McCain's Speech Backdrop Was Used In Matt Santos' West Wing Presidential Announcement
As you know, we've been digging into the mystery of why McCain had an image of Walter Reed Middle School in the background during the first few minutes of his convention speech last night.
A bunch of you have speculated that the intention was actually to use Walter Reed Medical Center but that someone goofed and pulled the school image instead. The school is right now being deluged by media requests, we're told.
Meanwhile, here's another fun wrinkle: It turns out that the building behind McCain was also used as the backdrop for Matt Santos' announcement of his presidential candidacy on The West Wing.
Take a look:
Meanwhile, it looks as if it was footage of the school that was used in the background of McCain's speech, not a still image. More in a bit.
It's Santos, not Sanchez.
September 5, 2008 12:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
And Santos gave a better speech. Nice work, guys.
http://pufferfish.typepad.com/
September 5, 2008 12:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
THIS IS EXCELLENT NEWS!! FOR MCCAIN!!!
September 5, 2008 12:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Lol. I'm curious as to how the McCain camp will spin this goof. If it'll be "ok, we made a mistake." Or if they'll give us some interesting excuse that'll make my day.
September 5, 2008 12:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's a head-fake. Just some stupid distraction to get the media to ask questions about anything other then McSame's and Palin's fitness for office. Or, heaven forbid, substantive policy questions.
September 5, 2008 1:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
... OTOH, maybe not. That explanation runs counter to Hanlon's Razor:
Do not attribute to conspiracy what is equally explainable by stupidity.
September 5, 2008 1:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wasn't Santos supposed to be that show's version of Obama?
September 5, 2008 12:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wikipedia:
September 5, 2008 12:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Absolutely. I read a thing recently (don't remember where, and it may have been dead-tree and thus not linkable) where apparently the producers talked to David Axelrod and essentially took the character straight from there. What's more, the Santos/Obama character was supposed to lose, but after John Spencer/Leo's heart attack, they didn't feel like they could do that to the audience.
September 5, 2008 12:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's my alma mater!
September 5, 2008 12:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
I miss "The West Wing."
September 5, 2008 12:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Me, too.
September 5, 2008 1:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yup. Though thankfully the Onion is bringing it back. :)
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/aaron_sorkin_announces_new_west
September 5, 2008 1:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Me too. Thankfully, the Onion is bringing it back. :)
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/aaron_sorkin_announces_new_west
September 5, 2008 1:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Absolutely hilarious. You just can't make this stuff up.
September 5, 2008 12:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Help -- someone -- I'm going into irony overload!! I'm convulsing! Call 911. Someone . . . please . . .
September 5, 2008 1:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm wondering if the image was chosen by Rovian disciples to distract reporters who might otherwise be looking into John McCain's or Sarah Palin's record or remarks. It is an odd choice but it seems like there are much more important things to focus on right now.
September 5, 2008 12:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Seeing as how this goof is just as embarrassing as the rest of McCain's speech, if it's supposed to be a distraction, they need to come up with something better.
September 5, 2008 12:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think it was intentional. Some inside joke by a West Wing lover techie who wanted a big laugh and knew just how to get it with plausible deniability.
September 5, 2008 1:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, that makes a certain amount of sense. There seems to be something like that that has come up at every Republican convention for the last several election cycles. The one that jumps to mind immediately was the use of "We Are Family" from La Cage aux Folles as the theme song at the 1992 GOP convention. That's far from the only one, though.
They've got a mole in the works somewhere!
September 5, 2008 3:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
And Sheen's bit in the scene is probably not an image the McCain people want to be seeing when they think about presidents.
September 5, 2008 12:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
What the hell can I say about this? It's silly.
It's another piece of silliness from a party that has no clue what it's doing or trying to do - they are like headless chickens in the GOP right now - they don't have clue one what to do or how to do it.
September 5, 2008 12:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
oh this is rich.
September 5, 2008 12:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Matt Santos character was inspired by Barack Obama. However before the actor protraying his running mate Leo Mcgarry died and forced rewrite of the script, Santos was going to lose to Vinick.
McGarry sounds sort of like Biden.
Here's a descriptionof Vinick -
He is a social moderate and fiscal conservative with a maverick streak and a direct manner. Vinick is pro-choice. He is, however, opposed to partial birth abortion and in favour of parental consent laws. Vinick has also been described as a deficit hawk. Vinick opposes the Religious Right's influence in the Republican Party since 1980, and wants to return to more traditional, limited-government conservatism.
Sounds sorta like pre-sell out McCain.
Vinick also chose a staunch conservative to balance his ticket.
September 5, 2008 12:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
The parallels are many.
