"The West Wing"is a major pop-culture influence in my life. I've always wanted to be as savvy as C.J, as talented a writer as Sam, and as capable a leader as Leo. I watched and laughed and enjoyed a world that seemed better and brighter than the world I lived in. As I began re-watching the series (again) in recent weeks, the difference between the world that we live in and the one on screen became more and more stark.

And yes, "The West Wing," has some serious problems. Through my recent binge-watch, I have cringed more than a few times. (Remember when writer Aaron Sorkin tried to explain away workplace sexual harassment?) What with his mistreatment of female characters, bizarre contribution to rape culture, and whiter-than-Wonder-Bread cast, there are some serious concerns that should be voiced about "The West Wing" and Sorkin as a content creator. Ultimately, though, for me (despite its flaws), the one thing that stuck out is the optimism — specifically, optimism for a world with real bipartisanship between Republicans and Democrats.

This maybe-naive optimism could possibly be best understood by the post-Sorkin season 7 election storyline. There are two candidates: a young, idealistic Democratic congressman, Matt Santos, campaigning on education and healthcare reform, and Arnold Vinick, a moderate and fiscal conservative Republican senator, who wants tax cuts and stronger national defense. Vinick is pro-choice, non-religious and respectful of the Democratic party. Santos is a moderate and believes in bipartisan cooperation.

And guess what? Both candidates are qualified. Santos and Vinick don’t demonize each other, even though the election will be decided on a razor-thin margin of error. Throughout the campaign, it comes down to two different (but equally valid) plans for the future, brought forward by well-meaning public service. When (spoiler alert!) Santos wins the general election, Vinick is appointed as Secretary of State. That across-the-island gesture would never be a reality in today's political climate.

So what's the reason for such a different fictional versus real world? It’s easy to place blame — is it the social media culture? The rise of reality television?

I don’t know the answer, but I’ve got to say, as much as I like the inherent optimism within "The West Wing," the thing I would most want to replicate would be the idea of civility. I guess I'm not alone.

We should be tired of the bickering, the scandals. We should expect more from our politicians, not just blindly accept mediocrity.

C.J. Cregg, of the show, giving a speech to her graduating high school class at a reunion, said:

“And in its wake, I've been thinking a lot about civility, civic duty and kindness, and how pervasive and powerful they are. How enduringly pervasive those qualities are in American life, and how I see them all around me, day after day. America's a terribly difficult idea filled with promise and impossible to live up to. Promise is inchoate, and promise is what binds us. Some of us died, some got sick, some got rich, some had bad luck, some of us were fortunate, more than others. But failed promise only truly fails when it leads to lowered expectation.”

There's plenty of ideology presented in "The West Wing" not applicable to life today. However, we should never lower our expectations, and we should always expect greatness. After all, how else are we going to get it if we are not demanding it?