Atlasian Messenger

[Colin]

The NE Senate Race is not until October, three months from now.

Right now Colin Wixted, a Union Party member, holds this seat.  I don't know whether he will be running for re-election or not, but if he were to run for re-election, I am sure he would do it under the Union Party banner. 

If not, I am fairly confident that another Union Party member would choose to run for the seat.

It is my hope that we will soon see a re-Districting map coming out of the Governor's meeting and that things will be settled as to the distribution of District Senate seats come next election.

This is absolutely correct. I will run again in October as a member of the Union Party which MAS also belongs to. I would like it if the Atlasian Messager would print a correction on this or I will bring them to court. Good day.

[Colin]

If the NRA has really been unsuccessful or uninterested in getting-out-the-vote, pushing candidates and spinning the news, then how does this explain the simple fact that 8 out of the 10 Senators, the VP in Atlasia, and three out of five members of the President's cabinet are members of the NRA; that the NRA has been extremely successful in passing concealed carry laws in every Region and getting passed a essential amendment to the Constitution in protection of our gun rights; and that every NRA-endorsed candidate has won elected office in Atlasia.

i dont believe that they are winning the elections because of the NRA. you are very picky, Spade.

It's my job. 

The NRA certainly has helped candidates win in the past and present behind-the-scenes.  Just because the media hasn't noticed it does not mean that it does not exist.

Also, I'm giving an example of how the NRA spins the news for itself by spinning your news right now. 

your spinning is quite obvious, Spade. the NRA helps its candidates as much as any other SIG does. i dont believe SIG's often decide elections, because that isnt true...yet. Once the ACLC gets going, im sure it wont be like other SIGs. its going to go out and really work for its candidates. my article simply states that SIG's could do more to affect the outcome of elections. certainly you agree.

i can spin news too spade

As I said in the poll.  The NRA could kill a candidate that opposes it in a stronghold like the south.  It does hold a lot of influence.

in the south. outside of the south, it has as much power as anything else

Outside the South it could be a killer as well. If you are a candidate, especially a centre-left candidate, you could lose the support of several pro-gun parties like the ACA, the Union Party or the Freedom Party by openly going against the NRA platform or by making gun control a major part of your platform. Most special interest groups and PACs in Atlasia work behind the scenes talking with Senators, Governors and Cabinet officials to help get their agenda's passed. During the last election I was really worried about the Progressive Caucus endorsement. An endorsement for NOTA or a leftist candidate, like yourself LiberalPA, would have probably made me more worried about my race and probably would have lessened my winning margin. On the opposite side of things if you are a candidate like Cosmo Kramer who is rather economically liberal in a solid rightwing area an endorsement by a pseudo-rightwing association like the NRA of Atlasia would make it much easier to get undecided support and make it much easier to win.

That being said there really isn't any news to spin and even if their was I wouldn't want to spin it. If you consider the Teamspeak PAC to be a special interest group their is some evidence that members of it have swayed elections in the favour of their candidates. I believe one of the two reasons Chief of Staff Mike Naso won in February was because many people who are considered the elite of Atlasia come out in support of Mike Naso, even if only in jest. This could have caused some more inactive voters to percieve that Naso was the better candidate.

Also with your rhetoric that the ACLC will get out there and support candidates that will probably be complete bull come August. No matter what I said before personality politics, the candidates ideology, and the activity level of the candidate will always be more important factors than the endorsements of caucuses, PACs, and special interest groups. That is why it is actually more of a boon for a political group to endorse candidates in Atlasia since, except for the two big organizations, their really isn't much sway in their endorsements. It is much easier for these groups to use back channel means and legislative means to get their way than through the election of their choosen candidates. LiberalPA I have to say that you are still a newbie in the entire scheme of Atlasia politics and as such you have alot to learn, such as July is way to early to begin talking about the October election and is way to early to support a candidate. 

[Colin]

If ya'll keep actively doing stories and such, this is going to be a great news orginization.

assuming ColinW and Sam Spade STOP SPINNING AND COMPLAINING ABOUT MY FREAKIN NEWS!

I'm not spinning anything. I never spin. I point it out when people are wrong that's all.

[Colin]

I'm not spinning anything. I never spin. I point it out when people are wrong that's all.

Don’t you have your own newspaper to run?

I do? I thought I had to be a Senator. Maybe I'm mistaken.

[Colin]

I'm not spinning anything. I never spin. I point it out when people are wrong that's all.

Don’t you have your own newspaper to run?

I do? I thought I had to be a Senator. Maybe I'm mistaken.

No really, don’t you own the National Atlasian?

Seriously, yes I do.

[Colin]

I'm just kinda in' around with you LiberalPA. One old newspaper man to a newbie in the industry. What I would suggest though is that you write articles in Word or some other sort of word processor. This helps with grammer and spelling problems and makes your articles seem more professional. You can also lay out the way that you want the headline and the subtitle to look before you post it. Just my two cents. Good luck man wish you the best with this paper.

[Colin]

I'm just kinda in' around with you LiberalPA. One old newspaper man to a newbie in the industry. What I would suggest though is that you write articles in Word or some other sort of word processor. This helps with grammer and spelling problems and makes your articles seem more professional. You can also lay out the way that you want the headline and the subtitle to look before you post it. Just my two cents. Good luck man wish you the best with this paper.

thanks for the advice, colin. i hope to be as much of an influence on Atlasian politics as you some day.

