President Bartlet?

Now I’m not trying to pan West Wing. In my opinion, it’s a very good program, well written, with a wonderful cast, and I enjoy watching it. I also enjoy the references to New Hampshire. After hearing the pronunciation of New Hampshire towns being mangled by other programs down through the years, I am for the most part, impressed with the pronunciation. President Bartlet doesn’t have a New Hampshire accent, but with two notable exceptions, his pronunciation is good. He got Manchester, Lake Winnipesaukee, and Nashua right. It would add some authenticity to the character, to hear him once blurt out “Manchestah” or “Nashwah.” in true New Hampshire style. But then, dropping the “r” or turning a three syllable word into a two (almost single) syllable word isn’t that common among politicians.

But for goodness sakes, President Bartlet needs to learn how to say Concord! It is not pronounced, “Con Cord” even when the native speaker is being deliberate in his speech. Folks from outside New Hampshire tend to pronounce it as you would the Concorde, the super sonic jet. It should be more like Con-kerd. If you’re speaking quickly, you may drop the “r” and it becomes Con-kud. His other pronounciation faux pas occurs when Martin Sheen occasionally reverts to one of his Kennedy roles when saying the word can't. In Massachusetts, it's often pronounced "cahn't," but in New Hampshire, and especially in Manchester, it's can't -- a "can" with a "t" at the end of it.

My other gripe is that President Bartlet talks about going “up” to New Hampshire. He even invites people to visit his house in Manchester or his place at Lake Winnipesaukee. Yet with the exception of an episode, which depicted a New Hampshire Primary Season campaign stop in Nashua, we never get to see New Hampshire. Although the street looked as though it was a street in Nashua, it was such a brief scene that I doubt it was filmed in Nashua. New Hampshire is a very pretty State – well worth the trip to photograph the scenery, as you can see from the few photos accompanying this article.

Let me wrap up my meandering with an open plea to President Bartlet. President Bartlet, here are some New Years Resolutions for you. Put the second “t” back in your name. Show us your house in Manchester and your place

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