About last night...

Day 926, 13:36 • Published in USA USA • by fingerguns

I'm sure logs of last night's conversation will be posted soon. I would love to call it a debate, but you cannot have a debate when only one candidate bothers to show up!

I must say, I am incredibly disappointed. Not just because we put so much work into putting together some seriously awesome questions and promoting it to make sure there was a crowd, but because I thought the candidates were better than that. We sent them the questions ahead of time, scheduled the debate early, did everything in our power to make this simple, and they still didn't show up. I thought there were some great candidates in this race. I thought they were the kind of high quality candidates that jump at the opportunity to talk to the public. The kind of candidates that make arrangements if their Real Life obligations conflict with in-game responsibilities. The kind of candidates that give a crap.

Although there are some great names in this election, there is actually only one real candidate- Chocolate McSkittles. He showed up and he was ready... and he's the Vice President right now. It's not like he has loads of time on his hands. Ligtreb would have been a more than adequate stand-in, as popular opinion suggests he will be a great future President, however, Choc set aside the time to do it himself. He was literally the only candidate to address the 100+ people that attended the debate. I'll be proud of him when I'm done being ashamed of the rest of them.

While most of us visit eRep every single day, big events are rare. We don't have many opportunities for all citizens to get together and share in the experience of attending a major event. Soldiers, partisans, free floaters, 2-clickers and newbs all gathered last night to witness a battle of ideas and principles, many yet to choose a favorite. Colin Lantrip, Killing Time and Sir Valaro Volcrum stood them up, robbing them of the opportunity to see direct discussion between the men that hope to become Commander-in-Chief of the United States. Even if the candidate doesn't care about winning an endorsement, participating in events like this make our society more fun and interesting. That means retention and activity. That means more interest in government and substantive public conversation. That means more volunteers and national unity. I could go on.

Choc is the only candidate that didn't let down the country last night. Choc is the only candidate that made talking to the public a priority. Choc is the only candidate that was prepared. Choc is the only candidate that is fighting for your support. Choc is the only candidate that was willing to answer your questions. Choc is the only candidate that seems to care about the well-being of our society, not just power and bureaucracy. Choc is the only candidate that DESERVES to be President.

I have never wanted to vote for someone so hard in my life, and he doesn't even want my vote.

EDIT: Nice reactions, guys. It's good to get a taste of your diplomacy skills before the actual election. Jeeeez.