The People's Seat: Matt from VT for Northeast Senator

[TNF]

Endorsed, obviously.

Endorsed.

Not sure why this has to be done twice.

Perhaps Simfan was trying to endorse Matt with one of his sockpuppet accounts, but forgot to log out of his main account?

[Simfan34]

Endorsed, obviously.

Endorsed.

Not sure why this has to be done twice.

Perhaps Simfan was trying to endorse Matt with one of his sockpuppet accounts, but forgot to log out of his main account?

Ha ha ha.

[Sopranos Republican]

I will be responding to all of your questions tomorrow, as I have to get up early and write a paper.

[Adam Griffin]

Endorsed, obviously.

Endorsed.

Not sure why this has to be done twice.

Perhaps Simfan was trying to endorse Matt with one of his sockpuppet accounts, but forgot to log out of his main account?

Ha ha ha.

Well I mean, it's a legitimate consideration given your...history.

[Simfan34]

Endorsed, obviously.

Endorsed.

Not sure why this has to be done twice.

Perhaps Simfan was trying to endorse Matt with one of his sockpuppet accounts, but forgot to log out of his main account?

Ha ha ha.

Well I mean, it's a legitimate consideration given your...history.

Tee hee hee.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Neither the candidate nor Maxwell or X have given ANY specific examples to support their claims.

Responding to X's wall of text, which could be condensed to three or four sentences, your whole basis for Matt's supposed exceptionalism is one bill which he proposed in the Senate back in April 2013, and which passed after he left office in a heavily edited manner. Doesn't cut the extraodinary claims you're making.

You continuously refer to your admiration of Senator Bore, but you fail to give any reason why Matt is better besides "he'd cut through the partisanship in Nyman to get things done!!!111", and you don't even justify that. You can't make an argument with vague platitudes, and Bore has given many good, specific examples of why he'd be the superior Senator already, which contrasts heavily with what this campaign seems to be all about.

Of course I don't have a problem with people voting based on friendship or partisanship; I wouldn't hesitate to give those as reasons I'm supporting Bore, but they're far down the list. Bore has been a conscientious and consistently hard worker in the Senator for a year and a half now, a time period in which Matt has had an extremely inconsistent record of activity and almost no accomplishments to his name. In the last month alone, he has contributed exactly one sentence to Assembly debate. Any "serious" player of this game would not even consider voting for him based on that alone.

Matt hasn't been in the Senate in a while, IIRC so of course the examples of legislation he got passed during his time in the Senate are going to be from a while ago given  In the case of the Prison Reform bill, what is so bad about the fact that Senator Matt's bill was modified somewhat through the legislative process?  I know I just came back recently, so maybe I missed something, but the last time I checked Senators were expected to compromise.  Perhaps the new way is to take a my-way-or-the-highway approach on every issue, but if it is, then I'd say the old way was better.  The People expect that their elected officials possess the ability to craft legislative coalitions, incorporate the best ideas of various ideological perspective, and build consensus.  These things all require the ability to know when to compromise and when to hold your ground.  To those who say Lieutenant Governor Matt's record of building consensus and compromising when necessary to achieve a greater good is a failing, I say in reply that it is not a failing, but a virtue!  

It is true that the final bill passed after Senator Matt left office.  Once again, we must ask ourselves, is this truly a strike against our friend and true man of The People, Lieutenant Governor Matt.  The Senate is riddled with inactivity, it is a complaint that often seems as old the institution itself.  Speaking from firsthand experience, it is far from uncommon for a single for a bill to die when it's original sponsor resigns or is voted out of office.  In fact, many a bill (good, bad, and everywhere in between) have surely died in this manner.  Yet during his time as Senator, LG Matt crafted a bill on whose value was believed to be so great by his fellow Senators that even after he narrowly lost re-election, the rest of the Senate was roused from inactivity and still continued work to pass the bill.  Indeed, all Senators should aspire to craft legislation in the Senate which makes such valuable contributions to Atlasia that their bills outlast even the political fortunes of their original sponsors.  Again, one must conclude that the enduring appeal of LG Matt's ideas is not a failing, but a virtue!

Furthermore, if you'll permit me to get a bit off-topic, I'd be lying if I didn't say that I find it interesting that a high-profile Laborite such as yourself would be so quick to dismiss the value of legislative compromise and civil political discourse.  I say that because, and I say this as a former Laborite, I think part of why Labor has been having such a difficult time is because of that sort of attitude.  This is in no way meant as an attack on Governor Talleyrand, whom I've considered a forum friend since our days in the Mideast Assembly, just a general observation about Labor.  Before I go on, I should note that this is not an endorsement of the usual talking points like "OMG Liebor/TNF dictates the party's entire platform" (which ftr, is not true, there was one especially noteworthy instance where the platform was heavily revised because of criticism from the rank-and-file and Senator TNF has had a pretty thankless job writing platforms without anyone willing to offer input from what I've seen).  

