Alan Alda is happy to be running for president on The West Wing. "Anything to turn this great country of ours around," he joked yesterday at the TV critics press tour.

The former M*A*S*H star was joined by series newcomer Jimmy Smits, Martin Sheen, Allison Janney and executive producer John Wells at the session.

As Sheen's Bartlet administration winds down, The West Wing is heading into a presidential election. Alda joins the cast as Arnold Vinick, an ambitious senator and a staunch Republican. Smits plays Matt Santos, a Texas politician gunning for the Democratic ticket.

The sixth season will wrap up this April with stops at the Democratic and Republican conventions. If there is a seventh season (and negotiations are under way), there will be an election next November.

Not the hit it once was, The West Wing is still valued by NBC. It's an awards magnet, plus it draws viewers with the highest level of income, a big plus with advertisers.

Sheen is still working out his deal to return for at least half of next season. "I would like another term, but that can't happen," he joked, "so I'm going to have to live vicariously through one of these guys," meaning Alda or Smits.

As Bartlet, Sheen said he doesn't plan on "going out quietly." He'd be up for scenes showing "a glimpse into post-White House life" for Bartlet, something along the lines of one of his heroes, Jimmy Carter.

In the real presidential election, the activist/actor campaigned in Ohio, his wife's hometown, for democratic contender John Kerry. Having previously campaigned for Al Gore, he found this fight even dirtier. "There was no sense of irony, of fun with this fight," he told reporters after the session.

Wells insisted he honestly doesn't know at this point who will win, Alda or Smits. All three were coy about how long any of the actors were under contract.

Known for supporting various liberal causes, Alda was asked for the umpteenth time how he can swallow his principles and play a Republican. "I'm an actor," said Alda. "I was never asked that when I played a murderer."

Feigning a campaign stance, he declared, "I'll do as many episodes as it takes to achieve our goals."

Wells felt he wasn't playing sides in the campaign by crafting a good guy/bad guy scenario. "We've set up both candidates as someone you'd like to have a beer with," he said.

One thing is for sure -- there won't be a recount. Wells purposely steers clear of any "knowing winks" to real headlines.

Wells said that Patricia Richardson is joining the cast as a chief of staff. Campaigns, both real and imagined, call for more characters, he explained.

The parade of stars (Stockard Channing, Mary McCormack, John Spencer and Richard Schiff are all still with the series) makes it one of TV's most expensive programs -- a possible hurdle to its renewal next year.

Smits said he's just pleased to be part of a "wonderful ensemble. I just marvel every week at how deep that bench is."

Campaign Canada

Welcome to the North-West Wing.

Next Wednesday's episode (9 p.m., NBC) was shot in several picturesque southern Ontario towns surrounding Toronto, including Ancaster, Dundas, Kleinberg and Stouffville. The Canadian locales stood in for New Hampshire and Iowa during the wintertime presidential primaries.

"It was great," said Gary Cole, who plays vice president Bob Russell, a lightweight democrat who thinks he has a shot at the White House.

Cole was in Ontario in December (along with Smits and series regulars Bradley Whitford, Janel Moloney and Joshua Malina) for the location shoot. "It opened the show up," said Cole, who attended a Warner Bros. DVD event Thursday night on press tour. "Ninety percent of the time (the series) is in the White House. These shows are totally on the road."

He felt that the snowy outdoor campaign stops lent authenticity to the series.

He recalled one setup at an Ontario rink. The scene showed Russell chatting up hockey moms and dads on a campaign photo op. Cole said kids had to skate all day while the crew set up. "By the time (the actors) got there, it was 8 o'clock," he said. "It must have been a marathon for those kids."