Editing The West Wing (section)

===2006 presidential election===
A speed-up in ''The West Wing''{{'s}} timeline, in part due to the expiration of many cast members' contracts and a desire to continue the program with lower production costs, resulted in the omission of the 2004 midterm elections and an election during the seventh season. The sixth season extensively details the Democratic and Republican primaries. The seventh season covers the lead-up to the general election, the election, and the transition to a new administration. The timeline slows down to concentrate on the general election race. The election, normally held in November, takes place across two episodes originally broadcast on April 2 and 9, 2006.

Congressman [[Matt Santos]] (D-[[Texas|TX]]) ([[Jimmy Smits]]) is nominated on the fourth ballot at the [[Democratic National Convention]], during the sixth-season finale. Santos, having planned to leave [[United States Congress|Congress]] before being recruited to run for the presidency by [[Josh Lyman]], polls in the low single digits in the [[Iowa caucus]]. He is virtually out of the running in the [[New Hampshire primary]] before a last-ditch live television commercial vaults him to a third-place finish with 19% of the vote. Josh Lyman, Santos's campaign manager, convinces [[Leo McGarry]] to become Santos's running mate.

Senator [[Arnold Vinick]] (R-[[California|CA]]) ([[Alan Alda]]) secures the Republican nomination, defeating Rep. Glen Allen Walken (R-MO) ([[John Goodman]]) (who had served briefly as Acting President during Bartlet's recusal during the Zoey Bartlet kidnapping crisis in Season 4) and the [[Reverend]] Don Butler ([[Don S. Davis]]), among others. Initially, Vinick wants Butler to become his running mate. However, Butler does not want to be considered because of Vinick's stance on [[abortion]]. Instead, [[West Virginia]] Governor Ray Sullivan ([[Brett Cullen]]) is chosen as Vinick's running mate. Vinick is portrayed throughout the sixth season as virtually unbeatable because of his popularity in California, a typically Democratic state, his moderate views, and his wide crossover appeal. Vinick, however, faces difficulty with the [[anti-abortion]] members of his party as an [[abortion rights]] candidate, and criticism for his support of nuclear power following a serious accident at a Californian nuclear power station.

On the evening of the election, Leo McGarry suffers a massive [[myocardial infarction|heart attack]] and is pronounced dead at the hospital, with the polls still open on the [[U.S. West Coast|West Coast]]. The Santos campaign releases the information immediately, while [[Arnold Vinick]] refuses to use Leo's death as a "stepstool" to the presidency. Santos emerges as the winner in his home state of Texas, while Vinick wins his home state of California. The election comes down to [[Nevada]], where both candidates need a victory to secure the presidency. Vinick tells his staff repeatedly that he will not allow his campaign to demand a recount of the votes if Santos is declared the winner. Josh Lyman gives Santos the same advice, although the Santos campaign sends a team of lawyers down to Nevada. Santos is pronounced the winner of the election, having won Nevada by 30,000 votes, with an electoral vote margin of 272–266.

According to executive producer [[Lawrence O'Donnell|Lawrence O'Donnell, Jr.]], the writers originally intended for Vinick to win the election. However, the death of Spencer forced him and his colleagues to consider the emotional strain that would result from having Santos lose both his running mate and the election. It was eventually decided by [[John Wells (filmmaker)|John Wells]] that the last episodes would be rescripted.<ref>{{cite web |first=Jacques |last=Steinberg |date=April 10, 2006 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/10/arts/television/10wing.html |title='West Wing' Writers' Novel Way of Picking the President |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=April 10, 2006 |archive-date=June 4, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150604145435/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/10/arts/television/10wing.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Other statements from John Wells, however, have contradicted O'Donnell's claims about a previously planned Vinick victory. The script showing Santos winning was written long before the death of John Spencer. In 2008, O'Donnell stated to camera, "We actually planned at the outset for Jimmy Smits to win, that was our .. just .. plan of how this was all going to work, but the Vinick character came on so strong in the show, and was so effective, it became a real contest ... and it became a real contest in the West Wing writer's room."<ref>{{cite AV media |people=[[Jonathan Freedland]] |date=September 2008 |publisher=[[BBC Four]] |title=President Hollywood |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00djm6q}}</ref>

