Ten years of watching the West Wing has given me a distorted view of how politics work. Any time I hear journalists talking about someone behind the scenes in a political scenario I can’t help but ask which character they best match up to.
Mandleson? Clearly fancies himself a bit of a Josh, but he’s not that clever. I tend to think of him more as a Mandy – PR person who really should have been written out after a season.
Brown? Governor Ritchie, no question. Clearly a .22 calibre mind in a .357 Magnum world.
Alistair Campbell? Dangerously close to a Toby, especially in how he’ll happily sprint down the wrong path utterly convinced that everybody else is wrong, and they’re right.
So, the poor and soon to be very sorry Sue mentioned in Brown’s little faux pas? Is she a Donna, a hapless aide fated to get blamed for everything even if only half of them are her fault? A Charlie, quietly getting on with things and not making mistakes? Or is she higher, a CJ who screwed up the message or a Toby who is just at the wrong place at the wrong time?
It’ll be interesting to see over the next few days as a little bit more comes out. Expect to see her with a Nokia shaped dent in her head soon, though…