5 Feet of Fury

Rick McGinnis: “The West Wing played out like fantasy football for liberals…”

…refuge from the reality of a Bush presidency in a world where a wise, paternal Democrat unafflicted by priapism occupied the White House. It’s common knowledge that the show’s writers based Jimmy Smits’ Matthew Santos on Barack Obama, then a freshman senator distinguished mostly for an inspiring speech he’d made at the 2004 Democratic convention, but a recent New York Times article has itemized the instances where the show’s final two seasons, covering Santos’ presidential campaign, have proved prescient…