Liberal leanings — Can Republicans get a fair shake in 'West Wing' elections?

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. — Can Hollywood — vilified by the Republican right wing as the most liberal town in America — portray a GOP presidential candidate sympathetically and accurately?

That's the goal this season on "The West Wing," where the focus has shifted from the incumbent Bartlet administration to the battle to replace him — a battle that will pit the underdog, Hispanic congressman Matthew Santos (Jimmy Smits), a Texas Democrat, against the extremely likable, moderate Sen. Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda), a California Republican.

And executive producer John Wells is promising this election will be nothing like President Bartlet's (Martin Sheen) re-election victory over a dim-witted GOP governor (James Brolin).

"I think if there was anything we regret doing it was the way we staged the last election," Wells said. "The character that we created . . . was really a straw man, and there was no suspense to it. And he was someone you desperately wanted to have defeated. I think for many Americans, it's not that easy a decision, as we saw in this last election."

Simply casting Alda — one of the most likable actors in Hollywood — was a big step in that direction. And as he's been portrayed on "The West Wing," this Republican is definitely not someone viewers are rooting against. "What we're really hoping is that the average viewer isn't going to be certain who they want to vote for," Wells said. "What we're trying to set up is something where, through the entire fall, you're trying to figure out who you would vote for if you had a chance to vote."

How hard is "The West Wing" trying to make this balanced? Before the Iowa caucuses, both candidates had a chance to stand up for what they believed or sell out to political expediency — Vinick stood up; Santos sold out.

Conventional wisdom has been that Santos will win, at least in part so that some of the show's current stars, who play members of a Democratic administration, can continue with the program. But Wells said that's not the case.

And what's more, when asked who will win, he insists, "I don't know yet."