Owner Account

45,100,000

+24,000,000

16,100,000

(OOC: Howdy folks, I wanted to get this material out to you ASAP rather than just give you the kind of IC overview you are used to, and I figure it might be beneficial to provide you with my logic in campaign grading as we inch closer to 2016. So rather than doing a political round table, these are raw grading notes from me with Nathan providing the more IC-oriented overview.)

South Dakota

Alonzo Boone (D) 41.5% (+2.8%)
Horace Sorvaag (R) 46.6% (+9.4%)

Sweet Daddy’s notes:

Boone:

Boone is attempting to tap into a model called ‘breadwinner’ liberalism, which is essentially given away by the fact that he uses the term early on in his talking point. Basically, this is about making the government act as a supportive backbone to normal familial activity, and it is an effective campaign strategy in certain instances where the targets are high poverty or low-income; however, in states like South Dakota these same groups have trended hard towards the Republican Party. In terms of talking points, the first one is okay but has a broad spread, covering a lot of issues that are going to win some support and lose others – as a singular talking point, it does not necessarily work. Second one is pretty good, having a pitched policy in conjunction with its justification. The third talking point is issue support, so is more geared towards voter turnout than winning over voters. The fourth talking point resonates in a state like South Dakota, given its high percentage of veterans. The fifth talking point is ag outreach, that is good and local.

Placement of campaign offices is good.

Targeted outreach was a little spread out (it’s unclear exactly how you would plan to reach out to upper-middle-class voters and uninsured voters simultaneously, especially when a third group in there ends up being higher than the total number of outreach points spent). Focus on veterans and Native Americans in Rapid City is smart.

First ad is pretty strong, it is the first time in this round that I have felt things are specifically geared towards South Dakota. The second ad is above average.

Sorvaag:

Investment, infrastructure is really solid, very targeted.

First billboard is weak, does not make any real claim to a specific issue or political identification – billboards are really hard to use effectively, but when used effectively they can take a campaign to the next level. This is good for some name rec and maybe got some google searches, but was scant on the specificity or directness that makes an effective billboard. Second billboard also falls flat, not creating a clear distinction between the two candidates except that Sorvaag is not Boone – Boone is not defined enough of a candidate to really be a bogeyman. The third billboard is the best, casting Sorvaag in with a specific group – conservatives. Always try to make sure your billboards specifically appeal to the target or make a very clear point. This also defines the print-ad; it is not entirely clear why someone should vote Sorvaag other than the fact that he isn’t Boone. The internet ad falls into the same general trap, but is saved by the bullet points – general political ideology and where Sorvaag specifically stands. Sorvaag needs to be selling himself, not just flaws that he sees in Boone. Radio ad again falls into this area, but gets lifted in the end with ideology – Sorvaag needs the ideological identification and the strong policy identification. First tv ad doesn’t do a great job of selling Sorvaag; second ad is significantly better; third ad is wonderful, but the way it was structured it felt that it was really building up to specific policy proposals that are never manifested.

The stump is really good – it has some empty rhetoric, but it combines ideology, political culture, and specific policy in a strong way. I know I disagree with Nathan on this, but if this was the kind of stuff that Sorvaag was doing in his ads, this would be a runaway election in my mind. It is significantly better, and I think the model that a lot of candidates in this cycle and future cycles should be drawing on in terms of structure. Sorvaag could sell himself a lot better here, but the structure and content is solid.

Talking points – first set: first point is policy specific and well targeted, good; second one is good, though I could see starting with the idea of diversifying South Dakota before explaining he’s talking about the economy could fall flat for some demos – however, those aren’t the college demos that Sorvaag is talking to here so it works; third talking point is focused, good.
Second set: solid military focus, hits the major points without being bogged down with just patriotism for the sake of patriotism, a common flaw in veteran outreach.
Third set: see above – really good outreach to rural voters, offering them both a cultural aspect and a specific policy outreach.
Fourth set: the hit on Boone for not reaching out to Native Americans with specific policies hits and strikes a nerve – the ideas here are solid and will resonate, though this is a heavy Dem demographic so Sorvaag is really just cutting into a key Dem demographic rather than focusing on areas where he can see stronger, more consistent growth – he will also need to be very careful about expanding these talking points outside of this specific appeal, considering how hostile some more conservative demos in SD can be towards native issues.
Fifth set: this was largely an appeal to a pre-reform status quo, one that wasn’t working in South Dakota already – I am not sure this appeal resonates as strongly as Sorvaag would like it to. Voters, even if it isn’t the wisest move, don’t really care that much about experts.

