The People's Convention, February and also March 2015 - Foucaulf wins primary.

[Oakvale]

Hi everyone, and welcome to The People's Party's February convention. Please sign in.

We have a few items to get through. Unless there's any objection I'll be holding the leadership vote this weekend, and we'll then deal with any other business before finally moving on to endorsements.

X Oakvale
   Chair of The People's Party

[Oakvale]

Okay everyone, let's begin. First order of business will be leadership elections. Please nominate candidates for the following positions. All nominations require a second.

Chair
Vice Chair
Secretary

I'm going to attempt to bring the position of Secretary back from the dead, and to that end I nominate MattVT.

[Oakvale]

I second the nomination of Sawx for Vice Chair.

[Oakvale]

I accept your nomination for a second term as Chair. Seeing no second for Turkisblau's nomination as Vice Chair or other nominees for Chair, I hereby declare that Oakvale and Sawx are duly elected as Chair and Vice Chair of The People's Party.

Since there are two seconded nominees for the position of Secretary, we will proceed to vote on this position. Please vote just once -

Secretary

[X] MattVT
[ ] Flo



And with that, I'm off on a brief LOA, leaving this convention in the capable of hands of Vice Chair Sawx.

[Oakvale]

[1]Bore/Bacon King (Labor/TPP)
[2] Potus2036/Maxwell (Federalist/D-Rs)

Southeast Senate

[1] Hagrid

_____

I understand Averroes' concerns, particularly in light of Sen. Windjammer's troubling personal campaign against our Vice-Presidential candidate, but Senator Bore is a sound choice for the Presidency and has consistently been a voice of reason against some of the left fringes, to the point where, amusingly, he's actually voted against both his party and a supposed Federalist Senator on issues like giving A&E doctors the right to strike. I would trust him to discharge the office of President wisely and with discretion.

[Oakvale]

Windjammer is not automatically endorsed since he's not a member of The Party. While I  had planned on voting for his endorsement, his private message bullying campaign against Bacon King - and I can attest that Bacon King had mentioned this to me several weeks ago - is making me reconsider. I'd suggest that we don't endorse a candidate in that race.

I am supposed to be on a LOA, of course, so I probably won't be commenting on this again, but it's left a bad taste in my mouth.

[Oakvale]

[1] Bore/Bacon King (Labor/TPP)
[2] Maxwell/Dallasfan (DR)

NE Governor: Sawx

NE Senator: MattVT

ME Senator: Spiral

SE Senator: Hagrid

PA Senator: Cranberry

[Oakvale]

By a unanimous vote, the expulsion procedure passes the convention and is adopted into our by-laws.

The People's Party nominees for the Atlasian elections this month are as follows -

President and Vice President of Atlasia: Bore/Bacon King

Northeast Senator: MattVT

Mideast Senator: Spiral **

Midwest Senator: Dereich **

Southeast Senator: Hagrid

Pacific Senator: Cranberry

** Write-in candidate

Since the rules are vague on this point, as Chairman I am making a captain's call (shout out to Polnut!) on the Mideast Senate endorsement, where Spiral's write-in votes are equal to that of abstentions and no endorsement. I am declaring Spiral the winner by a plurality over the other candidates (Write-ins for Sen. Windjammer and Franzl).


X Oakvale
  Chair of The People's Party


Congratulations to our nominees.

I understand that this has been a contentious convention for many of you. Tempers have flared and differences have been voiced. I'm a firm believer that debate is healthy - vital - for a viable political party, so I welcome this conversation, provided we are vigilant to avoid the chaos of disunity in the coming months.

I will deliver my closing remarks for this convention shortly. In the mean time I'll open the floor for any member who wishes to address the convention.

[Oakvale]

Members of The People's Party,

I want to echo our eternal leader, Duke, and my friend Polnut. This has been a contentious election season and I know some of you will be displeased with the results of our endorsement vote. To be sure, the other tickets in the Presidential election are compelling, and Atlasia will be well served whoever ultimately wins. But I urge you all to unite behind Bore, a moderate with a proven record of standing up to the lunatic fringe, alongside Bacon King, the People's man in Nyman.

