‘Liberal pond scum’ floats over to Vinick

Imagine my surprise.

By the end of “The West Wing’s” live debate episode last Sunday, I felt tempted to vote for Arnold Vinick for president.

If you’re not a “West Wing” fan, here’s what you need to know, though it’s hard to imagine how NBC missed you. This fall the show’s been featuring a fictional presidential campaign between a Democrat named Matt Santos, played by Jimmy Smits, and a Republican named Arnold Vinick, played by Alan Alda.

And if you haven’t been following my column lately, here’s another tidbit you might want to know. On a recent fall morning, I checked my phone messages to hear a woman’s voice breathe with delicious venom: “You liberal pond scum.”

I forget now which of my progressive viewpoints riled her that day. But the point is this: I might not be considered a natural fit in the Vinick camp.

Nonetheless, some might say I have a soft spot in my heart for Republican men — and for Alan Alda. They could be right.

And here’s where reality and fiction start to entangle. “The West Wing’s” Republican candidate is played by a well-known liberal actor who looks a lot like my Republican dad. And Alda’s been quoted as saying he finds this character particularly interesting to play because he’s smart, experienced and a genuinely good guy. Vinick thinks he can make a positive contribution to the country, and that — not a desire for power or prestige — motives him to run.

During the debate, Alda’s strengths quickly became evident. He displayed poise and assurance, intelligence and eloquence, couching these attributes in a 70-year-old’s cranky impatience, which made him all the more fun.

Smits’ character may have struck women voters as more handsome, but he frequently fumbled when it became his turn to verbally carry the ball.

He had many of the best, if familiar, lines. He embraced that vilified term, “liberal,” and pointed out Abraham Lincoln was one.

“Liberals got women the right to vote,” he said. “Liberals got African Americans the right to vote. Liberals created Social Security and lifted millions of elderly people out of poverty. Liberals ended segregation.”

He’s preachin’ to the choir here. And yet, when I found a poll on the NBC Web site asking who won the debate, I voted for Vinick.

Like most American voters, I was swayed by sheer acting ability.

We may think we’re searching for a politician with real conviction and passion, but generally we elect the man we think plays the role best on TV.

Alda’s character brings other assets, both political and artistic, to this show with lagging ratings. Many of us know what its writers will do with a liberal administration — we’ve been watching Martin Sheen’s presidency for years. But imagine the freshness and energy, the sheer creative tension, of a group of stereotypically liberal Hollywood writers crafting the storyline for a smart, well-intended moderate Republican.

It would be fascinating to watch the Vinick character begin to untangle his party from its all-too-real excesses and steer it toward the middle. Real-life moderate Republicans have been convinced to keep their lips zipped for the good of the party. Imagine what might happen if they were suddenly freed.

These television writers have a chance to remind voters of the charms of that American classic: the moderate politician.

The world needs more moderates, both Republican and Democrat, because they think as most Americans do. By those on the fringes, they’re mocked as unbearably bland. But in reality, they’re often capable of seeing the world in greater complexity, and they don’t become unraveled or uncivil in the midst of differences. With judgment and foresight, they make wise decisions and get good things done.

It’s often vastly more entertaining to spin arguments out in the far edges of left and right thinking. But I’m weary of so many angry words and the path of destruction those folks often leave in their wake.

We’ll never know how a bright, thoughtful moderate Republican would deal with the issues of 2005, but I’m campaigning for NBC to give it a fictional try. I prefer many of the Santos’ character’s ideas, but I think “West Wing’s” writers have a richer character to mine. If they asked, I just might mark my ballot for Republican Arnold Vinick.