The competition heated up on Day Two with highly invested contestants battling it out in some close contests. We’ll break down all the action below, but first: your Day Three preview.
Day Three Match-Ups
Today’s expert judging panel consists of:
Usual reminders: the panel’s judgment will count for 50% of the vote, with each judge representing one-fifth of that total. So don’t forget to vote: in a close match, the popular vote can overrule a split judging panel (as has now happened twice in two days of competition). Judges and voters alike are encouraged to look at metrics such as: knowledge base; quality of argumentation; innovative thinking; humor, snark, facility with quips, and charisma; and responsiveness to followers. Contestants’ full bodies of work on Twitter are fair game, but any work outside of Twitter should not be considered, and once again everyone is encouraged to make their decisions in their own way.
Today’s expert panel is tasked with judging - and you with voting on - the eight contests in the upper left ‘region’ of the TFC brackets, where @attackerman is the one seed. Polls are open until midnight EDT, and results will be up in the morning.
Day Two Results
(1) @dandrezner vs. (16) @HayesBrown
Judges: 3-2 for @dandrezner (60% of judges’ vote)
Popular vote:
@dandrezner: 145 (43%)
@HayesBrown: 194 (57%)
Audience favorite and 16 seed @HayesBrown comes thisclose to knocking off 1 seed @dandrezner. Just 3% more of the audience vote or a few more bribes to judges, and the match is his. He goes home, the roar of the crowd in his ears, knowing that next year this showing makes him destined for a higher seed. And @dandrezner looks fearfully toward the next round, knowing that he is vulnerable despite his top seeding.
(8) @jonathanshainin vs. (9) @USEmbPretoria
Judges: 3-2 for @USEmbPretoria (60% of judges’ vote)
Popular vote:
@jonathanshainin: 86 (47%)
@USEmbPretoria: 97 (53%)
@USEmbPretoria wins both the judges’ and popular vote, becoming the first U.S. embassy to advance to the second round of #TwitterFightClub. The glass ceiling has truly been shattered.
(5) @InkSptsGulliver vs. (12) @frantownsend
Judges: 5-0 for @InkSptsGulliver (100% of judges’ vote)
Popular vote:
@InkSptsGulliver: 155 (88%)
@frantownsend: 25 (12%)
@InkSptsGulliver cruises comfortably past @frantownsend. And by “cruises comfortably,” we mean completely and utterly up-ends. One of only two pugilists this round to win a 5-0 judges’ decision and over 80% of the popular vote. Will he face off against his bitter nemesis in the second round? Let’s take a look now…
(4) @daveedgr vs. (13) @DzirhanDefence
Judges: 5-0 for @daveedgr (100% of judges’ vote)
Popular vote:
@daveedgr: 160 (89%)
@DzirhanDefence: 19 (11%)
Judges and voters alike were impressed by Malaysian defence correspondent @DzirhanDefence, new to many in the US audience, but @DaveedGR took this one walking away, setting him up for - well, for his usual Friday: an epic head-to-head battle with perpetual rival @InkSptsGulliver.
(6) @evanchill vs. (11) @ionacraig
Judges: 3-2 for @ionacraig (60% of judges’ vote)
Popular vote:
@evanchill: 113 (71%)
@ionacraig: 46 (29%)
The second time in this tournament that the judges’ vote is overruled by the popular vote. In this case, even though @ionacraig wins 60% of the judges’ votes, @evanchill’s 71% share of the popular vote is enough to advance. @ionacraig wins extra respect for twitterfighting from the middle of a sandstorm.
(3) @lrozen vs. (14) @astridhka
Judges: 3-2 for @astridhka (60% of judges’ vote)
Popular vote:
@lrozen: 81 (46%)
@astridhka: 95 (54%)
In an upset, @astridhka wins both the judges’ and popular vote. The great @noahchestnut called this upset from a mile away: just as he said, “game recognize game.”
(7) @dianawueger vs. (10) @micahzenko
Judges: 4-1 for @dianawueger (80% of judges’ vote)
Popular vote:
@dianawueger: 141 (71%)
@micahzenko: 59 (29%)
Well, @noahchestnut can’t get them all right. All guns from Gunpowder & Lead are still shooting straight.
