Election Night 2020 in Second Life

 
By Bixyl Shuftan

Tuesday November 3, 2020 was Election Day in the United States, and the culmination of America's Presidential election. For almost a year and a half, it had been going on. For the Republicans, the incumbent Donald Trump was practically uncontested in the primary season despite his highly controversial manner and actions, as well as being impeached. For the Democrats, out of over two dozen candidates whom ran for their parties nomination, it was former Vice President Joe Biden whom would represent his party. After March, the election was under the shadow of the Coronavirus Pandemic, which could make campaigning tricky for those following safety guidelines. There were also a number of demonstrations following the death of a man in police custody that led to the toppling of Civil War and other historical statues. Due in part to the Pandemic, Biden was leading in the polls and was expected to win handily. FiveThirtyEight, one noted polling website, gave Trump only a ten percent chance of winning outright.

As in the past few elections, there were some election-themed places here in Second Life. As these were mid-term elections, there wasn't as much attention early on as four years ago. I never heard of anything like the Trump Manor or Sanders HQ this time. Around Labor Day, I found three. One was for Trump, the Trump Pub, and two for Biden, Cafe Wellstone and Blue Revolution. There was also the 2020 Election Simulator, which didn't officially back a candidate but instead ran simulations based on polling data.  

Dropping by the Election Simulator on Monday night, it's builder Duncan (ABoysPlaceMall Resident), told me the following day once it was getting close to time polls were closing, he would stop the machine's usual operation, "I've decided at 2pm SLT, I'll shut off the simulator, since it starts at 5pm EST. So seems like a good time to turn off the simulations and turn on reality." When I asked him about people interested in the election coming to hang out here, "I didn't really have a plan for Election Night. But so many people told me they would be here. It doesn't feel right to just, let it become anarchy. I've rescripted the big board, so now I can manually adjust the states. ... I haven't figured out how I'll manage the scoreboard yet." When I commented that the results should be interesting, Duncan sighed, "'interesting' is kind of the great non-word of the English language, sort of a fancy way to say 'um.'" Someone else asked how busy he was. Duncan answered, "Mostly just keeping the trolls at bay."

Tuesday was Election Day, and like millions of others yours truly went to the polls, waited in line, and voted. Dropping by, there was already a crowd there. The chatter residents made was interrupted by the animesh receptionist greeting each new person as they came by. "It is awesome to be sharing this conversation in SL!" one commented. But with the sheer number of avatars , some had trouble, "My stream keeps freezing x.x" Polls were just starting to close, "Big surprise, indiana projected for Trump." "NPR announced on twitter Vermont for Biden." Among those there was Chantal Harvey, a noted Second Life video producer in it's golden age years ago. She was in a robot avatar. "Trump followed me on twitter one day!" Chantal told me.

There was some discussion about the Associated Press, Duncan saying, "they are my default resource, not the networks. ... I work with the Associated Press. They are the organization which most of your news content is generated by." When someone rubbed him the wrong way about it, Duncan responded, "The AP has been calling elections for longer than you've been alive. And they are my first professional resource in my political career which goes back over a decade." Someone else commented, "Yes, AP I think has been calling the elections since the 1880's if I recall an AP interview on CNN yesterday." Duncan answered, "I dunno if it goes back that far or not, but like. AP is a collective of journalists that has existed for as long as wire reports have, at least." The person did an internet search, "Just read that AP actually has been calling since 1848! Wow!" He did look at some other news sources, but one he didn't bother with, "We're not doing Fox News.

Duncan did mention something to me in IMs. The Election Simulator is on the mainland next to a highway. And at one point earlier in the day, a number of Trump supporters in trucks with flags proudly proclaiming their support drove up and stopped on the road by the location. Duncan was not amused, and responded by placing a wall between the road and the simulator building.

