Post-Obama - A Different 2012 (Rules, Sign-up, and OOC thread)

[wxtransit]

Post-Obama
A Different 2012
an election game

Barack Obama (D-IL) / Joe Biden (D-DE) - 282 EV - 48.5%
John McCain (R-AZ) / Lamar Alexander (R-TN) - 256 EV - 48.7%

After a hard-fought campaign in 2008, during which both the Obama and McCain campaigns outperformed expectations with relatively no major gaffes and excellent debate performances from both sides of the aisle, the battle came to a close with a spectacularly close finish, with the race, much like 2004, being decided entirely on the state of Ohio, which was called for the President-elect at noon the next day. Winning only 282 electoral votes, Obama entered office with a precarious mandate, especially with his 0.2% popular vote loss. However, Obama's young presidency went from bad to worse when the stock market, which economists were raising concerns about a housing bubble, crashed on March 3rd, 2009. With the economy in full recession, support for Obama's presidency fell to new lows, with job approval ratings hitting 35% in most polls by January of the next year. The 2010 midterms were a battering for the President's party, like usual, however, Republicans made inroads into traditionally Democratic areas and secured a majority in the new Senate and House, having 57 seats in the Senate and 265 seats in the new House. While the rest of the President's term was relatively uneventful, it was marked by continual obstruction from the Republican caucus, and Obama failed to pass any major legislation for his mandate. With his lack of success in office and catastrophically low approval ratings, President Obama made an announcement to the world in the early hours of February 9th, 2011. He was not running for re-election.


Rules:
(which I may or may not have stolen from Lumine's game, thanks, Lumine )

This game will cover the 2012 US Presidential Election from September 1st, 2011 to November 7th, 2012, divided into three main phases:

Primary Phase: Assuming campaign announcements to have come earlier in the year, this primary season will take us from September 2011 to June 2012, with players from the Democratic and Republican Parties fighting to emerge as the frontrunner or even the nominee of their respective parties.

Convention Phase: Both main parties will enter this phase to decide on their eventual nominee, although the gameplay will be very limited if a player has already won his respective nomination. Should a party lack a clear nominee, a gameplay system encouraging backroom deals as the ballots move forward will be put in place.

General Election Phase: Taking us from September 7th to November 7th, 2012, with eight turns of a week to account for the final stage of the campaign as players play the Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates, and potentially some key surrogates for their campaigns.

2.- The in-game length of turns will vary from days to an entire month depending on the circumstances, but all turns will last one week (from calendar Saturday to Saturday, no more) in RL. Duly informing of a turn absence will yield no penalty (a polling freeze or very limited loss), but simply not posting will bring consequences.

3.- Personal message me for endorsements! No candidate may recieve more than 2 per turn, and there are some special endorsements that will be reserved for key events or dates (for example, New Hampshire or Iowa Governors, or relevant newspapers like the Des Moines Register or the New Hampshire Union Leader).

4.- The 2012 race was known to be volatile at points, particularly so with the GOP side. This game will attempt to replicate this by taking note of schedules, events and particularly the debate performances, which may give a surprise boost to a given candidate to rise like Perry, Cain, Gingrich and others did before flaming out. Of course, that boost can be lost in the face of tough attacks from your rivals, so it can be both a blessing and a curse.

5.- There will be debates, several of them to account for the OTL high number of GOP debates and their undeniable impact on the race. The first few turns will all feature limited debates.

6.- Like other games, I will use a number randomizer to determine positive and negative news for the candidates. 1-5 will be positive experiences (1 being great news) and 95-100 will be negative experiences (100 being terrible news). 6-94 will be no news. Real life news will also feature as part of the game for players to exploit (or influence).

7.- Third Party candidates are allowed to join, but their respective gameplay will be focused on the General Election. The only exception is the Americans Elect Primaries, which may be a factor if a player wants to run for their nomination (thus making them more successful and relevant than in OTL).

