Aaron Sorkin: If The West Wing was made now, you wouldn’t recognise the Republicans

When The West Wing premiered in 1999 it was always a Pollyanna version of reality.

Created by Aaron Sorkin as a wish-fulfilment scenario of what the Clinton administration could and should have been if not for Bill Clinton’s sex scandals, The West Wing has been described as a liberal fantasy.

But it was one that audiences wanted to buy into. Not just for its progressive ideals but for the fact that it was a depiction of good government by well-intentioned people who wanted to make a difference rather than amass power for the sake of having it.

To that end, even the Republicans in The West Wing were decent folk. OK, some were a little wily and smug, there was at least one homophobe, and a presidential candidate that could be generously described as a dumb lightweight, but they weren’t villains.

In an appearance on Sunday in Los Angeles to support the release of the upcoming book What’s Next by The West Wing cast members Janel Maloney and Melissa Fitzgerald, Sorkin said if he wrote the show now, the Republicans wouldn’t be reasonable people.

“I’m afraid to say right now, and maybe things will be different a year from now or two years from now. But, right now, it would be implausible that the opposition party, that the Republican Party, would be reasonable,” said Sorkin, who is a supporter of Democrat candidates, according to Deadline.

“People would watch that, and it would be unfamiliar to them as the country they live in. On the show, while the Republicans were in opposition, they were reasonable.”

While The West Wing centred on the administration of the fictional Democrat president Josiah Bartlet, the show created many prominent Republican characters – and very few were villains.

You could disagree with Republican lawyer Ainsley Hayes’ (Emily Procter) position on the Equal Rights Amendment as it pertains to the protection of women, but you respected her argument and perspective.

She wasn’t “on his team” but Bartlet hired her anyway because she was smart and he saw in her a commitment to civic duty that transcended political tribes.

The Republican Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda), loosely based on John McCain, was running for president against Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits) but he was a hard worker, a good person and he stood for his principles of small government because he believed in them.

The Republican characters of Cliff Calley (Mark Feuerstein) and Joe Quincy (Matthew Perry), and the conservative Supreme Court candidate Christopher Mulready (William Fichtner) all dealt in good faith.

The series’ portrayal of Republicans was also a commendable fit with how The West Wing depicted politicians and operators.

“(In pop culture) leaders are either portrayed as Machiavellian or as dolts, right? It’s either House of Cards or Veep,” Sorkin added.

“The idea behind The West Wing was, that they were as competent and dedicated as the doctors and nurses on hospital shows, the cops on cop shows and the lawyers on legal dramas.

“The result was something idealistic and aspirational.”

The remarks were not the first time Sorkin weighed into real-life politics this US election cycle.

Last month, he wrote an opinion piece for The New York Times that the Democrats should replace Joe Biden as its presidential candidate with Mitt Romney to unify Dems and any Republican voters uncomfortable with Donald Trump.

Hours later, Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Kamala Harris.

Sorkin then said, “I take it all back! Harris for America!”