I soon decided to move on. I decided to check in on the Trump Pub. But I then ran into technical difficulties. I crashed just after arriving, and had trouble logging back on. Once I did, I tried talking over again. Same result. One thing I did notice before approaching the club was it's surroundings. Some displays simply advertised the Democrat without mentioning the Republican. But some people clearly opposed to Trump had placed all kinds of displays that ranged from the disparaging to the insulting to the obscene. Among the signs were "Make America Hate Again" "Vote Adult 2020". Across the street was a building decked out in Communist Party flags. Someone had made a dancing reproductive organ with Trump's head on it. One sign I couldn't begin to describe in a manner fit for a family newspaper. Hamlet Au would call the Anti-Trump display not safe for work unless one works at an adult toys factory. One person had put up a sign that to me looked like it was against both sides, "glad I don't live at ground level of a sim with the trash lagging everything out. I'll vote for whoever gets rid of you people."

After a few attempted logins after another crash, I waited a little while, then decided to give other places a check. No one was at Cafe Wellstone. But dropping in on Blue Revolution, there were plenty. Some were seated. Some were on the dance floor. Some had fishing poles playing a game.

Someone whom had also come from the Election Simulator commented, "the states that are projected are 94 to 72 for Biden. ... I think Biden will have enough states projected by Tomorrow morning to get him over 270." Someone else urged caution, "Remember, right now we are at the point where hillary supporters went to bed thinking they would win in 2016."

Some of the Democrats made obvious partisan remarks, "All I know is, if trump wins, America is forever lost. Trump would have successfully poisoned the thinking in this country. ... Never though USA would succumb to fascism." "It's getting scarier and scarier. "

Book Island had invited people to drop by and chill out on Election Night. So I headed there. Most people there were either for Biden or neutral. They were generally laid back about the election, though one guy was poking fun of the President by having on a Trump avatar and doing parody imitations of him, "I am a misogynistic, pathetic, racist liar. And I still get votes. What a life." "It is a deep expression of their self loathing," one Democrat commented, having trouble understanding why anyone would vote for the other major candidate. When I commented I had friends on both sides of the political divide, Book Island's manager Selina Greene nodded, "I think we're all in the same camp here, but I'm sure we all know some on the other side of the divide." Someone just wanted the whole thing to be over, "GAME! Name a movie more cheerful than this election. I'll go first: '28 Days Later.'"

Giving the Trump Pub another try, this time I managed to make it in without crashing. When I had dropped by in September in an alt, the lone person there threw me out for being in a furry avatar. This time, there were some furred avatars present, as well as a few dark-skinned human ones. But there was very little text chat, most of the conversation being done in voice. One woman commented, "I just know Trump is going to win ... I'm just confident. If Biden wins, I'm gonna pick a red state to move to ... I'm in Massachusetts ... I like living in a place next to the ocean." There was some discussion about the "Communist Party HQ" across the road. Someone commented, "They're just trolls, they're not actual Communists." Of the state of the election, someone commented, "I hate to admit it, it's not looking good for Trump. ... They're going to take Pennsylvania ... this is looking really bad. ... This is bull^*&^" Another remarked whoever won, it was looking like it wouldn't be decided this night."

Someone was giving out gifts to people arriving. What people were using the most were the Trump 2020 flag, and a Donald Trump mask. Curiously, they were also giving out "waifu pillows" of the President for people to hug. It seems like four years ago, Trump is attracting some anime fans. Chatting with one Democrat in IMs, it was brought up the pillow could easily be repurposed as a punching bag. I did see one woman in a Japanese outfit briefly hold a Biden flag. No one out in the open gave her trouble over it.

I headed back to Blue Revolution. Some were poking fun at the opposition, "Trump literally said 'poles are closed' like a pole instead of poll." "Votes won't be counted after the polls closed. Well Trump, cause they ain't." "Hahaha he really needs an education." Others were more critical of the election situation in general, "it bugs me how this 'WIN at all cost' mentality is accepted as an American value." Another nodded, "It is this winner and loser mentality. Everyone offers something different, and when it is all about winning we lose the meaning. And integrity is SUPPOSED to be the meaning of America, but (we) have forgotten that." And some were just there for the fishing game, "Thanks for the fishes and the generosity!"

