ![bramma23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@bramma23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bramma23)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2013, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ready-to-start-watching-another-series-on-dvd-west-wing/653999/25 "2013-03-28T19:16:24Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Not true. During the Santos/Vinick debate episode, he gave very cogent defenses of conservative positions. From [the West Wing Wiki](http://westwing.wikia.com/wiki/Arnold_Vinick#Presidential_Debate): Sorkin’s West Wing, seasons 1-4, has thin cardboard cutout republicans, especially Christian conservatives. Once John Wells takes over in season 5, the show makes a sharp turn toward melodrama with Leo’s heart attack, etc. But by season 6, there’s a much clearer show with good and bad liberals and good and bad conservatives. A republican like Vinick never existed on the show while Sorkin was in charge. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ready-to-start-watching-another-series-on-dvd-west-wing/653999.md?page=1)