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No Party Given: Difference between revisions
There are enough aversions and subversions listed in outside of the Exceptions/Subversions section that the page needs some cleanup.
(→Comic Books: typo fix, cleanup of the "Democrats have always been blue" misconception) |
(There are enough aversions and subversions listed in outside of the Exceptions/Subversions section that the page needs some cleanup.) |
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{{trope}}
{{cleanup|While the most blatant exceptions and subversions have been moved to the "Exceptions/Subversions" section, there are enough examples in the "Played Straight" section that wink and nod at characters' parties ''(and assume everybody around the world know what the allusions are - bad writing!)'' that somebody who is familiar with the political parties in the USA needs to go through and move the remaining examples to the correct sections.}}
When a fictional work features a politician, or two characters running for an elected position, often the parties they represent are not identified.
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{{examples}}
==
=== [[Comic Books]] ===
* Senator Robert Kelly in the ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'' comics and related media. In the two films for example, there is evidence of siding with both parties. In the first film, he implies that he is for gun control (a Democratic position) for the same reasons he is pro-mutant registration. A deleted scene in the second film implies, by a newspaper clip about a speech that he gives and the Democrats had a response to his speech, that he is a Republican. The issue is skirted in the comics as well and it falls on the writer of the story to make a hinted alignment. However, seeing as how his stand on issues not present in our real world is his only defining political characteristic, it mostly boils down to rhetoric a party would use to justify the reason for the registration.
** However in the "Making Of" featurette of ''X-Men'', called "Mutant Watch", he is given the suffix R-KS, which means that he is a Republican from Kansas.
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* In one ''[[Captain America (comics)|Captain America]]'' storyline, a news report announces that a senator (who is secretly working for the Red Skull) has left his party to become an independent presidential candidate, without actually saying what his party ''is''.
=== [[Fan Works]] ===
* Deliberately invoked in ''[[Ultimate Sleepwalker|Ultimate Sleepwalker: The New Dreams]]'', which specifically notes that Senator Robert Kelly got elected as an Independent candidate, bankrolled by the anti-mutant movement. J. Jonah Jameson's crusading journalism has given his Democratic '''and''' Republican opponents plenty of ammunition in their quest to regain Kelly's Senate seat.
=== [[Film]] ===
* ''Black Sheep'' identified the party of neither Farley's brother nor the incumbent opponent.
** Likewise, speeches given by both candidates were so vague and filled with meaningless phrases that it was impossible to even guess at either one's party affiliation.
* The Chris Rock vehicle ''[[Head
** Rock's former position of being a DC Alderman would strongly imply that he's a Democrat, or an independent, since the Democrats aren't allowed by law to control every seat on DC Council. At the same time, however, his opponent being a cousin to [[Sharon Stone]], who is a Democrat, is repeatedly mentioned as a positive trait, which would imply ''he's'' a Democrat.
** Made even harder to ascertain by the fact Lewis wins both Texas (a Republican stronghold) and Michigan (a Democratic stronghold). Of course, there's also the fact that not everyone in a political family belongs necessarily to the same party.
* In ''[[Escape from New York]]'', the President's political party is never mentioned or indicated. There's no mention of his political positions: he's just an uncaring self-absorbed bastard.
** The President in the sequel, ''[[Escape From L.A.]]'', however, is very obviously a Republican [[Strawman Political]], as an extreme example of the Religious Right. For example, he orders that all atheists be sent to [[The Alcatraz|Los Angeles]], as well as all prostitutes, and any and all criminals; sex outside of marriage is outright illegal; alcohol is also illegal (teetotalism being a common position in certain Protestant denominations).▼
▲*** There are several interviews with [[John Carpenter]] in which he says the political climate in the film was based on (what he believes to be) both parties moving away from individual liberty as their core value. This interpretation is also supported by the fact that Snake Plissken is played by [[Kurt Russell]], who is a noted Libertarian.