Someone commented, "I was watching a proTrump guy who is friends with a lot of Dem educated women and all them hate Trump. So he asked them why. And he was saying everyone of them said the same thing, it is the way he talks. He chalked that up to be(ing) shallow. But I think it is the opposite, it is deep. It reflects the depth of his thought and understanding, which is about puddle deep (laughter). ... Sometimes I don't even think he knows what he is talking about ..."

That was the extent of my experience at the election-themed places and Book Island that night. The Election Simulator would eventually go offline and remain so until I logged off, The Happy Vixen would hold a party in honor of the voters, "Red White and Blue." But the people were asked not to bring up politics. The intent of the party was to get people to relax and have fun, not stress people out and fight.

The following day, I would check back at the Election Simulator and Duncan. In IMs, he commented that while his location might not have openly supported either candidate, he felt not everyone might consider him a truly neutral party. Out in the open after I greeted him, I asked how Election Night went. "Well, it was, stressful," he commented, "I think the simulator was helpful in grounding the tension in something familiar. The final result we saw was roughly in line with the bulk of projections that the simulator has run. It wasn't a maximalist landslide, but a strong Biden win on a pretty solid Trump result. If anything the non-mutual dependence of my approach even seems to have been reasonably vindicated. Arizona didn't move in lockstep with Texas and Florida. Ohio diverged from the rest of the upper midwest."

"A lot of people I care about a lot really kinda lost their sh*t and started despairing last night. Technically the sim just couldn't handle the raw numbers of people who showed up. We had a lot of disruptive people who got bounced for various reasons. I took a pretty strident approach to administering this place - if you gave me a little hassle you got bounced. I don't know if we got crashed just because interest was so high or if there was also a 'denial of service' attack element to it. We've had masses of Trump trolls try to disrupt the sim. You can show the photo I took of the Trump trucks on the Linden highway outside the parcel if you want. We had at least one person early on who wanted to plant brainworms that votes were being tossed into dumpsters. I ejected her so she sat on the border of the sim using IM to look for people sympathetic to her undermining of democracy. Strawberry Linden was here for part of the day, which a lot of people were kinda gaga about. Linden sightings are much rarer than they used to be."

Several states had yet to be called, Arizona, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, and Alaska. So I asked, "Considering the states still to be determined, who do you think will win, and how long might it take?" Duncan answered, "Biden has pretty much won. some networks have already called Arizona for Biden but I'm using NBC which has not. It's a controversial call but Biden is a strong favorite there. Also, the numbers in Pennsylvania look like they clearly favor Biden. The GOP blocked counting early votes until after the election, so that means all the uncounted votes are concentrated in the cities. Given the number of votes outstanding and the partisan leaning of the manner and place in which they were cast, I mean it's possible Trump will win in the end, but incredibly unlikely. Democrats were confident early on that they'd made their numbers there and all the evidence I've seen suggests they did. Nevada and Georgia similarly had part of their vote counting stymied, but it's not really a question how they'll turn out."

So was this looking like the 2000 Election in reverse? Duncan commented, "Not really, it's like 2000 but too much everywhere for them to stop the vote counting. In 2000, more Americans voted against Bush than for him, but they stopped the counting while they were ahead so they could declare it a win. Trump is trying to do the exact same thing - but he's gotta do it in multiple states. And he kinda screwed up, because Biden won the raw count in Wisconsin and Michigan. So you can't freeze the count there without locking in your loss. If they get their plan and freeze counting as it stands, they lose Arizona and Nevada, and thus the Presidency. If they let the vote count proceed, they lose PA and GA too based on present trends.

"There was a protest in Michigan today to try and stop the vote counting. But again, too late. The votes are already counted. If they stop now, they lose. If they keep counting, they lose more. So if they want to convert this into something that looks like a win they have to find a way to overturn a count. Which, from the outset, I argued was outside the scope of my modeling. I can't predict how that kind of unprecedented power politics is going to play out. To me it's unquestionably a coup to overturn an election and hold onto power despite losing it."

