In the campaign for President of the Wild Things, there will be a series of debates testing the political skills of your candidate.  You must think about what qualities and actions win votes.  Then you must build a robot that looks and acts 'presidential.'  A series of 'political debates' will be scheduled in October to test the skills of your robot against others.

To qualify for the ballot:

1. Your candidate must sit on a motorized chassis.  Several chassis designs are posted on Build-It-Blocks.  
2. Your candidate’s head must incorporate at least one nut, fruit or veggie.
3. The rest of the design is up to you.  Keep in mind the stage, the voters' preferences and the contests described below.
4. You must certify via email that you know the Build-t-Yourself  Tool Rules.

The Stage:
Your Wild Thing Candidate will start behind an 18” high curtain.  When the curtain opens, your Candidate will proceed through several judging stations.

The Electorate (Voters):
Both humans and non humans will vote.  Their political positions may range from far right conservatives to just-tell-me-the-facts centrists to radical left liberals.

Certain leadership qualities are known to be in favor by large numbers of voters. 

Debate Schedule (To be announced soon)

Campaign Financing: (Voting Stations #4 and #6)
Two piles of loot (in the form of candy) will be placed along the campaign trail.  You can pick up some loot by triggering Arthur Ganson's "Candy Grabber" and you can push a pile of candy off The Stage into the pockets of your supporters.  You will win 1 vote for every piece of candy you move.  There will be more than 1000 pieces of candy.  (Campaign managers get to eat the candy their candidate collects.)

Good looking: (Voting Stations #7 and #1)
The non human voters are very predictable.  Low to the ground is good because this implies stability and low wind resistance.  If you can sneak under a sensor mounted 8” above the runway, you will win 1000 votes.  Tall can also be good.  If you can get noticed by a sensor mounted 15” above the runway, you will win 1000 votes from the non humans.

It is not known how the humans will judge good looks but Ruthanne, Michael, Evan, Casey, Katy, Gracie and Natasha have suggested the following qualities: voluptuous, sturdy, not normal, snazzy dresser, carrying a clever sign, colorful, creative, recognizable (like Marilyn Monroe)   There are surely other definitions for good looking.

Making Noise: (Voting Station #3)
With the non human voters, it’s simple and straight forward.  The louder the noise you make the more votes you earn up to 1000 votes.  A sound sensor non human voter will measure the volume of sound from your candidate and then the volume of applause from the humans.

Humans are trickier Wild Things.  They may try to judge the tone and quality and composition of your noise.

Cleaning up a Mess:
Politicians are notorious for making big messes!  If your candidate can clean up a pile of candy wrappers, it will win 1000 votes.

Creative Talents:  (Voting Station #5)
Non humans will not vote on a candidate's creativity because unpredictable creativity does not compute with them.

However humans are very interested in creativity.  Your Candidate will have 30 seconds to impress the crowd, give a speech, do a trick ... anything cool!  You may win up to 1000 votes for impressing the human Wild Things.

Vote Summary:
Non humans:
1000 votes if less than 8" tall.
1000 votes if more than 15" tall.
up to 1000 votes, depending on the volume of noise you create.
up to 1000 votes, depending on how much candy you move.
1000 votes if you can trigger Arthur Ganson's Candidates' Candy Chest.
Humans:
up to 1000 votes depending on your good looks or ability to attract attention.
up to 1000 votes depending on the quality of the noise you make.
up to 1000 votes depending on how much candy you move.
up to 1000 votes depending on your creativity.
up to 1000 votes depending on many candy wrappers you can clean up.

The Future:
A series of debates are planned where we must define and then measure intelligence, ability to communicate, leadership, strength, endurance, ability to stay on course and more.  Therefore you should design your Wild Thing in modular fashion so that parts can be interchanged and your Wild Thing can get more and more politically astute.

This mission is tough!  You must be very clever.  Avoid "catastrophic successes" and don't "flip flop."

Good luck!