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

[Adam Griffin]

an unreformed Labor Party

What exactly does a reformed Labor Party look like? Was the coalition in July 2013 unreformed? As you already know, I am exhausted with this line of talking points. You led the party for a term in the wake of my de-registration: what reforms were implemented during that time?

Furthermore, the competitiveness of the election is indicative of the caliber of the candidates and not some flaw that falls on our heads. One is a long-standing Senator with an objectively moderate record. The other is about to be impeached for going MIA for the third or fourth time, from the looks of it. Obviously we weren't going to run a joke candidate just so the masses could have a competitive election for the sake of having one. The fact is that most elections aren't competitive. I wonder how the sentiment this cycle compares to the elections in which Lumine, Duke, Polnut, etc all faced non-competitive climates.

[Adam Griffin]

BOO LABOR

working solutions

Today, I pledge to be the moderate voice that some members of the senate abhor but all members of the country need.

I believe in labour’s right to organize, and I believe it should be protected. That being said, I know unions often go TOO FAR

I believe in a foreign policy that takes the best tenets of hard and soft power

At the same time

That being said

I know I may sound like someone who’s trying to be all things to all people.

That's because you are: you're obviously utilizing your GOTV apparatus from your time as the preeminent reactionary of the leading reactionary party in the game while appealing to the soft-left for votes by feeding them Moderate Heroism, which, pathetically, is working. You busted Matt's balls time and time again - and not even that long ago - for swinging ideologically so suddenly away from your party, and yet everyone is now supposed to believe that this is genuine on your part.

And oh wow, you almost managed to make it through the first paragraph without taking a swipe at the movement you never managed to defeat! I'll give you credit for the fact that before taking your swipe, you did manage to insert some of the same ideologically-vapid sentiment and approaches that led to the rotting of your former party once you abandoned it. I guess some things never change!

[Adam Griffin]

I will seek the endorsement of the People's Party as well, and will speak to the convention assuming the floor is opened.

[Adam Griffin]

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is my sincere belief that in this election there are clear choices to be made, and that I am the best choice in this race.

While there is certainly a public impression about me that is potent, many of you have worked with me in public or in private at one point or another and know that I am always about coming to a consensus and making deals for the betterment of all involved. I've never been one to blow smoke where it doesn't belong - I think everyone knows that - and it may be a primary factor in why you should consider me as your at-large Senate preference next week. I am easily approachable, candid and blunt about my intentions; you always know what you are getting with me and that is something that should be considered a benefit when dealing with the mechanisms of government. In addition, I have been around long enough and involved extensively enough with virtually all forms of this game to be ready to hit the ground running from Day One.

In fact, I've been around long enough to remember the original inception of The People and personally have been allied with The People even before certain antagonists entered the picture. We have elected several presidential tickets together and collaborated on God knows how many efforts - many publicly known and others not so much - over the past two and a half years. In fact, many of you (maybe half?) were in the Labor Party at one point during my tenure as Chair, and before and/or after that once joining/rejoining TPP, our two Parties have been historically allied with one another. While you may have left for one reason or another, I can't think of anyone who left due to my actions against them. As such, many of us have a history together - including the one for whom this election is being held to replace - and I think that should be worth something.

In comparison, the other candidates in this race do not share a similar bond. The potential front-runner for your nomination merely joined one week ago and some would like to provide him with a coronation due to three letters. Another has an ideology that broadly does not comport with this Party, and yet another isn't even in the same hemisphere from an ideological perspective. Close to half of the members of this Party are ideologically more similar to me than the rest of the candidates, and while that may sound offensive (), it is fundamentally the truth. There is a lot of talk about the number 6 and what that entails. I do not believe it fair to automatically deny me the opportunity to represent you because a select number of individuals occupy Senate seats already, just as it wouldn't have been fair to electorally regulate Senate representation of The People based on their past registration numbers. I also believe that many are aware that Labor holding 3 seats in a traditional at-large election is highly unlikely.

I am a realist, mechanics-oriented, and above all else, someone who is skilled at counting votes and knowing where people are likely to fall. As such, I do not expect to win the nomination of this convention, but I will simply ask that I be given consideration by its members and that those who understand what I speak of here today to be open-minded in their selection. Being a realist, I will work toward the advancement of our common interests, will be consistently active in the Senate and will help to bridge a gap that has widened across our political parties in recent times. There are few who are better equipped to do all of the above, and certainly no others in this at-large special election.

I thank this convention for its time and its consideration.

[Adam Griffin]

What happens if someone only wins a plurality of the vote?

EDIT: Or duh, it's probably run-off voting.

[Adam Griffin]

Also I would like to echo the point made by Duke and Averroes, among others, that I find the fact that Labor is seeking to poach a seat held by their partner in the last election, without whose support they could not have won*, to be distasteful and something that should have been disavowed by Labor as a condition of our endorsement of a unity ticket. (I don't hold this against anyone, however, as it is of course something thought of in hindsight, something they did not have...)

I've remained silent about this until now, but you're forcing my hand. The only conditions of the unity ticket in regards to Senate seats that was requested was 1) TPP requesting BK be on the ticket and 2) we asked that the NE Senate seat not be contested by TPP (as it, too, was being vacated by a member of the ticket); in exchange, we'd have our unity ticket and we wouldn't contest the Governorship. Despite the fact that it was not upheld, we did not complain like you are doing now, nor buck on our other agreements...

There'd obviously need to be some arrangements made with respect to that seat. In many respects, the NE Senate seat is a more valuable commodity in my eyes for Labor than the Presidency itself.

I have much interest in holding the NE Senate seat, however - it is priority number one as far as my personal interests are concerned

[Adam Griffin]

Just to clarify: I don't bring this up to be petty or anything. It's just that there is continued public complaining here about a hypothetical and something that was not asked or requested, whereas we did not do so when an explicitly-requested and effectively agreed-upon arrangement was essentially tossed out the window. In addition, I found it quite disturbing that someone as qualified as Talleyrand - who is in many respect a Person himself - was scoffed at in such a way.

Furthermore, both of the current TPP candidates are effectively right-wingers. It's not as if our side has been given much of a choice...

[Adam Griffin]

I was wholly unaware of such an agreement, one to which I was clearly not privy. If this is indeed the case then the point made about bad faith is not quite applicable to you, nor could you reasonably be said to be engaging in pettiness...  hopefully someone involved in these negotiations will clarify the situation for us all.

Thank you.

[Adam Griffin]

Now let us support Foucaulf to the last man. As a united Party.

Let's not!