Silver 's many roles included playing consultant Bruno Gianelli in `` The West Wing '' Silver was 62 and had been battling esophageal cancer for two years . Silver was also known for his political activism , first for Democrats , then for GOP . This deregulation , this whole Reagan Revolution , did not seem to work in this crisis . '' He ran unsuccessfully as a Republican candidate to the U.S. Senate from New York State in 1980 against incumbent Democrat Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
Silver 's many roles included playing consultant Bruno Gianelli in `` The West Wing '' Silver was 62 and had been battling esophageal cancer for two years . Silver was also known for his political activism , first for Democrats , then for GOP . He ran unsuccessfully as a Republican candidate to the U.S. Senate from New York State in 1980 against incumbent Democrat Daniel Patrick Moynihan.