Overall: Sorvaag has run the better campaign, in total. It’s more focused on the state and it has a lot more variety for various groups – there are some real weaknesses here (the advertisement game is not strong at the moment), but it does outpace what Boone brings to the table in nearly every other area of consideration. 

MrAnderson’s notes:

Arkansas

Monty Bailey (D) 42.3% (+1.2%)
Sammy Jackson (R) 48.2% (+3.5%)

Sweet Daddy’s notes:

Bailey:

On the first talking point, attempting to mobilize the black vote in Arkansas is smart – any Democratic victory will require this voting bloc. Second talking point is also used in South Dakota, pointing to a specific national campaign – has the same limitations as noted in South Dakota of having too many policies. Fourth, fifth, and six are all fairly generic, at their strongest when relating to local issues (such as agriculture).

Offices and targeted outreach are solid.

For the speech, the first three paragraphs are largely filler material and would not move the needle. Fourth paragraph is pretty good, fifth paragraph draws it back into big national debates – ones that are more divisive. Sixth paragraph is just rhetoric, but it is good rhetoric and appeals to people.

Jackson:

The stump speech was entirely rhetorical – it did not lay out any significant policy initiative, focusing entirely on cultural legacy and the like. This can be a mixed bag; on one hand, politics is fundamentally about cultural identification so that resonates, but in terms of switching a seat from blue to red it might be a mistake to focus on the past given that, at present, Democratic representation is the standard.

The first focus speech ran into the same problem – both of Arkansas’ senators are Democrats, there is a Democrat in the White House; running on the success of the economy is not an effective strategy in this environment. One strength here, relative to the stump, is that Jackson actually lays out solid policy initiatives here – tax cuts, EITC, etc.

The second focus speech basically draws from the same pool of problems – not being very specific, attacking phantom opponents and then trying to bring Boone into that group. When he gets to policies, they aren’t specific polices actually connected to the body of the speech – but tax cuts EITC work as an issue, so it isn’t a negative.

Talking points: the first talking point was a good pro-police piece, which helps motivate a group counter to the civil rights-oriented faction that Boone is working on. Second talking point is income tax/EITC, largely what I now see as the major theme of Jackson’s campaign. Third point, fiscal responsibility is always a winner for Republicans rhetorically. On the second set of talking points: first point is good, income tax/EITC; second is good, Arkansas has a high percentage veteran population so stroking egos is always solid; as to the third talking point, Arkansas actually drifts heavily into gun control positions relative to other states (based on polling I looked up, 90% for mental health screening, 67% pro-licensing, 56% pro banning automatic weapons – looking at other numbers, gun ownership in Arkansas has rapidly declined in the last decade, and a combined 91% of the vote in another poll support stricter policies or current policies) – that said, this is def. an issue that motivates that remaining 9% of the population in a big way, given that this group tends to treat less restrictive gun control as a major motivator compared to more casual motivation on the other side.

Infrastructure is great. For outreach, the areas being reached out to are a bit broad geographically but the targeting is solid – focusing more on specific towns or counties would be a benefit, especially coupled with strong motivating ads.

The first ad is just saying that Jackson is a Christian and supports Christian values – it’s a fine ad, but it’s not really reflective of the big national debates or any local issue The Christian base remains on fire given recent campaigns (including one in Arkansas), but this is just pure cultural identification. It works, but it would be more effective married into other issues. The second ad is just wonderful.

Overall: I am more critical of Jackson’s campaign, but that is largely because there is more meat to be critical of. It’s just a hand’s down superior campaign, though it has flaws. In terms of defining himself, I think Jackson has taken a really strong position that is improving his standing in this race, but he can not lose sight of connecting (and connecting well) policy issues to that identity. He has to be the complete package if he really wants to run away with this. Boone needs to laser focus in on local issues, or this could go south quick.

