Clarence for President- A New Era

[ZuWo]

Great pick, Senator! From what I've seen, Yelnoc is experienced and very knowledgable on the issues so I have no doubt that he will handle his VP duties in a competent way.

[Yelnoc]

Thank you Clarence, I'm honored to join your ticket.

For over two years I have been active in Atlasia.  In that time I passed bills in the southern legislator, not bills to pad the statute page but the kind of legislation that has given the old south a character of its own.  I am proud of my work on the game moderator staff, notably converting the Secretary of Internal Affairs from a fluff post to a real job.  But, as Tweed points out in his latest video, there is more to Atlasia than government structure.  The core of this game is relationships.  You, the people, are what matter.  Over the past two years I have done my best to build relationships with people from all over the political spectrum.  In fact, I consider a number of the other Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates friends (at least in the forum sense, more so for some).  

Why did I accept Clarence's invitation then, you might ask?  It all comes down to substance.  Not policy details, as great as those are, but substance of character.  Love him or hate, we all have an opinion of Clarence.  We need a president who will spice this game up, a president who will inject fresh life into a game that is floundering.  Yes, floundering.  Like most of us, I remember the days of the JCP-RPP duopoly.  Casting off the old system was a healthy first step, but we still have a long way to go.  When only two people declare their candidacy for two open seats, and when barely half of the registered population can be brought out to vote in an even more competitive election, it is evident that this game still has deep structural problems.  

These are problems that go beyond partisan concepts of left and right.  Indeed, I believe my lack of fixed ideology or political slant gives me a unique view on the situation.  We cannot let ourselves get dragged down into squabbles about the budget when we cannot get half of our fantasy country to the polls!  I say this as the man who drafted the majority of Imperial Budget and, as Secretary of Internal Affairs, tried to get the other regions to follow suit.  Budgets and bills are great, when they bring in new people and new ideas, when they get the wheels of this game turning.  But the wheels can turn when the spokes are falling out!  

That, folks, is the key problem Atlasia faces and the main issue which these presidential campaigns need to address.  I hope you will listen as Clarence and myself attempt to address these problems over the campaign.

Vote Clarence/Yelnoc in June 2012!

[Emperor SJoyce]

Best of luck.

[Senator Clarence]

We will be unveiling our Social Issues platform tonight...

[Senator Clarence]

Clarence/Yelnoc on Social Issues

Abortion
We are pro-life.  Abortion affects not only the mother, but the unborn life.  Yelnoc and I- and others who are pro-life- believe life begins at conception, and believe it is unethical to terminate an innocent life.  We of course support exceptions for rape, incest, and saving the life of the mother.  I founded the Right to Life Caucus to promote this cause and will not compromise it in my campaign.

Gay Rights
We are strongly in favor of gay rights. This may surprise some people and it is a position that has taken me a lifetime to arrive at.  We believe that being gay is not a choice; it is a trait some one is born with. We support the rights of homosexuals to marry and all legal agreements along with it. We also support the rights of gays to adopt children.  I personally would rather see a child in a home with a loving gay couple then an unsuitable man and woman...or aborted.

Drug Policy
Let's face it, a hit off a joint isn't worse for anyone than the glass of whiskey on the table next to my computer or the Swisher Sweets I used to smoke at work. There is no reason for marijuana to be illegal.  Ultimately, people are responsible for their actions. It should not be legal to drive or operate heavy machinery while under the influence of drugs; so long as taking drugs affects only the user- we are fine, but it must not affect the rest of society.

[pillage the village, trash the scene]

Question for both: Where do you stand on the prostitution legalization?

[Emperor SJoyce]

Clarence/Yelnoc on Social Issues

Abortion
We are pro-life.  Abortion affects not only the mother, but the unborn life.  Yelnoc and I- and others who are pro-life- believe life begins at conception, and believe it is unethical to terminate an innocent life.  We of course support exceptions for rape, incest, and saving the life of the mother.  I founded the Right to Life Caucus to promote this cause and will not compromise it in my campaign.

Does this mean you'd ban abortion at a national level or send it to the regions to legislate as they see fit?

[ZuWo]

Clarence, you are a WINO, you're so liberal!

[Senator Clarence]

Hahaha ZuWo...

SJoyceFLA and Pingvin- I believe the regions must have power on both issues...an issue we debated shortly after the formation of Right to Life Caucus was that the best hope is to make regional change happen...we recognize that it would be impossible to issue social policy from the capital- Yelnoc is the founder of a party based upon regional autonomy and that is a concept we both support

[Emperor SJoyce]

Hahaha ZuWo...

