Polo Goes West

Remember when I said that Teri Polo would enter 2005 without any idea of what she'd do next? Wrong!! She was already making her next move - she now plays Helen Santos, the wife of U.S. Representative and Democratic presidential candidate Matthew Santos (Jimmy Smits) in "The West Wing," which I've been talking about here.

Teri Polo has already appeared in two out of the four episodes she's signed up for, and to give you an idea how good an actress she is, dig this - when she first appeared on this show, I didn't even realize it was her! :-O

Meanwhile, Smits and Alan Alda, each playing members of Congress vying for the presidency (Alda plays Arnold Vinick, a moderate Republican senator from California) had a scene in tonight's episode in which they meet in an Iowa restaurant while campaigning in that state's caucuses. Santos and Vinick aren't opponents yet - they still have to win their respective parties' nominations - but they exchange serious opinions on serious issues in the most cordial and respectful way. That is, they have a real, honest debate. Geez, if Bush and Gore had actually done this in Iowa five years ago, maybe we wouldn't be talking about "red" and "blue" states today.