Speaking to the Associated Press, actor Dennis Haysbert explained how his role on 24 played a vital part in our current history-making election:
If anything, my portrayal of David Palmer, I think, may have helped open the eyes of the American people. And I mean the American people from across the board—from the poorest to the richest, every color and creed, every religious base—to prove the possibility there could be an African-American president, a female president, any type of president that puts the people first.
While it's tempting to view this statement as typical bluster from a performer with an oversized ego and an inflated sense of self-worth concerning what was a supporting part in a television action drama, it's important to remember how Jim Nabors' role as Gomer Pyle showed Americans that doofy Southern bumblers could serve as authority figures in both law enforcement and the military, which made them comfortable enough to vote for Jimmy Carter in 1976.