AF Primaries: Illinois Primary (Deadline Monday 11th 6pm EST)

[Josh/Devilman88]

I believe its to later.. but Joe may put you in.

[Joe Republic]

Sorry guys, the filing deadline has passed.  But there will still be opportunities for anybody to participate; just not as a candidate.

[© tweed]

Option 2: Medium office and Medium state

Which one do you want to choose yourself?

Office

[MaC]

Bottom Office, Top State.

Sorry it took time to respond Joe.  Busy with classes, plus my internet where I live has sub-par service so I wasn't able to log on yesterday.

[Joe Republic]

Bottom Office, Top State.

Sorry it took time to respond Joe.  Busy with classes, plus my internet where I live has sub-par service so I wasn't able to log on yesterday.

NOT GOOD ENOUGH.  YOUR EXCUSES ARE FEEBLE.


Nah, it's ok.  It happens.

[Joe Republic]

Actually, I just noticed that you also need to pick which one you want to choose yourself.

[bullmoose88]

who's left to pick?

[Joe Republic]

Three.  Jtfdem hasn't returned my PM yet; M&C needs to respond to my above post first; Supersoulty hasn't made any contact here yet.

I'll give them until tomorrow evening, and then I'll just have to pick both their offices and states for them.

[MaC]

I'll choose my state.

[Joe Republic]

Only Supersoulty left to go.  I'll give him another few hours before I'll randomly assign an office and state, and then we can get started on Stage 2.

[bullmoose88]

I'm sure you obviously canno divulge what step two is, but will it require a first come first served kinda thing (ie I've gotta wait around until the step starts) or is it more logisitcs work that isn't in a rush?

[Joe Republic]

Mostly the second one.  But don't worry too much, there will actually be a full day before Stage 2 officially starts, which will give you all a little time to prepare yourselves after my instructions.  If it helps at all, not being the first to read the instructions for Stage 2 should not prove to be a massive hindrance.

[Joe Republic]

Alright, that's been enough time.  Sorry Supersoulty, but I've had to assign your office and state randomly.

Here are the full set of candidates as they stand:


Democrats

Secretary Alexander Bernstein (Kansas) (Akno21)

Secretary Josh Craddock (New York) (Josh22)

Senator Josh Fleming (Utah) (Jtfdem)

Secretary Carlos Gonzalez (Washington) (Jerusalemcar5)

Secretary David Hanover (Kentucky) (Boss Tweed)

Governor Salvor Hardin (Tennessee) (Speed of Sound)

Governor Andrew Leitch (Nebraska) (Afleitch)

Representative Jackson McDaniels (Louisiana) (Preston Caldwell)

Governor John Mabus (Mississippi) (Harry)

Representative Alcon Nighthawk (Washington) (Alcon)

Reverend Al Widdershins (Michigan) (Al)



Republicans

Governor Richard G. Arage (Indiana) (Bullmoose)

Senator Andrew Berger (Alaska)

Mr. Ernest Calhoun* (Minnesota) (Ernest)

Governor Andrew M.A. Cereal (Michigan) (M&C)

Governor Justin C. Coleman (Oklahoma) (Bacon King)

Senator Chris Scott (North Dakota) (MHS2002)

Representative Chris Soult (Maine) (Supersoulty)

Secretary Govert Vandervoot (Arkansas) (Fezzyfestoon)

Representative James Wallace (Virginia) (Jake)

Senator Colin Wixted (Indiana)


(* Ernest's character is a businessman, and as such he doesn't have a fancy title like the rest o'yas.)


Stand by for instructions for Stage 2...

[Joe Republic]

Well, well, well.  Y'all have got yourselves some purdy lookin' states, and some mighty fine offices.  I guess it's now time for one last thing before we actually start hittin' the campaign trail.  There's just the little issue of....

M O N E Y

Probably the most important thing a politician can have, except maybe good looks.  And popular support, I guess.

Stage 2 is the all important step that every prospective presidential candidate must do before he can even *think* of running for office: The Fundraiser.

This is where things start to get fun.  The premise of this stage is that you all need to canvass, campaign and generally harrass your fellow forumites to endorse your candidacy.  Basically, each and every person who is a member of this forum (and has at least 50 posts to their name, just to be safe), will be given an imaginary sum of $3 million, which is theirs to donate to whoever they please.

Note that each forumite will be able to 'split' their endorsement, and divide up their $3m any way they want, and give to whoever they want.  This means that you might be able to snick a little cash from somebody who has already pledged their support for somebody else, if you know how to charm them.

Just in case you're unlucky and nobody feels any generosity towards you, you'll be given a standard budget of $1 million anyway, just for a little pocket money.  Consider it your great uncle's inheritance money stashed away for a rainy day.  (Note that every candidate will be getting this $1m each anyway.  Call it socialism.)

This also means that you won't be able to endorse your own or anybody else's candidacy.  It's kind of a given anyway.

