ENN First Minister Debate Liveblog

HEM

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"ENN First Minister Debate Liveblog"
HEM
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HEM @ 9:06 PM PST: ok we are about to get started. sopo has taken over from UV, and is characteristically late. I'll be posting comments here on things I feel are noteworthy during the debate. If you want to be apart of the liveblog too, just DM me on Discord or something.

HEM @ 9:09 PM PST: welp, I will also be rating all of OD's jokes on a scale of 1 to 7. His Barry Manilow joke was a 2.

HEM @ 9:11 PM PST: Cuddles is that MVP in class who keeps asking the professor questions to stall the start of the test.

HEM @ 9:13 PM PST: Calvin released his opening statement prior to the debate, which was an interesting tactic. He's definitely trying to redefine his candidacy, and showcase that he has the scrappiness of his newer opponents. We'll see if it works.

HEM @ 9:17 PM PST: OD is referencing his past experience and leaning hard into culture and comms. DAX's opening statement is similar to Calvin's in that he is leaning hard on his Europeian story. Cuddles "if you don't like me, remove me from office!" is memorable, but not particularly compelling.

HEM @ 9:21 PM PST: apparently OD is the only candidate who can follow the rules on time!!!!

HEM @ 9:24 PM PST: This question is about talented but troublesome Ministers who don't follow orders. OD and Calvin's responses stand out to me, because they both reference trying to resolve the problem then having to let the Minister go. DAX's answer was fine, but a little more barebones (give a warning then let them go). Cuddle's answer that he would tend to trust his Ministers over himself...is interesting. It seems like he's looking at the FM job more as a facilitator than a leader.

HEM @ 9:26 PM PST: inmates have taken over the asylum with calvin asking the entire field a question during the debate portion of this q.

HEM @ 9:29 PM PST: I honestly think Cuddles turning his resignation experience into an example of how he'd handle a situation is his strongest moment yet. He took a potential weakness (having to resign) and twisted it into a strength (I understand that bad things happen and can figure it out).

HEM @ 9:32 PM PST: A bit of a divide on the "Whitmark / Bri" question between whether to let people save face and have confidentiality, or have full disclosure. I'd say on a spectrum the candidates fell like this:

Most Private
Olde Delaware
DAX
Calvin
Cuddles
Most Public

HEM @ 9:36 PM PST: Cuddles comes down the most extreme on recruitment, openly saying that he'd fire a Minister who wasn't meeting his expectation of Cabinet-wide recruitment. Pretty much all the candidates get the overall premise of this question (less recruitment optimized better is better recruitment overall).

HEM @ 9:40 PM PST: Cuddles is continuing to steal the show on this question, asking how the candidates would handle missing their own recruitment goals.

"so you would just say, 'my bad guys' od?"

Savage.

HEM @ 9:44 PM PST: Moving to integration, Cuddles brings forward an interesting idea: buddy games. Calvin's point about integration being intersectional across all departments was a really good one. OD takes this a step further, saying Ministers should be buddies (isn't that contrary to his view on mandatory recrutiment, where ministers should focus on their own departments and now others??). DAX is a little more vague here, but points for being honest and direct about Discord buddies.

HEM @ 9:49 PM PST: Love how DAX spent her time in the debate period basically explaining the IRM to Cuddles who openly doesn't know what it is.

HEM @ 9:51 PM PST: Now OD wants to pick a fight with Cuddles. love the drama.

HEM @ 9:56 PM PST: Cuddles' point comparing Interior to Comms was really confusing.

HEM @ 10:01 PM PST:

question: how will you refresh its offerings this term?
OD: we will do everything we've always done but spice it up and push the limits*

*he did bring up Mafia as a discord game and Steam Sundays as new ideas

HEM @ 10:02 PM PST:

question: What is the purpose of the ministry of culture
DAX: The Ministry of Culture is a Ministry that consists of the Culture of the region

HEM @ 10:02 PM PST: this question should've been a homerun for DAX who has been a (very good!!!) Minister of Culture. instead, it was really completely all fluff. so frustrating!

HEM @ 10:04 PM PST: Calvin's answer here was really ~inspirational~ and answered the "what is culture" portion of the question but was more puppies and rainbows than solid plans for refreshing the department's offerings. Maybe the question was too big for the time given to candidates?

