Wyatt Chesney: Hoax?

[Alcon]

The political world is a weird one, and it looks like it's gotten weirder.  Wyatt Chesney, the friendly fellow running for the Reform Party nomination who was kind enough to stop by the Atlas, may not exist.

Evidently, the vast majority of the content created for the Wyatt Chesney site was created by a Reformer231, aka ABSite.  If that name sounds familiar, it should; ABSite posts here.  Many other mentions are by Robert Stark -- another name that should sound familiar.

I am generally a trusting guy.  Mr. Chesney was never anything but kind in his responses to me.  But as someone who has learned to deal with the seamier sides of the computer world, I also know when I smell something fishy.  I worry  that Mr. Chesney claims $1,500 in donations, yet has no FEC file.  I worry that Mr. Chesney claims to be an accountant in good standing with his community, yet has not a single Google hit for anything other than his presidential run.  I worry that, despite claiming to live in Arizona, Mr. Chesney's posts on forums originate from Austin, Texas. I worry that the FreeWebs extension for Mr. Chesney's site is ivotedcobb yet he claims to have voted Nader in 2000 and 2004.  And most of all, I worry that there just isn't much of a chance that a man running for president would not have a single trace online, in the phone book, or on people search databases.

Again, I hate to think that we have been collectively hornswoggled, but other than ABASite (and to a lesser extent, Robert Stark), there doesn't seem to be even a tenuous connection between Mr. Chesney and the information world.

If Mr. Chesney, ABASite, or Mr. Stark would be kind enough as to address this, it would be appreciated.  I know all visit this forum, and this would be the place to address the perceptions at hand before the "hoax" incident becomes out of control -- moreso than it already is.

EDIT: From what I read now,  it's pretty clear that Robert Stark wasn't involved.  My apologies, Robert.

[MODU]

You can read the discussion on this on the Reform Party's forum.

[J. J.]

Alcon, thank you.

This is one of the reasons why we should be careful and raise questions about fake posters.

[YRABNNRM]

You can read the discussion on this on the Reform Party's forum.

Here's something that poster thereformation posted....

The same thing happened on the USElection Atlas. The last login of Wyatt's was right before "Captain Vlad" (another name Adam Martin goes by) joined. No posts from Chesney since.

Our Vlad? Hmmmm....The web gets more tangled....

[Know Your Rights!]

You seem to be assuming it was me; however, I don't post as "reformer231" on the Reform Party message board. Rather, I post as "thereformation". If you read the thread discussing it, you'll see who it (the hoax) points to. If you ask Dave Leip, I sent him my concern about this. I had reason to be worried. I "interviewed" Wyatt Chesney through private message on that forum, that puts my credibility on the line. I talked about it with the forum administrator on the RP forum too.

I have integrity. I'm not interested in supporting or creating fake candidates. I was fooled by this, I got really into supporting Wyatt Chesney because he was a lot of wanted I wanted to hear.  On the wikipedia, I added flyers which I did for him, I did that for the campaign, not as the campaign. I didn't add any "biographical" content, although I did add him to the presidential 2008 thread. I considered being more vocal about this as soon as I realized what was going on, but it was all circumstancial evidence, I didn't want to be seen as "wacky". It's as embarassing for me to be fooled as for anyone else.

If an administrator on here wants to look at my ip address in comparison to Wyatt Chesney's and anybody else's, go ahead.

[Sam Spade]

Like I said before:  The Reform Party still exists?  That's a hoax too, right?

[Lewis Trondheim the Amazing Bouncing Ferret]

Ah, it's a cool name though. I think I'll go be Wyatt Chesney next. Of course I'd have to withdraw from the presidential race as, for age, birthplace, and citizenship reasons, I am not eligible.

[Sam Spade]

Ah, it's a cool name though. I think I'll go be Wyatt Chesney next. Of course I'd have to withdraw from the presidential race as, for age, birthplace, and citizenship reasons, I am not eligible.

same here.  We need more Wyatt Chesneys in this world.

[Lewis Trondheim the Amazing Bouncing Ferret]

Welcome, friend.

[Sam Spade]

Danke schoen.

[adam]

I believe that I should be the one to blow the top off of the Wyatt Chesney ordeal. Considering that I am one of the master minds behind it.

First off the roles:

Wyatt Chesney: This character, intellectual yet charasmatic, was played by my friend Dan Wyatt.

Adam Martin: The nervous manager, was played by none other than Adam Martn himself (me).

Website: Designed by me (yeah, I know I suck at it), content done by Dan.

Picture: A professional business photo done of  Dan's dad.

The story is simple. Dan and I got high one afternoon and he said that he was going to run for president. We planned it out and decided that the internet was the best way to go. He got a PM on the RP site about this site and he signed up here at my apartment. I liked the looks of it, so I created an account myself. Soon after we got bored with it and moved back to our old hobbies. One of which now includes creating our own guitar effects.


Anyways, yes Chesney is fake, and yes I had something to do with it. Feel free to call CNN.

Honestly guys, had we been really serious don't you think we would have chosen a more lively body than the Reform Party?

[Know Your Rights!]

I believe that I should be the one to blow the top off of the Wyatt Chesney ordeal. Considering that I am one of the master minds behind it.

First off the roles:

Wyatt Chesney: This character, intellectual yet charasmatic, was played by my friend Dan Wyatt.

Adam Martin: The nervous manager, was played by none other than Adam Martn himself (me).

Website: Designed by me (yeah, I know I suck at it), content done by Dan.

Picture: A professional business photo done of  Dan's dad.

The story is simple. Dan and I got high one afternoon and he said that he was going to run for president. We planned it out and decided that the internet was the best way to go. He got a PM on the RP site about this site and he signed up here at my apartment. I liked the looks of it, so I created an account myself. Soon after we got bored with it and moved back to our old hobbies. One of which now includes creating our own guitar effects.


Anyways, yes Chesney is fake, and yes I had something to do with it. Feel free to call CNN.

Honestly guys, had we been really serious don't you think we would have chosen a more lively body than the Reform Party?

Well. That's embarassing. And I probably should apologize to the forum since I'm the one who invited him here.

Ugh...I'm angry, but I guess I learned a lesson about supporting candidates that I knew nothing about. And I'm definitely mad about how many people I told about the campaign, how many political people I emailed about it, etc... And now my friends, when I bring up a candidate ask "Is this one real?".

That said, I suppose I should say that you two did a pretty decent job.

[adam]

I suppose I should also appologize to the people of what used to be the Reform Party. Sorry for being a dick, but I didn't think it would go as far as it did.

[Alcon]

Sorry ABASite; I shouldn't have been so quick to take an accusatory tone.

Well, this was fun.

[Know Your Rights!]

Sorry ABASite; I shouldn't have been so quick to take an accusatory tone.

Well, this was fun.

It's alright; I'm glad that everything has been straightened out now. I suppose as active as I was with the campaign did make me look guilty to an extent.