West Wing Speculation

OK, with a proper amount of time given for the John Spencer news to kick in, now it's time to speculate a little on "where West Wing will go" since Leo McGarry was pretty central to current plotlines.

There's a couple different "general" directions it can go, depending on how things were already being written...

• If Vinnick was going to be the Presidential winner.

  If Vinnick was always going to be the Presidential winner, then the impact on the show is really minimal, aside from tying up any loose ends in Leo's storylines (which, right now, there don't appear to be any, but I can't speak for episodes in the can already). If Vinnick wins, there's no need for a recurring "used to be chief-of-staff, used to be VP candidate" character, and McGarry goes gentle into that good night.

  Also, potentially, a Vinnick win ends the series entirely, wrapping up neatly a "democrat's term in office".
  

• If Santos was going to win...

  Well, if Santos was going to win, there's a lot of problems... first of which is how do you write out Leo, and do you do it before or after the election? Probably the way which makes the most sense, given both the character's history (he had a heart attack in the show several years ago) and as a tip of the hat to the real life actor, is to have Leo suffer a fatal heart attack.

  Now the interesting part of this is what do you do after that? Who do you fill the VP role with? You need a Democrat who can be taken seriously in the context of the show. Sure, you could fill it with "random actor" who goes off into recurring-character mode (just as Tim Matheson and Gary Cole did), or you can do something interesting... something that will breathe new life and interest into the show. What character can you put into the VP slot who is both credible as well as potentially show-worthy?

  Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe's character). He's got the political clout, especially after he gave it a good showing in the California 47th. The current presidential team -- headed by Josh and Donna -- certainly trust him and would be willing to extol his merits to Santos. It could be both a believable move, as well as the fact that Rob Lowe returning would give a ratings boost to a show that's slipped a little this season in the ratings, if the contractual issues could all be quickly and sensibly resolved.

  But, assume for the moment that they don't... Bob Russell wouldn't necessarily make a bad VP candidate again, so long as he's willing to continue to play second-fiddle, and Gary Cole is almost always great television as well.

  Crazy idea mentioned by someone else (not by me) : Vinnick as VP. Would never happen, though.