If you were even a casual fan of The West Wing back in the early aughts, you've probably caught yourself wishing once or twice that the cast would reunite. Sometimes it's a logical thing-- "They could do a Christmas special about the opening of the Barlet Library!"-- and sometimes it gets a little too real, like "I bet Josh and Toby would know exactly how to respond to Mitt Romney's 47% comment." But as it turns out, the fantasy of The West Wing cast coming together to support a real-world cause can actually happen-- at least, if you're Michigan Supreme Court candidate Bridget Mary McCormack.
McCormack is the sister of West Wing actress Mary McCormack, and somehow managed to pull all the magical strings to reunite nearly the entire cast of the show-- including Martin Sheen!-- to record a four-minute video supporting not just her campaign, but to raise awareness of the "non-partisan" part of a ballot, which many people leave blank when they vote. Really, you just need to watch the entire thing-- it's as snappy and funny as your average West Wing episode, and you also learn things!
So I know the political system doesn't exist so the most well-connected people are the ones who get the votes, and that we don't learn a whole lot about McCormack the candidate (except that Toby would totally propose to her). But COME ON. How can you not vote for someone who pulls off something this fantastic? If either Barack Obama or Mitt Romney promised they would get everyone to get back together for another season of The West Wing-- with Aaron Sorkin also back to his best writing peak, and not his current Newsroom levels-- I would vote for them both in a heartbeat. In that way I am a single-issue voter-- whoever promises me the most West Wing wins.
Unfortunately I'm not a Michigan voter, so I can't step up for McCormack. But maybe you can! Or maybe you can join me in watching this video 10 times today and pretending the Bartlet Adminstration is still out there, leading us into a bright future full of walk-and-talks and excellent jokes.
