Talk Elections

ZuWo has requested that audience members not post in the debate thread, so comment about it here.

I'll be here always to answer any questions that arise from the debate :)

I will be as well.

Im curious to see what the Whigs do in this race- work to elect a dangerous Truther extremist or throw one of their own under the proverbial bus.

The Whigs elected a fascist to national office, so I don't see how a homophobic truther would be any different.

When did the Whig Party get the privilege to elect Senators on their own? I am aware that facts may not bother you too much, but Pingvin, the Atlasian citizen you are probably referring to, was elected in a special election where he got many non-Whig votes. Without these votes, he would not have been elected.

He was also the only candidate other than Alfred Jones who declared before the election, IIRC, so he was bound to get elected anyway.

An effort was mounted to get Seatown elected. Had the non-Whig Pingvin voters voted for Seatown, Pingvin would not have been elected.

Didn't Seatown declare after voting had already started?

Yes.

He officially declared to run for the seat after the election had started, but he was one of the first voters and voted for himself. Subsequently, others voted for seatown as well. Thus, the race was in fact a three-way race at this point.

I am not a homophobe. You can't equate my opposition to gay marriage to homophobia. Yes I don't agree with the lifestyle on religious and moral grounds. Ever heard of the expression "love the sinner but hate the sin"? It's my doctrine on this issue.

As for the Truther statements, many who don't agree with their view of 9/11 feel as I do that the 9/11 commission royally failed in their investigation. Regardless of thee semantics of what constuites being a Truther or not, many want a more transperant government. That's why I support a new investigation.

Guess who provided them the opportunity. :P

Quelle hypocrisie.

Regarding the 9/11 commission, its final report famously had 28 entire pages redacted, believed to be regarding contact between the 9/11 hijackers and the Saudi government, as reported by Senator Bob Graham.  The chair, Philip Zelikow, rather than being objective, had close ties with the Bush administration and frequently attempted to edit the report to conform with the Bush agenda (including attempting to create a link in the report between Al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein, to justify the impending invasion of Iraq).  While a new investigation may or may not be necessary, the report is clearly a flawed document that must be reassessed and revised.  Saying that doesn't make you a "truther" any more than Bob Graham is.

He's a party chairman, isn't he? I guess that's saying a lot about the party.

ZuWo is the party chairman. Pingvin was for about a month but is no longer the party chairman.

It's one thing to try to score political points against your opponents, but it's another thing to know the facts. You should get an update on current Atlasian affairs if you want to convince the Atlasian citizens that you can be an effective Vice President!

I haven't noticed much daylight between Pingvin and ZuWo politically in any case. Funny see to JCL use the term "best" instead of "wealthiest" when discussing tax rates.

But wouldn't you agree the tax rates are a bit skewed against the "best" or "wealthiest"? 60 percent is way too high.

I voted to lower taxes as a Senator. The 60% marginal rate only takes effect at $2.5 million. The other tax brackets are comparable to US levels. Atlasia provides better services than the US.

The biggest difference is the nationalized healthcare program. Which I have profound disagreement with.

I truly hope this debate performance convinces reasonable Mideasterners that Ben has been a good Senator, knows his stuff and despite some position differences, will serve their interests in a much better and more productive way.

Mr. President, are you suggesting that some citizens of our region - particularly those citizens who intend to vote for JCL - are not reasonable?

I expressed that poorly, and I apologise for any offense caused.

I have deep, deep concerns should one candidate be elected over the other. As a former Governor of the region, I always have held the Mideast in special regard.

The region has been to the right of me for a long time and therefore has elected right-leaning candidates. I think people need to understand that just because I'm a political figure, that not all of my positions are not about political gain. I'm about to retire permanently from Atlasian politics, so I hope the people who serve in the nation's legislature are the best the nation can offer. Whether you choose to believe me or not, I objectively believe that Senator Ben has shown himself to be a great legislator who can work with both sides, it's taken him a long time to get to this place and he's been an asset to the Senate and a credit to his region and the people he represents.

But that is my call to support whom I support and for the reasons I personally support them. The final call is with the great people of the Mideast who once voted for me to support whom they believe will represent them and their interests in the Senate, I have an opinion, but that's all.

Thank you, Mr. President :)