I then brought up the only time most historians agree that happened, the 1876 Presidential election. Duncan thought a comparison in what he thought was being attempted could be made, but "1876 was a long time ago. It was a betrayal of Black Americans for sure." We talked a little about the deal behind the scenes the two parties made for the losing side to accept the results, " ... the deal was federal power for regional apartheid. The North got the Presidency, the South got Jim Crow. ... It was a long time ago. I know the history of it, but I'm not sure how cleanly it maps onto the current environment. One of the things the Republicans did back then was admit the Dakotas and Wyoming and Montana into the Union as full states to lock in control of the Senate. The current dispute over the statehood of Puerto Rico and D.C. are somewhat analogous to that. It's looking likely, though, that the GOP will hold the Senate for now."

Someone else entered the conversation this time, and there was some general conversation for a while, but eventually other matters required my attention, and bade them good evening and departed.

Compared to previous elections I've seen after 2000, the reaction was more gradual and slow motion. With no winner declared election night, the comments I saw on social media were a mix of cautious optimism and anxiety. As states were declared for Biden, there was some anger expressed from Trump supporters and hope from Biden's. On Friday when it was becoming clear Biden was about to get it, there was more celebratory feelings from Dem voters and more anger from Trump's. After enough states were declared for Biden on Friday evening, finally the Democrats (and probably a few anti-Trump conservatives) were in a celebatory mood in social media. From Populist voters, there was either silence, or calls for resistance, feeling the other side had cheated and the election was being stolen from them. They wanted recounts and/or the results contested in court, and what they saw as the cheating done by the opposition exposed. A few people on both sides made note about the Senate remaining with a Republican majority and the House with a smaller majority. But most were focused on the Presidency.

Not unlike things in 2000, it looks like this election will take time to truly resolve. Despite pleas from some Republicans to accept the results, the Trump Administration seems determined to demand recounts and/or take things to court in several states. But it's highly unlikely the courts will do much of anything. While also not unlike 2000 some supporters of the incumbent will continue to insist the election was "stolen" and nurse the grudge for years (if not their entire lives), the winner from the opposition party will be sworn President in January.

This election is different from other Democratic Presidential victories. In 1992 and 2008, many Dems called that election the start of a brand new era in which they would be in charge for well over a generation. This time, while some are calling Trump a fluke and the future is theirs, it looks like more of them are talking about "healing" and bridging the political divide. This time, the majority of them realize the conservatives and populists are not going away.

For the Republicans, the party may be in for a power struggle. There are those whom prefer economic libertarianism, and there are those whom want "fair trade" and policies that favor traditional industries. There are those whom want more "compassionate conservativism" and those whom feel the government would screw up in expanding social safety nets. There are those whom want to see America continue to be the leader of the free world, and there are those who feel America needs to let it's fellow democracies take care of themselves and focus more on internal matters.

While the more political and news-minded among us will likely be discussing the election for the next several weeks, for most of us it's over and time to get back to our Second Lives.

Bixyl Shuftan

Election Night 2012 in Second Life

By Bixyl Shuftan

Tuesday November 6th was Election Day in the United States. In real life for most American adults, it meant a trip to the voting booth to choose candidates for local, state, Congressional, and Presidential candidates. The Presidential election had the most attention, two nationwide campaigns having gone on for a year and a half,  between incumbent Democrat  Barack Hussein Obama and challenger Republican William Mitt Romney. The polls had gone up and down for weeks, and the final tallies between two of the most read, Gallup and Rasmussen, showed Romney ahead by a single percentage point.

For Second Life residents, those interested in politics could go to a few places to discuss the anticipated results. This included the Republican Party Headquarters in the Sunset River sim for conservatives, and for liberal/progressives there was the Obama HQ in Seokcheon and the longtime hangout of Cafe Wellstone in Pini.


The Republican HQ was full much at the time, including when I first logged on, so I checked out the Obama 2012 location first. There were just several when I arrived, with others teleporting in just afterwards. It was a shinny new location, with a blue dance floor where almost everyone gathered, with a blue "Obama 2012" sign with the campaign logo behind them, with an Obama '12 bar to one side, and a large  "Hall of Truth" building on the other.