MrAnderson’s notes:
 

The Jackson campaign has really tuned down the negative partisanship (tho its still there enough to sell to those who want it), thus allowing itself to gain some headway in this campaign. The stump was better suited to its aims, to cast a message of what he stands for, and the targeted speeches landed well. There is an issue with the weird marriage of economic interests and social policy, something that feels disjointed in the oil/timber speech as if it was meant for two different audiences. In advertising, the culture warrior vibe remains, as Jackson swung hard on traditional marriage and evangelical voters. But the better ad really painted Bailey’s agenda as a negative, rather than a positive. It’s a hard message to combat for Bailey, as he hasn’t answered the big question: how do we pay for it? Jackson’s move to call this out struck home with a lot of voters.

On the other hand, Bailey continues to defend national democratic policies. The problem is that it is light on transition to why its good for Arkansas, a state that has some conservative tendencies. He needs to adjust his message appropriately is what is holding him back. But the shift to a negative campaign from Bailey, to paint Jackson as the worst of Washington in one man, is a sellable narrative in an election where Jackson has really defined himself as a culture warrior.

Overall, the early round continues to haunt Jackson, making defining him easier because he still hasn’t given anyone on the left a reason to support him. He’s still speaking solely to conservatives in his messaging and his actual targeting. Some Arkansas voters may be having buyers’ remorse with Murphy, but that doesn’t equate to a wholesale shift to the partisan right. Something about Murphy interested them enough to consider him in the first place. Both campaigns are hitting better with a negative message than a positive one, generally because they’re both pitching partisan messages.

Jackson has made headway, building on his lead, largely because of the quality of his campaign. It’s spending more, advertising well (as compared to not at all), and has landed on a definition of who he is. But before anyone thinks this race is over, Bailey stays within striking distance. But if Jackson continues to outspend Bailey on infrastructure at this level, it’s going to be nearly impossible for the Democrat to catch up. Both campaigns can take a major step forward in their messaging and strategy, but if only one does this campaign could tighten or turn into a bloodbath in a hurry.

Welcome to the community, approved.

---

All house campaign material must be submitted by 11:59 PM December 28, eastern time.

The House election is not going to be as in-depth as the Senate or Presidential election – it is going to acquire much less time and energy than doing a full Senate election, and everyone will be able to participate in this process. Rather than focusing on individual districts, however, we are going to conduct House elections on the state level, and we’re going to restrict this to ten states:
 

California*
Texas*
Wisconsin*
Pennsylvania*
Colorado*
Ohio*
Minnesota*
Michigan* 
Missouri
Arizona*

Asterisk indicates on-going gubernatorial election (as you can see, it is a lot of them).

If you are the Party Chairman or the designated hitter for the Congressional election, here is what you will need to post in the forthcoming House election thread:

Rankings: You will rank each of these states in order of how much effort your party is going to put into turning districts in them. So, if you want to prioritize your Virginia seats because you see them as particularly valuable, you would put Virginia near the top of your prioritization list. IC, this is going to be seem as the parties providing the state parties with strategists, professional campaigners, and things of that nature.

Cash Distribution: Additionally, you will be able to apply cash bonuses to each state – this is money sent to state parties for the purposes of purchasing ads, outreach infrastructure, things of that nature that every good campaign needs. For our purposes, there will be three ways to acquire cash to distribute to the campaigns:

1. Both parties are going to receive $50,000,000 (fifty million) for the purposes of distributing to state parties to boost their chances in this election. This money may only be distributed to the state campaigns or spent on House campaign costs.

2. Parties, Senatorial candidates, and other PCs may donate directly to the campaigns. This will be done under current transfer rules, with each state viewed as a ‘candidate’ for regulatory purposes. The normal rules apply, so you may act as you normally would during such a process.

Talking Points:

The Party Chair is going to have an opportunity to craft four sets of talking points, each of them consisting of three points. The first set of talking points is what the respective party is running on nationally – so, in essence, a national platform condensed into three points. The three other sets of talking points are to be designed for three states selected from the above list. As with national talking points, this will initially be limited to three positions. Pick your talking points, and the states you decide to roll them out for, appropriately.

