First Door on the Left

Sheryl McCarthy, writing in NY Newsday, says…

I’ve followed the Democratic candidates with about as much enthusiasm as I’d muster for a high-stakes lacrosse game. But even I can see that Dean is catching on. Which makes me wonder: Does Howard Dean’s growing popularity stem from the fact that people think he’s Josiah Bartlet, the fictional president of NBC’s “The West Wing?”

Jed Bartlet is the kind of president many of us would love to have, and the similarities to Dean are striking. They’re about the same age. Both are from New England. They’re both smart and intellectual: Bartlet is a Nobel laureate and former college professor, while Dean is a Yale graduate and a physician. As a colleague who follows “The West Wing” and happened to catch Dean doing a television interview the other day put it, both men can refer to the classics without coming across as highfalutin.

Bartlet and Dean are both married to doctors, women more in the Hillary Clinton than Laura Bush mode. Both are mavericks who seem to have appeared out of nowhere, although they really didn’t. They’re also pretty liberal, understanding that the little men and women are the ones who need the government most.

The most striking thing about Bartlet and his “West Wing” crew, however, is that they are principled. Sure, they get worked up over what to do about a presidential aide who’s dating a call girl. But what they agonize over most is how not to compromise their principles for the sake of politics. As Toby, the angst-ridden director of communications would say, “We have to remember why we’re here. And if we don’t use this office to do some of the things we came here for, then what’s the point?”

Democrats have forgotten this, which is why it’s refreshing to have Dean remind us that he belongs to “the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party.” In a profile that appeared on the Web site “TheStranger.Com,” the words used to describe him apply equally to President Bartlet: “a muscular Democrat”; “pugnacious and a little prickly”; “doesn’t back down from a fight”; “willing to play political hardball if that’s what it takes to get what he wants.”

I’m a huge fan of The West Wing. While watching it, I would often think “I sure wish we could have a President like Jed Bartlet.” Well, seems that now we can. Only this one will be a bit better, because he won’t be acting a part and reading a script. He’ll be for real!

I knew there was a reason I liked Howard Dean the first time I saw him. The more I followed him and studied his stands on the issues, the more I liked him. Which is why I am supporting him to be the next President of the United States.

Ms. McCarthy concludes…

Like Jed Bartlet, Howard Dean is complicated and pragmatic but principled. And with a Republican administration filled with cowboys, zealots and religious fundamentalists lacking in empathy, Dean is appealing.

“One of the things I like about Bartlet is that he combines the better qualities of four or five presidents - JFK’s hair, Reagan’s affability, Truman’s directness, Carter and Clinton’s genteel intelligence,” says my TV-watching colleague. I’d like to have Bartlet as president. But if I can’t, why not a Democrat who’s not afraid to be a Democrat and who has some idea of what that means? Howard Dean gets more interesting by the day.

And I could not agree more. I look forward to living in an America led by President Dean!