Getting My West Wing Fix

There are very few TV shows that have captured my attention and devotion. But, by far, one of them is The West Wing. I started watching it when I first moved out to DC and started working on Capitol Hill. It shouldn't come as much of a surprise to anyone who knows me, that politics is my passion. It's in my blood. That's why I spent my entire professional career working for elected officials - striving to make good public policy. So of course, a show that focuses on the ultimate place of policy and politics (The White House) would appeal to me. I love the show, even though I often don't agree with the politics propagated on the show.*

I also like watching it to find the mistakes they make. I know they must of had consultants to help make sure what they were showing was accurate and plausible, but they didn't always get it right. So it's fun to watch it and think, "Well that's not how it works," or "That could never happen."**

But I admit, I missed most of the few seasons and didn't getting engaged in the show until maybe the second season. Luckily, we have subscribed to Blockbuster Total Access. Now I can finally make up for all of the shows I missed. We are currently watching the first season and of course, I'm loving it. Even Matt is having fun - he's keeping track of how many people yell at the character, Toby. He's convinced that "everyone hates Toby." And he's bound to prove it by keeping a literal log of how many scenes Toby is in and how many times he is yelled at. It's pretty funny. Anyway, it's great couple time bonding. In fact, that's how we spent our last date together. Maybe we need to get out more....


*Let's face it, they have a fictional Democrat president: of course, I disagree with most of the politics.

**The most recent example I've seen is when Toby watches a vote on the House floor and you hear the congressman vote orally, which only happens in the Senate. In the House, the members vote by pushing buttons on their chairs, except when voting for the Speaker.