(2) @blakehounshell vs. (15) @kalsoom82
Judges: 4-1 for @blakehounshell (80% of judges’ vote)
Popular vote:
@blakehounshell: 147 (79%)
@kalsoom82: 38 (21%)
He has a new baby. And coming so close to a date that will be seared in his memory—the date he advanced to round two of TwitterFightClub—@blakehounshell should forever after have no trouble remembering his child’s birthday.Analysis
Your judges’ ballots:
@Ali_Gharib
@DanDrezner vs @HayesBrown — A tough one, because both are such great tweeters — and both their many abilities were on display today, going after each other with humor and class and all the while interspersing occasional actual insights — even tweeting a nat sec event. My instinct to root for the clear underdog is augmented by having shared beers with him. But @DanDrezner wins it at the end of the day for his early post on neologisms that weren’t. Tough call for a biased judge like me, though.
@USEmbPretoria vs @jonathanshainin — Wow. both good — but very different — tweeters. Both are funny and informative, though @USEmbPretoria is a tour de force for information dissemination, setting a tough bar for @jonathanshainin to compete with. But then, I don’t really know what the apparent public employee @USEmbPretoria does other than tweet (bureaucrat! — just kidding), and @jonathanshainin is busy editing a magazine that I really dig. Gotta give it to my colleague in journalism, @jonathanshainin.
@FranTownsend vs @InkSptsGulliver — A no brainer. Did @FranTownsend even tweet today? Don’t think so. @InkSptsGulliver went down in infamy with me, immortalized at Salon.com, and could have won this thing easy even if he quadrupled his pint intake.
@DzirhanDefence vs @DaveedGR — I admit being unfamiliar with @DzirhanDefence, who clearly has a sense of humor to my liking. But even if I hadn’t known @DaveedGR and considered him a friend, he was a tough match. The guy practically invented the nice-twitter-fight. Just look how he twisted the above joke to his advantage. Glad I get to follow @DzirhanDefence now, but @DaveedGR takes this one.
@evanchill vs @ionacraig — Noah Chestnut sorta called this one. @ionacraig is a must-follow, a great tweeter in her area. But she was no match for threats of Qatari air power running on fumes, and “freedom and democracy” sandstorms. A valiant effort, but it goes to @evanchill
@astridhka vs @lrozen — @lrozen’s great. She’s a wonderful reporter with a nose for the small and compelling stories people miss in the diplomatic world. She informs and engages. But @astridhka took this on participation points, harnessing the tremendous strength of two forthright appeals, which was two more than @lrozen.
@dianawueger vs @micahzenko — Look, I like @micahzenko’s work. I respect him very much. And his magnanimity was touching. But I could never vote against @dianawueger (in this round, in case the judges want to keep me around…).
@kalsoom82 vs @blakehounshell - @kalsoom82 went for the sympathy vote, perhaps forgetting that new borns require lots of adult lack of sleep and involvement with non-bathroom poop incidents. I was nearly persuaded. But even with all the poop and lack of sleep, @blakehounshell tweeted well over 100 times today, sometimes bitingly (to my liking), and covering a wide swath of foreign policy and political news and thinking. I like @blakehounshell, and I’m fairly sure will win the round, but 100 tweets and nothing on #tfc12? @kalsoom82 gets the round on effort.
@hilango
First of all, let me thank Caitlin Fitz Gerald and the mysterious committee for giving me the opportunity to gain new followers partake in this glorious competition and terrorize the helpless promote healthy debate. I like to think being chosen as judge means I’m superior to those actually competing, but I promise not to be too blunt about it. Also, I am happy to announce no one fell for my brilliant entrapment scheme, though some tried to lure me with flattery and ABBA.
Let the games begin!
@dandrezner vs. @hayesbrown
I was going to give @dandrezner an automatic deduction for not following me, but then he remedied that travesty today. Smart move, Dan! But of course I would never let such a minor issue stand in the way of our mutual love of zombies (after all, I wear this to the gym).
If we must consider actual merit here (sigh!), the competition is a bit closer. Now, we all love @dandrezner’s snark, but @hayesbrown edges him on sheer informative output today, even if it is about the UN. The competition is tight, much more so than I expected.
