West Wing Election Redux
Along with others, I’ve previously noted the similarities between Election 2008 and the fictional West Wing election between Matt Santos, the brown-skinned Democratic junior legislator and Arnie Vinick, the elderly, moderate Western Republican Senator.
Listening in on a blogger conference call with Senator McCain this afternoon, another parallel jumped up: his emphasis on nuclear power as a solution to our energy and environmental problems. This issue, of course, proved to be the death knell of Vinick’s campaign in the show due to an unfortunately timed accident.
The fictional Vinick and real McCain are right on the issue, I think, but the symmetry is amusing.
Well, with one caveat. They are wrong if they think we should add nuclear power production they same way we have in the past.
We need to learn from the French. And don’t listen to the whining from Bechtel, Parsons, et all.
Actually I think the pebble bed technology from the Chinese is a better solution. What is so great about the French nuclear power vs the US nuclear power?
The pebble bed has the value of not being able to melt down by accident. Remove all the water and it will get very hot, but won’t melt down as the fuel is encased in ceramic balls (hence the name).
Vinick-Santos where South Carolina goes Democratic for President. That’s worse fiction than the stuff I write on the internet.
Cheers,
Bill