* In the 2004 remake of ''[[The Manchurian Candidate (2004 film)|The Manchurian Candidate]]'', the political party involved is never mentioned by name, even during a scene that revolves around a strategy session involving the electoral map. However, it can sort of be inferred from the states that they are mentioned as "traditional weak" and "traditional strong" in that Senator Shaw and her son are Democrats.▼
** This contrasts with the original, which made them a family of Republicans.▼
* In [[State of Play (film)|the movie adaptation]] of ''[[State of Play (TV series)|State of Play]]'', Ben Affleck's character is a congressman whose political party is not mentioned, although he has a painting of [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] in his office. That probably isn't as big a hint as you might think, as Affleck's character is a former military man from Pennsylvania who went into politics while Eisenhower is regarded as a very non-partisan moderate President.
* That [[Disney Channel]] movie ''My Date with the President's Daughter''.
* The 1993 film ''Dave'', where Kevin Kline plays both a U.S. President and an impersonator of the same, never mentions a political party. Only a cameo by known Republican Ben Stein (although not even his party is actually mentioned) as himself can allow parties to be indirectly determined.
* In ''[[Bob Roberts]]'' the title character is frequently identified as conservative, but rarely as an actual Republican.
* The unnamed and almost unseen President in ''[[In the Line of Fire]]'' doesn't identify with a political party. Signs at his campaign rallies just say "Re-Elect The President".
* President Whitmore in ''[[Independence Day]]'' has no identified political party. We know he's a Gulf War fighter ace, and a brief reference to a failed "crime bill" is made, but otherwise all we know is that he wants to kick some alien ass.
* [[Taxi Driver]]-Senator Palantine, although his comments suggest that he is a Democrat.
* ''[[The Dish]]'' has the Prime Minister mention a party, but he doesn't identify which one. The real PM of the time was John Gorton of the Liberal Party.
* In ''[[Evan Almighty]]'' the title character, a newly-elected Congressman, is shown driving his new Hummer and watching [[MSNBC]] within the first few minutes of the film...▼
* The president in ''[[Buckaroo Banzai]]'' can't decide whether he's hawkish or diplomatic. The only pertinent executive decision is in how to resolve the alien crisis and prevent [[World War III]], which would presumably be in any American party's interest. If only a [[Marty Stu]] could solve everything and save the world in 30 minutes!
* In ''[[Iron Man]] 2'', the party of Senator Stern (PA) is never given.
* Averted in ''[[The Avengers (film)|The Avengers]]''. The politician criticizing the Avengers for damaging Manhattan is a Democrat, though if you blink, you miss it.▼
== [[Literature]] ==
* In [[Dan Brown]]'s ''[[Deception Point]]'', the almost saintly President Herney's party is never mentioned. However his opponent, [[Complete Monster]] Senator Sexton is [[Strawman Political|explicitly mentioned to be a Republican]].
* [[John Grisham]] doesn't usually identify the party affiliations of his politician characters. However, if you know anything about U.S. politics, it's not hard to figure it out.
* In Meg Cabot's novel ''All-American Girl'', about a teenager who takes a bullet for the president, survives, and ends up falling for his son, the party of the president is never mentioned... though it's implied a few times, based on the president's stances, that he's a Republican.
== [[Live
* In ''[[24]]'', presidential candidate David Palmer is referred to as a Democrat in Season 1. His opponent in the general election (not the party primaries), John Keeler, is presumably a Republican, yet he is never explicitly referred to as such, is endorsed by the AFL-CIO, and had a campaign logo presciently similar to the later [[Real Life|real-life]] Kerry-Edwards 2004 logo. Wayne Palmer, who becomes President in season 6, is presumably a Democrat like his brother, yet has [[Strawman Political|strawman conservatives]] as his Vice President and Chief of Staff.▼
▲** In Season 7, President Allison Taylor is not explicitly identified by party (at least so far). Since her predecessor is presumably Democrat, she is presumably Republican - and yet her idealism tends to be more of a liberal trait, and her predecessor appears to have mostly GOP traits.
* Arguably lampshaded by the entire short-lived series "Mr. Sterling", in which Josh Brolin's character (a prison teacher) is assumed to be a Democrat when he is appointed to finish the term of a Democratic Senator, but declares himself an independent. (In real life a freshman independent, appointed to fill a term, would be a political cipher, but Sterling ends up getting appointed to key committees almost immediately, presumably because a show about a Senator with no power at all would be pretty boring.)
