Fans of “The West Wing” have seen the 2008 Presidential election before during the NBC series’ last season, when a young charismatic minority candidate took on a straight-talking, moderate Republican, the New York Times observes. In fact, “West Wing” writer Eli Attie used information about Barack Obama, who in 2004 had addressed the Democratic National Convention, to help create the show’s Democrat, played by Jimmy Smits, the Times says.
— Jon Lafayette