One of the enjoyable things of theTV show The West Wing is how unrealistic it is. In the current season, we're seeing an election between two candidates, either of whom would be a dream for the American people, but would be nightmares for their respective parties.

Because the simple fact is that nobody like Matt Santos or Arnold Vinick could win either party's nomination. Why? They're too principled.

The temptation is to call these fictional characters "moderate" politically. But really, "moderate" is a word that in politics means next to nothing, unless it's held up against something else. These characters are too principled to be role models for politicians today.

Santos, the Democrat, is campaigning primarily on education reform. But he's refused to give in to teacher union demands for tenure. He's comfortable talking about his faith, but refuses to pander to ideologues who want to mix faith and science in classrooms with "intelligent design." He refuses to go negative in his campaign ads. And he speaks off script, spontaneously.

Just imagine someone like that winning the Democratic nomination.

On the Republican side, Arnie Vinick is also a principled man. He's pro-choice and refuses to publicly declare a commitment to naming anti-choice judges to the bench. He wiggles and squirms, but on the record he draws the line. He's a fiscal conservative and seems to be a social libertarian.

Just imagine someone like that winning the Republican nomination.

No, The West Wing is pure fantasy. And it's much more appealing than real politics today.

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