But I digress, my point is that the idea that the troubles Labor has faced of late may simply be a symptom of the fact that trying to build a party as a left-wing (even by Atlasian standards) equivalent of the RL tea-party may simply not be solid foundation for long-term political supremacy (even in Atlasia ).  I'm not sure if it is a conscious decision or not, but it has long seemed like some Laborites (I won't name names, who is beside the point) half-seriously tried to conduct itself like a left-wing version of the RL tea-party, at least in approach to governing and the role of compromise in the legislative process.  It may simply be that the underlying problem currently afflicting the party isn't one of leadership or messaging so much as one of guiding purpose.  

Honestly, I've think that as much as The People demand that their elected officials display a willingness to stand up for what they believe in, they also expect that their elected officials show a real willingness to compromise and work with the other side when necessary.  So what does any of this have to do with the NE Senate race?  Well, honestly, it's not clear to me that Labor has really gotten the message yet.  Maybe the party understands it intellectually, but if so, a number of Laborites definitely haven't accepted it yet.  

Whatever disagreements I have with certain Laborites, I believe the party plays an vital role in our political process (one that the Federalist Party, Democratic-Republican Party, and TPP for different reasons aren't really capable of playing) and that it's dissolution would be awful for Atlasia.  I don't think that Labor will make the necessary changes until the defeats at the ballot box are bad enough and/or consistent enough that the message from The People finally gets through.  In other words, much as I like Senator Bore, the only way to save Labor from itself may very well be to vote against him.  

Between that and the fact that Senator Bore is facing an Atlasian whom I'm genuinely confident will be a truly phenomenal Senator just as he was in the past, admittedly from my own interactions with him as much as anything else, it's a pretty easy decision.

[Sopranos Republican]

Neither the candidate nor Maxwell or X have given ANY specific examples to support their claims.

Responding to X's wall of text, which could be condensed to three or four sentences, your whole basis for Matt's supposed exceptionalism is one bill which he proposed in the Senate back in April 2013, and which passed after he left office in a heavily edited manner. Doesn't cut the extraodinary claims you're making.

You continuously refer to your admiration of Senator Bore, but you fail to give any reason why Matt is better besides "he'd cut through the partisanship in Nyman to get things done!!!111", and you don't even justify that. You can't make an argument with vague platitudes, and Bore has given many good, specific examples of why he'd be the superior Senator already, which contrasts heavily with what this campaign seems to be all about.

Of course I don't have a problem with people voting based on friendship or partisanship; I wouldn't hesitate to give those as reasons I'm supporting Bore, but they're far down the list. Bore has been a conscientious and consistently hard worker in the Senator for a year and a half now, a time period in which Matt has had an extremely inconsistent record of activity and almost no accomplishments to his name. In the last month alone, he has contributed exactly one sentence to Assembly debate. Any "serious" player of this game would not even consider voting for him based on that alone.

If anyone remembers, I was also the speaker of the Northeast Assembly last year, before joining Duke to run on The People's ticket. Before you were even in the Northeast good sir, I served in a capacity which Governor SirNick labled "hand of The King" Also before you joined our fine region, I served as a Secretary of commerce, and wrote a bill to help attract business to our region at a time when unemployment in Atlasia was on the rise (though admittedly now I would scrap the part that gives incentives to corporations, and add incentives for small businesses to pay their workers top dollar.

When I wrote a bill where the general idea was to provide second chances to those in prison, I was a member of a conservative party who did indeed have certain members who raised concerns to me privately about the effects of such a measure. I went ahead with the idea anyway, as I felt it was by far the best for our nation. And yes griffin, despite what your ANONYMOUS AND ASTUTE CITIZEN claims, I wrote that bill. If there is a similar idea that exists elsewhere, that is simply a matter of coincidence, and maybe I can't prove that it was my original work, but if even if it wasnt, I don't view PLAGARISM IN ATLASIA as a huge deal like a certain member of the Labor Party. If it is an idea that positively contributes to the game, then by all means bring it forward. I however swear on my grave that I did in fact write that bill, and honestly, what do I have to possibly gain lying about the origins of a bill for Atlasia. I mean, Jesus, I do have a life.

[Talleyrand]

If anyone remembers, I was also the speaker of the Northeast Assembly last year, before joining Duke to run on The People's ticket. Before you were even in the Northeast good sir, I served in a capacity which Governor SirNick labled "hand of The King" Also before you joined our fine region, I served as a Secretary of commerce, and wrote a bill to help attract business to our region at a time when unemployment in Atlasia was on the rise (though admittedly now I would scrap the part that gives incentives to corporations, and add incentives for small businesses to pay their workers top dollar.

So your defense to your almost total inactivity over the last month or more and inconsistent activity as Vice President is that you served as Speaker of the Assembly for a short time last year (a position which Bore also held and did a fine job in) and that you drafted one bill as Northeast Commerce Secretary when Marokai was President. Color me convinced.

No one is going to judge you if you're busy in real life and don't have time for the game at the moment. But if that's the case, why are you seeking an office with much more responsibility and commitment than the one you are in right now, and in which you have shown yourself incapable of performing in?

