uselectionsatlas in the west wing universe

[TransfemmeGoreVidal]

“Describe a Hispanic Bartlett-Vinick voter.”

[HillGoose]

they should have called that show "The Left Wing"

[TheTide]

A handful of people would predict Santos to win South Carolina and be laughed at by most of the forum, and then...

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[GeorgiaModerate]

they should have called that show "The Left Wing"

It certainly had a liberal bias, but nonetheless was a very good show.  Some parts were extremely gripping, for example:

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The four(?)-episode arc where Bartlett's daughter Zoe was kidnapped by terrorists.

[Joe Biden 2024]

There'd be frequent discussions of Bartlet's MS.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

"Describe a white Joseph Cao-OBD voter."

[Santander]

they should have called that show "The Left Wing"

It certainly had a liberal bias, but nonetheless was a very good show.  Some parts were extremely gripping, for example:

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The four(?)-episode arc where Bartlett's daughter Zoe was kidnapped by terrorists.

"Two Cathedrals" is a masterpiece.

[Schiff for Senate]

A handful of people would predict Santos to win South Carolina and be laughed at by most of the forum, and then...

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Istg they had the most bullsh**t election map. Enough to drive any election nerd crazy...VT and ME Republican? What is this, 1936?

[Atlas Force]

A handful of people would predict Santos to win South Carolina and be laughed at by most of the forum, and then...

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Istg they had the most bullsh**t election map. Enough to drive any election nerd crazy...VT and ME Republican? What is this, 1936?

Tv show electoral maps are often weird https://mcimaps.com/why-cant-tv-shows-create-an-electoral-map-that-makes-sense/

[Joseph Cao]

"Describe a white Joseph Cao-OBD voter."

Wrong way round!

Two ethnically Chinese presidents in a row is interesting though.

[The Arizonan]

"Describe a white Joseph Cao-OBD voter."

What does OBD stand for?

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

"Describe a white Joseph Cao-OBD voter."

What does OBD stand for?

OregonBlueDog, an user who used to be Fantasyland President. It's an Atlasia joke.

[HisGrace]

A handful of people would predict Santos to win South Carolina and be laughed at by most of the forum, and then...

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Vinick winning Vermont is even more random.

[Atlas Force]

There would be Family Guy episodes about Bartlet, Santos, and Vinick, and BRTD would never let us forget about it.

[Schiff for Senate]

A handful of people would predict Santos to win South Carolina and be laughed at by most of the forum, and then...

Spoiler alert! Click Show to show the content.

Show

Istg they had the most bullsh**t election map. Enough to drive any election nerd crazy...VT and ME Republican? What is this, 1936?

Tv show electoral maps are often weird https://mcimaps.com/why-cant-tv-shows-create-an-electoral-map-that-makes-sense/

Ironically for that Veep map, the results for MI, CO, and NV are now quite a bit more plausible and it's the author's analysis that's dated. She says CO ("a swing state") going blue while the supposedly reliably Dem MI and NV going red is really unlikely - but looking at it a decade later, the roles have switched and now CO is much deeper blue than either MI or NV (and in the context of 2024 specifically, MI going red while WI/PA remain blue isn't considered quite as unlikely as it usually seems).

[It's Perro Sanxe wot won it]

A handful of people would predict Santos to win South Carolina and be laughed at by most of the forum, and then...

Spoiler alert! Click Show to show the content.

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Istg they had the most bullsh**t election map. Enough to drive any election nerd crazy...VT and ME Republican? What is this, 1936?

My personal canon has Vermont and Maine staying as Republican-leaning states for longer than they did historically, only going Democratic in 2002 due to Bartlet’s landslide. It makes sense if you consider that Maine didn’t vote for Bartlet in 1998 (and assume Vermont didn’t either, which is possible).

[Schiff for Senate]

A handful of people would predict Santos to win South Carolina and be laughed at by most of the forum, and then...

Spoiler alert! Click Show to show the content.

Show

Istg they had the most bullsh**t election map. Enough to drive any election nerd crazy...VT and ME Republican? What is this, 1936?

My personal canon has Vermont and Maine staying as Republican-leaning states for longer than they did historically, only going Democratic in 2002 due to Bartlet’s landslide. It makes sense if you consider that Maine didn’t vote for Bartlet in 1998 (and assume Vermont didn’t either, which is possible).

Ig that's kind of valid, because ME and VT were still red states until Clinton, who was winning big nationally. So it's a reasonable assumption that they'd be red for a little while longer. I just think that, the same way the states remained blue post-Clinton even for Gore and Kerry, VT and ME would transition into blue states after flipping to Barlett in his 2002 landslide. They'd support Barlett decisively in 2002 and then demonstrate that their shift was part of a larger trend by supporting Santos in 2006.

Or maybe Vinick's the kind of moderate, Snowe-style Republican to actually flip back ME - it's not that blue or anything - but VT I think would've still backed Santos.

A handful of people would predict Santos to win South Carolina and be laughed at by most of the forum, and then...

Spoiler alert! Click Show to show the content.

Show

Vinick winning Vermont is even more random.

Maybe the best explanation is that they went red by razor thin margins in a lust-hurrah kind of victory for the Rockefeller Republicans. They presumably would both support Santos comfortably in his 2010 reelection bid (even if he lost nationally).

Either way, I think SC going blue was just the most bizarre result possible. VA, NC? For God's sake -- FL?? And tbh even GA. Any one of those states going blue instead would make much more sense. But SC going red even as its much more Democratic northern neighbor and its much more Democratic northern neighbor go Republican - that's extremely outlandish. Especially when, based on the GA result, it's not a Carter-style Deep South sweep or anything remotely close to it.

[kyc0705]

If memory serves, Vinick was portrayed as a fairly centrist "maverick" Republican.

Regardless, I think I've said this before, but I usually don't care about the realism of election maps in fiction. You can normally handwave it away as the parties having different coalitions in the universe of the story, and often it's just a throwaway detail that is not all that pertinent. The problem with The West Wing's maps is that they were largely inconsistent and the details were relevant to the plot.

[Ferguson97]

It's kinda funny that the show has this reputation for being boring with bland politics, when there's a number of events that would have crippled Atlas's servers:

1. Assassination attempt on the President by white supremacists.

2. The VP resigning.

3. The President's daughter getting kidnapped by terrorists.

4. The opposite-party House Speaker becoming Acting President after the 25th amendment was invoked.

5. Bartlet nominating a right-wing extremist to the court in exchange for getting a far-left extremist as Chief Justice.

6. Bartlet's MS.

7. Assassinating the Defense Secretary of a foreign country.

8. Solving social security

[Atlas Force]

Bronz would never shut up about Santos being a Hispanic veteran. During the 2006 election, every other post from him would be about whether Santos could make Latino cops in the NYC metro area a Safe D demographic.

[Crumpets]

Which is more likely to flip in 2008, California or Texas? With Santos as the Dems' candidate, I see them both as likely D, but polls are showing the race pretty neck-and-neck.