====Similarities to 2008 United States presidential election====
Similarities between the fictional 2006 election and the real-life [[2008 United States presidential election]] have been noted in the media: 
* The Democratic candidate is a young ethnic minority representing a populous state: Matthew Santos of Texas on the show, [[Barack Obama]] of [[Illinois]] in real life.
* He has a grueling but successful primary campaign against a more experienced candidate: Bob Russell on the show, [[Hillary Clinton]] in real life.
* A third candidate from a Southern state has been damaged by claims of infidelity: John Hoynes of Texas on the show, [[John Edwards]] of [[North Carolina]] in real life. 
* The Democratic nominee chooses an experienced Washington insider as his running mate: Leo McGarry on the show, [[Joe Biden]] in real life.
* The Republican contest is determined early in the primary season with an aging "maverick" senator of a western state being the nominee: Arnold Vinick of California on the show, [[John McCain]] of [[Arizona]] in real life.
* The nominee defeats a staunchly [[anti-abortion]] opponent with pastoral experience, among others: Reverend Don Butler on the show, [[Mike Huckabee]] in real life. 
* He then chooses a younger, socially conservative running mate in the midst of their first term as governor of a sparsely populated, resource-rich state: Ray Sullivan of West Virginia on the show, [[Sarah Palin]] of [[Alaska]] in real life.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bayley |first=Matthew |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/3554976/Barack-Obama-stars-in-the-West-Wing.html |title=Barack Obama stars in the West Wing? |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=February 14, 2008 |access-date=November 11, 2009 |archive-date=May 7, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100507031048/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/3554976/Barack-Obama-stars-in-the-West-Wing.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Simmons |first=Jamal |title=In Presidential Campaign, Life Imitates TV |work=[[Politico]] |date=February 20, 2008 |url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8567.html |access-date=November 10, 2013 |archive-date=November 14, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121114151445/http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8567.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to David Remnick's biography of Obama, ''The Bridge'', when writer and former White House aide [[Eli Attie]] was tasked with fleshing out the first major Santos storylines, he looked to then-U.S. Senator Obama as a model. Attie called [[David Axelrod (political consultant)|David Axelrod]], with whom he had worked in politics, "and grilled him about Obama."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0410/Imagining_Obama_on_The_West_Wing.html |title=Imagining Obama on 'The West Wing' |work=[[Politico]] |first=Ben |last=Smith |date=April 5, 2010 |access-date=November 10, 2013 |archive-date=June 14, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140614032728/http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0410/Imagining_Obama_on_The_West_Wing.html |url-status=live }}</ref> While Attie says that he "drew inspiration from [Obama] in drawing [the Santos] character,"<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/feb/21/barackobama.uselections2008 |title=From West Wing to the real thing |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=November 11, 2009 |first=Jonathan |last=Freedland |date=February 21, 2008 |archive-date=September 1, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130901181557/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/feb/21/barackobama.uselections2008 |url-status=live }}</ref> actor Jimmy Smits also says that Obama "was one of the people that I looked to draw upon" for his portrayal of the character.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ballard |first=Janette |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7616333.stm |title=Haven't we seen this election before? |work=[[BBC News Online]] |date=September 15, 2008 |access-date=November 11, 2009 |archive-date=February 6, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206162616/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7616333.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> Writer and producer [[Lawrence O'Donnell]] says that he partly modeled Vinick after McCain.<ref name="script">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/arts/television/30wing.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |title=Following the Script: Obama, McCain and 'The West Wing' |first=Brian |last=Stelter |date=October 30, 2008 |access-date=March 28, 2010 |archive-date=October 30, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081030170529/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/arts/television/30wing.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Obama's former Chief of Staff, [[Rahm Emanuel]], is said to be the basis of the [[Josh Lyman]] character, who becomes Santos's Chief of Staff.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/comment/register/article/rahm-emanuels-commitment-to-family-and-country-is-weighed-up-after-white-house-offer-cfqtvhqslxr |title=Rahm Emanuel's commitment to family and country is weighed up after White House offer |first=Tom |last=Baldwin |work=[[The Times]] |date=November 7, 2008 |access-date=September 21, 2011 |archive-date=December 19, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219082209/http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/americas/article1890406.ece |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=6207491 |title=Rahm Emanuel Tackles the White House |last=Martin |first=Rachel |date=November 7, 2008 |publisher=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |access-date=November 22, 2008 |archive-date=November 10, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110211452/http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=6207491 |url-status=live }}</ref> However, O'Donnell denied this claim.<ref>{{cite episode |title=Politically Direct |url=http://airamerica.com/ondemand/play/90125.mp3 |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20090203025034/http://airamerica.com/ondemand/play/90125.mp3 |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 3, 2009 |series=Politically Direct with David Bender |series-link=Politically Direct |credits=[[David Bender]], Host. [[Lawrence O'Donnell]], Guest. |network=[[Air America Radio]] |airdate=November 9, 2008 |minutes=14:17}}</ref> Ahead of the inauguration, a fan posted a video mash-up of ''The West Wing'' opening credits with Obama administration officials on YouTube that was featured on [[HLN (TV network)|HLN]]'s program ''[[Showbiz Tonight]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/sbt/date/2009-01-16/segment/01 |title=Miracle on the Hudson; Outrage on Obama Magazine Cover; Ellen DeGeneres Finally Gets Her Man; Robert Redford's Final Words for Bush |website=CNN |date=January 16, 2009 |access-date=September 15, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite video |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp6xUuMh5rA |title=West Wing Titles - Barack Obama (The Real West Wing), Year 1 |via=YouTube |date=December 30, 2008 |access-date=September 16, 2024}}</ref>