SJoyceFLA and Pingvin- I believe the regions must have power on both issues...an issue we debated shortly after the formation of Right to Life Caucus was that the best hope is to make regional change happen...we recognize that it would be impossible to issue social policy from the capital- Yelnoc is the founder of a party based upon regional autonomy and that is a concept we both support

Never thought I'd say this, but I completely support the Whig candidate's platform on social issues (I'm personally pro-choice but that it should also be the jurisdiction of the regions).

[Simfan34]

Wow, that's not what I expected. But I'm pleasantly surprised-except for that last bit.

[TJ in Wisco]

Good luck to both of you of course. You can count on my support.

[Senator Clarence]

Thank you very much- TJ!

[Yelnoc]

Wow, that's not what I expected. But I'm pleasantly surprised-except for that last bit.

Do you think marijuana should be illegal because it is worse than tobacco, or are in the ban tobacco camp?

And thanks, TJ!

[Yelnoc]

A campaign banner, made by yours truly!



If you want to sig it, use this one.

[Senator Clarence]

A masterpiece!

[Senator Napoleon]

Well- Yelnoc and I will be speaking on issues particularly relevant to labor and our positions on gay rights and drugs may have been of interest to some left wing voters but you didn't see me calling a timeout when you were pushing Labor to endorse...

You never showed interest in their endorsement, nor is that party represented on your ticket like the IB is on mine. The Labor Party had already seen endorsement requests from other candidates when I got involved... I moved this here so as not to clutter the IB's thread.

I am not sure what you are saying re: your social positions. Do you plan to actively pursue social liberalism as President?

[Senator Clarence]

Well- Yelnoc and I will be speaking on issues particularly relevant to labor and our positions on gay rights and drugs may have been of interest to some left wing voters but you didn't see me calling a timeout when you were pushing Labor to endorse...

You never showed interest in their endorsement, nor is that party represented on your ticket like the IB is on mine. I moved this here so as not to clutter the IB's thread.

I am not sure what you are saying re: your social positions. Do you plan to actively pursue social liberalism as President?

Read my platform on social issues-
We are personally pro-life and favor full gay rights, legalization of many drugs, and prostitution- but would leave these up to the regions

Does that fall into your definition of "radical Whigs" ;-)

[Senator Napoleon]

Possibly. I don't think these will be major social issues though. Most drugs have been legalized (some by my own bills!) and while I applaud your stance on gay rights, I consider it a settled issue because the consensus is so broad. Opposing gay marriage on this forum would be like opposing interracial marriage in real life. Clarence, do you oppose interracial marriages?

The last question is a joke my friend. I'm using white type like you suggested though.

[Senator Clarence]

Possibly. I don't think these will be major social issues though. Most drugs have been legalized (some by my own bills!) and while I applaud your stance on gay rights, I consider it a settled issue because the consensus is so broad. Opposing gay marriage on this forum would be like opposing interracial marriage in real life. Clarence, do you oppose interracial marriages?

Consensus is broad?- try Amendment One over there in North Carolina...sure on this forum consensus is closer to being achieved but give me the number of Republicans in American politics who will stand up for gay marriage...I'ms ure there are some (Dick Cheney comes to mind) but it's no where near  a substantial number
EDIT- didn't see the white type in Napoleon's post before it was pointed out...please ignore my previous response

[pillage the village, trash the scene]

John McCain/John Barrow ticket!

[Senator Clarence]

Want to let everyone know that I may be on and off the web these next couple days...having some access issues in my house that I'm going to call the "Geek Squad" over to fix on Monday if not resolved...
Yelnoc and I look forward to continuing to discuss our platform and ideas very soon...

[Senator Napoleon]

See you soon Senator.

[Emperor SJoyce]

Y'all (you and Yelnoc) should run for the Labor endorsement, just to make it 6/6.

[ZuWo]

ScottSurveys reveals: 87% of Atlasians have a positive opinion of Clarence

Recent polling by ScottSurveys shows that Clarence is an extremely well-liked candidate as nearly 90% of the Atlasian electorate views him favorably on a personal level.

ZuWo, Clarence's campaign manager, stated: "High personal favorability ratings don't win an election, but this poll clearly shows Clarence is on the right track. Some people may disagree with Clarence politically, but they apparently think he has his heart in the right place."

Link to the poll: http://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=152975.0