Virtual Carl hopes to help Carl DeMaio become San Diego's next mayor. (Photo courtesy of Voice of San Diego)
San Diego Mayoral candidate Carl DeMaio now has a virtual version of himself.
Virtual Carl is in a virtual office taking your questions. They’re actually his questions. In other words, if you don’t ask a question from a pre-set list Virtual Carl stands there and stares at you. I asked Virtual Carl who came up with this idea? No response. I then asked what he thinks of mayoral candidate Nathan Fletcher. Again, no response.
“It’s like when the Pirates of the Caribbean ride breaks down and you watch the same animated pirate over and over,” tweeted Gerry Braun, who works in the actual Mayor’s office.
A lot of Virtual Carl’s responses are anti-climatic. When asked what he would do if he won the lotto, Virtual Carl says he won the lotto when he was elected to the City Council but turned down the proceeds, meaning he’s not enrolled in the City’s pension system. When asked what makes him happy, Virtual Carl says nothing makes him happier than taxpayers getting good value for their tax dollar.
Kelly Davis, City Beat’s associate editor, discovered Virtual Carl yesterday and Twitter has been buzzing ever since.
I tweeted this morning: “Is Virtual Carl brilliant or weird?”
“Both,” tweeted Voice of San Diego CEO Scott Lewis. “Unlike others, he seems to really grasp there are unexplored and potentially powerful ways of communicating on the web.”
Voice’s Liam Dillon posted a story last night that put Virtual Carl up against Siri, iPhone’s new personal assistant. Siri seemed a little put off by the whole thing.
City Beat’s Davis posted a story last night, too.
“Responses range from enlightening (who knew Carl liked zombie flicks?) to predictable (his favorite vacation spot is San Diego) to fact-check worthy,” Davis wrote.
She tweeted today that she wouldn’t call the idea brilliant, and wondered who Virtual Carl would appeal to.
“My sense is this isn’t about that,” I tweeted back. “It’s more about doing something new, generating buzz, etc. Damn the torpedoes.”
DeMaio calls Virtual Carl a video town hall. Lorena Gonzalez has a different take.
“It only answers questions he wants asked … It’s fake boldness,” tweeted Gonzalez, the city’s top labor leader. “Bob Filner and Nathan Fletcher let me ask them questions live, unedited. Carl DeMaio won’t even answer my questions by computer.”
Virtual Carl – I love saying that – is a little odd and certainly not that risky, but it is out of the box. Has anyone running for office tried this before?
If nothing else, DeMaio once again has people talking and tweeting, and that’s Virtual Carl’s greatest gift to candidate DeMaio.
Follow me on Twitter: @tonymanolatos