All campaign season, I’ve been astonished at some of the similarities between the last couple seasons of “The West Wing” where you see the election campaign trail. Some of the instances of similarity are uncanny. To my surprise, it’s no coincidence.

When Eli Attie, a writer for “The West Wing,” prepared to plot some episodes about a young Democratic congressman’s unlikely presidential bid, he picked up the phone and called David Axelrod.

Mr. Attie, a former speechwriter for Vice President Al Gore, and Mr. Axelrod, a political consultant, had crossed campaign trails before. “I just called him and said, ‘Tell me about Barack Obama,’ ” Mr. Attie said.

Continue to the New York Times article.