8 - If your candidate is not included in the provided list below, make sure to personal message me so that I can approve/reject the candidate. Please make your candidates realistic (they must be real people who would plausibly seek the nomination in 2012, if you don't know if they could work, just ask).

9. Have fun.

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Candidate List:

Declared candidates:
Former Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) - ethanforamerica
First Lady Michelle Obama (D-IL) - HCP
Former Governor Howard Dean (D-VT) - Lettuce18
Vice President Joe Biden (D-DE) - NewYorkExpress
Vice President Joe Biden (D-DE) - ASPN
Vice President Joe Biden (D-DE) - NewYorkExpress
Former Governor Phil Bredesen (D-TN) - New Tennessean Politician
Former Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) - GoTfan

Mr. Adam Carolla (R-CA) - Jaguar4life
Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) - thumb21
Businessman Donald Trump (R-NY) - NOTTYLER
Governor Nikki Haley (R-SC) - x-Guy
Former Governor Jeb Bush (R-FL) - ReaganClinton
Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) - NMR
Representative Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) - terp40hitch
Former Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR) - Evans
Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R-NY) - Grassr00ts

Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I-NY) - Not_Madigan

Mr. Adam Carolla (L-CA) - Jaguar4life
Mr. Penn Jillette (L-NV) - jk2020


Democratic Party:

Potential Candidates: (Among others)
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D-NY)
Former Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI)
Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT)
Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
Former Governor Howard Dean (D-VT)
Former Representative Alan Grayson (D-FL)

Republican Party:

RL Candidates:
Former Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA)
Former Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA)
Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA)
Representative Ron Paul (R-TX)
Governor Rick Perry (R-TX)
Former Governor Jon Huntsman (R-UT)
Representative Michelle Bachmann (R-MN)
Mr. Herman Cain (R-GA)
Former Governor Gary Johnson (R-NM)
Former Governor Tim Pawlenty (R-MN)

Potential Candidates: (Among others)
Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ)
Former Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK)
Governor Bobby Jindal (R-LA)
Former Governor Haley Barbour (R-MS)
Former Governor Jeb Bush (R-FL)
Governor Mitch Daniels (R-IN)
Former Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR)
Businessman Donald Trump (R-NY)

Americans Elect:

Open

Independents:

Open

Primary and Caucus Schedule:

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[wxtransit]

Before I ask for a candidate, just wanna point out you put Christie as a real candidate, but he never actually ran.

Whoops, fixed.

[wxtransit]

I'll go ahead and take a stab at Mike Huckabee if that's okay.

Granted, welcome!

[wxtransit]

Also, I forgot to mention, make sure to post your announcement speech here (but you don't have to campaign yet) once your candidate is approved by me.

[Huey Long is a Republican]

May I get Former Governor Phil Bredesen?

[OSR STANDS WITH PALESTINE]

Donald Trump please

[terp40hitch]

Michele Bachmann?

[Jaguar4life]

Can I be a fictional version of a real person? I got the bio down.

[wxtransit]

May I get Former Governor Phil Bredesen?

Granted, welcome!

Michele Bachmann?

Yes, welcome!

Can I be a fictional version of a real person? I got the bio down.

Unfortunately, likely not this time as even though I'm sure the person is highly well thought out and is a good idea, it'll be hard for me to simulate in polling and whatnot, as I'm not as experienced with running these things.

Edit: It's a great idea, but sadly, I'm not that great with simulating fictional people. You can request any plausible real person, though.

Donald Trump please

I'll grant you, but remember, please be civil and respectful, or I reserve the right to suspend your candidate.

[Jaguar4life]

Here is in just in case. I will be Republican Cal Ripken Jr who is a Republican Govenor of Maryland

Ripkin after retiring from baseball ITTL decided to respond to a internet petition to run for Govenor of Maryland in 2006  

Ripkin runs on a Libertarian style candidacy and it’s able to upset the incumbent Govenor Bob Ehrlich in the primaries.  In a bad year for the Republicans in 2006 Ripkin is still able to be elected over Martin O Malloy in a tight race.

