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Don Butler
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Reverend Don Butler is a fictional conservative televangelist from Virginia, played by Don S. Davis. He is a recurring character on the American television show The West Wing. He was a candidate for the Republican Party's nomination for President of the United States in the 2006 election, but was defeated by Arnold Vinick, a U.S. Senator from California.
Butler was Vinick's first choice as running mate; despite Butler's strong criticism of Vinick's pro-choice views on abortion, Vinick thought highly of him. Without ever specifically being offered the vice presidential nomination, Butler told Vinick that he could serve neither as his running mate nor as his vice president, given their very different views on abortion.
Vinick then turned to Gov. Ray Sullivan of West Virginia, who accepted the vice presidential nomination.
Though there is no solid evidence to support that Butler's character was modeled after any actual person, there are similarities to televangelist Pat Robertson, who is based in Virginia Beach, Virginia and who himself was a presidential candidate in 1988.