TVSquad

My guess . . . and I would put money on this . . . is that the VP will be Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe).



Although other contenders would have much more gravitas, having Sam Seaborn as VP makes electoral sense because Sam is an Orange County Congressman. That mitigates the electoral college problem of having Vinick potentially win California (his home state). And, it reinvigorates TWW franchise for at least another year by bringing back one of its favorite sons.



Lastly Sam Seaborn makes sense, if you remember that President Bartlet once told Sam that he would be president some day. (can't remember which episode that was, but I put that little gem in the back of my mind).



I will miss John Spencer, but hopefully it will invigorate The West Wing and bring another season to us in 2006/2007

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Was leo in the 'flash-forward'? Do you have proof of this besides what mainline news sites are running? I don't think that Leo was actually in that scene. Bartlett (library), Kate (book deal), Will (Senator), Toby (Columbia), C.J. & Danny (together with child), Charley (??), and Josh (seemingly running things, startled to see Bartlett) were all there, but Leo was not. That would have given too much away for the outcome of the presidency.



http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/story.cgi?show=4&story=8293

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Actually, as I recall, Leo wasn't in the Bartlett Library opening shot. Present were Will, CJ, Danny, Charlie, Toby and Kate, with Josh arriving to tell the group that "The President has arrived." Then we see the President getting out of his care but only partially. In fact this led to some speculation in the West Wing newsgroup that the person getting out of the car wasn't Vinnick (Alan Alda) or Santos (Jimmy Smits) but Leo.



Replacements: The VP character usually doesn't get much play although with Santos in the White House it might have been different given his lack of foreign policy experience. Bartlett can be made VP but since the primary duty of the VP is to succeed if something happens to the President he would be a bad choice - he can't serve even part of a third term (that's was a bad ammendment btw). There's no proof that Sam won the California 47th and even if he did, the character might not be old enough. How about the Pennsylvania Governor played by Ed O'Neil?



I suppose that one way to handle the situation might be to keep "Leo" off stage and then on election night - once the Santos-McGarry ticket triumphs - have Josh announce that Leo has passed away. A bit meledramatic perhaps but...

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OMG! Actually, I don't watch the show, I'm just so happy that commenting is back on. ROCK ON!

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Leo wasn't in on the season opener episode (that was set in the future) so they are off the hook with that one.



Personally I think, given they have set Leo up with a heart condition anyway, they should allow him to have a heart attack which should enable us to feature best JS moments of the show.

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Leo was definitely not in the season-starting flash-forward.

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Why not have vinnick win?

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1) Leo was not in the flashforard. That was part of the mystery of the future--is Leo president?



2) I'm betting Josh replaces Leo. it wouldn't surprise me if toby ran the campaign then.



3) Bartlett could serve as VP, but he would be skipped over for the Speaker of the House in succession if something happened to the president.

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Dramatically, Leo's death must be written into the show. There were plenty of press questions regarding his health in the first place when Santos choose him as a running mate. It throws a curve at Santos and once again sets up questions about his decisionmaking. Didn't he get advise from the party heads that only Leo could effectively lead him down the stretch. The best replacement now...Jed. Now you got a finish for the season!

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Why are we talking about this now, they won't even air the five episodes they have in the can until March 19th, so they have a long long time to figure this out...



Screw NBC and the way they have treated WW this year

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I'd like them to handle this John Ritter Style, and have the show open with his death and then have him be replaced by David Spade.

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What a terrible loss ,and remember he was a person not just a tv character,the show will go on but he can't be replaced,rest in peace John.

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My first thought was "I wonder what Rob Lowe is doing now." I want Sam to come back as VP nominee.

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Jamie, the 22nd Amendment would only bar Bartlett from being elected more than twice to be President. Thus, Bartlett could be VP and, if Santos has an untimely death, be elevated back to the Presidency.

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Actually Mase you're not completely correct: the 22nd also prohibits a person from serving as president (for any reason) for longer than ten years (2 full terms+one day less than 1/2 an additional term). So Bartlett would only be able to serve two additional years before being forced the resign. This kind of scenario pushes the country into uncharted constitutional waters but the basic point is clear: 10 years tops.

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Mase: You are correct about the 22nd amendment but forgetting th 12th, which states that "No person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States." Bartlett's two terms make him constitutionally inelligible to be president, therefore he would be skipped in the succession order if he were VP.

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How about they approach "Abby" the First Lady to run on the ticket as VP?????

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Abby would never allow Jed to run as Veep; she knows the pressures of the job already are speeding up his MS and she's looking forward to him stepping down at the end of his second term.



Plus, a second Veep candidate with health problems might be more than the public could tolerate. and they've seen the pics by now of Bartlet in the wheelchair as seen on Air Force One.



Josh and CJ are big names in the cast, sure, but within the show's inner reality, their choices would not make sense. How many of the public can even name the Chief of Staff, let alone a campaign manager? If 'The West Wing' is like the real world, Josh should be truly faceless to the public.



Sam Seaborn is a good choice, but he didn't win that special election. He's not truly tested.



Santos needs somebody in the West Wing universe (not necessarily a regular) who has the recognition factor, a good reputation for his health, experience in governing, and the age to balance Santos on the ticket.



We've already met this character.



Governor Buckland of Indiana as played by Kevin Tighe (DeSoto on 'Emergency', Locke's father on 'Lost').



He was enough of a threat to Bartlet's nomination for a second term, so he'd have enough voter recognition and political oomph to pick up the mantle from Leo and help Santos to victory.



This type of speculation takes nothing away from the sorrow over the loss of John Spencer. But it is a business and they have to act soon to avoid missing production deadlines.



And even though I'm a registered Democrat who usually votes in knee-jerk fashion for Democrats, I'm hoping that Vinick will win. It'll be exciting story-wise and allow them to "clean house" a la the MTM show for a memorable finale to the show.

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Why is it that (seemingly) every TV Website out there is including in their reports that Leo was in that fast forward??? Herc on AICN, Kristin @ EOnline, and just about every post to date on TVSquad...



Bob, not trying to rip you, but its just frustrating that everyone is reporting the same misinformation, which shapes the conversation completely wrong.

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Sorry, diatribe over...



I don't think that Sam would be a good VP choice. Leo's age (read: experience) countered Santos' youth on the ticket.



Buckland makes an interesting choice, and Kevin Tighe would probably be easier to rope in than MY choice. But, he hasn't been mentioned recently, even in passing (I dont' remember Buckland's name in the 'People wanting to fire Josh' list that did include several previously seen characters).



I think that ____ might be mentioned, as he was definately in that list I spoke of, and is an experienced beltway guy.



Hoynes is an option, but not for Santos.



Baker is an interesting option as well, but I'm not seeing it.



My choice?? Santos' two biggest knocks (to me) seem to be his youth and foriegn policy experience. How about bring in SecState? William Devane played the character when Bartlet wanted to elivate him to VP after the Hoynes resignation, and I think he's an actor with the same type of (lemme steal a AICN/Keifer favorite word) GRAVITAS that Spencer brought to the McGarry role.



Here's hoping, anyways... Any thoughts?

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