@hayesbrown almost shoots himself in the foot (call it Twitter blowback). Yes, I love the Fresh Prince of Bel Air as much as the next guy/girl, and “Summertime” is the best summer tune ever, but:
>
In the end though, @hayesbrown does something almost invaluable: he live-tweets. It might seem minor, but stuff like that keeps Twitter above most news services (speaking as a former journalist). Boom! Headshot!
My choice: @hayesbrown
(apologies for the brutal imagery)
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@jonathanshainin vs. @USEmbPretoria
Hmmm. This was a bit of a hard one. @jonathanshainin tweets good stuff most of the time, but I think the pressure of entering the Thunderdome was a bit much. Or he was just too busy on a Tuesday. Regardless, his lack of tweeting was a problem. On the other hand, it is hard to side with @USEmbPretoria. Its strange name can only mean it is a robot, perhaps even a sentient robot given its quite precise language, and its absurd amount of self-composed tweets make me even more suspicious. I guess it boils down to a question of humanity vs. Skynet. I choose life.
My choice: @jonathanshainin
@InkSptsGulliver vs. @FranTownsend
I am a big fan of @InkSptsGulliver’s blogging, and @FranTownsend, well, she has a very nice flag on her Twitter page (I honestly don’t know much more about her).
But leaving aside such prejudices, an honest appraisal of tweet-quality makes this a bit of an obvious choice. Though @InkSptsGulliver has a bit too many RTs today, they’re helpful to an IR/military geek like me. @FranTownsend’s feed is just about empty. Case closed.
My choice: @InkSptsGulliver
(I couldn’t really find an appropriate picture, but I didn’t want @InkSptsGulliver to feel left out)
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@DaveedGR vs. @DzirhanDefence
I’m sorry to say this was a rather easy choice. I’m mostly sorry because I wish I could be harder on @DaveedGR, the Ice Cube of NatSec Twitter and someone rather impossible to beat in a fair fight (this makes me even more sorrier). But alas, while @DzirhanDefence made a noble attempt at currying the favor of this judge, @DaveedGR beat him on quality of tweets. There’s nothing wrong with RTs, but in this fierce competition originality trumps sheer quantity of information.
My choice: @DaveedGR
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@evanchill vs. @ionacraig
In the spirit of full disclosure, I did not know much about @evanchill and @ionacraig beforehand. @evanchill might be the only person trying to impress someone with connections to the Qatari Air Force, for which he deserves some sort of creativity bonus. @ionacraig on the other hand wooed me (it was obviously aimed at me personally) with tweets about journalists winning awards. Also, she tweets from and works out of Yemen. Which is all kinds of badass (autocracy bonus!).
My choice: @ionacraig
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@lrozen vs. @astridhka
There was a disappointing lack of showmanship from these two, so instead I had to judge solely on tweet quality. I enjoy the odd observation here and there and @lrozen tweeted interesting (for me) political stories throughout the day, but @astridhka added that personal touch. And she responded to lots of tweets. But next time I want more blood showmanship!
My choice: @astridhka
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@dianawueger vs. @micahzenko
I’ll be perfectly honest; the lovely @dianawueger scares me a bit. Her mastery of the interwebs would be enough to destroy me, but my responsibility as a judge prohibits me from cowering in fear. So, on with the evaluation:
@micahzenko is high quality-low quantity. Huge plus for critical tweets on Iran debate, but there fairly little activity from @micahzenko most of the day. @dianawueger had a slow Twitter day too (by her unusually energetic standards), but tried to charm her way to a win. In the end, @micahzenko eeks out a win for poking fun at Uncle Leon.
My choice: @micahzenko
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@blakehounshell vs. @kalsoom82
This one should be easy; @blakehounshell just had a baby. Cuteness alone should give him the victory. But then again, babies can be intimidating:
So, who wins on merit?
Oh, whatever, I’m giving it to @blakehounshell. He had a baby. And he tweeted more interesting FP news than @kalsoom82.
My choice: @blakehounshell
@jeffemanuel
@dandrezner vs. @hayesbrown
This was probably the toughest 1 vs. 16 on the board. @HayesBrown was all over twitter on the day of his bracket’s competition, and he wasn’t just chatting up judges — he actually had things to say about current international affairs and national security matters (crazy, right?), and his twitter feed is consistently informative and entertaining. However, @dandrezner has, and probably always will have, a major one-word, two-syllable advantage that makes him bulletproof in these competitions: ZOMBIES. ‘Nuff said. My vote: @DanDrezner.