"Too soon," many have said. Too soon to give our support to a member of the Labor Party just months after the disastrous events of the last Labor Presidency. I hear your concerns, and I understand them. But I sincerely believe that neither Bore, nor anyone in that party, wishes to repeat the chaos and shame of the DemPGH era. During the nadir of those dark months, when our hopes were so brutally dashed, Bore was a voice in the wilderness, urging moderation and reconciliation when others urged the President to swing ever more violently to the left. I believe Bore has learned  valuable lessons from the mistakes of that time, and those lessons will make him a better President.

And make no mistake - as Chair, I will represent our members and our party's platform - the forthcoming government will know that this party has no time for communist fantasies or Stasi tactics. Our partnership in furthering a progressive agenda is vital to the health and security of Atlasia, but you have my word that we will not be partners to any far-left machinations. And I believe that not only does Bore know this, he has no desire to govern in such a manner regardless.

This a close election. Governance is once again within our grasp. If we stay united, and we work hard, we will elect our candidates, elect Bacon King as Vice President, and wrest control of the Senate away from the prehistoric dogma and stale rhetoric of old. With my stellar Vice Chair, Sawx, and our new Secretary, Flo, at my side I will fight every day for this party. And whatever happens, we will remember our principles, and the reason this party exists. To provide a third way. Government for the people, by The People.

Thank you.

Oakvale

Chair of The People's Party


----


And with that, the Convention is closed. Good luck to all our candidates and endorsed non-party members. Let's win this.

[Oakvale]

I don't consider the Civil Union a major threat or a problem, Simfan. A half-hearted attempt to hijack our party's ethos will fail, and fail spectacularly.

[Oakvale]

I understand that DKrol is quite new so that members may want an open primary. I'll talk it over with Sawx and Flo.

[Oakvale]

Alright, I'm going to open a free vote on our endorsement in the (presumed!) special election to succeed Bacon King when he is inaugurated as Vice President.

I'd ask all candidates who wish to appear on the ballot to request such here, and I'll hold the vote starting tomorrow.

[Oakvale]

You're more than welcome to address the convention, Foucaulf, as is any other candidate.

[Oakvale]

Mr. Chairman, does not Dkrolga automatically receive The Party's endorsement by virtue of being the only declared TPP candidate?

Indeed, but since there's been several people asking for an open vote I would assume there's no objection to suspending the rules and holding a ballot.

[Oakvale]

Okay guys, I've noted your concerns and understand where you're coming from. With that in mind I'm going to open a 24 hour vote on whether to suspend the rules and open the nomination to a full ballot.

Please vote for one of the below options. The vote begins now.

Should the by-laws be temporarily suspended and an open ballot for the Senate endorsement held?

[X] Yes

[ ] No

[Oakvale]

Before I vote one way or the other, it appears that Foucaulf wishes to join The Party. If this convention votes no, and it appears to be going that way, there will be a primary between the two, yes?

That's correct.

It should be noted that our problem here is that the by-laws state -

You must be logged in to read this quote.

However since you could arguably consider the "bumped" Convention thread to be a brand new one, it's easier to just move to suspend the rules entirely to clear up the ambiguity.

[Oakvale]

By a vote of 6-4, the motion to hold an open ballot has failed. With that, the primary vote will be held between Foucaulf and DKRol only.

This will last 48 hours. Please vote using the below ballot.

Senate endorsement

[ ] DKrol
[ ] Foucaulf

[Oakvale]

Alright, the vote is now closed. As Chair, I hereby certify that by a vote of 6-5, Foucaulf has won the People's Party primary and is our nominee for the at-large Senate election.

My congratulations to Foucaulf and my condolences to DKrol, who fought a tough race and is clearly someone with a bright future in this party.

[Oakvale]

I'm going to be closing this thread now that we have our nominee. The next convention will occur, barring unforeseen circumstances, for the midterm elections.

Congratulations again to Foucaulf for wining a close-fought race. I am of course also disappointed by DKrol's defection to the Civil Union. Shame.