In America, we don't have shadow cabinets or governments-in-waiting. What we have instead is "The West Wing," NBC's drama about a White House staff that, compared with the Bush White House, has bigger offices, better haircuts, more Democrats, and many, many more people eager to filibuster about policy as they walk down the hall looking for coffee. As the show's creator and writer, Aaron Sorkin is essentially the country's loyal opposition. And in that role he has some questions.

The first point Sorkin raised, speaking last week from his quarters at the Four Seasons in Los Angeles, where he was writing another episode of the show, is that something has gone awry in the media's representation of the President. "President Bush seems to be handling things very well, and I support him one hundred per cent," Sorkin said. "I also think it's absolutely right that at this time we're all laying off the bubblehead jokes. But that's a far cry from what the Times and CNN and others on whom we rely for unvarnished objectivity are telling us, which is that"—his voice took on a worshipful tone—" 'My God! On September 12th he woke up as Teddy Roosevelt! He became the Rough Rider!' "

Among these hagiographies, Sorkin said, was NBC's look at a day in the life of the Presidency, "The Bush White House: Inside the Real West Wing," which aired as the lead-in to a "West Wing" repeat a few weeks ago. "The White House pumped up the President's schedule to show him being much busier and more engaged than he is, and Tom Brokaw let it happen—the show was a valentine to Bush. That illusion may be what we need right now, but the truth is we're simply pretending to believe that Bush exhibited unspeakable courage at the World Series by throwing out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium, or that he, by God, showed those terrorists by going to Salt Lake City and jumbling the first line of the Olympic opening ceremony. The media is waving pom-poms, and the entire country is being polite."

A more accurate perspective, Sorkin suggested, can be seen in a forthcoming documentary by Alexandra Pelosi called "Journeys with George." "It's about life on Bush's campaign plane, and the White House is worried about it because it shows the President in an amateurish light." (In one scene, as members of the press mix Margaritas Bush wades into the throng, announcing that "it takes an animal to know an animal.") "And I just began reading Frank Bruni's campaign book," Sorkin continued, referring to the Times reporter's "Ambling Into History: The Unlikely Odyssey of George W. Bush," "which begins with Candidate Bush at a service in Texas for seven people who were killed in a church by a crazy gunman. Bruni describes Bush making goofy faces at the press, and it reminds you of a junior high schooler on a museum field trip."

In the semi-contemporaneous universe of "The West Wing," where the World Trade Center never fell but terrorism is now a top staff priority, President Josiah Bartlet is up for reëlection this November. "Bartlet is going to be running against Governor Robert Ritchie, of Florida, who's not the sharpest tool in the box but who's raised a lot of money and is very popular with the Republican Party," Sorkin said. If this sounds familiar, it should. "It was frustrating watching Gore try so hard not to appear smart in the debates—why not just say 'Here's my fucking résumé, what do you got?' We're a completely fictional, nonpolitical show, but one of our motors is doing our version of the old Mad magazine 'Scenes We'd Like to See.' And so to an extent we're going to rerun the last election and try a few different plays than the Gore campaign did. In the episode this Wednesday, Toby Ziegler"—Bartlet's communications director, and the conscience of Sorkin's White House—"is going to continue his conversation with the President, 'Your father hated your guts because you were smarter than he was. In fact, he hit you because of it, and as a result you are scared to get people mad at you with your brains. You don't want to lose as the smartest kid in class who's running against an everyman. But I'm telling you, be the smartest kid in your class. Be the reason why your father hated you. Make this an election about smart and stupid, about engaged and not, qualified and not.' "

Sorkin acknowledged, however, that even after a "very successful State of the Union speech, President Bartlet's approval rating is hovering around sixty per cent." Meanwhile, of course, President Bush's approval rating has been in the low eighties. "To put Bartlet in the eighties," Sorkin said, "I'd have to send the country to war, and that's not going to happen. At least," he added carefully, mindful that his own approval ratings— the Nielsens—can also compel policy changes, "not this week."