HEM @ 10:07 PM PST I think it's interesting that OD has chosen to go after Calvin for being vague rather than DAX. Not sure if that says anything about his electoral strategy...

HEM @ 10:10 PM PST: OD has spied a weakspot, and good for him, but I'm not sure having two (2) cultural ideas for things that might end up happening during the term separates the quality of his answer from the others that drastically. His answer probably was the best here though.

HEM @ 10:12 PM PST: The culture question was a hot mess. OD and Calvin were center-stage, whereas DAX flew under the radar with some truly weak responses. I wonder if part of DAX's strategy is to keep her head down while OD and Calvin beat the shit out of each other, or if this is just a newer thing for her and she's not keeping up as well.

HEM @ 10:17 PM PST: all candidates are ok with EBC pieces critical of them *pulls out pen and barrel of ink*

HEM @ 10:19 PM PST: great quotes from this debate #1:

Cuddles: "more people need to talk crap about me"

HEM @ 10:22 PM PST: Calvin uses private media as a contrast to bring up a good point about wanting to strengthen the EBC's role in actionable regional commentary. OD is focusing more on private/public partnership opportunities. DAX's point about communication between private and public to prevent duplicative coverage is...vague.

HEM @ 10:23 PM PST: Cuddles' position is confusing here because he evolves from saying in his original response, "everyones voice should be heard, their opinion matters the most. more people need to talk crap about me."

to saying, "the EBC is the center for euro info, and should be played as such, mostly non-opinion based pieces that give straight facts."

Definitely not walking away from here completely understanding his position.

HEM @ 10:26 PM PST: "This is a debate, not really a time to be learning how the government works." :eye_emoji:

HEM @ 10:29 PM PST: OKAY, since the candidates are doing a "half-time" I'll drop some top-level thoughts here.

I think Cuddles actually started out stronger than I expected. He went on the offensive on the recruitment question, and held his own on the culture question. His shorter experience than other candidates is starting to shine through on these later questions.

OD came out swinging against Calvin on the culture question, which didn't make a ton of sense to me. Maybe he thinks he could snipe the veteran vote from Calvin and get to the second round of balloting that way? OD has been overall pretty strong.

Calvin has had strong answers on the whole, but the wind has been punctured out of his sails both by OD and by the moderator asking him for clarification. I think if someone is reading back from the transcript to decide who to vote for, Calvin's answers would be the most consistently strong.

DAX isn't having a particularly strong night in my mind, but also maybe it doesn't matter? She has avoided getting into any fights, and is basically coasting. Nobody has really challenged her on anything particularly eye-catching. Let's see if that changes.

HEM @ 10:38 PM PST: and we're back with a question on integration. and I'm getting sleepy.

HEM @ 10:44 PM PST: my eyes were glossing over this question until OD threw out a grenade: asking why DAX as Minister of Culture didn't give him, a Deputy of Culture, advancement opportunities within the Ministry. DAX takes ownership of not being the best manager of deputies, but OD is still pressing.

HEM @ 10:47 PM PST: ok now cuddles is talking about getting six pack abs and I think i'm asleep and having a fever dream

HEM @ 10:50 PM PST: From Lethen in EuroChat: "whenever this comes up, it circles back to OD being passed over. And to me, its shifted away from 'I understand this personally so I can help' as a narrative to 'let me complain about how I was personally wronged' as a narrative. That's not a great look for OD as a candidate for those of us with longer memories, imo."

HEM @ 10:52 PM PST: I think what DAX was getting at here is that aspiring Deputies should be awarded with Ministry-level jobs before entry-level rando's to create that sense of advancement OD feels is lacking, but it was really confusing and may have opened pandora's box.

HEM @ 10:56 PM PST: OD is still hammering at DAX, and Cuddles is asking un-related questions like a dude who isn't sure which subway to take out of Grand Central Station

HEM @ 11:02 PM PST: best exchange of the night:

CuddlesToday at 10:59 PM
OD? any thoughts on my question?

Olde DelawareToday at 11:00 PM
Sorry Cuddles it was hard to pin down exactly what your question was.

CuddlesToday at 11:01 PM
oh well, i guess we'll never know

HEM @ 11:07 PM PST: OD's closing statement is truly moving: "You're going to get someone who cares and is compassionate. Someone who is going to work to make our region better, who will beat the shit out of my opponents with reminders of their failure to mentor my amazing potential*"

*not real

HEM @ 11:10 PM PST: Wow, what a debate!

