Eric Baker is an American politician of the Democratic Party, and the Governor of Pennsylvania during the late Bartlet administration.
Career[]
Governor Baker was the frontrunner for the party's presidential nomination in the 2006 United States Presidential Election. In late 2005 he was said to be leading in the polls in both the Iowa Caucus and the New Hampshire primary and was on 32% in the national polls for the nomination (ahead of the sitting, but appointed, Vice President Bob Russell on 19% and third-placed disgraced former Vice President John Hoynes).[1] He had strong fundraising support in Hollywood and senior Democrats such as Toby Ziegler believed he would have the nomination wrapped up by Super Tuesday.[2] Media commentators suggested that as governor, he had enjoyed strong support from the swing voters Democrats would need and Abbey Bartlet believed him to be a "strong candidate".[3]
His campaign manager was to be Bruno Gianelli, who had managed Baker's gubernatorial runs and Josiah Bartlet's re-election campaign in 2002, while his gubernatorial chief of staff was Bill Hollofson.
In November 2005 he was expected to travel to New Hampshire to announce his candidacy, but instead announced that he would not seek the nomination for family reasons.[4] Leo McGarry speculates at the time that Baker might not want to face off against Senator Arnold Vinick of California, who is then seeking the Republican Party's presidential nomination. Baker was a staffer for the Senate Judiciary Committee when Vinick was a freshman senator, and they were old friends.[5]
Prior to the Democratic National Convention in San Diego, which is expected to be deadlocked, Baker is offered the vice presidential nomination by Vice President Bob Russell, who believes that making Baker his running mate will bring him enough delegates from Pennsylvania and other states to defeat Representative Santos and former VP John Hoynes for the nomination. Russell also believed that having Baker on the ticket was a necessity in order retain Pennsylvania and other blue states that would become more marginal due to Vinick's moderate stance.
Instead of accepting second place on a ticket headed by Russell, however, Baker decides that he would offer himself as a candidate for the nomination on the second ballot. Blue-and-white placards emblazoned with the words "Draft Baker" flood the floor of the convention (presumably thanks to Baker's operatives) as the first ballot's voting winds to a close, and Baker announces his intention to accept this "draft" to reporters on the convention floor. Almost immediately, a stampede of delegates to Baker, which come from all three of the other candidates, eliminate Hoynes from consideration and create a virtual tie between Russell, Santos, and Baker.
By the second day of the convention, Baker has taken the lead in the balloting and seems to be well on his way to taking the nomination by the following morning. However, the Russell campaign leaks to the media that Baker's wife Dorothy had been twice hospitalized for clinical depression. His failure to disclose that fact when he was under consideration for the vice-presidential nomination and when he presented himself as a candidate stalls Baker's momentum, and the convention enters its third day without a clear nominee. (The Democrats were sensitive to complete health disclosures due to the MS scandal in the Bartlet Administration.)
During the third day of balloting, Santos's rousing address to the convention, combined with behind-the-scenes machinations by President Josiah Bartlet and Josh Lyman shifts the momentum to Santos. He then defeats Russell, Hoynes, and Baker for the nomination. Not wanting to subject his wife to further public scrutiny, Baker again declines the vice presidential nomination when Santos and Josh Lyman offer it to him. Santos then selects former White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry, who had repeatedly demanded that Santos drop out of the race for the sake of party unity, as his running mate. In the run up to the election, Baker (along with several other Democratic governors) campaigned for the Santos/McGarry ticket.[6]
Following the death of McGarry on Election Day, Santos chooses Baker for the Vice Presidency, eventually deciding to submit Baker's name to Congress under the terms of the 25th Amendment, rather than asking the Electoral College to vote for him. It was hoped that the new Democratic majority in the House and the positive contrast with President-elect Matt Santos' bipartisan decision to appoint Arnold Vinick as Secretary of State would increase the pressure on Senate Republicans to confirm Baker, despite fears that they might try to block him as a strong Democratic VP and future frontrunner (as they did in 2003, when Bartlet was forced to select Russell instead of his original choice of Lewis Berryhill).
Episodes[]
References[]
- ↑ A Change Is Gonna Come, In The Room
- ↑ The Hubbert Peak
- ↑ "As governor, he had strong support among exactly the kind of blue-collar lunchpail voters Democrats needed to win to ensure victory" - 2162 Votes
- ↑ "Baker is going to New Hampshire to announce his candidacy" - Bob Russell, In The Room
- ↑ In The Room
- ↑ The Wedding
Behind The Scenes[]
- The commentator in 2162 Votes stating Baker had appeal to "blue-collar lunchpail voters" may be an actor allusion to Ed O'Neill's background and his iconic role as working-class father Al Bundy on Married... with Children
- The Baker character may also be inspired by New York Governor Mario Cuomo, a big-state Northeastern Democratic governor who was thought of a leading presidential contender in 1988 and 1992. In 1992 Cuomo was expected to travel to New Hampshire to announce his candidacy, but declined at the last minute, as Baker does. Cuomo was nicknamed "the Hamlet of the Hudson" for his indecision over his presidential aspirations (in 2162 Votes, Russell says "let's get Hamlet over here, see what doth trouble his mind this time" in frustration with Baker's change of mind over accepting his VP offer)
- Eric and Dorothy Baker coming under fire over a mental health treatment disclosure mirrors issues around the politics of mental health experienced by 1988 Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis and his wife Kitty, for which Dukakis was attacked by the Republicans in a negative campaign (as well as being of heightened sensitivity of Democrats in The West Wing universe about health disclosures due to the Bartlet MS scandal). Lawrence O'Donnell also stated the subplot was inspired by Republican frontrunner Colin Powell's decision not to run for president in 1996 due to disclosures about his wife's mental health[1]
| 2006 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION | |
|---|---|
| Santos/McGarry (D) | Vinick/Sullivan (R) | |
| 2006 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY | |
| Atkins | Baker | Clarkson | Hoynes | Rafferty | Russell | Santos | two others | |
| 2006 REPUBLICAN PRIMARY | |
| Allard | Bennett | Butler | Vinick | Walken | three others | |