The West Wing: Who Won the Debate?
By: Mark Runyon | Category: Show Review | 11/07/05 | 08:00 PM
The Preliminaries
No sooner had the candidates mounted the stage than Vinick proposed they throw out the rules and debate Lincoln style. No pre-set time limits, none of this "stay behind your podium at all times" phony crap, real debate in other words. Santos was game so the moderator (Forrest Sawyer -- yep the same guy that handled one of the Bush/Kerry debates) threw the debating anarchy into action.
Border Control
Vinick struck first blood, pushing for doubling the border control and touting the passage of CAFTA as a stabilizer for the Mexican economy. Smits railed back, questioning the notion of doubling or even tripling the border control. He pulled out statistics listing the Bartlett administration's effort of already tripling the border control, which has proved little impact in stemming the flood of illegal immigrants. As the first Latino candidate, he delivered an honest impassioned speech, saying this exodus couldn't be stopped. All they could hope to do is aid in boosting the Mexican economy to make leaving their home less attractive.
Round 1: Santos
Cuts to Balance the Budget
In true politician style, neither candidate addressed what cuts they would make to balance the budget. Santos advocated raising taxes among the wealthiest Americans to address the shortfall while Vinick pushed slicing away the fat of government to blunt the debt growth. No specific programs were tossed under the bus.
Round 2: Draw
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| The West Wing: Debate |
| Starring: Jimmy Smits, Alan Alda, Teri Polo & Janeane Garofalo |
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Education
Vinick elicited massive gasps from the audience in his proposal to scrap the education initiative Head Start. He offered that it didn't work when you looked at the results in students over the long-term, and he said they should basically abandon under performing public schools in favor of vouchers so parents can send their children to private schools. It was a bold statement that no real politician would make, but you really wish you could get a tenth of that honesty out of an actual candidate during a debate. Santos proposed increasing funding of public schools to help bring them up to par. He made a bold pronouncement as well, pinning his Presidency on education reform. If he didn't live up to his promise of reform during his time in office, he flat out told the American public not to vote for his reelection.
Round 3: Draw
Medical Reform & Importing Prescription Drugs from Canada
Not to be outdone by radical sweeping reform gestures, Santos proposed opening the doors of Medicare to everyone, stating that administrative costs clocked in at a wee 2% as opposed to the 25% bite that weighs down the costs of private HMOs. Taxes would increase, but the publics overall cost of healthcare would drop significantly. Vinick spent most of his time incensed by Santos' far-flung ideas and more or less pushed the status quo. He in turn justified the high pharmaceutical costs, saying the cost of prevention was less than life saving surgery. In other words, I'm fighting to save pharmas profit margins while people suffer.
Round 4: Santos
Debt Relief
Africa's struggle to contain the AIDS epidemic took over the spotlight from prescription drugs. Both candidates seemed to advocate some form of debt relief. Vinick's grasp of the situation seemed to be much tighter, saying how high tax rates were a direct result of the burden of their tremendous debt load. High taxes stifle the economy never allowing them to drag themselves out of eternal poverty.
Round 5: Vinick
Jobs & Outsourcing
Santos pushed for creating one million new jobs during his Presidency through retraining to combat the foreign parasite of outsourcing. Vinick took the audience aback once again by saying he'd actually cut jobs once in office, rather than create them. Basically, he'd trim government and leave the job creation up to the private sector, laissez faire style.
Round 5: Santos
Gun Control
Vinick advocated no form of gun control while Santos stated that controlling the flow of arms was impossible. Instead, he steps out of the box by looking to control the sale of ammo. He said that any bullet fired should be able to be tracked back to its owner. Come to think of it, that is a good idea. Why is no one pushing for this?
Round 6: Santos
Energy & Drilling in Alaskan Wildlife Preserve
Santos contested that he would preserve the Alaskan Wildlife Preserve, pushing instead for increased funding of alternate energy development. Vinick said they should let the free market handle that research and rather they should be drilling in the Alaskan Preserve because no one actually goes there or ever will. While a bit off base in his core assumption, he drilled home his point effectively, drawing the slight edge in this round.
Round 7: Vinick
Bonus Points
Santos resoundingly got the one up on his opponent in the space resting in between questions. When Vinick accused him of being a liberal, Santos fired back that all the greatest accomplishments in American history (ending segregation, creating Social Security and Medicare, opening the vote to women and African Americans) were all liberal policies that bucked the conservative status quo. Democrats: that's how the accusation of being a liberal should be handled. It's not the dirty word. You just allow the Republicans to package it as such. He also packed a powerful punch by asking Vinick to join him in a vow to never to go to war over oil, which Vinick danced around yet failed to make that same promise.
Round 8: Santos
The Wrap-up
 The winner by a clear margin of victory is Santos. He led the spirited exchange with the most impassioned replies and seemed to provide a solid plan for battling the countries ills. Vinick, while spunky and controversially forthright, seemed to largely take a defensive posture, trying to bat down Santos' initiatives instead of honing a clear picture of what his Presidential plan would entail. The latest Zogby poll shows Santos ahead 54% to 38%. After last night's showing, it will take incriminating pictures of Santos getting friendly with the family goat to knock him out of the hot seat.
Catch the West Wing Sunday nights at 8/7C on NBC.
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Grade: B | Genre: Drama
