‘House of Cards’ Vs. ‘VEEP’: What Washington Insiders Really Think
The 66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards are tonight, and Hollywood royalty will take to the stage to bestow the accolades for best drama and best comedy. But The Takeaway has a new category for you—the award for "Best D.C. Depiction."
From HBO's series "VEEP," which is nominated for best comedy, to Netflix's "House of Cards," which is nominated for best drama, television loves Washington, and apparently so do viewers. But what do people in the Beltway think about all of this?
Takeaway Washington Correspondent Todd Zwillich went around town to find out what those working on Capitol Hill think about their fictional counterparts.
Some say "House of Cards" has it all. There's deceptive scheming, intricate congressional maneuvering, and sex and murder. Yet, it doesn’t have a lot of love amongst Washington’s political class. In Zwillich’s very unscientific poll, out of 50 respondents, about 95 percent voted "VEEP" as their D.C. reality-check.
"If you cover the White House, there are three questions that you always get and you always have to be prepared for," says Olivier Knox, Washington Bureau Chief for Yahoo News. "One is: What's the president really like? Two is: Have you ever ridden on Air Force One? And three is: What do you think of popular political drama X?"
According to Jess Mcintosh, a democratic operative who works in communications, “Our lives are not like 'House of Cards.' There is really nothing that 'House of Cards' presents other than the names of certain Washington locations that bear any relation to reality.”
“'VEEP' is sometimes so painful to watch because it is so close to things that have happened in my world. I’m aware that it is funny, but I can’t possibly laugh at it,” she continues.
Since "House of Cards" has gained popularity, female journalists have been asked to answer for character Zoe Barnes.
“‘Have you ever slept with any of your sources?’ That was not a question that existed in my world before ['House of Cards'] and now it happens. Whether it’s a joke or not. It’s still offensive,” says Kate Nocera, who’s been covering Capitol Hill for five years.
Meredith Shiner of Yahoo News gets Hollywood’s depiction, but wishes the story-line didn’t fuel pre-existing notions. “Being a woman here, in the job that I do, it is difficult no matter what, and ['House of Cards'] has sort of fueled into it, because it brings outsiders to that same sort of perspective that I think is unfortunately cast by insiders too,” she says.
While Susan Davis is also not a Zoe Barnes supporter, she is a fan of another character on the Netflix hit. Davis, who is a congressional correspondent at USA Today, believes Frank Underwood’s character is actually aspirational in today’s political arena.
“I think you need forceful, dominant, strong personalities who know how to govern,” she says. “I’ve never witnessed a politician in this Congress today who I think is as cunning or as smart or as capable of governing as someone like a Frank Underwood would be.”
So should Congress be taking more of a cue from "House of Cards"? Mcintosh says not so fast.
“Those characters from 'VEEP' think they are on House of Cards. They’re doing the Machiavellian thing. They’re trying to one up everyone on their team and get ahead and it always fails and that’s basically what happens in Washington. If you’re trying to play three-dimensional chess, you’re going to forget that you have a really important job to do and you’re going to fall down on it and everybody is going to laugh at you.”
