For the first time in American political history, a robot has announced his intention to run for public office.
Athena, a five-feet tall robot that has been trained to give stump speeches, debate, and do everything else a human candidate for public office is expected to do, has announced that it will run for the Democratic nomination for the office of Governor of Wisconsin in 2014.
Lori Compas, who developed Athena and will serve as its campaign chairwoman, said this at a press conference earlier today:
Because every human Democrat in Wisconsin is scared to run against Scott Walker, I decided that I would get a few of my friends together to develop a robot who could run a campaign for public office and train it to run against Scott Walker. Athena understands that Wisconsin needs a strong, vibrant middle class and that the policies that Governor Walker have implemented have hurt Wisconsin's economy and reputation.
When asked whether or not it thought that the Wisconsin electorate would be willing to vote for a robotic candidate, Athena said this:
Wisconsin elected an openly-lesbian human candidate to the United States Senate a few months ago. I'm sure they'll be open-minded enough to vote for a robot like me. After all, Scott Walker and his Republican allies have thrown this state's middle class under the bus, trashed this state's economy, and have refused to protect the legal rights of the people of this state. Let's move Wisconsin forward in a new direction!
Neither Scott Walker nor his campaign press secretary Nicole Tieman were available for comment.