What Was Aaron Sorkin Thinking?

I am a longtime fan of Aaron Sorkin, so enamored with The West Wing and Sports Night that I’m the kind of person who won’t defend The Newsroom, exactly, but I will insist that it’s not that bad (likewise, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was not only decent but had a terrific pilot). Sorkin can still occasionally hit a triple (Steve Jobs), but somewhere along the way, Aaron Sorkin lost his touch. Molly’s Game, for instance, should’ve been an easy home run, and the cast that Sorkin assembled for The Trial of the Chicago 7 should have been enough to overcome bad writing. But that’s how overwritten The Trial of the Chicago 7 is.

There are many great writers who continue to produce excellent material for decades, but I am beginning to wonder if Aaron Sorkin has been Rob Reiner’d. As a director, Reiner had one of the most successful decades in the history of film with movies like This Is Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, Misery, A Few Good Men, and The American President.

And he hasn’t made a decent film since. The best thing that Reiner has made since 1996 is The Bucket List, and as bad as it is, it is by far better than some of his other directorial projects (does anyone remember Alex and Emma or Rumor Has It?)

How far has Aaron Sorkin fallen? It’s moot now because Biden has since dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed Kamala Harris, but for a few hours yesterday, we were all scoffing at Sorkin. The New York Times — for reasons that make no sense — allowed Sorkin to write an op-ed outlining his strategy for the Democrats as though it were an episode of The West Wing.

Sorkin’s big solution? Replacing Joe Biden at the top of the ticket with … Mitt Romney. Honestly, this is exactly what The West Wing might do, and clearly Aaron Sorkin’s mindset is still in the early 2000s. Why would the Democratic party nominate a Republican? Maybe Sorkin doesn’t remember that President Obama ran against Mitt Romney and won in 2012. Maybe Sorkin doesn’t remember that Mitt Romney actually endorsed Donald Trump in 2016. I will grant that Romney is the kind of Republican with whom we can disagree civilly, but we still disagree. You don’t invite a wolf into a henhouse just because the wolf doesn’t bare its fangs or tweet incoherent things.

It’s bad writing, and it is sadly indicative of Sorkin’s career over the last decade. Thankfully, at least, he reversed course later in the afternoon after Biden withdrew and everyone quickly rallied behind Kamala Harris with the sort of inspirational and enthusiastic fervor usually only reserved for a show like The West Wing.