@jonathanshanin vs. @usembpretoria
Ordinarily I’d be against including institutional accounts in a NatSec TwitFight, but @USEmbPretoria is a rare - and worthy - exception. The prolific tweeting by those behind the account, their responsiveness, and their acknowledgment of Twitter Fight Club give them an edge in this battle between folks who are based in very interesting (and very different) geographic locations. Though it’s an admission against interest to do so, have to confess that the excellent @jonathanshainin was among those I nominated for this year’s TFC and @USEmbPretoria was not. Now that I’ve said that, I’m going to go ahead and make myself look like a fool by picking the participant I didn’t even have among my top 64 when this shindig started. My vote: @USEmbPretoria.
@inksptsgulliver vs. @frantownsend
This is a difficult one as well (how did I end up with the toughest bracket? CONSPIRACY!!). @InkSptsGulliver is prolific, his witty repartee with @DaveedGR is always worth reading (particularly on FollowFridays), and let’s face it — he’s a lot more manageable in the 140-characters-or-less that Twitter demands than in the 50,000-words-or-more that his website seems to require. @FranTownsend’s consistent excellence speaks for itself, so I won’t talk about it any more. My vote: @InkSptsGulliver.
@daveedgr vs. @dzirhandefence
Once again, a very difficult judgment to make. Both competitors are following similar numbers of people, though @DaveedGR has four times the follower base himself. Both are witty, both are responsive, both are exceedingly informative — but only one is both the Ice Cube of CT polemics and the likely successor to Omar Hammami’s spot in the al-Shabaab hierarchy. My vote: @DaveedGR.
@evanchill vs. @ionacraig
Two Middle East-based journalists in a first-round matchup? Ouch! However, that’s how the ball bounces in Twitter Fight Club, and unfortunately only one of these outstanding tweeters can advance. With a follower count five times that of @ionacraig, it seems that @evanchill has a leg up here. Add that to his outstanding Egypt coverage (and his priceless “Don’t tell me what it’s like to be white!” twitfight last week), I have to give the edge to al Jazeera’s man, even if he is a Bears fan. My vote: @evanchill.
@lrozen vs. @astridhka
Hm. A Yahoo! reporter with a wicked cool caricature avatar, or an aid worker who focuses on the tragically underrepresented Horn of Africa? This could easily be a 14-over-3 “upset” in a match that’s far closer than the participants’ seeds suggest. I could seriously draw straws and be happy with the outcome, this one is so close. (runs to kitchen, gets straw, and cuts into two uneven sections)….and the winner is @lrozen!
@dianawueger vs. @micahzenko
Let’s see…the fearless leader of the Gunpowder and Lead crew, or a CFR bigwig who wrote a book with a Predator on the cover? Both get the medium (which isn’t as common as you might think), and while @dianawueger’s tweets cover a wide range of topics (from guns to liqueur) and @micahzenko’s usually focus on foreign affairs and NatSec, the latter’s twitter feed constantly strikes me as a stream of non sequiturs within that subject area. Add @dianawueger’s engagement and responsiveness, and I think she has the edge here. My vote: @dianawueger.
@blakehounshell vs. @kalsoom82
Frankly, this one was the easiest of the bracket to decide on. That’s not to slight @kalsoom82 in the least; put up against just about anybody else in this bracket, she would have had an excellent chance to move on. Unfortunately, @blakehounshell isn’t anybody else. The most prolific foreign affairs/NatSec tweeter (and retweeter) in this region of the 2012 tournament is simply an easy choice here, in no small part because his twitter feed is so informative to me personally on a daily basis. My vote: @blakehounshell.
@johnsonr
@dandrezner vs @hayesbrown:
Hands down, the most entertaining match of this bracket. @dandrezner and @hayesbrown brought the perfect mix of trash talk, honest back-and-forth on issues, and individual content. I have to say, I love having a go-to guy on all things UN, and it’s hard to beat @hayesbrown for that. He covered Russia, Syria, DRC, and UN funding — all things that help me help my guys. That said, @dandrezner brought me pigs. He was also refreshingly well-rounded and covered economics without a painfully partisan slant (a seriously rare occurrence on twitter), French politics, and that prettyboy stuff he does. Still, on this day, @hayesbrown took it. He had a higher substance-to-humor ratio, and both were rock solid.
