The first series of Borgen, which has just finished on BBC4, is a European West Wing. It creates dramatic tension over arguments about policy, but is darker and therefore more believable than America's syrupy celebration of political virtue.
To the surprise of everyone, Birgitte Nyborg, the leader of the Moderate Party, becomes prime minister, when the haggling between parties after a PR election finishes. She has spoken to the public frankly in the final television debate between the leaders, and her sincerity ensures that the Moderates do better than expected. The series tracks her as the ingénue hardens into a tough political operator. It shows her marriage disintegrating as she forces her husband to look after the children at home and puts her career ahead of his. In the first episode she refuses to use dirty tricks against a rival. By the tenth she has struck a deal with her embittered husband. He can sleep with any woman he wants, as long as he is discreet. In return, he must appear on television and lie to the electorate by posing as her adoring, contented partner.
I admire Borgen because it says more than "power corrupts". The viewer's sympathy stays with Nyborg; her actions and motives remain comprehensible. And as with The West Wing, it reveals the spirit of the times.
Barack Obama's victory over Hillary Clinton in the race for the Democratic nomination in the 2008 presidential election would not have surprised anyone who noticed the popularity of The West Wing among American liberals. Obama — cool and witty, able to deliver an inspirational speech one minute and folksy asides the next — would have had a starring role in the Bartlett White House. Clinton — lumpy, badly dressed and appealing more to the white working class than the university-educated middle class — would have been a minor character. US liberals' subsequent disillusion with Obama shows that they have woken from a land of make-believe, in which they thought that all it would take to fix America's problems was for their dream candidate to become president.
