Even the fictional President Bartlet wasn't able to end Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

[Aristus]

But President Obama and our Congress did.

As idealistic and occasionally naive as Aaron Sorkin can be, even he didn't write an episode in which President Bartlet was able to end discrimination against gays in the military. It was the subject of a first-season episode that ended with a we'll-have-to-wait-and-see attitude.

But the real-life Democrats got it done! B-)

[Hippo_Tron]

1. President Bartlet also created a bipartisan entitlement reform commission

And signed a welfare reform bill that requires marriage incentives. Pretty much every scenario encountered by the Bartlet Administration was modeled after a real life scenario in the Clinton Administration and they played it pretty much the same.

Yes, there's the episode where Toby convinces the President to drop "The era of big government is over" from the State of the Union and replace it with "Government is a place where people come together and nobody gets left behind" and we feel all good inside about that. But policy wise, everything by the Bartlet Administration is DLC/Third Way and

The difference is that Aaron Sorkin takes us inside the White House where we get to see Bartlet and his staffers talk about how great it would be if they could have single payer, turn public schools into palaces, and end the war on drugs. And then we get to see how it never happens and that it's clearly not the President and his staff's fault but congress or the ignorant public or something like that.

In my view, the West Wing is actually a pretty realistic view of how things go down minus the witty banter and the constant walk and talk scenes. Sure, Sorkin writes an overly idealistic episode from time to time, like when the Ayatollah's son needs a heart transplant and the President completely ignores the political ramifications and only cares about the kid living. But in terms of major policy outcomes, they get it exactly right.

If the West Wing were real life, large segments of DU would be supporting Seth Gillette's potential primary challenge against President Bartlet or even Howard Stackhouse's third party bid. They would be claiming that his lying about multiple sclerosis as evidence that he's a lying corporatist who wants to destroy the middle class.

[Robbins]

2. Well

remember martin Sheen once remarked His own personal politics would make Bartlet look like a Conservative.

The West Wing had a Republican Congress.It wasn't just a Liberal Fantasy show but often tried to be realistic.Bartlet was said to
be drawn from parts of Kennedy,Carter,and Clinton with Bartlet's First VP laregly drawn from negative attitudes from Clinton.

[Arkana]

3. Josh actually mentions the DLC in connection with Hoynes at least once.

I think it was in the episode where they discussed dropping him from the ticket.

[Robbins]

4. Yep

During the 6th season during the Democratic primary fight Hoynes was mentioned by Josh as DLC type In mentioned to Santos' wife as
part of stragedy to get Santos(which by the way the writers based partly after Obama after coming onto national scene In 2004) the
nomination by postitioning him as alternate to Hoynes after him bringing down bartlet's second VP Russell.

They might have mentioned him as DLC type during when It was discussed about dropping Hoynes from the Ticket.Something to look for.
I have started to put the West Wing on my Netflix Quere so that Is one thing to rewatch for.