Protip for competitors in other brackets: @dandrezner changed his profile pic to something suitably badass and gained 12 followers in 2 minutes. No lie.
@jonathanshainin vs @USEmbPretoria
I didn’t follow either of these guys before a few days ago, and I’m really glad they’re in my tweetstream now. I sort of feel for @jonathanshainin; @USEmbPretoria can’t possibly take time to pee, s/he / they tweet so damn much. This morning I was leaning @jonathanshainin: @USEmbPretoria seemed more like a news aggregator, which is great, but I have news feeds aplenty. I want analysis, which @jonathanshainin could surely provide. Maybe they wore me down, maybe I really appreciate a solid African newsfeed, maybe they do smuggle a little analysis into their feed, or maybe I have a secret love of Senegalese music. All I know is that @USEmbPretoria won my vote. LOVE.
@InkSptsGulliver vs @FranTownsend
What upsets me most about this match is that @InkSptsGulliver essentially won by default, when he could have won easily in a gritty, close contact, mano-a-mano smack down. Which is what I sincerely hope he gets in the next round. He is one of the best ones on the twitters, even if he did start life with the stacked entirely against him:
@DaveedGR vs @DzirhanDefence
This one was tough — It’s great to have a legitimately non-Western voice discussing security issues (as opposed to an American tweeting from a non-Western location). @DzirhanDefence covered Gen Allen’s HASC testimony, potential Israeli strikes on Iran, China, and something about planes that sounds a lot like this to me. That said, @DaveedGR is one of those rare professors who actually, you know, teaches and mentors his students via twitter without sacrificing his analysis of issues like Iran, al Shabaab, etc. Heartstrings pulled. @DaveedGR takes it for me, but I’m a solid @DzirhanDefence fan.
@evanchill vs @ionacraig
I’m excited to have learned about both these competitors — solid professionals without being self-important. What’s not to love? There was even a “My sandstorm‘s bigger than your sandstorm” smack down and grumbling about blackouts. Not my typical DC bitchfest. @ionacraig won my vote. No power, sandstorms, timezone issues, and I still learned a ton about Yemen.
@lrozen vs @astridhka
It was really interesting to read them side-by-side in tweetdeck: @lrozen focused on US security issues while @astridhka had a decidedly HOA focus. They’re both ideal for different reasons, but if @lrozen hits center mass on US foreign policy questions, that’s a pretty saturated market. @astridhka gives me thoughtful analysis of an important, often under-studied and poorly understood part of the world. @astridhka earns my vote.
@dianawueger vs @micahzenko
I’ll admit, this was the toughest match-up for me because I know, adore, and respect both competitors (even if @micahzenko — after ALL our history — ruthlessly unfollowed me a couple of months ago only to shamelessly refollow me over the weekend. Don’t worry, Micah, Rule #5.).
That said, it was a slow day in this battle. @dianawueger played the ol’ DC stand-by: “But I have to WORK FOR A LIVING…” At least she showed some #tfc12 love. @micahzenko showed a shocking lack of flare. He barely mentioned #tfc12, and then only to suggest that he didn’t care if people voted for him or not. No hustle. Neither competitor really brought it today, so if I look at their overall quality on twitter, you can’t beat @micahzenko’s research skills. Period. The man’s freaky that way. I don’t always agree with him, but he’s got mad skillz. That said, @dianawueger schools him on the core functions of twitter: pulling together cats and dogs from all over the world and promoting other people’s work, while still providing solid analysis of her own. In any other forum, @micahzenko would win hands down (sorry, Diana. He’s got a decade’s head start.). But in TwitterFightClub, @dianawueger takes it.
