Democracy for America

Published on Saturday, January 17, 2004 by the Madison Capital Times (Wisconsin)
Fictional President Bartlett Stumps to Help Make Dean a Real One
by John Nichols

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet's name cannot be found on the list of candidates contending on Monday for votes at Iowa's first-in-the-nation Democratic presidential caucuses. But he is the star of this campaign season.

Everywhere Bartlet goes in Iowa, he draws the biggest crowds. When he steps onto a stage, people start chanting "Bartlet!" Reporters hang on his every word. Children ask for his autograph. Adults want to know his thoughts about the war in Iraq, the Patriot Act and religion in politics.

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"President Bartlet is a fantasy," explains actor Martin Sheen, who plays Bartlet on the NBC political drama, "The West Wing." "Howard Dean is a reality."

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Sheen announced his support for Dean a year ago, when the Vermonter barely rated an asterisk in most polls. Like the vast majority of Dean's early backers, he was attracted by the candidate's outspoken opposition to President Bush's preparations for war with Iraq.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0117-07.htm