September 5, 2008 12:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
...so as long as Biden doesn't die we win?
September 5, 2008 1:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
...so as long as Biden doesn't die we win?
September 5, 2008 1:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
The other difference is that in West Wing the Democrats were in power before the elections. In other words, the Vinnick didn't have to deal with the shadow of Bush.
Also, If it is the case that they were going to make Vinnick win (which would have been a mean and depressing way to end the show), they were making the decision based on what they percieved would grab ratings, not on what was best for the country. I believe in real life Biden will survive this election and I believe the American people will make the right decision and elect Obama! (Then again, I'm an idealistic West Wing fan).
September 5, 2008 2:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
The other difference is that in West Wing the Democrats were in power before the elections. In other words, the Vinnick didn't have to deal with the shadow of Bush.
Also, If it is the case that they were going to make Vinnick win (which would have been a mean and depressing way to end the show), they were making the decision based on what they percieved would grab ratings, not on what was best for the country. I believe in real life Biden will survive this election and I believe the American people will make the right decision and elect Obama! (Then again, I'm an idealistic West Wing fan).
September 5, 2008 2:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
The other difference is that in West Wing the Democrats were in power before the elections. In other words, the Vinnick didn't have to deal with the shadow of Bush.
Also, If it is the case that they were going to make Vinnick win (which would have been a mean and depressing way to end the show), they were making the decision based on what they percieved would grab ratings, not on what was best for the country. I believe in real life Biden will survive this election and I believe the American people will make the right decision and elect Obama! (Then again, I'm an idealistic West Wing fan).
September 5, 2008 2:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
The inspiration for Vinick was supposed to be Giuliani, I think. Except obviously idealized (and given, you know, experience). But at least they share the image of a moderate Repub who had strong standing in a blue state. Vinick's from California and carries it in the election, but Santos wins Texas.
September 5, 2008 1:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hollywood loves a liberal Republican. Who doesn't? Too bad they don't exist anymore.
September 5, 2008 1:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
I guess it's obvious then, McCain is making a play for the all-important Jimmy Smits vote.
Shrewd.
September 5, 2008 12:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Short NBC Video clip;
"Because John Bush, John McCain is his own man"
Tom Ridge.
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/09/short-nbc-video-clip-because-j.php
Click it on up, or it will be buried by the deluge of multiple posts.
September 5, 2008 12:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
On TPM's front page, Rick Davis blames Fred Davis while at the Google/Vanity Fair party - isn't that one of those elitist cocktail parties that The Maverick & Barracuda are threatening to shut down?
September 5, 2008 12:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
My daughter just started 6th grade there. I had a conversation with the principal on the front steps in the picture . . . to damn funny!
September 5, 2008 12:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
See? They should've gone with the Greek columns.
September 5, 2008 12:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
That was my comment and it's still hung in cyber space.
Shit!
September 5, 2008 12:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'll give props to both of you....LMAO.
September 5, 2008 1:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'll give props to both of you....LMAO.
September 5, 2008 1:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Kind of takes the wind out of Sarah Palin's little "styrofoam columns" remark, yo?
September 5, 2008 12:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
I doubt the McCain camp even recognized there was a goof. Just looks like one of his homes.
Why would they want to remind voters of the Walter Reed scandal? Sheesh.
McCain's vp selection process:
http://tinyurl.com/5zr47h
September 5, 2008 12:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe that's why there was stock video footage. Maybe it orinated at this shoot, got tagged with the school name, and some bonehead in the McCain camp mistook it.
September 5, 2008 1:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
You ever have one of those dreams where everything seems so real, and you wake up and still think for a second that it is real? Then you have to tell yourself, no, my wife did not birth a kitten as her baby, and I'm not still in high school, and my mother never was a Tom Jones groupie...
This election is feeling more and more like this. It's like the Republicans' strategy is to get everyone on the opposite side feeling like they're on acid. Disoriented, they'll go in and scribble Bob Barr's name on the ballot in crayon. And Palin/McCain will win.
September 5, 2008 1:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes!
I keep thinking I'm going to wake up!
September 5, 2008 1:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
It is only a paper moon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
September 5, 2008 1:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
It is only a paper moon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
September 5, 2008 1:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
LOL!
September 5, 2008 1:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe that's why there was stock video footage. Maybe it orinated at this shoot, got tagged with the school name, and some bonehead in the McCain camp mistook it.
September 5, 2008 1:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Should have been "originated"
September 5, 2008 1:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
You ever have one of those dreams where everything seems so real, and you wake up and still think for a second that it is real? Then you have to tell yourself, no, my wife did not birth a kitten as her baby, and I'm not still in high school, and my mother never was a Tom Jones groupie...