* Jim Hacker, in ''[[Yes Minister]]'', had Conservative views as well as looking and acting very much like the stereotypical Conservative MP, but was not identified as such. His party HQ was called "Central House", an amalgam of Central Office and Transport House, the locations of the Conservative Party and the Labour Party in real life at that time. In fact, many of the plot points in ''Yes Minister'' are based on real incidents, but they occurred under both Conservative and Labour ministries.
** On one occasion, in fact, Hacker is heard musing on what the Conservative or Labour parties would do in a similar situation, implying he is neither.
** Hacker is also seen wearing a white rosette as the election results are read out at the start of the pilot episode Open Government, alongside others wearing blue (Conservative) and red (Labour) rosettes.
** This is actually part of the point of the
{{quote|''"The Opposition aren't really the Opposition. They're just called the Opposition. But in fact they are the Opposition in exile. The Civil Service are the Opposition in residence."''|Journalist Anthony Jay, paraphrased in an early episode of ''[[Yes Minister]]''}}
** In the [[Novelization|novelisation of the episode]] "The Skeleton In The Cupboard", Hacker refers to the opposition being in power at the time of Humphrey's mistake. The episode was made in 1982 and is set no later than 1984, setting Humphrey's mistake during Churchill's administration. This would seem to rule out the Conservative Party.
* Governor Gatling of ''[[Benson]]'' only ever refers to his party as "The Party". For that matter, we're never even told [[Where the Hell Is Springfield?|what state he's the governor of.]]
* Harriet Jones from ''[[Doctor Who]]'' repeatedly introduces herself as "MP for Flydale North" without ever mentioning what party she represents. Certain clues have led fans to believe she belongs to either the Labour (the reference to "the babes" in "Aliens of London") or Conservative (the Margaret Thatcher allegory in "The Christmas Invasion").
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* The mayor in ''[[Spin City]]''. Some of his properties were those of a strawman Liberal, while others were that of a strawman Conservative.
* Throughout season one of ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'', Nathan Petrelli is running for Congress. His party and political views are never discussed. The show also makes a much bigger deal out of a congressional election than is typical of real life.
** He's like the X-Men's Senator Kelly; his main opinions are to do with [[Differently-Powered Individual]]. Except, unlike Kelly, he's in a world with [[The Masquerade]] in force, so he can't have official policies based on that...
** Subtle hints indicate that he is a Republican, particularly the fact that his campaign is based on "family values", which at the time was a phrase more vocally used by Republicans.
** Tracy Strauss, a political consultant and [[Blonde Republican Sex Kitten|Blonde Maybe Republican Sex Kitten]] would also fit this trope. She says that her boss, the governor of New York, has trouble with the far right but that does not rule out him being a Republican. She is likely of the same party as Nathan Petrelli as she helped him become a Senator.
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* The short-lived ''[[Commander in Chief]]'' had Geena Davis' Vice President run as an Independent with suggested libertarian leanings. When she ends up assuming the presidency after the current president dies, this is brought up as a subject of disquiet more than her gender is.
** She canonically started out as a moderate, New England-style Republican (flashbacks in the Pilot episode show the Connecticut Republican Party recruiting her to run for Congress and she became the arch-conservative President Bridges's running mate because he needed a moderate Republican to balance the ticket). After this, though, she officially became an Independent.
* The Politician's party that Carrie from ''[[Sex and the City]]'' dates for a brief period is kept intentionally
* In an episode of ''[[The Monkees (TV series)|The Monkees]]'', Mike runs for mayor in order to unseat the corrupt incumbent; neither the party of Mike nor the incumbent mayor is ever given (though Mike can possibly be assumed to be running as an Independent). As a Mayoral race it could have plausibly been non-partisan if not for a slightly awkward bit of dialogue early on where Mike threatens to take his complaint with the mayor and "dump it in the opposing party's lap".
* [[The Sheriff|Sheriff Andy Taylor]] on ''[[The Andy Griffith Show]]''. However, as an elected official in a [[Sweet Home Alabama|Southern state]] during the sixties, it's most likely that he's a [[Fox News Liberal|conservative Democrat]].
