Maine Republicans attack rival for playing World of Warcraft

Politicians will go after any perceived weakness to win an election. And to the Maine Republican Party, there's nothing weaker than being an orc.

Maine GOP communications director David Sorensen sent out an email today detailing the lurid gaming life of Democratic State Senate candidate Colleen Lachowicz, whom he bashes for "living a time-consuming double life as a member of the World of Warcraft community."

Indeed, Lachowicz plays World of Warcraft as an orc rogue named Santiaga. She's played a lot, too; Santiaga is a Level 85 assassin and a member of the "Wreck List" guild. We know this because the GOP has handily created a website entirely devoted to monitoring Lachowicz's gaming sessions and chronicling her posts to online gaming forums.

To Sorensen, Lachowicz's interest in World of Warcraft is not only puerile, but sheds light into the kind of leader she might be for the state of Maine.

"In Colleen's online fantasy world, she gets away with crude, vicious and violent comments…Maine needs a State Senator that lives in the real world, not in Colleen's fantasy world," the Maine GOP writes on the site. They go on to list out a number of terrible things Lachowicz has posted, dinging her on her bloodlust ("I like to stab things"), laziness ("Ahhh, my productivity has never been the same"), and just general geekiness ("I love playing my rogue").

Lachowicz isn't the only Democrat who digs games. Last month, former president Bill Clinton told The Daily Show's Jon Stewart that he was "hooked" on a game, though he didn't specify which one.

Politicians have gotten in hot water over playing games before. In 2009, two Connecticut lawmakers were chided after being caught playing Solitaire in the middle of a budget debate. A year later, a city councilman in Bulgaria was dismissed from his post after repeatedly being warned about playing Farmville during meetings.

In this case, however, Lachowicz isn't being slammed for playing on the job. She's being slammed for playing, period. While she should probably back off a bit during election season, at least she's stabbing virtual objects instead of, say, shooting real-world hunting partners. Orcs get no respect.

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