video;

[shifting]

I'm gonna try and keep this short.

[says a smiling Sam Merlotte, wearing familiar plaid and jeans against the familiar wood and glass backdrop of his bar.]

My name's Sam Merlotte. I live in De Chima and I run Merlotte's, which - if I'm allowed to brag a bit - is probably about the best bar and grill you could stumble into or out. Now, this isn't the first time I've thrown my hat in this particular ring, and there's a lot about what I stand for that I think you're gonna find in common with the other candidates, but I don't think that's a bad thing. Core values are what shapes a community.

Community's my platform. People don't say it enough, but we're a remarkable group - and not really for the things people do talk about us for. ImPorts start off here a bunch of strangers with our lives turned upside down, and yet instead of scatterin' to the winds, we build somethin' together. You see it every month, how we offer help to newcomers and answer questions. And while we've also got our troublemakers, that exception doesn't break the rule. Time and again I've seen trouble hit and imPorts join one another to reach out and speak up.

And in the end, that's what an ambassador is: the voice of the community. Given the opportunity to be the Ambassador of De Chima, I'd like to use that voice to strengthen inter-community communication between ourselves, the government, and the natives. More specifically, I'd like to work with the other Ambassadors to start regular town halls in the imPort cities for community outreach, and to open the floor for imPorts to address concerns and discuss solutions. I'd also like to look into establishin' a more official welcome wagon for new imPorts, to ease the imPortation process. Both of which I'm perfectly willin' to get into more detail about with anyone who'd like to ask... but I think I've already pushed my own time limit.

[Sam straightens and nods to the camera.]

So lemme just leave you with this: however strong you are, I believe we're stronger together. And if that's somethin' you'd like to see represented in De Chima, I hope you'll vote Merlotte.

Comments

[shifting]

Still think you're misinterpretin' our relationship.

[blackhat]

Explain to me how that's a misinterpretation.

[shifting]

Well for one, he didn't make me do anything.

[he should have tried to make that sound less defensive.]

[blackhat]

You trying to tell me you volunteered?

[shifting]

I volunteered to stand guard a few nights.

...I agreed to bein' outside.

[blackhat]

His fiancé allergic to dogs or just to you?

[shifting]

Probably a combination.

[[particularly after he ended up sleeping in their bed.]

So is this entertainment for you? Figurin' out how we all fit together, that just how you like to spend your lunch breaks?

[blackhat]

Just curious.

[ His friends call him whiskers. ]

Not every day you see a dog turn into a naked politician inside a psychiatrist's house.

[shifting]

Wasn't a politician at the time.

And it's not everyday you see a burglar go up in literal smoke, either, so we're even there. I could be askin' questions of my own.

[blackhat]

Could be.

[shifting]

Like why you were there that night at all.

[blackhat]

I just told you I was curious.

[shifting]

You always go pokin' your nose too deep into things that get you curious?

[blackhat]

Guess it helps when you can’t really die.

[shifting]

- Who told you that? It's happened.

[blackhat]

It's the times it hasn't that make things interesting. Worst that happens to me is I forget your designer stubble collection and go back home.

[shifting]

Probably not painlessly.

So what's home for you then? Dude ranch in California is my best guess so far.

[blackhat]

Got it in one.

[shifting]

So were your assless chaps just in the laundry?

[blackhat]

Don’t offer much protection from the elements without an ass in ‘em.

[shifting]

If a person cocked their ear the right way, you could probably play that off as folksy wisdom.