I would need to process and probably re-read everything if I were going to "score" or give "grades" but I'd say if I'm Calvin or OD I'm probably happy. If I'm Cuddles or DAX I'm probably a little less happy.

OD went after...pretty much everyone in this debate. He had maybe the strongest overall presence because of it, but we'll see if it costs him in electability.

Calvin had probably the most even-keeled performance, with solid answers on most questions. Oftentimes though, he failed to keep my attention in such a crowded debate.

Cuddles had a surprisingly strong start in my mind, but got a little more absent-minded as time went on. He was also honest about some of his lack of technical expertise, which while transparent, probably isn't going to help with the perception he needs a little more experience before being FM.

And of course, DAX. I think DAX is a hard worker and a worthy candidate for First Minister...but this was not a good debate for DAX. This was a new discussion format for her, and I think it showed. He answer on the culture question still is making me cry, because I'm sure in another format (like a forum question) she could blow people away, but in the rapid-fire debate section it was just very vague....not good. She also closed with getting the tough questions from OD about why DAX didn't give him more mentorship...which I think could end up backfiring on him, but I don't know.

ENN will put out a VERY flash poll tomorrow to see what the public thought about the debate. More to come.
 
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HEM @ 9:29 PM PST: I honestly think Cuddles turning his resignation experience into an example of how he'd handle a situation is his strongest moment yet. He took a potential weakness (having to resign) and twisted it into a strength (I understand that bad things happen and can figure it out).
Eh, tbh I think it still dosent look good. "I would handle it similar to I was fired" just comes off a little weird to me.
 
So far I think the experienced debaters have definitely come off more prepared and poised but not exceptionally so that it would change my expectations per se
 
So far I think the experienced debaters have definitely come off more prepared and poised but not exceptionally so that it would change my expectations per se
Yeah, Calvin and OD started really strong. I actually think Cuddles knocked OD off balance a little bit on recruitment, which may have happened because of how OD's position on mandatory recruitment makes this question a little trickier for him.
 
So far I think the experienced debaters have definitely come off more prepared and poised but not exceptionally so that it would change my expectations per se
Yeah, Calvin and OD started really strong. I actually think Cuddles knocked OD off balance a little bit on recruitment, which may have happened because of how OD's position on mandatory recruitment makes this question a little trickier for him.
Another thing about cuddles is that he is definitely taking a more informal writing style to most of these responses that reads a bit differently than the other candidates. It’s not something that I recall seeing in previous discord debates and I wonder if it hurts him in comparison to the much more polished OD and Calvin. though certainly it is how most people chat on discord so maybe it’s really a non issue.
 
So far I think the experienced debaters have definitely come off more prepared and poised but not exceptionally so that it would change my expectations per se
Yeah, Calvin and OD started really strong. I actually think Cuddles knocked OD off balance a little bit on recruitment, which may have happened because of how OD's position on mandatory recruitment makes this question a little trickier for him.
Another thing about cuddles is that he is definitely taking a more informal writing style to most of these responses that reads a bit differently than the other candidates. It’s not something that I recall seeing in previous discord debates and I wonder if it hurts him in comparison to the much more polished OD and Calvin. though certainly it is how most people chat on discord so maybe it’s really a non issue.
I could see it helping or hurting...informal could be relatable to members?
 
I feel like this format incentives sharp attack like questions from the candidates when they might benefit more by staying above the fray. Or not picking slightly less sensical fights.
 
I feel like this format incentives sharp attack like questions from the candidates when they might benefit more by staying above the fray. Or not picking slightly less sensical fights.
i definitely feel like the darkhorse candidates understand this is their time to have "a moment".
 
HEM @ 10:17 PM PST: all candidates are ok with EBC pieces critical of them *pulls out pen and barrel of ink*
Field day for guest writers!?
 
HEM @ 9:56 PM PST: Cuddles' point comparing Interior to Comms was really confusing.

Oh god. I'm not the only one!
I think everyone was confused by this. I mean I *think* I know where he was going with it? But really I don't.
 
Thanks for this, HAM.
 
I especially liked how Cuddles told us him relieving himself in the toilet felt good. 10/10 will vote for.
 
OH. MY. GOD. this whole thing made me laugh soooo hard. yeah im informal. am i a kool kid yet?
 
Kool like Kool-aid.

 
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