Not to mention you haven't elaborated on a single point as how you'd be any different to Bore in your capacity as Senator, or any specific issues you have with his performance.

[Sopranos Republican]

"With Liberty, and Justice for All."

Gay Pride Parade in the Mideast's largest city: Chicago, IL.

Friends, I am here to tell you about the largest enemy to the Atlasian way of life existing right now. This would be the current Mideast Assembly. Speaker Hifly's idea of Atlasia is one of tyranny, an Atlasia where the LGBT community is shamed for the way they were born, told that their relationship should not be dignified with marital status. The speaker envisions an Atlasia where women are shamed for somehow being "sluts" of some sort, an Atlasia where women are not entrusted to make decisions that involve their own bodies. The majority in the Mideast Assembly seem to believe in the old school thought that women are the property of their husbands, gays are rabid beasts of the fields etc. We knew the way the majority of the assembly thinks.  But this time they have gone way over the line, led by Speaker Hifly, a dishonest bigot of the lowest order. Mr. Hifly knows very well that The People of our fine nation have spoken in their support of equality for all people, yet recently he sponsored a gay shaming bill, which passed with support from the Mideast's militantly social conservative majority.

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  The distribution of anti-gay propaganda is now mandated in Mideast Schools. You read that correctly. The Mideast Region is now brainwashing kids to believe that homosexuality is immoral, in a school system that already is notorious for bullying of young LGBT. To me this kind of legislation is not only gravely immoral, it is treacherous to your LGBT constituents. I only wonder what kind of men would stand on their pious platitudes of self-righteousness, and condemn children to even worse treatment than they already face, because of their sexual orientation.

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Now let's delve into this little chestnut. It would appear that the Speaker is attempting to appear compassionate with sections 1-3 of this revolting piece of garbage.

1. I'd prefer illegal immigrants whom are non violent, be treated for any needed healthcare, and be allowed to stay.

2. How about we allow them to stay if they wish. Hmmmm??

3. Let's not place any children in detention.

4. Okay here's where the sh**t begins to hit the fan. Why don't we allow women to make decisions over their own bodies? Does this simple idea make you fearful Hifly? Does it?

5. Yeah great idea. Considering the percentages of those needing abortions in the first place are exponentially higher among poor minority communities, lets fine women who have no money $5000, and imprison them! So if they do already have kids, well I guess its off to the orphanage for you!

6. Oooooh! YAY! Another propaganda leaflet opportunity. Seriously, instead of allowing a woman to make an informed decision between her and her doctor, let's have her make The Right Decision in The Eyes of The Lord! Theocracy! Great idea!!!! Not to mention the 7 Day waiting period. Christ, as opposed as I am to waiting periods, at least 24-48 hours sounds like it could have been penned by a remotely sane representative.

7. Wohoo forced ultrasounds!!


Governor TJ, The People of the Mideast call upon you to please veto a bill which will contribute to further bullying, possible suicides, and the promotion that certain kids are naturally superior to others. Ask yourself, do we want an Atlasia where all youth are free to learn, and be free to grow regardless of what sexual orientation they are? Or do we want an Atlasia where inherent inferiority of certain groups is institutionalized.

Governor TJ, it's your call.

Atlasians, I am running a campaign for all of The People. I never have, nor never will stand for any type of legislation which promotes self-righteous pious belief, over the value of human beings.

Thank You.

[Flake]

Damn. That's pretty ed up.

[Sopranos Republican]

Police Accountability

Friends, it is great to be here in a Great Atlasian City this morning. St. Louis, Missouri. Unfortunately, living in your fine city means you all know far too well about police brutality. On August 9th of this year, a young man with so much life ahead of him, and so much to live for, was brutally shot down in his prime. Don't get me wrong, there are some police officers who actually do care about the safety of the neighborhoods they patrol, but increasingly there seems to be a growing difficulty to distinguish between police officers who are servants of their communities, and police officers who abuse their power in the most atrocious of ways.

I believe the solution to this problem, lies in absolute accountability of police officers. The Workingmen of this nation often times work in places where their every action is monitored, to ensure that even a penny is not taken. If a cashier at the grocery store has to endure this type of spotlight scrutiny, then why shouldn't police officers, who are armed to the teeth with deadly weapons, and brutal force?

I plan on introducing a bill, mandating police officers to wear cameras, that can be immediately accessed, and played back if needed. We've seen the brutality of many police officers as of late. If you are a good officer, doing your job correctly, you will have nothing to worry about. Minority communities will be assured that if the police act in a way that they did on that fateful night in August, they will be brought to justice.

[Sopranos Republican]

Tonight, I will be addressing my views on: consolidation, a bicameral legislature, and introducing some new bills addressing such issues as: women's reproductive rights, worker's rights, small business, and strengthening civil liberty and privacy.

[Deus Naturae]

Position on secession?

[Sopranos Republican]

I apologize for the past week, I've been extremely tied up, but I will be answering questions, and posting platform planks in the next couple of days.