"What are Principles?"
When we picked up a second copy of World of Warcraft yesterday, so as to be able to play at the same time, I saw The Political Machine on the shelf, for a mere $10. A bargain for me, but it does seem a pity to find it tossed into the bargain bin so quickly. CGW gave it a good review, and the game seems to have found that golden spot where play is accessible enough for a casual player to spin through without losing unduly often, but complex and subtle enough that a hard-core player can keep occupied for months, if he’s willing to take the time to crunch all those numbers.
But a review of The Political Machine is for another day, after I’ve had a chance to give it more than a single cursory play (where I managed John Edwards to a gratifyingly hefty victory over Condaleezza Rice). Rather, I want to warn of the corrupting influence of politics. Witness:
Eileene got a chance to play first, since my writers’ group meets Thursday evenings. When I came home, she was closing on the final weeks of her 41-week campaign, and frantically whipping through a menu of states, seeking opportunities for last-minute stumping to push marginal states into her camp. She talked aloud as she played, more to herself than to me, though I was obviously interested in what was going on, and her fragmented sentences were meant in part to explain it all.
Finally, she settled on making a couple of speeches in Georgia. Only after her candidate arrived did she click open a review of issues to address and demographic opinions on them, saying aloud, “Let’s see, what do these people want to hear…”
In mock horror, I asked, “You’re just telling them what the polls want? Aren’t you campaigning on any principles of your own?”
“Yeah, I got ‘em all over, in lots of states.”
“No, principles! Don’t you have any principles?”
There was a pause. Without a hint of irony, she turned from the screen and asked, “What are principles?”
Later, there were denials. While I cackled, Eileene hastened to explain that she thought I was talking about principals. From schools or something. Which is why she was confused. And she wasn’t picking positions she didn’t believe in, anyway; she was just looking for a topic she could endorse without alienating Georgians. What the presidential candidate’s advisor meant to say was… But the damage was done. Her momentary lapse is going to be immortalized on the web.
If an hour or two at a mere simulation, complete with silly pictures and can turn an opinionated young woman into a moral vacuum, imagine what a lifetime of politics can do, when the brass ring is leadership of a world hegemony. And why can't we get Tom DeLay to ask the question that's in his heart out loud, in front of a microphone?