Note:  Laurie Pettine, Morris County NOW, is quoted in this otherwise inane article.

Would you believe, Mrs. President?

So what if it's getting high ratings? 'Commander in Chief' just isn't plausible

by Matt Manochio, the Daily Record, October 12, 2005

	ASSOCIATED PRESS Geena Davis portrays Mackenzie Allen, the 45-year-old vice president who becomes the first female U.S. president in the new ABC series, 'Commander In Chief.'

Say the following paragraph in an ominous James Earl Jones voice:

"This fall (dramatic pause) a woman will be president, and she will be abnormally tall.  Her ascension to the presidency is mind-numbingly preposterous, but you'll watch anyway because what else are you going to do on a Tuesday night?  Spend time with your family?  Read a book?  Knit?"

I'm referring, of course, to "Commander in Chief," the ABC program that's scoring high ratings with Geena Davis as the United States' first female president, Mackenzie Allen.

Allen is the Independent vice president to a Republican president who dies from a brain tumor.

But before the sick president goes to the big White House in the sky, he tells Allen to resign so the dastardly Speaker of the House, Nathan Templeton, can assume the role of Commander in Chief.

Templeton, who's an evil Republican (ABC might as well brand an upside-down pentangle onto his forehead) played by Donald Sutherland, makes it his mission in life to make miserable Allen's existence as president.

I missed the first show but saw the second episode in which Allen, her husband and three kids move into the White House and need to find a new press secretary and, slightly more important, a new vice president.

I've never been sold on political dramas like "The West Wing" and "Commander in Chief," mostly because I view them as Hollywood propaganda in which Democrats are the always the good guys and Republicans are always one notch below people who stuff puppies into weighted sacks and then dump them in a bog.

Just a side note:  Morris County is overwhelmingly Republican.  Does this mean its inhabitants are all puppy-drowning spawns of The Beast, as ABC might have us believe?  I hope not.  I've got to interview some of these people.

Maybe I'm just being cynical, but could this show also be running to prime America for a possible Hillary Clinton run for president in 2008?

Laurie Pettine, 37, of Mendham Township, who also heads Morris County NOW, said she doesn't view it that way.

"It's great to see the networks show a woman in that position of power in the United States," she said.  "I think to look at it as a political move kind of sullies it.  I think it's great for women."

Pettine rattled off the names of Madeleine Albright and Condoleezza Rice as two prime examples of women attaining high levels of power.

"If this inspires more women to run for public office, that's great," Pettine said.  "We need role models, even if it's fictionalized."

Dana Wefer, 23, of Jefferson is running as a Democrat for Morris County freeholder.  Wefer said she'd also like to see a female president, but isn't too keen on the show.

"Someday it will happen," Wefer said of a future Madam President.  "But making a show out of that is a little offensive. ... I think that what they're thinking to (say) is gender shouldn't be an issue, but when you make a show (about it), it achieves the opposite effect."

Wefer said ABC's motives weren't to make veiled advertisements for Hillary '08.  She noted that ABC broadcasts via radio conservative talk show hosts Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.  If anything, Wefer said, profit is behind the program.

"They're not going to put a show on that's not going to do well," Wefer said.

To her credit, Davis pulls off a very believable, firm president who's learning the ropes of Washington, D.C.

The first crisis that hits her administration is when her teenage daughter, Rebecca, during a move into the White House, misplaces her diary, which contains some unflattering entries about her mother and could embarrass her if it falls into the wrong hands.

This exact same problem derailed Warren Harding's presidency.  His daughter, Anastasia, misplaced her diary, which contained passages led the Wall Street Journal to expose the Teapot Dome Scandal.

I'm completely kidding. Harding didn't have any kids, but he did have the Teapot Dome Scandal, which I actually looked up and still don't understand what it is.

But you can see where ABC is going.  Not only will the show focus on a presidency, but also the president's family and what they go through as they become famous.

Art imitates life here.  Chelsea Clinton had an awkward time growing up before the cameras, but turned out just fine, and the Bush twins almost got their own E! show with Tara Reid for some of the stunts they pulled.

ABC should stick with the political part of the show and avoid like Avian Bird Flu the family drama.

For instance, Allen's teenage son is swarmed by his school buddies who inform him -- honestly --"Dude, you're the president's son, all the girls want to lose it to you."

There's a Ron Reagan Jr. joke in there somewhere, but this is a family newspaper, so I'll conclude with Wefer agreeing with me that some of the dialogue in "Commander" sounded "horrible."

Wefer, however, said she does enjoy another political drama, "The West Wing," for its entertainment value.

"But I prefer CNN," she said.

I like C-SPAN.  Am I the only one who enjoys listening to the occasional Supreme Court oral argument?

Matt Manochio can be reached at (973) 989-0652 or mmanochi@gannett.com.