# The West Wing vs British real debate

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-vs-british-real-debate/329965>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [November 7, 2005, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-vs-british-real-debate/329965 "2005-11-07T21:52:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-vs-british-real-debate/329965/1 "2005-11-07T21:52:14Z")

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[Mods, this could go in any of GD, CS, or IMHO - move as you see fit]

Inspired by the recent [debate on The West Wing](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=343584) (which I haven’t seen because it hasn’t made it over here yet), we in the U.K. have just had our first [TV debate](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4405650.stm) (click the Play Video link) by the two people trying to become leader of the Conservative party.

For those of you who have the interest and the time, how does our debate compare with yours? I’m less interested in the policies (else this would be in GD) than everything else - style, organisation, comparison etc. And how would an American judge the candidates?

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**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-vs-british-real-debate/329965/2 "2005-11-07T23:12:13Z")

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**Quartz:** I would be interested in watching the debate, from the BBC link you give, but it requires a subscription. Specifically, “international users” must have a subscription to view it. Is there a transcript somewhere instead?

I don’t know if this will address your question, but I used to be a regular viewer of “Prime Minister’s Questions” over here, on C-SPAN. I’ve been generally impressed with the quality of the arguments that go on, at least between the party leaders, in the UK parliament. Makes me wish we had a similar tradition in Congress.

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**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-vs-british-real-debate/329965/3 "2005-11-08T08:34:08Z")

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> [@Bytegeist](#):
>
> **Quartz:** I would be interested in watching the debate, from the BBC link you give, but it requires a subscription.

Ah, I wonder how it figures that one out?

> [@](#):
>
> Specifically, “international users” must have a subscription to view it. Is there a transcript somewhere instead?

Not that I can find. What a shame.

> [@](#):
>
> I don’t know if this will address your question, but I used to be a regular viewer of “Prime Minister’s Questions” over here, on C-SPAN. I’ve been generally impressed with the quality of the arguments that go on, at least between the party leaders, in the UK parliament. Makes me wish we had a similar tradition in Congress.

It’s good to keep the b_gg_rs on their toes, isn’t it?

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**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-vs-british-real-debate/329965/4 "2005-11-08T11:17:05Z")

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> [@Quartz](#):
>
> Ah, I wonder how it figures that one out?

[hijack]IP addresses generally speaking are allocated geographically.

You’ll notice that when you visit various websites that have advertising for dating services (and some less wholesome activities) they often highlight listings from your specific geographic location.[/hijack]

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**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-vs-british-real-debate/329965/5 "2005-11-08T18:39:37Z")

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Well, it seems like [The Daily Telegraph](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2005/11/08/do0801.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2005/11/08/ixopinion.html) reads the SDMB.