Obama´s WWJD Moments
Stuart Nachbar
October 18, 2008
This week, W, the Oliver Stone biopic about our sitting president hits the screens to varied reviews, though Stone pledges that his story is accurate. In the meantime, I had to think about a cinematic model to guide Barack Obama, should he prevail on Election Day and become our 44th president.
Some Republicans live their working lives, and probably their personal lives, by the question: WWJD or What Would Jesus Do? I know that Obama has stated that he is a Christian man, but no one has taken that to say that he lives his lives under the same WWJD as the men and women in the other party. But maybe Obama should live by a different WWJD: What would Jed do? As in Jed Bartlet, Martin Sheen´s fictional Democratic president in The West Wing.
I loved The West Wing during the seven seasons it aired on NBC. It was one of my two favorite shows (The Sopranos was the other). First aired in 1999, The West Wing was the Democrat´s perception of the Clinton Administration they wanted, but didn´t get. At the start of the first season, liberal Democrat Jed Bartlet, former U.S. Congressman and governor of the traditionally Republican state of New Hampshire is elected President with less than fifty percent of the vote. He does not have a Democratic majority in either house of Congress; he starts with the legislative branch Clinton supporters never wanted. But Bartlet´s personal popularity and a booming economy gets him re-elected in a landslide.
Other men have played presidents in movies and TV shows, for example, James Cromwell who plays "Pappy" Bush in W has also played Lyndon Johnson and the fictional former president Newman, a Jimmy Carter clone, in The West Wing. But no one has played the role of a modern Democratic president better than Martin Sheen as Jed Bartlet. Barlet has his strengths: he is a Nobel Prize winning economist and he can reach across the aisle for support when necessary. He also has his weaknesses: he failed to disclose his true health during his victorious campaign and he backs the assassination of a Middle Eastern despot; that incident leads to the capture of his daughter and forces him to take leave of absence from his office and hands the presidency to the Republican leadership.
Barlet ran his presidency the way Captain Kirk ran his starships; he knew when to be diplomatic and when he had to beam down to trouble spots. He always found a way to beat "no win" scenarios, or keep the losses to a minimum. The West Wing was the first show about a presidency, real or imagined, where you really learned how the office works, and why some days a strong leader looks weak. So many episodes had major crises to resolve; after the danger had past, Bartlet usually asked: What´s next?
I supported Hillary Clinton over Obama in New Jersey´s primary, but I have to say I like Obama more as I listen to him. Not so much for his policy ideas, but because he is so unflappable in public, just like Jed Bartlet. He has handled vicious attacks far better than most men or women would, even his opponents, first Senator Clinton, and now Senator McCain. The only candidate who has been more unflappable has been the conservative's standard bearer, Ronald Reagan.
If Obama has not had enough time to watch The West Wing, he should buy the boxed set with his first paycheck as president. Whenever he and Michelle must discuss a crisis, he should load up the most relevant episode and ask himself: What Would Jed Do?
Contact Stuart Nachbar at http://www.EducatedQuest.com, a blog on education politics, policy and technology or read about his first book, The Sex Ed Chronicles, a novel on education and politics in 1980 New Jersey, at http://www.SexEdChronicles.com.
Some Republicans live their working lives, and probably their personal lives, by the question: WWJD or What Would Jesus Do? I know that Obama has stated that he is a Christian man, but no one has taken that to say that he lives his lives under the same WWJD as the men and women in the other party. But maybe Obama should live by a different WWJD: What would Jed do? As in Jed Bartlet, Martin Sheen´s fictional Democratic president in The West Wing.
I loved The West Wing during the seven seasons it aired on NBC. It was one of my two favorite shows (The Sopranos was the other). First aired in 1999, The West Wing was the Democrat´s perception of the Clinton Administration they wanted, but didn´t get. At the start of the first season, liberal Democrat Jed Bartlet, former U.S. Congressman and governor of the traditionally Republican state of New Hampshire is elected President with less than fifty percent of the vote. He does not have a Democratic majority in either house of Congress; he starts with the legislative branch Clinton supporters never wanted. But Bartlet´s personal popularity and a booming economy gets him re-elected in a landslide.
Other men have played presidents in movies and TV shows, for example, James Cromwell who plays "Pappy" Bush in W has also played Lyndon Johnson and the fictional former president Newman, a Jimmy Carter clone, in The West Wing. But no one has played the role of a modern Democratic president better than Martin Sheen as Jed Bartlet. Barlet has his strengths: he is a Nobel Prize winning economist and he can reach across the aisle for support when necessary. He also has his weaknesses: he failed to disclose his true health during his victorious campaign and he backs the assassination of a Middle Eastern despot; that incident leads to the capture of his daughter and forces him to take leave of absence from his office and hands the presidency to the Republican leadership.
Barlet ran his presidency the way Captain Kirk ran his starships; he knew when to be diplomatic and when he had to beam down to trouble spots. He always found a way to beat "no win" scenarios, or keep the losses to a minimum. The West Wing was the first show about a presidency, real or imagined, where you really learned how the office works, and why some days a strong leader looks weak. So many episodes had major crises to resolve; after the danger had past, Bartlet usually asked: What´s next?
I supported Hillary Clinton over Obama in New Jersey´s primary, but I have to say I like Obama more as I listen to him. Not so much for his policy ideas, but because he is so unflappable in public, just like Jed Bartlet. He has handled vicious attacks far better than most men or women would, even his opponents, first Senator Clinton, and now Senator McCain. The only candidate who has been more unflappable has been the conservative's standard bearer, Ronald Reagan.
If Obama has not had enough time to watch The West Wing, he should buy the boxed set with his first paycheck as president. Whenever he and Michelle must discuss a crisis, he should load up the most relevant episode and ask himself: What Would Jed Do?
Contact Stuart Nachbar at http://www.EducatedQuest.com, a blog on education politics, policy and technology or read about his first book, The Sex Ed Chronicles, a novel on education and politics in 1980 New Jersey, at http://www.SexEdChronicles.com.
Print
Email
