Re-elect Senator Sestak

[Sestak]

Over the last few years, Fremont has slowly been subordinated to the whims of the federal government and has had to bear the brunt of their oppressive agenda. Having one Senator who's completely missing in action hasn't helped, either.

Write in Sestak to free Fremont from the oppressive federal government so we can turn our region into a liberal paradise!

[Dr. MB]

Endorsed

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Write in Sestak to free Fremont from the oppressive federal government so we can turn our region into a liberal paradise!

It is not already?

[Sestak]

Thank you all!

[Pericles]

Congrats on winning!

[Fmr. Speaker anna0kear]

Congrats on winning!

[Wells]

Congratulations on your well-deserved victory!

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Write in Sestak to free Fremont from the oppressive federal government so we can turn our region into a liberal paradise!

It is not already?

You know what they say about Utopia: you can always do More.

(I'll show myself out.)

[Mr. Bullocks]

Congratulations

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Congrats!

Write in Sestak to free Fremont from the oppressive federal government so we can turn our region into a liberal paradise!

It is not already?

You know what they say about Utopia: you can always do More.

(I'll show myself out.)

teeheehee

[Wikipedia delenda est]

Congratulations!

[Fmr. Speaker anna0kear]

Congratulations!

And to you, good campaign!

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

Congratulations on your well-deserved victory!

[Sestak]

Bump.

Not able to write a speech or anything now due to travel, but if you want to endorse go ahead.

[At-Large Senator LouisvilleThunder]

Edorzed 4 Prison.

[Esteemed Jimmy]

Endorsed!

[Pragmatic Conservative]

-What is your proudest achievement this session of Congress?
-Why do you choose to ignore questions asked to you on discord in the public chat? Do you believe citizens in Fremont can trust you to be transparent if you are going to be evasive in the wake of questions and criticisms?
-Do you believe offering jimmy a leadership post for him to join the party was appropriate and ethical? Do you consider this a bribe? Do you believe your actions were any different than what Pericles did with trying to exchange election endorsements for votes on his college bill?

[Sestak]

-What is your proudest achievement this session of Congress?

The RTW repeal bill. (While I technically introduced it at the end of last session, it's mostly been a hot item this session). Firstly, it is policy that I believe in, but more importantly, it's been debated to a level that only four or five other bills have since I first entered Congress (many of which were on the floor much longer). It's also spawned regional debate in at least one region, and, should it pass, I believe it will lead to similar debate in each region by delegating the question of right to work (a hotly contested issue IRL) to the regions.

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It's rarely my intent to not answer questions like that; the only time I choose to do so is if I am being asked the same question I've already answered repeatedly or if it's a blatant strawman.

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So, first of all, by the time Jimmy joined or was considering joining, he was already virtually guaranteed to have a leadership role, whether official or unofficial - several of my advisors had already vouched for his organizational skills, which, combined with his activity level, made him a no-brainer for party leadership; what I was discussing with Jimmy at the time he joined was what official title he would hold. It's not like I went up to Jimmy and told him "hey, I'll give you a leadership position if you join Labor." As I didn't appoint leadership prior to the October elections, seeing his organizational skills firsthand during the presidential election led me to ultimately back him for the Vice Chair position in the subsequent leadership election.

I am glad, however, that you brought up the Pericles-LT incident, as it gives me an opportunity to clarify what I think was the issue there and what wasn't.

First of all, in 2010, Barack Obama endorsed and supported Arlen Specter because Specter provided the 60th vote for Obamacare. Yes, Specter changed parties as well, but ultimately, if he had changed parties and then voted to kill Obamacare, Obama would not have backed him. I don't see how ethically, the Pericles-LT incident is any different. In fact, it rather makes sense to me. As a citizen, I base my endorsements on policy, and support candidates who will vote for policies that I support. Pericles, similarly, would have been backing a candidate who voted for policies he supports.

The bigger issue with the Pericles incident was the bill itself. Many, including myself, believed the college bill at the time was a poorly written, half-baked bill that was not ready to become law and that its Senate passage passed several problems off to the House. Yet instead of fixing the bill (as Never and I later did in the House) he chose to trade away political capital in order to push it through. That, not the ethics of the situation, is what the issue with that controversy was.

For example, if Donald Trump wrote up a bill that everyone agreed was badly written, convinced all Senate Republicans minus four to vote for it, and then agreed to endorse Doug Jones in 2020 in exchange for him voting for it, then both sides would be getting criticism here - Jones for violating his principles and voting for it to save his reelection effort, and Trump for being willing to trade a large amount of political capital (in this case, an almost guaranteed Senate flip) in order to force through objectively badly put together policy.

So no, I don't think anything wrong happened between me and Jimmy, so it's not exactly comparable to Perivillegate, but I also think the level of "let's be outraged" at the time (which I admit I myself was a part of) has sort of obscured what the issue in Perivillegate actually was.

[Sestak]

Oh, and thanks for asking questions!

[Sestak]

Any other questions?

[fhtagn]

There have been concerns raised by several folks on both sides of the aisle about your activity level in this recent session of Congress, as well as your open statements on discord about how focusing on Atlasia takes away from RL things you have going on. Why run for re-election if you don't have time to carry out your duties? And if there is a change, how can voters trust you will improve your performance going into the 16th Congress?

[Pragmatic Conservative]

Interesting according to Jimmy the day before he talked about the leadership position he didn’t have any interest in joining Labor. Don’t you think it’s the least bit coincidental that he joins only after hearing about a leadership offer?

[Pericles]

This is a pretty poor imitation of Not_Madigan tbh.

[Pragmatic Conservative]

This is a pretty poor imitation of Not_Madigan tbh.

Their is a lot of questions that need to be answered. I know ethics aren't really a concern for you but I hope most of Fremont cares enough to hear ethical concerns out about a candidate for office.

[Pericles]

There have been concerns raised by several folks on both sides of the aisle about your activity level in this recent session of Congress, as well as your open statements on discord about how focusing on Atlasia takes away from RL things you have going on. Why run for re-election if you don't have time to carry out your duties? And if there is a change, how can voters trust you will improve your performance going into the 16th Congress?

I'm pretty sure Sestak will be more active than someone who was literally recalled for inactivity(Koopa).