Who Won The West Wing Debate?

Fictional presidential candidates Arnold Vinick and Matt Santos squared off on "West Wing" Sunday night for a live-broadcast "debate." It's disappointing to find no reviews, except for the Associated Press version -- which isn't deep and only a recap.

Who won the debate? That was up to each viewer of "The West Wing" to decide. No pundits came on afterward to spin the results.

But this fictional faceoff Sunday night had everything else, including a wishful vision of what a presidential debate might look like if its participants were willing to take off the gloves.

The ratings sweeps month stunt pulled in an estimated 9.6 million viewers, up from the 8.2 million "The West Wing" had been averaging this season, according to preliminary Nielsen Media Research figures. The NBC drama has lost about a third of its viewers this season with the move to Sunday nights.

Perhaps it's the laziness of television writers who could have made a real story out of this. And partly it's how "West Wing" writers approached the debate. Yes, the live gimmick was interesting. However, I wanted to see the post-debate spin by each camp. This show is suppose to be about the process, in this case the electoral process. And the answers by each candidate were hardly surprising.

In fact, it was hard to tell that Vinick is a "moderate" Republican, as he has been portrayed all season. To Hollywood, to be a moderate Republican means a candidate supports some form of abortion availability -- and even Vinick the Moderate is anti-partial birth. Instead, he sounded like a Reagan Republican who promotes tax cuts as the answer to all ills. (Not that that's a bad thing!)

Santos' positions were straight off his party's page, as well. Government is good; big business is bad. Yawn.

Now, the performances themselves were better than average, and as predicted, Alan Alda (as Vinick) was spectacular, even with the script limitations. His stage experience certainly showed, as Jimmy Smits (Santos) struggled in the East Coast version. Forrest Sawyer, an actual journalist who played himself as the debate moderator, was a pleasant surprise. It goes to show that some of the best actors around are the talking-head types who pretend to report but are nothing more than Teleprompter readers.

BaT judges Vinick as the debate winner, but Alda's performance could easily be the sway. Much like in real presidential debates, substance isn't always the determining factor. Style is important, and Alda's more mature candidate came across better informed and better prepared.

P.S.: I'd be interested in others' thoughts or conclusions. If you post a review or know of others who do, please leave a comment.