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* When ''[[Walkyverse|Shortpacked!'s]]'' Robin DeSanto gets elected to congress, this is lampshaded as a "Non-Partisan Romp!". Later, an unlabeled campaign leaflet blends caricatures of both sides with "Robin DeSanto is out of touch with core American values! Voted yes on CANCER! Voted yes on TERRORISTS!" Voted no on BABIES! Voted no on FREEDOM!"
* Dylan/USA Patriot Act and Jenny/American Eagle, two of the pupils at the ''[[PS238]]'' School for [[Differently-Powered Individual|meta-prodigies]], are candidates from opposing parties to replace the aging Freedom Fighter (the [[PS238]]-verse's [[Captain America (comics)]] [[Expy]]). Their parties are, how ever, never named, and since they both sprout the same [[Patriotic Fervor|patriotic platitudes]] it is difficult to tell who is who.
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20080819225820/http://nodwick.humor.gamespy.com/ps238/comics/index.php?date=2007-10-03
** The other time you can actually tell their politics apart is when they light directly into each other, when Dylan will call Jenny a pinko commie and she responds by calling him a backwards neanderthal (or something of the sort).
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** In the comics, he represented "The Tomorrow Party".
*** They were also careful in the Armageddon 2001 annuals (which came out in 1991) to not say which party President Clark Kent represented. (He beat a Supreme Court challenge over "native born American" because in 1991 they were still using the Bryne revamp origin where the ship had carried a gestation chamber rather than a baby, and Clark wasn't born from that womb until after the ship had landed on American soil.)
* ''[[Pinky and The Brain
== [[Real Life]] ==
* In Canada, the Legislative Assemblies of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut are non-partisan and all candidates run independently of whatever party they might be a member of (if they hold membership at all).
* The first President of the United States of America, [[George Washington]], is the only president not to belong to any political party. It explains some of the
** The mismatched
* Averted REALLY HARD in Mexico: While legally anyone can be elected in any elective office position, in practice only members of a political party can be elected in any position. Many NGO's have asked for years to change the laws to similar ones used in the U.S., despise it was ''[[Did Not Do the Research|already explained that Washington was the only American president that was not a member of a political party.]]''▼
* Officially, ever member of the Nebraska state legislature is non-partisan. Unofficially it is divided by party lines.
== Exceptions/Subversions ==
=== [[Film]] ===
▲
▲* In the 2004 remake of ''[[The Manchurian Candidate (2004 film)|The Manchurian Candidate]]'', the political party involved is never mentioned by name, even during a scene that revolves around a strategy session involving the electoral map. However, it can sort of be inferred from the states that they are mentioned as "traditional weak" and "traditional strong" in that Senator Shaw and her son are Democrats.
▲** This contrasts with the original, which made them a family of Republicans.
▲* In ''[[Evan Almighty]]'' the title character, a newly-elected Congressman, is shown driving his new Hummer and watching [[MSNBC]] within the first few minutes of the film...
▲* Averted in ''[[The Avengers (film)|The Avengers]]''. The politician criticizing the Avengers for damaging Manhattan is a Democrat, though if you blink, you miss it.
== [[Live-Action TV]] ==
▲* In ''[[24]]'', presidential candidate David Palmer is referred to as a Democrat in Season 1. His opponent in the general election (not the party primaries), John Keeler, is presumably a Republican, yet he is never explicitly referred to as such, is endorsed by the AFL-CIO, and had a campaign logo presciently similar to the later [[Real Life|real-life]] Kerry-Edwards 2004 logo. Wayne Palmer, who becomes President in season 6, is presumably a Democrat like his brother, yet has [[Strawman Political|strawman conservatives]] as his Vice President and Chief of Staff.
== [[Real Life]] ==
▲* Averted
=== UNSORTED ===
* ''[[The West Wing]]'' where Bartlet is very clearly a Democrat.
** As was Andrew Shepherd [[Spiritual Successor|before him]] in ''The American President''.
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[[Category:Politics Tropes]]
[[Category:No Party Given]]
[[Category:Examples Need Sorting]]
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