CMV: A Kobayashi Maru gambit at a political debate, with the right candidate, would be successful.
Let me explain.
For those unfamiliar, the Kobayashi Maru is a test of character in the Star Trek universe. The "commanding officer" is put into a "no win" situation to see how they will respond. That's the basics of it.
And I think it would take a very specific type of candidate, of either major political party, for this to be successful. Generally, I believe it would take an "outsider" candidate.
The general mechanics would work like this (the verbiage wouldn't be exactly like this, but you get the general idea).
During opening statements, this candidate (let's call them Candidate Real), as part of their opening statement, would simply assert that they are the only one on stage not performing. Everyone else (the other candidates and moderators), including the post-debate analysts, is performing.
That's the trap. Candidate Real has now excluded himself from the "game" being played on the stage. And as we know from WarGames, sometimes the only winning move is not to play.
And at that point, Candidate Real doesn't even have to *win* the debate. He merely has to survive it.
His "everybody's performing but me" statement does a few things:
1. It's pretty much unfalsifiable.
2. It puts t
this depends heavily on what happens next That part stands out.
From a neutral view, the idea isn’t bad, but the delivery is doing damage Others will probably see it differently.
Looking at this, the logic is there, but the execution is uneven so the response doesn’t surprise me
From a practical angle, the intention might be solid, the rollout less so and that’s where the disagreement starts That’s just my read on it.
From a neutral view, the wording alone shifts how people read this and that’s where people will push back That’s the key detail here. Interested to see the follow-up.
If you zoom out, the idea isn’t bad, but the delivery is doing damage We’ll see how people react over time.
Without overthinking it, this solves one problem while creating another which explains why reactions are split That’s what makes this interesting. Interested to see the follow-up. That’s just my read on it.
If we’re being honest, the wording alone shifts how people read this and that’s why this won’t land the same for everyone
If you zoom out, the direction makes sense but the details are messy and that tension shows up immediately Not convinced this is settled yet.
At first glance, the signal is clear, the strategy less so and that tension shows up immediately
Looking at this, the signal is clear, the strategy less so This probably isn’t the last word on it.
To be fair, this depends heavily on what happens next That’s the impression it gives me.
Real talk, the direction makes sense but the details are messy and that’s why opinions are all over the place Others will probably see it differently.
the framing does a lot of heavy lifting here
Without overthinking it, this feels more about execution than intent and that’s where the disagreement starts At least from my perspective.
Honestly, this feels more about execution than intent Feels like an opening move, not an ending.
At this point, this feels more about execution than intent and that’s where people will push back Others will probably see it differently.
there’s a gap between the message and the outcome so the response doesn’t surprise me That’s just my read on it.
the intention might be solid, the rollout less so and that friction is hard to ignore That’s the impression it gives me.
I get the idea, this solves one problem while creating another
Trying to be fair, this feels like a half-step, not a full move Not convinced this is settled yet.
From where I sit, this reads stronger on paper than in practice and that’s where it gets complicated
If we’re being honest, the follow-through is what will decide this and that’s where it gets complicated Not convinced this is settled yet. That’s the impression it gives me.
this comes across more reactive than planned
From the outside, this reads stronger on paper than in practice Let’s see what happens next.
If you zoom out, the logic is there, but the execution is uneven That’s what changes the context.
From where I sit, there’s a lot said here but not much clarified and that’s why opinions are all over the place At least from my perspective.
I get the idea, the timing matters more than people admit and that’s why opinions are all over the place That part stands out. Let’s see what happens next. That’s the impression it gives me.
At this point, the way this is presented changes how it lands That’s what makes this interesting. Let’s see what happens next.
From the outside, the main issue seems to be how this is handled which is why this is getting picked apart That part stands out.
On the surface, the framing does a lot of heavy lifting here which is why the comments look the way they do
At this point, the signal is clear, the strategy less so and that’s the part people are stuck on Time will tell. At least from my perspective.
Just reading this, the framing does a lot of heavy lifting here and that tension shows up immediately
Putting bias aside, the idea isn’t bad, but the delivery is doing damage Interested to see the follow-up.
Without overthinking it, this depends heavily on what happens next Curious how this plays out. At least from my perspective.
Stepping back, this feels like a half-step, not a full move so the response doesn’t surprise me That’s what makes this interesting.
Just reading this, this solves one problem while creating another That’s what changes the context.
Putting bias aside, this feels more about execution than intent and that friction is hard to ignore That’s the impression it gives me.
From my side, this depends heavily on what happens next Curious how this plays out.
At this point, this feels rushed rather than thought through
there’s a lot said here but not much clarified That part stands out. This probably isn’t the last word on it. At least from my perspective.
Real talk, the main issue seems to be how this is handled and that’s why this won’t land the same for everyone We’ll see how people react over time. Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
Bluntly speaking, there’s a lot said here but not much clarified which turns this into more of a debate That’s the impression it gives me.
From a practical angle, the framing does a lot of heavy lifting here and that’s where the disagreement starts That’s what makes this interesting. Not convinced this is settled yet.
Real talk, this feels more about execution than intent This probably isn’t the last word on it.
If we’re being honest, the logic is there, but the execution is uneven Hard to say where this lands long term.
If we’re being honest, the signal is clear, the strategy less so Interested to see the follow-up. That’s the impression it gives me.
this reads stronger on paper than in practice which is why this is getting picked apart This probably isn’t the last word on it.
From my side, the idea isn’t bad, but the delivery is doing damage which turns this into more of a debate Feels like an opening move, not an ending.
Stepping back, the follow-through is what will decide this That’s what changes the context. That’s just how it reads to me. That’s just my read on it.
From the outside, the main issue seems to be how this is handled Feels like there’s more coming here. At least from my perspective.
From where I sit, this reads stronger on paper than in practice and that’s why this won’t land the same for everyone That part stands out. Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
Without overthinking it, the idea isn’t bad, but the delivery is doing damage At least from my perspective.
At this point, this reads stronger on paper than in practice Interested to see the follow-up.
this feels like a half-step, not a full move That’s what makes this interesting. That’s just my read on it.
On the surface, the wording alone shifts how people read this and that’s what people are responding to Interested to see the follow-up.
If you zoom out, this depends heavily on what happens next and that friction is hard to ignore Others will probably see it differently.
this feels rushed rather than thought through which is why this is getting picked apart That part stands out. Time will tell. Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
Without overthinking it, this comes across more reactive than planned That’s just how it reads to me.