By paying $1,000,000 (one million dollars) per plank, either from party funds or from the appropriated $50,000,000, the Party Chair may produce up to five planks for each set of talking points.

Showcase Ads:

Finally, you will have the opportunity to create two showcase ads. These ads are going to be the marquis advertisements of your party’s national campaign, and both parties will be able to distribute these two ads without cost – imagine, essentially, an in-house ad that is produced by the party and then distributed to local campaigns for their use. You will create two ads, they are both designed for television, and they are at a time-limit of forty-five seconds. You may add additional increments of fifteen seconds to your showcase add for $1,000,000 (one million dollars) up to a minute and a half, either from existing party funds or designated House campaign funds.

So, your submission to the House Campaign thread should look like this, and should be posted in a thread started by each party chair in this forum:

Party:

State Rankings with Cash Distribution:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Federal Talking Points:

1.
2.
3.

State Talking Points:

State A
1.
2.
3.

State B
1.
2.
3.

State C
1.
2.
3.

Showcase Ads:

Showcase Ad A

Showcase Ad B

Finally, players may actively involve themselves in the campaign process by submitting a single stump speech and identifying three states in which they would like to stump. These stump speeches should be no more than four hundred words. These should be posted in the appropriate thread, and use the following format:

State 1
State 2
State 3

Hey folks, 

I got a little behind on the elections calendar (as previously discussed), but we will need to handle the House election. Considering that we are now three days out from the end of this race and then we will be entering Christmas break, the House election round will not be due until December 28th and I will announce those results separately. 

Under our usual rules, you would be campaigning in the ten most populous states - however, as we have now had two back-to-back house campaigns in two of these states, I am mixing in the most populous states with the most partisan-divided states and those states where people might be more inclined to campaign in advance of the 2016 elections (as these elections are taken into account for general partisan baselines). 
 

California
Texas
Wisconsin 
Pennsylvania
Colorado
Ohio
Minnesota
Michigan 
Missouri
Arizona 

Rules will be the same as previous rounds, and will be posted in the elections forum.

Just edit it - preemptively approved.

I believe Storm took this seat but we can slide you into the other no problem.

Sure. Welcome back.

2 minutes ago, SWMissourian said:

Thank you for responding, Governor Nixon. As you can imagine, I find the situation in Ferguson and the death of Michael Brown quite troubling. I’d like to know more about the case before opining on it too much in public; I don’t want to sow any kind of hatred or violence, after all. So far, what do we know about the events leading to the altercation and the altercation itself that led the Michael Brown’s death?

Nixon: "Additional material has just been released to the media. Everything we know about the events leading up to Brown's death has been included in the report. I'll just say that it is a very, very muddy situation - my gut instinct is that it was a clean shooting, as far as that goes, and that appears to be the opinion of senior law enforcement officials as well."

@USAToday: As protests in Ferguson heat up and dominate the media cycle, protests in NYC related to the officer-involved death of Eric Garner in July have also begun to gain strength. Details here: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/07/23/chokehold-nypd-eric-garner-funeral/13078683/

New Details Emerge in Michael Brown Shooting

               New details as to the death of Michael Brown have been released to the media as the situation in Ferguson, Missouri continues to escalate.

               Per police reports, Michael Brown and another black male, Dorian Johnson, encountered officer Darren Wilson at approximately 12:00 PM CST. Wilson had stopped the men because they were walking in the street – seven minutes earlier, a man matching Michael Brown’s description had been involved in a robbery-type incident (the full details on this are still coming out) at a nearby market had evaded police, and it is unclear at this time if Wilson had any belief that Michael Brown and the suspect in the earlier robbery were the same individual. Witnesses on site tell two different versions of what happened next.

               One set of witnesses claims that Brown placed his hand inside Officer Wilson’s vehicle, which led to Wilson opening fire on Brown and hitting him in the hand. Brown then staggered back, Wilson exited his vehicle, and fired six more shots at Brown as Brown reportedly approached him. Another set of witnesses tell a different story, stating that Brown appeared to be surrendering with his hands up in the air when Wilson opened fire. Which version is true, or closer to the truth, is unclear at this time. By this point, it was approximately 12:01:30 – back up for Wilson arrived approximately seventy-three seconds later. Dorian Johnson, who was with Brown, has stated that the initial interaction between Wilson and Brown involved Wilson pulling Brown towards the car and not Brown acting aggressively.

