Former governor speaks in Second Life [update 1]
by Kyle Orland 
{ Sep 1st 2006 at 11:00AM }
Former Virginia Governor and potential 2008 presidential candidate Mark Warner became the first politician to make a public appearance in an MMO yesterday, speaking to a small crowd of avatars in Second Life on issues ranging from the Iraq war to abortion. Warner, who is also founder of cell phone company Nextel, literally flew onto the stage at the start of the event, leading interviewer Hamlet Au to comment that he is "not a noob."
The lightly-attended event was put on by Warner's Forward Together PAC and Second Life promotional group Millions of Us as part of an effort to "go where the voters are," according to Forward Together staffer Nancy Mandelbrot. Warner didn't take audience questions during the event, but promised that he would be back for a virtual "town hall" meeting soon.
With more and more voters spending more and more time in virtual worlds, is Warner on the leading edge of a new form of campaigning? Or is this appearance a gimmick that won't have any long-term effect on politics?
[Update: Changed to reflect the fact that Warner is a former Virginia Governor, not current.]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
AlloyNES @ Sep 1st 2006 11:07AM
Gimmick.
btw, whats the appeal of Second Life?
Lone Starr @ Sep 1st 2006 11:12AM
JOYSTIQ, Virginia governor is TIM KAINE.
Andrew Fong @ Sep 1st 2006 11:15AM
Well, hopefully he'll be one of the first politicians to NOT use videogames as an election-year scapegoat.
Andrew Fong @ Sep 1st 2006 11:15AM
Lone Starr, Mark Warner is the former Virginia governor.
Hiro Protagonist @ Sep 1st 2006 11:17AM
And just how is Joystiq supposed to know that Lone Starr?
They are a gaming news website (kinda) not a politics one.
They don't have to keep up with everything like current events nor do any research into their articles or 'news pieces'.
Sheesh, honestly.
Tyler @ Sep 1st 2006 11:20AM
Hiro while this is a gaming blog, is good journalism to make sure your facts are straight, regardless of what they pertain to.
Hiro Protagonist @ Sep 1st 2006 11:26AM
I was being sarcastic, I guess it doesn't travel well on these series of tubes :)
I don't care much about Virginia, nor the US for that matter, but I agree with you Tyler.
He WAS the Virginia Governor so it's kinda like a half-truth. That should count as something no?
32_Footsteps @ Sep 1st 2006 11:35AM
How much better off would things be if we could even say a majority of politicians in office were not newbs. I don't mean newbs about technology; I mean in general.
Given the relatively low US population playing Second Life, I think it's mostly a gimmick. But if he started campaigning in Paragon City, it might seem realistic. If he actually campaigned in WoW (bonus points if he chose the Horde, just for humor value), then I might take it seriously.
V_R @ Sep 1st 2006 12:52PM
What's the appeal of Second Life?
To exist in a user created world where you can do and make anything you want.
For others there's shopping, Tringo and BDSM clubs...
ZaBlanc @ Sep 1st 2006 11:43AM
#5
Ummm, this is a game Web site, but knowing the identity of the subject of an article would be sort of important. It's not like it takes more than a simple Google search.
With that logic, you could say that speleeng woodint matthur bcaws its uh gaming sight, to.
unimental @ Sep 1st 2006 11:53AM
Perhaps this is a harbinger of official 2008 election pages on MySpace. Personally, I'd probably decline a friend request from "Hillary 2008", but that's just me.
miannone @ Sep 1st 2006 12:41PM
Am I the only one who thinks this is an awesome idea. I dont play Second Life, but if a politician appeared in a game I like it would definitely be points in his/her favour.
With many politicians out there being anti-gaming (at least against adult games) and making (debatebly) outrageous claims against gaming, it pleases me to see a politician use gaming in a positive way. Instead of trying to gain votes by saying how bad gaming is, he is using gaming to reach out to another demographic and try to earn their votes.
Whether or not Mark Warner is pro-gaming, I have no idea. But I figure if a candidate is willing to appear in a game to reach voters then he probably understands some of the good that gaming can do and will not blindly speak out against games.
Dave Murphy @ Sep 1st 2006 1:41PM
It's great to see Joystiq picking this one up. I actually got a chance to speak (real-life) with Governor Warner yesterday, post-chat. Unlike his other politician friends (cough Ted Stevens cough), he actually seems interested in using technology to appeal to groups of people (gamers?) who might not otherwise vote in the first place.
I totally agree with Miannone though; the fact that Warner's actually *trying* to understand the concept of a virtual world is great. Thank god he's at least trying to get involved in the digital world, as opposed to just making it another bulletpoint issue on the Senate floor...
Dave Murphy @ Sep 1st 2006 1:42PM
**der**
forgot the add the link: http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=18302&hed=Second+Life%3a+Kissing+Virtual+Babies
Nolan Benbrook @ Sep 2nd 2006 11:27PM
sweet, i live in VA. Tim Kaine sucks tho
Bryan Campen @ Sep 2nd 2006 11:16AM
Hey all,
As a member of Millions of Us present at the big dance, I can tell you that the event was packed and that there were at least four groups with repeaters listening across Second Life.
The attraction of Second Life for Mark Warner (or anyone, for that matter) is the way in which people congregate (any way they like, and for whatever reason they like) and the ability to gather around all sorts of interests on a national and international level, in an environment that appears quite game-like.
So I would contest the idea that it was, enh, lightly attended. Today's "to capacity" will be tomorrow's sparse. But again, for SL, it was cram-jammed.
And to Hiro, all I can say is "Rock with Fire!"
Senshida @ Sep 1st 2006 4:31PM
I got to shake Mark Warner's hand once. (In RL)
That picture in the article, doesn't look like Mark Warner. (of course thats a "avatar" so...) But he looks like a woman in that picture..
Merus @ Sep 2nd 2006 8:51AM
"To exist in a user created world where you can do and make anything you want."
We already live in such a world. Will giving it competition improve it or something?
I can make anything I want with a much more intuitive interface than anything made with a keyboard and mouse, and I can do whatever I want without running up against hard-coded interaction limitations. And I can design a house for myself from top to bottom and furnish it however I want.
There is a balancing mechanism - they call it money - but there's plenty of ways to circumvent it, and there's a lot of official and semi-official bots you can use once you've got enough. I've seen some good strategy guides around, but if you can, try and find a player willing to teach you. It's a lot more effective.
The Real World: No set-up. No monthly fees. No load times.