‘West Wing’ Creator Says DNC Should Nominate A Republican – And NYT Ran With It
“West Wing” creator Aaron Sorkin suggested in a Sunday op-ed that the Democratic Party could win if they nominated a Republican — and not just any Republican: 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
Sorkin’s guest essay, titled “How I Would Script This Moment for Biden and the Democrats,” ran in Sunday’s edition of The New York Times — and went live before President Joe Biden announced that he planned to “stand down” and exit the 2024 presidential race, endorsing his own Vice President Kamala Harris a short time later.
The longtime television writer began with a reference to the hit drama series, and explained how the current political climate — and his desperation to ensure a loss for former President Donald Trump — called for a bit of a rewrite.
Aaron Sorkin says the Democrats should choose Mitt Romney as their Biden replacement: pic.twitter.com/nr8JNEuJKJ
— Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) July 21, 2024
“The problem in the real world is that there isn’t a Democrat who is polling significantly better than Mr. Biden. And quitting, as heroic as it may be in this case, doesn’t really put a lump in our throats,” Sorkin wrote. “But there’s something the Democrats can do that would not just put a lump in people’s throats with its appeal to stop-Donald-Trump-at-all-costs unity, but with its originality and sense of sacrifice. So here’s my pitch to the writers’ room: The Democratic Party should pick a Republican.”
“At their convention next month, the Democrats should nominate Mitt Romney,” Sorkin continued, arguing that such a move would convince the American people that the Democratic Party truly valued country over party.
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“Nominating Mr. Romney would be putting our money where our mouth is: a clear and powerful demonstration that this election isn’t about what our elections are usually about it, but about stopping a deranged man from taking power. Surely Mr. Romney, who doesn’t have to be introduced to voters, would peel off enough Republican votes to win, probably by a lot,” he said.
“Does Mr. Romney support abortion rights? No. Does he want to aggressively raise the minimum wage, bolster public education, strengthen unions, expand transgender rights and enact progressive tax reform? Probably not,” Sorkin conceded, but he went on to say that those things didn’t matter as much as making sure that there was no way for Trump to win.
Sorkin concluded by taking creative license to the history of January 6th for his own purposes, adding, “But is he a cartoon thug who did nothing but watch TV while the mob he assembled beat and used Tasers on police officers? No. The choice is between Donald Trump and not-Trump, and the not-Trump candidate needs only one qualification: to win enough votes from a cross section of Americans to close off the former president’s Electoral College path back to power.”
Despite his op-ed, following Biden’s Sunday afternoon announcement that he would no longer seek the Democratic nomination, and his endorsing of Vice President Kamala Harris, Sorkin stated that he was supporting the VP. “I take it all back. Harris for America!”