Ripkin is able to work well with a mostly Democratic State congress and Senate and is able to be a bipartisan force even if he was not able to get some of the stuff he wanted done.

Ripkin is able to be re-elected with ease in 2010 and is set to  flirt with a 2012 bid.

[_]

I'd like to be Mayor Michael Bloomberg of NYC, running as an Independent Candidate for President.

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I'd like to be Mayor Michael Bloomberg of NYC, running as an Independent Candidate for President.

Granted, but remember, you'll be essentially playing by yourself for an IRL month or so, so if you do want to get in on the action, I suggest you join as a Rep or Dem in the primaries.

[wxtransit]

I hope some more people pick IRL candidates who polled very strongly to make this a more realistic game.

Yes, this exactly. It's not that I don't like fictional characters, it's just that I want the simulation as realistic (and interesting and fun) as possible.

[Jaguar4life]

Well can I be Adam Carolla again like in the last game? That was fun. As a Republican

[_]

I'd like to be Mayor Michael Bloomberg of NYC, running as an Independent Candidate for President.

Granted, but remember, you'll be essentially playing by yourself for an IRL month or so, so if you do want to get in on the action, I suggest you join as a Rep or Dem in the primaries.

I need some time to get off the ground anyway, plus I'd prefer to stay out of Primaries.

[wxtransit]

Well can I be Adam Carolla again like in the last game? That was fun. As a Republican

Granted, welcome!

[wxtransit]

I'd like to be Mayor Michael Bloomberg of NYC, running as an Independent Candidate for President.

Granted, but remember, you'll be essentially playing by yourself for an IRL month or so, so if you do want to get in on the action, I suggest you join as a Rep or Dem in the primaries.

I need some time to get off the ground anyway, plus I'd prefer to stay out of Primaries.

Understandable. Welcome!

[Jaguar4life]

Where can I announce?

[wxtransit]

Where can I announce?

Here, speaking of which, to remind all candidates of what I said earlier:

Also, I forgot to mention, make sure to post your announcement speech here (but you don't have to campaign yet) once your candidate is approved by me.

[Jaguar4life]

April 19th 2011 on the Adam Carolla Show
You know on to the next topic and this is a very special one.   I look at the possible candidates for President in 2012. Just awful.  President Obama has been a absolute disaster Jimmy Carter 2.0 so much for all that hope huh!! And Joe Biden wouldn’t be any better or god forbid Hillary Clinton would could be even worse!!

But really the disappointment really kicks in with the possible Republican candidates.

As I read this from Politico. Mike Huckabee? I  appreciate his comedic talent but I don’t think he has what it takes to get my vote. and then we got Jeb Bush. come  on now?!?! We don’t need another Bush in the White House!! The last one was very close to destroying  the economy and got us into more pointless wars.



And then you got Newt Gingrich? Newt come on I honestly don’t think you have enough in the old tank to pull this off but this just throws me off the edge

Mitt Romney folks. Mitt Romney I remember from 2008. He’s basically George W Bush but more moderate and he also have the same exact idea for Obamacare when he was the governor of Massachusetts.

With all that said I am officially running for the Republican nomination of President of the United States!!

I’m gonna let that sink in. I am tired of the false hope and change especially that Obama promised and that the fact that what we got was a total scam. I am tired of politicians just saying things to get votes and then just abandon that platform.

America needs a president who isn’t a politician and it’s a outsider and that  keeps his promise to his words.

And that is why I am declaring this campaign.

APRIL 20th

The website AdamCarolla2012.  Com starts up as a non corporate PAC to raise money.  About 8000$ dollars are raised on the first day.

[_]

May 3rd, 2011, in front of the New York City Mayor's Office

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Angus King announcing his run for Vice President with Mayor Michael Bloomberg

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[terp40hitch]

Isn't it secretary Clinton not senator

[Huey Long is a Republican]

Isn't it secretary Clinton not senator

I believe so

[wxtransit]

Isn't it secretary Clinton not senator

Isn't it secretary Clinton not senator

I believe so

Do either of you have your announcement speeches ready?