Chapter 121
On Thursday October 18th was the final presidential debate. This was the first debate that Richard Wilkins was eligible to be in. With less than three days until election day this was Wilkins' last chance to appeal to the electorate. Voters watching the debate found Wilkins charming, folksy. Some believed him to be a sensible middle against Obama and Romney. Wilkins criticized Obama as weak on terror, and Romney for not taking global warming seriously. This made sense to Americans worried about both of these things. Wilkins planned to cut welfare, but raise minimum wage. Many working class Americans liked this idea. Wilkins talked about traditional family values and being tough on crime, but also fighting for gun-control. Made sense to people in crime-ridden neighborhoods. People had heard rumors about Richard Wilkins, that he might be involved in the occult. Few took these rumors seriously, they seemed to be on the same level as the birthers or those who thought Bush somehow faked 9/11, but at the debate Wilkins made light of the rumors. When Wilkins admitted to worshipping demons, even Obama and Romney laughed a little. Wilkins even said "That's part of the reason I want to fight against global warming. I'm trying to conquer the earth. But if global warming wins I would have nothing to rule over but charred corpses and boiling oceans. So yeah, I've gone green." People in the audience laughed at this, as did many who saw the debate on television. Amongst those watching it were Rupert Giles and Buffy Summers. They knew Wilkins was serious, but they had no evidence that would be believed, certainly nothing that would hold up in court. Others might disagree with Wilkins' stance on gun-control or opposing same-sex marriage. But few feared the idea of President Wilkins like Rupert Giles did.