I dreamed last night that I was an independent candidate at a political debate and here's what happened.

I arrived early for the debate and it was at a temporary building at the edge of the parking lot of a large shopping mall, one of those institutional buildings that is very modular and expensive, so only a government would buy one. I walked into the building and a couple of my supporters were there but nobody else was present.
After a bit of waiting around a campaign bus for the Conservatives showed up and a bunch of reporters piled off the bus and milled around in the parking lot, then some of the entourage came into the building and set up some banners and an OPP officer in full combat gear came through and checked for security threats before the PC candidate came in with a bunch of the press milling around him. He was a mean looking cuss, eyes like a shark but he smiled when the cameras were on him and then he stepped up to the podium and said a few words that sounded important but didn't really mean anything and then he got back on his bus and they all drove away before the debate even began.
Next a couple of black government SUV's pulled up where the PC bus had just been and a bunch of guys in suits piled out and they came into the temporary building and started milling around. They took down anything the PC guy had left behind and started putting up their own Liberal election material and banners, the press people hung around in little groups while this was going on, chatting amongst themselves, nobody bothered with me. Finally the press secretary went up to the podium and read out a press release from the candidate on some of the important issues he was concerned about, none of these were very clear but there was a sense of concern to the whole statement just not very precise or with any plan of action. While this was all going on around me a couple of guys wearing blue jeans and heavy jackets came and stood beside me and I asked them if they knew when the debate was going to start as they seemed to know what was going on and were down to earth.
These guys explained that there wasn't going to be a debate because the Liberal candidate was too busy to show, the PC candidate had already left and their own candidate was going to be arriving with the head of the NDP party shortly to give an address. Right on cue in walks the leader of the NDP and the candidate, the leader takes the podium now and does all the talking, she is in a white power suit that doesn't fit right and she talks and talks while the candidate himself just stands in the background and nods. She seems to make some sense but just doesn't manage to tie it all together, much of what she says is about how she will respond to whatever the Liberals or the Conservatives do.
One of the NDP guys standing beside me lets out a yelp and we turn to see what the problem is, it seems a deer tick has embedded itself in his wrist so I help him get it out with the help of one of the other NDP guys, it's a Lone Star Tick and after I get it out I tell him he should go to the medical clinic and get some antibiotics because it looks like it has been buried in the guys wrist for a while and it is infected. Somebody makes a quip about the NDP guy being the only guy to get bit because he was the only one that had some blood for the blood sucker and then someone else says that the tick didn't bite the PC or the Liberal out of professional courtesy, there are a few snickers at that. Everybody starts packing up their banners and the press corp basically eats all the free food and leaves but I never get to say anything because I am an independent and not news worthy.
Finally it is just the janitor left sweeping up the mess that is left behind so I show myself out and go looking for my car to drive home. I find that a flea market has been set up in the parking lot and people are trying to sell their crap from their garages but nobody is buying because everybody has too much crap in their garages already. I wake up from my dream before I find my car.