I dunno why everyone thinks "The West Wing" is an accurate barometer of how American electoral politics work; the fucking guy who wrote it is a crypto-Republican who a couple weeks ago was telling you to nominate Mitt fucking Romney on the Democratic Ticket.
This is not how American politics work; not now, not ever. You win by fighting; dirty if you have to, but you fight. Folks come out for a fighter, they don't come out for "I promise to hug the other team till they see we're better together"