It has been ten years since The West Wing ended. After its close I started watching the show on DVD in high school, and afterwards I was intrigued by politics, debates were accessible, and I joined our high school politics club. My interest in politics stemmed from watching The West Wing, and now that it is over and ten years removed I wondered what would be different if it was filmed today?
1. President Bartlet wouldn't know how to use his smartphone.
He would not have ANY clue. He would yell to Mrs. Landingham; she would come into the Oval Office and set him straight.
2. CJ would suggest President Bartlet film a Snapchat video.
Remember this past week’s Snapchat video of President Obama asking the first lady if he should participate in the Olympics? President Obama pulled it off — it was funny, lovable, and charming. Would President Bartlet pull it off though? He would if Sam wrote it, because would be up on all of things tech savvy. And Toby would proceed to mutter something under his breath and hit his head on things.
3. Instead of going to college after the first season Zoey would take a year off to travel abroad.
Like Malia Obama, Zoey would take a gap year just to breathe between high school and college. Maybe Zoey wouldn’t date the wrong guy then, and maybe she would be less inclined to leave her panic button at a table. That being said we all make mistakes, but don’t we need to give president’s daughters more space and less spotlight?
4. Donna would be savvy with her smartphone… and Josh would hate his.
Can’t you just see Donna patiently explaining to Josh how to use it? Or Donna ends up carrying two? Josh would also be crafting text messages for her to send because like back in the ‘90s he couldn’t type for himself.
5. Dr. Bartlet would be leading the fight against childhood obesity.
First off: go Michelle Obama for consistently working towards getting America to eat healthy and exercise. Instead of focusing primarily on women’s issues, Dr. Bartlet would be telling Amy to call up lobbyists to raise money for her personal get fit program.
6. President Bartlet's hidden MS would have come out much much sooner… like New Hampshire Governor sooner.
It wouldn’t happen today. Today’s audience wouldn’t believe it. It wouldn’t have been hidden; everyone would know.
7. Sam would still be concerned about privacy, but for different reasons.
Sam Seaborn says to the Senior Staff: “[In the 20’s and 30’s] it was the role of government, 50s and 60s it was civil rights, the next two decades are going to be privacy. I’m talking about the Internet, I’m talking about cell phones, I’m talking about health records. Who’s gay and who’s not.” And he was right. But it is so much more than that. It is about who is trans, gay, queer, bi, and who should have that information. Our era is about accommodation to keep everyone safe.
8. Lastly, we’d actually be excited some candidates.
It would be Matt Santos versus Arnold Vinick again. They would put our current candidates Trump and Clinton to shame. They are inspiring. They have a vision and aren’t just instilling fear. And Matt Santos was based on President Obama when he was just a senator... what's not to like?
All in all can we bring back President Barlet? Re-elect Bartlet shirts and stickers are trending on the Internet so why not?