This election is feeling more and more like this. It's like the Republicans' strategy is to get everyone on the opposite side feeling like they're on acid. Disoriented, they'll go in and scribble Bob Barr's name on the ballot in crayon. And Palin/McCain will win.
September 5, 2008 1:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe that's why there was stock video footage. Maybe it orinated at this shoot, got tagged with the school name, and some bonehead in the McCain camp mistook it.
September 5, 2008 1:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Plausible. Often they'll put the second unit footage in an archive, which then might be available to stock libraries.
Freakin' hilarious.
September 5, 2008 3:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Confusion of Walter Reed with Walter Reed aside, what I want to know is, Why "Walter Reed" in the first place? That image doesn't overtly square with its appearance at the beginning of a speech in which, at the beginning, the speaker accepted his party's nomination for President.
Unless, of course, there's the subconscious message here that the party is wounded and convalescing from said wounds . . .
September 5, 2008 1:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
1. I think the whole "Walter Reed" aspect is purely coincidence. Go look at a picture of the real Walter Reed building. No way anyone thought is a desirable backdrop.
http://www.walterreedsociety.org/October%202006/images/Walter%20Reed%20General%20Hospital.JPG
2. Walter Reed is the Army Medical Center. McCain is Navy not Army.
3. The photo used follows classic photographic rules for composition. Unlike the head-on view (used in the clip from west wing and in the image on the front page of TPM) this backdrop was chosen purely for visual reasons.
4. They ripped this off from the movie/TV guys, plain and simple, which makes sense they are the absolute best at creating the kind of entirely controlled version of reality that the republicans lust for.
5. The whole visual wall thing was fascinating and no doubt a glimpse of the future. Just think if they had used it to show Ross Perot style charts and tables. That would have been a hoot.
But that this whole thing was amateur hour is confirmed by the fact that it looked idiotic on TV (green background, then yellow and green blobby background, then undifferentiated pale blue). Reagan's people never, ever would have done that. heck even Bush's people were better than this.
September 5, 2008 2:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
To Economides,
Well, okay. They screwed up the visual script for the speech. But there's still the script itself. The mystery to me is what their thinking behind the image was in the first place. What were they thinking? What sort of message were they after in the first place via the displaying of (what they thought was) "Walter Reed"? The McCain campaign has been a slow-motion trainwreck, so getting a picture wrong is just par for their course. But it's their intention from the get-go that puzzles me.
September 5, 2008 5:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
It only a paper moon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
September 5, 2008 1:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Could this really be a coincidence? It increasingly seems that they got hacked by pranksters.
September 5, 2008 1:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ad, the whole campaign feels like it has been hacked by pranksters.
September 5, 2008 1:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
... pranksters and karma.
September 5, 2008 1:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gallup tracker:
Obama 48 McCain 44
September 5, 2008 1:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's a somewhat amusing goof, but it's not a story.
September 5, 2008 1:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sez you.
I disagree. It's a great story.
September 5, 2008 1:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe that's why there was stock video footage. Maybe it orinated at this shoot, got tagged with the school name, and some bonehead in the McCain camp mistook it.
September 5, 2008 1:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Ginger, get the popcorn."
September 5, 2008 1:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for that. I always loved that scene.
September 5, 2008 1:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gallup tracker:
Obama 48 McCain 44
September 5, 2008 1:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Double post. My bad.
September 5, 2008 1:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry to be off topic, but someone's put together an excellent video response to the community organizer slams:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpniuotfpR8
September 5, 2008 1:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks, that says it all.
September 5, 2008 1:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
If you can run a Green Screen how can you possibly defend the country?
September 5, 2008 1:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
You know what just occurred to me? The Repugs are hung up on TV shows - look how they used 24 Hours to try to justify torture.
I'm not sure this was that much of a mistake.
And texasdem - that vid is awesome!
September 5, 2008 1:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
You know what just occurred to me? The Repugs are hung up on TV shows - look how they used 24 Hours to try to justify torture.
I'm not sure this was that much of a mistake.
And texasdem - that vid is awesome!
September 5, 2008 1:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, they did use the "Dallas" theme song under Palin's video (which got axed because 9ui11iani ran long). Don't know how many folks have seen it, but I'm surprised they haven't gotten a "cease and desist" for that one, too. Not because I think the owner of that theme song would have an ideological problem with its use (who knows?) - I just imagine they'd want their royalties!
The thing I find funniest about this whole thing is the fact that the Republicans still haven't learned that bad things can happen when you rely too heavily on PowerPoint.