Ah don't tell yourself that. You'll end up forever a backbencher and crazy ranting idiot.

Seriously, thank you LiberalPA, I'm sure you'll do well in any future endeavours.

[Colin]

I'm just kinda in' around with you LiberalPA. One old newspaper man to a newbie in the industry. What I would suggest though is that you write articles in Word or some other sort of word processor. This helps with grammer and spelling problems and makes your articles seem more professional. You can also lay out the way that you want the headline and the subtitle to look before you post it. Just my two cents. Good luck man wish you the best with this paper.

Speaking of the National Atlasian, when is the next issue coming out?

I have no idea. It takes alot of work to write those articles. I may start getting back into it in August.

[Colin]

Interesting that I am labeled a "conservative."

I know what you mean, though, Akno.  I probably will get most of the votes of the StatesRights coalition.  But I'm Cosmo Kramer, not StatesRights.  I have supporters of my own to add to that coalition.

Well seriously I believe their is a different left-right scale in the Southeast. This is what I believe. In the Southeast the "Liberal" to Conservative scale is more in proportion to Dixie Unionism and "Southern Pride" than any political issues, in that way it is much like Quebec were the political divisions are more along the line of Seperatist and Unionist. This Southeastern political scale runs from Seperatist on the right end to status quo on the other. Almost all Southerners are not Seperatist but slowly going towards the liberal side you first get StatesRights and his supporters who I would call Nullificationists who supported States through the whole nullification debacle and consider it a good thing. They are very fervent supporters of Southern expansion and believe that the South should have more imput in federal government as well as regional government. Next we have people like you Preston who I would call Dixie Unionists who are centre-right on this scale. You believe in an enlarged Southeast but are against nullification and the semi-dictatorial actions taken by StatesRights. You also believe in more autonomy from the central government and that D4 should remain a Southeastern District. Next we have Moderate Dixie Unionists. These people are like Sam Spade and Dubya who are for the annexation of Virginia and possibly Kentucky or Oklahoma but do not call for the larger amounts of States that Nullificationists and Dixie Unionists want. Harry might also fit into this group. They believe that the current relationship between the Federal Government and the Southeast is good and they don't really care if the Southeast has it's own district. They are centrist to centre-left on this chart. Finally you have the Federalists. The Federalists are people like Don, Ben Meyers, and Cash who either do not want to add more states to the Southeast or don't care about it. They believe that the Southeast needs to tone down its rhetoric towards the federal government and they believe that the Southeast should not have a district all to it's own. They believe that the Southeast should not be any different from any other region in Atlasia and often react against the percieved aggression of other Southern groups. Well that's how I see Southeastern politics. Rather intricate for a group of 20 people. Here is a chart of what I am trying to say:

    Liberal                                                                                Conservative
<---Federalist----Moderate Dixie Unionist----Dixie Unionist----Nullificationist---->

[Colin]

Thank you I try my best.

[Colin]

I would be either a DU or possibly a moderate DU.

I find Preston more a populist while Dubya is a Libertarian-Conservative.

Huh? In politics they are, if you look at their entire set of ideas, but according to the scale that I posted above, which is entirely contained in the Southeast, Dubya would be a moderate leftist while Preston would be a moderate conservative.

[Colin]

Dear Atlasian Messenger,
I feel it is necessary for me to comment on the opinion piece on the Libertarian Party. As a high ranking member of the Constitutional Union Party of Atlasia I can tell you personally that if Atlasians who are currently in the Libertarian Party are look for big-tent libertarianism it's home is the Constitutional Union Party. While we are still a centrist party no one would doubt our credentials as a libertarian party that promotes economic and social freedom.

While most Libertarians, like Democrats and Republicans before them, do not want to see Atlasia as a new and different nation with vastly different politics they must come to face the facts and the facts are that the Union Party has become the standard bearer of libertarianism in Atlasia. While I believe that Mr. Bell's assertion that the ILP is taking the middle away from the Union Party is not completely true many of the other assertions he makes in his analysis of the Libertarian Party's demise are valid.

Libertarians need to learn to see that Atlasia is not America. We have a court made up largely of libertarians, we have a Senate that is composed of many libertarians, or regions elect libertarian governors and most of all we are a nation whose centre is in the moderate libertarian range. It is for these reasons that I would welcome any libertarians into the Union Party and the reason why I think the Libertarian Party needs to face the facts and make a tough choice about whether it should continue to be a party.
Sincerely,
Colin Wixted
Northeast Senator

[Colin]

Wow, theres seriously noone that wants this thing?

I would have done if I'd lost last the election month. Though with the amount of resignations today you never know

lol. Trust me, Id rather have a citizen like yourself in a position higher than CEO of the AM.

Well I may go back into journalism if I lose my Senate seat but I would be much more likely to restart my National Atlasian then anything else.

[Colin]

social activist unemployed

I corrected your job title for you.

Really I fully agree with this and will support the Senate completely in any attempt to do away with the creation of and passing of a budget as part of Atlasian policymaking.