And now the piece de resistance.  As you may have noticed, we have a grand total of five Cabinet Secretaries running for office, straddling both parties.  This presents something of a conundrum: exactly which party is in power?  Here also lies the solution:

Whichever party raises the most money for their candidates in total also claims the current White House.  Although it won't matter in the primaries, in the general election, being from the party in power will have certain benefits that are yet to be defined (but will almost certainly be worth it).  Therefore, you're not only raising money for yourself, but also for the team.

Lastly, if you want to (and I would strongly advise it), you might want to write yourself a little character reference.  No more than five sentences, describing your candidate any way you wish.  Don't worry about describing your positions in any detail, since you've already submitted them anyway.


-------

Now, the candidate endorsement thread will not open until tomorrow (I hope), so get out there and start canvassing your forum buddies!!


N.B. No endorsements from anybody will be accepted here or recognized, so don't bother.

[Bacon King]

Heh, the Reverend Al Sharpton Widdershins.

[jerusalemcar5]

Damn, Alcon stole my state .  Great.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Just in case you're unlucky and nobody feels any generosity towards you, you'll be given a standard budget of $1 million anyway, just for a little pocket money.  Consider it your great uncle's inheritance money stashed away for a rainy day.  (Note that every candidate will be getting this $1m each anyway.  Call it socialism.)

Socialism! More like communism! One of the reasons I picked business person was the ability to self-finance.  Let's face it.  When business people running for Senator or Governor routinely dump multiple millions of their own money into the race, to be limited to the same $1 million of initial funding as everyone else is ridiculous.

[Joe Republic]

Damn, I forgot about that, Ernest.  Alright, I'll make an exception in this case.  How does an initial salary of $10 million sound?  We can say that you're storing the rest of your cash in the vault until you reach the general election campaign.   And if that sum doesn't sound enough, you'll also have a yet-to-be-determined advantage in fundraising skills on the campaign trail.  Does that sound good?

I'll understand if people complain about this, but don't forget that the position of Businessman is an otherwise weak one in terms of political experience and prestige.  It'll still be relatively fair.

[Joe Republic]

By the way everybody, feel free to post your five-sentence personal reference right here in this thread.  Trust me, it'll probably help you if you write one, but it certainly isn't essential.

[MaC]

Well, I can only hope that my fellow forumites are generous to help my campaign.  I do have the largest state electorally to make progress from when it comes to the voting.  As governor, I've set government growth at a standstill (with relation to the GDP) and in some cases eliminated much of the wasteful spending that has cost taxpayers money.  If I am elected, I'll give that 'extra' million dollars back in the form of tax breaks for all classes.  Thank you for your (possible) endorsement.
-Andrew Cereal

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Ernest Calhoun, CEO and Chairman of the Board of the Maplewood, Minnesota based 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) announced today that he would be stepping down to make a run for President.  Calhoun is best known for spearheading the acquisition of Minco Mining & Metals Corporation of Vancouver, British Columbia in part so that 3M could acquire the use of the MMM ticker symbol on the Toronto Stock Exchange.  Said Calhoun in 2004 when the acquisition was made, "I'd be lying if I didn't acknowledge that the symbol caused us to take a close look at the company, but mining is one of traditional core components of 3M and we expect precious metals will rise in price over the next few years, making Minco's holdings in gold and silver mines attractive." Calhoun is known politically mainly for his support for free trade, having provided donations to groups promoting trade liberalization with Africa and the Americas.  Said Calhoun at a 2005 Senate hearing on the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement, "Free trade is one of the best tools our country can use to promote the economic development of friendly nations and reduce the flow of illegal immigration."

[Alcon]

I totally know this guy, Mike.  He's like, "I'll hook you up, Congressman."  And I'm like, "sweet."  And then there's all of the high-tech businesses and crap in my district.  But Mike's a good guy.

[Josh/Devilman88]

I'm just a simply man with simply ideas, who wants to carry out my ideas to better this great Nation of ours. I can't promise that if I'm elected everything will be a bed of roses, and if I told you that it would be a lie, but I can say I will try. I've been around a President who had to make decisions that could change the Nation and the World and I seen how hard it is to do that. So I know I can with stand the presser of being the President. Hopefully by now you have read my views and learned a little more about me that you want to support me on my race to the White House.

[bullmoose88]

Indianapolis IN (AP)-Indiana's two-term Governor, Richard G. Arage (R-IN), announced his campaign for President. Arage, a former Indiana Attorney General and State Senator, spoke to supporters in front of a banner sporting his campaign slogan [except follows], "Choose Freedom." Arage began his remarks by saying, "Family, Friends, fellow Hoosiers, and my fellow Americans...Today we begin an arduous but rewarding journey that will hopefully culminate with us gathering on the steps of the Capitol on one cold January morning. I stand before you today to join me in Choosing Freedom and by doing so, to place your trust not in the government but in your fellow citizens who have made this country so great. While the government is not necessarily the problem, too often we have looked to it for solutions which while well intended are often misguided. I say choose freedom, trust your fellow Americans, and join me on the road to Pennsylvania Avenue....Thank You!"

[Joe Republic]

All good so far, except Bullmoose's which is over five sentences.  Please amend it.

Also, I received this question by PM, which I can answer here:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

No, not at all.  The only stipulation is that the forum member must have at least 50 posts.