We enter the elections season expecting much pomp and circumstance, and the occasional candidate mud wrestling catfight. But what we get is so much more. We grow with these candidates, sharing their hopes and dreams- and not just the good dreams like the one where Wild Things is the exact same movie except Kevin Bacon never gets naked. My point is we get invested, but rarely is there such an instant understanding of a candidates nature as experienced at today’s debate.

Rodrigo Ferrarai Nunes has instantly stolen the hearts of all those willing to listen to his story of mistreatment and woe. Over the course of the debate Rodrigo (I call him by his first name because I feel as though I know him so well) told us volumes. He spoke of his lifelong devotion to music which personally lets me feel secure knowing that if the AMS was ever to fall upon hard times, Rodrigo would be the first man on the street with a hat and his guitar raising money for the cause.

Other Hardships Experienced by Rodrigo:

- Sometimes… he gets blisters, but he has OVERCOME that and endless other pitfalls in life.

- Little known fact: I have keenly deduced that Rodrigo has some form of hearing impairment as this is the only possible explaination as to why he constantly ignored the time constraints of the debate.

- Rodrigo is in sociology

I was immediately overcome with emotion for this man who has had so much taken from him, and yet continues to believe in his ideals.

Some ideals expressed by Rodrigo:

- That he has… “has no loyalty”

- That one of the major questions in life is “why…why doesn’t UBC have a brewery on campus?”

- And That the recipe for transparency and productivity is one part endlessly vigilant Rodrigo five million parts blogging.

Isn’t there something really universal about loving blogs, playing fast and lose with loyalties, and wanting cheap local beer? I think we can all learn a lesson from Rodrigo about perspective. We do not get blisters on a regular basis, we can hear when directors tell us ad nausea that our speaking time is up, and we are more than likely in a faculty that is not sociology. We’ve got it pretty good- so I say let’s help a brother out. Brave Little Toaster for President!

-S