You are the weakest candidate. Goodbye.

I'm not sure how I feel about this development. Tonight, NewEra Colorado is hosting

an alternative candidate debate for the Denver Mayor’s race, free and open to the public, that will involve a ‘survivor’ theme where candidates will go through several rounds, culminating with a round where the audience will be voting for their favorite candidates using text message voting.

Yeah, this probably provides candidates with all the wrong incentives, and it's pretty tacky. At the same time, it may increase public interest in a pretty low-salience (thus far) election. Generally, my favorite candidates (not the ones whom I'd necessarily vote for, but the ones who I think do the greatest service to democracy) are the ones who can combine both spectacle and substance. Obama is great at this, as is Schwarzenegger. So if a candidate can get through this debate while still sounding reasonably knowledgeable about the issues facing Denver, well that's only good for the city, I think.