@blakehounshell vs @kalsoom82
I asked folks today who they would follow if they could only follow 3 people on twitter (a skeptical colleague challenged me to knock his socks off with twitter-goodness). Someone included @blakehounshell on their short list. I’ll admit, I’m a new follower, but I understand the fanlove: He’s prolific (it’s 10pm as I type this. The other matches are out to pasture; he’s still updating.), comprehensive, and engaged. That said, @kalsoon82 actually *shocked face* does things to make the world better. At the end of the day, I come to twitter to learn, and @blakehounshell does that for me in spades. I feel a little like this girl:
He wins my vote.
@petulantskeptic
Since, despite what at least half of the people below will tell you about me, I am generally a nice fellow I am only going to explain why I am voting for my preferred competitor. This way I can camouflage the capricious nature of my judging criteria and also appear magnanimous. You are welcome.
(1) @dandrezner vs (16) @hayesbrown
As a connoisseur of zombie apocalypse literature (if you’re new to the genre start with the unparalleled World War Z by Max Brooks; if you’re an old hand looking for a hidden gem try the Day by Day Armageddon series by active duty Naval Aviator J. L. Bourne) there’s no way I can pass up a chance to vote for Dan. Especially since he had the foresight, months ago, to tweet support for my idea to write a serious treatment of the ways in which a zombie apocalypse would affect our health infrastructure. Which I may or may not ever get around to doing (hint to future judgees: If you do this for me, it would be hard not to vote for you).
Despite a strong push in the last two days by the woefully under-seeded Hayes Brown I cannot change my mind. His push was so strong that I asked the judges if I could split my vote but, alas, was denied. At the end of the day (I’m writing this before the end of the day, but I do like to behave as though my predicted future is reality) the workmanlike day-to-day performance by Dan over the past few months has been too much. Also, as I mentioned above he said nice things about something I plan on (maybe) some day doing.
Finally, the thing that forced me into voting for Dan happened the other evening. I opened a pint of ice cream which I believed to be untouched and pure. I even removed the plastic wrapper around the lid which is meant to assure me that my ice cream is as pure as the driven snow (with lots of added synthetic flavors since this is the 21st century and eating snow seems very much too easy and also boring). Upon opening the ice cream I found that this seal had made many false promises indeed. For approximately 3 spoonfuls had been removed and into that space was placed a mosquito. You’d think the mosquito would have been thankful for release from his icy prison, but instead he was furious and proceeded to harry me mercilessly. While I dealt with the mosquito and the conundrum of what to do with the ice cream I sent out a tweet asking whether I should eat it. Momentarily forgetting that I would soon be judging him Hayes Brown showed his true character and implied that I should not. Such a spirit of caution cannot be rewarded. As the intro to the first episode of The Wire memorably taught us all when McNulty asks a witness why they let Snoot Boogie play if he always ripped off the pot when it got large: “Got to man. This America.” In that spirit, I cannot, in good conscience, reward the cautious spirit that would have wasted (most of) a delicious pint of ice cream.
(8) @jonathanshainin vs (9) @usembpretoria
I can’t reward a two day tweeting hiatus at the beginning of Twitter Fight Club. Sorry Jonathan. Pretoria it is.
(5) @inksptsgulliver vs (12) @frantownsend
While it does make me nauseous to vote for as unabashed a SNOOT as Gulliver I can’t really pass up the opportunity to keep him around for as long as possible in order to nauseate him by offending his delicate (and antiquated!) grammatical sensibilities in explaining why I vote for him. Expect more sentences like this if he keeps getting favorable match ups.
(4) @daveedgr vs (13) @dzirhandefence
Daveed. Chap Hop. End of story.
(6) @evanchill vs (11) @ionacraig
I’m voting for Iona because Evan self reports as being a Bears fan. That being the case I am confident he can handle defeat. Not so sure about Iona.
(3) @lrozen vs (14) @astridhka
Astrid. Because: Clear eyes. Full hearts. Can’t lose. Even though 14 seeds are historically 18-108 in the NCAA basketball tournament.
(7) @dianawueger vs (10) @micahzenko
She likes guns and drinking, talked me into going to the largest gun show in Arizona, and occasionally publishes my blog posts. If judging TwitterFightClub were like being a judge in the real world I’d have to recuse myself. But, for the good of everyone, it’s not… so Diana wins.
(2) @blakehounshell vs (15) @kalsoom82
Blake just had a child. It’s not so much that I’m voting for him as it is that I am voting for this: http://pic.twitter.com/