Asking how everyone was, one answered "Sweating it out. I'm worried about stolen votes. i dont' want another repeat of Florida in 2000. I don't want the Supreme Court picking our prez again." A few people remarked they lived there. Others gave a variety of locations, including an American citizen in London who voted absentee ballot. There were a number of avatars present, though one resident stuck out in a donkey avatar, the symbol of the Democratic Party.

Asking them "So what are all of you expecting from an Obama victory?" I got a variety of answers, some pro Democrat, "Sane Supreme Court justices." And some were against, "More of the same," ""Same old f**king s**t," "The Obama deception." One guy asked, "Why isn't the media showing third party results?" He was answered, "Because third parties account for about 5% of the vote and are completely inconsequential. The UK media don't report how many votes went to the Monster Raving Loony Party candidates, either"

Heading over to Cafe Wellstone, there were a number of people there. There were no critter avatars, though on guy did make himself look much like the incumbent candidate. They were looking over election returns, which were coming in through both radio on National Public Radio, and TV stream via NBC, "51-49 Romney in Florida now, 50 percent reporting." "FOX exit polls Men 54/46 Romney/Obama Women 54/46 Obama/Romney Women 54% of the electorate." "Go women!" "Should we be demanding a recount somewhere yet?"

Asking what they expected from the election, one wryfully answered, "I'm hoping I don't lose my sanity, (laughter)." Asking them, "So what are all of you expecting from an Obama victory?" I got several answers: "Sanity." "Moving this country forward."  "I expect to not be effed over by the Republicans." "It prevents Myth Romney from being president." "Sharia Law." "A drunken party, and then 4 more years of the same." "More filibusters from Mitch McConnell."

The comments continued, "Gary Indiana just starting to report in." "Did 'gift from god rape' Mourdock actually win Indiana for Senate? if so I'm going to puke." "I was nibbling on candied ginger all day at work to keep my stomach from getting upset" Of a number of states in the south and midwest going for the Republicans, one guy commented, "All these red state results are making me nervous." "Oh, the red states, the sad, uneducated red states." "It's a sad fact that public education in the Southern states lags the rest of the country." "Poorly educated people are easier to maniupulate and are less likely to question what they're told."

Florida was something of a nail-biter that night, "0.2% separates Florida with 31% of the vote." Other early trends caused worry too, "56-42 Romney in Virginia, 24 percent counted." "I'm worried about Romney's trajectory. I'd like his trajectory to drop him in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean." "What,  and pollute the ocean?" "Texas alway stuns me.How can they be so stupid?" "FL still looking about tied." "…. the GOP cheats well in Florida." "Same in Ohio. Felons run my state." "I've heard of 'snowbirds' that vote absentee in their home stand and then vote again in FL."

As time went on, more states went for Obama, "Obama wins PA!" "Mich and Penn." "They called Wisconsin? Yahoooooooo!" So Mitt's losing all his home states, and Ryan's home state?" "Romney & Ryan will lose all their home states excepts the Caymans" "NYT says Obama needs 27 more electoral votes"

I kept trying to get to the Republican HQ, but couldn't because the sim was full. Finally about 6:40 SL time, I managed to get over. There was a sizable number of people over, plus one critter avatar, the donkey from Obama HQ. "We don't usually ban anyone from here," he was told, "unless they're not nice." Asking them, "What do you expect of a Romney victory?" I heard, "Less debt, Obamacare canceled." Ii think Romney will reclaim a lost hill. The ACA will get repealed."

