State Senate Candidate Criticized for Playing World of Warcraft

We all have hobbies, but, unfortunately, sometimes our ability to perform certain jobs comes into question because of those hobbies. Colleen Lachowitz, a Democratic state Senate candidate from Waterville, Maine, is under fire from her Republican opponents for playing “World of Warcraft.” “World of Warcraft,” or “WoW,” is a massively multi-player online role-playing game, or MMORPG. According to us.battle.net, “‘World of Warcraft’ is an online game where players from around the world assume the roles of heroic fantasy characters and explore a virtual world of mystery, magic and endless adventure.” Lachowitz is running against state Senator Tom Martin next month, and Maine’s Republican party is using her hobby to make her look bad in the eyes of voters.

Her Republican opponents have created a website devoted to chronicling forum comments Lachowitz makes while playing as her character, Santiaga, an Orc Assassin Rogue. The site, colleensworld.com, lists post such as, “I love poisoning and stabbing! I never thought I would love it so much either.” The top of the website says, “Maine needs a State Senator who lives in the real world, not Colleen’s fantasy world.” Lachowitz’s opponents assume she is too preoccupied with “World of Warcraft,” but I highly doubt this is the case. Just because Lachowitz enjoys an online game does not mean her time is dominated by it. I do not deny that games like “World of Warcraft” have an addicting nature to them, but the majority of people who play online games are normal people with normal people problems. Lachowitz is trying to make Maine a better place, but her opponents do not think she will be able to do her job.
Jessica McCarron, a senior government/world affairs major and president of the University of Tampa College Democrats, disagrees. “She’s a qualified candidate and has ideas for Maine,” said McCarron. “What a person does in their free time doesn’t necessarily impact how they hold office.” Marco Tarantino, a junior philosophy major and president of the University of Tampa College Conservatives, said, “If Lachowitz were to be elected, while there is no intrinsic harm in her playing video games while being in this position, it is still important to note that what she says and does within channels of a video game can have a negative impact on her position and those that she works with. The website the Republican Party has posted is especially effective at this as it highlights those statements that she has posted while on the video game that show irresponsibility on her part.”

Lachowitz is aware that bad things are being said of her and has not kept silent. According to the Huffington Post, she said of the Republicans, “Instead of talking about what they’re going to do for Maine people, they’re making fun of me for playing video games.” I agree that political candidates should focus on what he or she plans to do when elected for the position they are campaigning for and not on what the other candidate is doing in their personal life. McCarron also agreed and said, “Candidates should speak more on issues instead of personal attacks. As voters, it’s our responsibility to demand a greater focus on issues to move the country forward.” Tarantino stated, “With negative ads, one side paints a picture of the opposition in an image of what the voters do not expect, whereas in contrast, positive campaign ads are not as effective because these ads play into the ideas of what voters already expect from candidates.” While negative ads do seem to attract more attention than positive ads, most fail in that they only try to show why voters should not vote for a particular person; it says nothing about what their opponent plans to do in order to make their county, state or country a better place.

Lachowitz, according to Winda Benedetti of NBC News, said, “As a gamer, I’m in good company with folks like Jodie Foster, Vin Diesel, Mike Myers and Robin Williams. Maybe it’s the Republican Party that is out of touch.” The way her Republican opponents regarded “World of Warcraft,” and, by extension, all online and video games, paints them as people who are out of touch. By appearing out of touch, the Republicans may not look like the best choice when Election Day comes. This plan may have hurt Martin’s chances at winning instead of helping him succeed.

I am not the only one who supports Lachowitz’s ability to play “World of Warcraft” without being attacked by Republicans. A player whose username is Perky on the “World of Warcraft” forums said, “I don’t know that I’d agree with [Lachowitz’s] political stances or that I would vote for [her] based on her policies. That’s not what this is about. What I do know is that using the fact that she plays “World of Warcraft” against her in a political campaign is absurdly pathetic.” Luke Ludwig, a junior pre-veterinary biology major and Republican, said, “I don’t think that she should be discredited for playing a video game. That is her personal life and a way of release from her stressful job. I say if she has proven herself competent enough to run for Senate and has no actual issues to discredit her that can be linked to her playing too much “WoW,” then I do believe that the Republican Party is being very childish and just looking for things to bash her on.” Ludwig, a level 90 Human Paladin, has been playing for two years and plays almost every day for a few hours. “I don’t see ‘World of Warcraft’ being able to impact your work or social life as long as you prioritize your time and know when you need to stop playing and get your stuff done,” said Ludwig. Video games have been around for decades and are hardly alien and harmful like her Republican opponents make it out to be. If Lachowitz’s opponents must use negative campaigning to discredit her, stick to business and keep her personal life out of it.

Jake Koniszewski can be reached at john.koniszewski@spartans.ut.edu