September 6, 2008 3:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
Oilbama needsd to stress that he is the one who voted for his buddy Dick Cheney's Big Oil Energy Bill and that McCain voted against it. He needs to stress that he is a much bigger lightweight empty suit than Sarah Palin. He needs to stress that he is the one that is friends with Racists like Rev Wright, Terrorists like William Ayers, and Slumlords like Rezco. He needa to point out that while facing a true American Military hero he did not serve in the Armed Forces and has a bitchy wife that was not proud of America until people started fawning all over her cult leader husband.
September 5, 2008 1:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oilbama needsd to stress that he is the one who voted for his buddy Dick Cheney's Big Oil Energy Bill and that McCain voted against it. He needs to stress that he is a much bigger lightweight empty suit than Sarah Palin. He needs to stress that he is the one that is friends with Racists like Rev Wright, Terrorists like William Ayers, and Slumlords like Rezco. He needa to point out that while facing a true American Military hero he did not serve in the Armed Forces and has a bitchy wife that was not proud of America until people started fawning all over her cult leader husband.
September 5, 2008 1:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe the Republican's think they are following the plot, and McCain wants to be Obama's Secretary of State?
LOL...
September 5, 2008 1:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
September 5, 2008 1:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Classic!
September 5, 2008 1:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Classic!
September 5, 2008 1:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Classic! I meant to do that!
September 5, 2008 2:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
I happened to recently do a West Wing marathon, the day after the primaries were over.
And the sad thing is, I was amazed at how current every speech, every political argument, every issue
seemed to be.
From alternative energy sources to gay marriage...
sigh..
September 5, 2008 2:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
If this school was used as a scene on West Wing, it is possible that John (Obama is a celebrity because of his ideas/positions on issues, but I fight to be a celebrity in sitcoms/movies) McCain just wanted to add some Hollywood to his speech. Been a while since Wedding Crashers.
September 5, 2008 2:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Classic! I meant to do that!
September 5, 2008 2:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is too awesome. From the Guardian last Feb.:
Attie, who served as chief speechwriter to Al Gore during the ill-fated 2000 campaign and who wrote many of the key Santos episodes of the West Wing, put in a call to Obama aide David Axelrod.
"I said, 'Tell me about this guy Barack Obama.'"
September 5, 2008 2:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
In California, McCain is running an ad with a voiceover that sounds just like Martin Sheen. It was too similar to presume it was just a coincidence. So, it is interesting to see the West Wing "coincidence" once again. Sorry McCain but you are no Jed Bartlet.
September 5, 2008 2:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
In California, McCain is running an ad with a voiceover that sounds just like Martin Sheen. It was too similar to presume it was just a coincidence. So, it is interesting to see the West Wing "coincidence" once again. Sorry McCain but you are no Jed Bartlet.
September 5, 2008 2:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe but it does have nice Greek columns!
September 5, 2008 3:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Add the location info. to the IMDB's page for that episode of the "West Wing." Here's what they already have for that school at IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/List?endings=on&&locations=Walter%20Reed%20Middle%20School%20-%204525%20Irvine%20Avenue,%20North%20Hollywood,%20Los%20Angeles,%20California,%20USA&&heading=18;with+locations+including;Walter%20Reed%20Middle%20School%20-%204525%20Irvine%20Avenue,%20North%20Hollywood,%20Los%20Angeles,%20California,%20USA
"Malcolm In the Middle," "Accepted," and "The Shaggy Dog" (remake).
And now a lame Republican convention.
(There might be other IMDB listings for the school, with the name formatted in different ways. Search Google more if you like.)
September 5, 2008 3:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Add the location info. to the IMDB's page for that episode of the "West Wing." Here's what they already have for that school at IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/List?endings=on&&locations=Walter%20Reed%20Middle%20School%20-%204525%20Irvine%20Avenue,%20North%20Hollywood,%20Los%20Angeles,%20California,%20USA&&heading=18;with+locations+including;Walter%20Reed%20Middle%20School%20-%204525%20Irvine%20Avenue,%20North%20Hollywood,%20Los%20Angeles,%20California,%20USA
"Malcolm In the Middle," "Accepted," and "The Shaggy Dog" (remake).
And now a lame Republican convention.
(There might be other IMDB listings for the school, with the name formatted in different ways. Search Google more if you like.)
September 5, 2008 3:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Google Street View of the same angle in the speech. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3093/2830987582_366a10f8d3_o.png
September 5, 2008 3:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
The fact that it is a commonly used backdrop in LA for TV shows and potentially commercials suggests that stock footage, or footage in some agency's media library, is the source. Who knows what they meant to show, but using a backdrop that looks like a mansion is idiotic, and using a backdrop that was used as a set in the West Wing for the Democratic Presidential candidate is just bizarre.
September 5, 2008 4:48 PM | Reply | Permalink