The donkey avatar spoke up, "I have a question maybe someone can truthfully answer for me, and not be an ass about (it). Why would anyone not want universal healthcare for everyone? Maybe I'm a dumb ass but I don't understand that." he got a number of answers, "It costs more" ""It puts the govt in charge of your healthcare." "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch, but there's always free cheddar in the mousetrap." "Because we will be forced to carry (government) insurance or be FINED, the self insured are screwed, and I refuse to pay taxes to cover health care for asses who are too lazy to work." " We bankkrupt the country and no one has healthcare of any quality, you dumb ass." "But isn't health care already expensive?" "I dont want the IRS telling me I cant have procedure I need." "It (will be) a hell of a lot more expensive under Obamacare, but people think it's free because the cost is hidden in your taxes." "You don't get it, nothing is free." "It needs to be tweeked not overhauled."

"They are voting for Socialism, and the ruin of our country." "And they are voting to let China rule us at a rate of $1 trillion a year." "Prediction time!!! If Obama wins re-election - watch for increases in medical tourism as people seeking more medical options will travel to other countries with less restrictive laws." " if obama gets reelected, its going to cost the American people billions in fines *taxes* and the increase of what we pay for our insurance and deductables. Average family insurance will go up $2,500 next year, because the insurance model does not work to begin with for health care."

At 6:53PM, one guy noticed the tally, "This ain't good, O: 157, R: 153."One guy joked, "If Obama is reelected I'm quite in favor of my state Ok plus texas and any state that wants to join us should opt for secession." "Damn! NH is gone now." "He's now GOTTA WIN VA, FL & OH."

Events required my attention elsewhere for a while, but I returned to the Republican HQ at 8:15PM. Shortly afterward, the TV networks began declaring Barrack Obama the winner. The initial reaction was silence. Then someone broke the quiet, "Well, gold will go up." "Buy gold and guns." "Stock market is going to fall tomorrow." "Will I be arrested when i refuse my health ID number on my Fed tax form in 2014?" One dispirited resident told everyone "Good night all," and left.

Then someone popped in, "YEAAAAA BUDDY!  WE GOTTR DONE!" The responses were, "Go f**k yourself." "Look, the f**ktards coming in to gloat." "OBAMA! READ IT! YALL CRACKERS LOST AGAIN!" "Retard!" Finally, the offender was booted from the sim, a moderator saying, "Sorry it took so long to do that." "Funny thing is," someone commented, "if Romney won and we went over to the Dems' sim, they'd autoboot us." "Well, we'll never get a chance to see," another anti-Romney spoke up, laughing, "'cause he didn't win. Wooooo! OBAMA!"

Someone else began cheering, "WOOOOOOOO! OBAMA! :D" The reaction was "You're excited about the USA becoming socialist, real intelligent." "(laughter) Socialist is a 'lil extreme, don't you think?" "Socialist is completely accurate." "Come guys, don't be like that." "The gloaters are here." "Don't be like what? You're here gloating, not very mature, eh?" "(laughter, Well, we aren't talkin' 'ish about you, so that's not immature. Just exercising our freedom of speech. Yaaaaaaaay n Stuff!!" While the two anti-Romney's were cheering, one of them was running around bumping in to others. "No running around pushing people and such," someone told him, "very mature." "I'm not trying to push," the avatar in question answered, "I'm just running."

More anti-Romney residents arrived, and the banter began to deteriorate, "Gloat more when your rights are lost." "We don't' care about rights, as long as he ain't white!" "The Middle Class will be crushed by (the) Obamunists." "I voted for Obama 'cause Romney is a white devil." "Republicans are dumb if they would have have the nomination to Ron Paul then it would be different." "Hahaha, yeah, thats pretty much what I expect from modern Republicans." "What animals these particular Obamaites are, nothing but animals."

I asked the conservatives, "So, now that Obama has won a second term, what do you plan to do?" The answers were glum, "Well tell me something: what good did Obama do in his FIRST TERM?" "I still have my passport Bixyl, I can always go elsewhere and let the Democrats pay for the welfare state." "I guess we Republicans do not have any right to exist. Seems we can't have our own opinions, mob rule by the Obamaites."

"We voted for the lesser of two evils," one Republican commented, "because the primary process is corrupt and didn't give most of us a choice." "Here's a tip for next elections," one Democrat answered, "don't put the crazies in your primary." When challenged to name a better candidate, the anti-Romney resident admitted, "Santorum would have been better … or what's his name, the same guy, Huntsman."

There was no neutral political area like Capitol Hill four years ago, so I gave Cafe Wellstone a short visit, "Bixyl, you missed all of us going H00000000000000000000000000000000!!!!!" I asked, "So now that Obama's won, what do you expect to happen?" "Now, I expect that we all have to work really hard locally to get any s**t done!" "Well, for one thing, we'll keep Obamacare, Medicare, and Medicaid." "I expect him to purge the Republicans out of the house, and arrest them for 'political crimes,' then start to do the things we are asking him to do." "I am excited to see the healthcare fully implemented, not without bumps or adjustment but the right road." "We probably should work to change the House in two years." "And the Supreme Court nominations, that alone can be huge, long beyond a four year term." "Yes, SCOTUS is the real win for the long term."

Despite the winning, some Democrats still felt the need to put down the opposition, "Romney will concede tonight until he wants to look like a total ass... " "He *is* a total ass." "his was so close, scary close. I don't understand how we can have so many really stupid people in this country."

There were a few other places on the Grid where the election was talked about. Dr Fran had a picture of an election map in Hikuelo on her blog. At Club Zero Gravity, they held a "Skunk Party" in "honor" of how stinky the current state of politics had become. Following that, in Castaway Cove a mud wrestling pit was set up and people invited to come by, saying the election had a lot of mudslinging, "Now we're putting some of the mud to good use." Although I was there, I never took any pictures (sorry guys).

Some of my neighbors had a few things to say that night. One lady was overall satisfied with the results, feeling the cause of same-sex marriage had avoided what would have been a setback. Another whom had never commented on politics before described herself as being "purple" with anger over the results. One veteran I talked to felt the country had turned it's back on her.

But tomorrow was another day, and while the election would remain in our conversations for some days, over time things went back to normal.


Bixyl Shuftan

The First 2012 Presidential Debate in Second LIfe

At 6PM SL time on Wednesday October 3rd was the first of three debates between Romney and Obama in the US Presidential Election. It could be seen in two places in Second Life. One was Cafe Wellstone at Pini  (56, 78, 45) a hangout for people advocating liberal and progressive causes, and naturally were inclined to support President Obama. Among the people there was CNN iReporter Any1 Gynoid. Most of the audience who stated so remarked they were watching MSNBC.

There were a number of comments there, such as how Obama has aged in the past four years. Someone wondered if a bingo card should be made up with key words, and the appropriate square checked when it was uttered. More frequent were comments praising the President and not just saying the opposition wasn't as good, but clearly questioning their motives and goals, "Barack is one of the finest Americans ever born. He saved the country after the Republican wrecking crew. ... Every time Republicans win the White House, it's a criminal exploitation of the US economy, start wars, enrich (their) buddies, destroy industries." "(Romney)'s so full of crap already." "He's lying like crazy." "Quit selling out resources to China." "Middle Class Mortgage Deduction - GONE!" "Mittens is a moron."

For the politically conservative, there was the Republican Party in Second Life building in Sunset River (180, 198, 23). The humans and furs were watching coverage streamed in from FOX News. Among them was East Coast Conservative's Hatton Hunghi.

Naturally they had the opposite position of the people at Wellstone, criticizing Obama and complementing Romney. "This from the commentary on The Iowa Republican blogsite: Comment From Todd, 'Apparently the President is taking this debate as seriously as he did his Daily Intelligence Briefings.' " "LIAR!" "Oh em gee, hilarious." "Exxon employs 82,000 people ... and does me more good than this President." "Obama is just repeating his speaking points and getting called to the mat for it." "GO ROMNEY!"

Following the debate at the RPSL building, most thought the challenger came out ahead, "Romney should be carrying a broom right now, he swept the floor with him." CNN, streamed by neither location, declared Mitt Romney the winner.

There will be two more Presidential debates, and one Vice-Presidential one.

Bixyl Shuftan