               It is in the aftermath of the shooting that additional controversy has been generated. Wilson reportedly washed his hands after the event, a circumvention of standard protocol requiring an officer involved in a fatal shooting to photograph his hands immediately. Additionally, an ambulance was not called to the scene until 2:14 PM and the body was not checked into the Ferguson Morgue until 3:30 PM. During that time, tens of police officers and hundreds of early protesters had been on the scene, reportedly with the body of Michael Brown in plain view.

               Further muddying the waters is that Wilson interacted with Fraternal Order of Police representatives before any investigators, and that Wilson’s first interviews were conducted at the Fraternal Order of Police Hall. Additionally, Wilson himself submitted his gun into evidence and it was held in an unsealed envelope, both additional violations of general protocol on police shootings.

               An early autopsy report conducted by Ferguson forensics reported that Brown had been shot six times: once in the right hand, twice in the torso, once in the right arm, and twice to the head; of the head shots, one of them was directly through the right eye socket and the other was to the top of the head. According to the autopsy report, the injury to the top of the head was consistent with either a man preparing to lunge or a man falling down – it was this shot, the final one, that was ultimately fatal. An examination of the wounds indicated that five entry wounds were to the front of Brown’s body and one was more to the side – five exit wounds were to the back and one exit wound was to the front, though the coroner determined that the entry wound for that particular shot was also to the front and attributed the exit wound to internal ricochet, a common experience in shooting victims. Additionally, the autopsy noted that Brown had no stippling wounds – which would have been consistent with the idea that his hand was shot while reaching for Wilson; however, not all close-range shootings produce stippling.

               Finally, Ferguson Police released approximately thirty photographs of Officer Wilson in the aftermath of the shooting, purporting to show images of injuries Wilson sustained in the altercation.

Speakers, Protestors Seen and Felt in Ferguson

          By and large, protests in Ferguson have been mostly peaceful with flashes of violence and aggression, and the root causes of these moments of violence have been as confounding as some of the material surrounding the death of Michael Brown. Senators Marty Young and Jasper Storm, both Democrats, have appeared in Ferguson and addressed BLM protestors. Young, who represents Maryland, reflected on his childhood in Georgia: “I was born and raised in Georgia. We fled because of my father, a WW2 veteran. Considered to be an ‘uppity negro’ because he demanded his right to vote. Instead, the racists in our town decided to burn a cross on our front lawn. We moved to Maryland, where I continued to grow up in the confines of segregation until that horrid chapter ended. I thought the day where racism and racial bias ran fluid would end in this nation of ours. Instead, it has become worse and much more dangerous. To be a black person in this country is a death sentence!” Jasper Storm continued this contextualizing theme, saying “Two years ago we lost the life of Trayvon Martin to a wannabe cop who had no reason to put his hands on or pursue a child other than the fact, that he was walking around in a hoodie while Black. This time around we lost the life of another child. A recent high school graduate, who was suppose[d] to go on to do great things with his life. My party stood silent during Trayvon Martin, but we can no longer continue to be silent! Because to be silent is to be complicit in the denial that we have a grave problem with race and policing within our nation!”

               While the two Senators spoke on a relatively peaceful day of protests, other days have seen direct clashes between the police and protestors, including one death (Vonderrit Myers who, despite the assertions of his family, was certainly armed at the time of his killing) and the mass use of tear gas and SWAT tactics against protests – including those that appeared to be largely peaceful. In an effort to control the situation, Governor Nixon has reportedly placed the Missouri Highway Patrol in charge of Ferguson, circumventing the local police department.

Nixon is on the line, ready for your questions/input. 

The investigation, at this point, is being conducted primarily by the Missouri Highway Patrol due to the (IRL) order established by Nixon giving control of the town to the Highway Patrol during the unrest. 

Approved, welcome to the game. 

Noted and confirmed.

Alright folks, quick update on the elections, specifically pertaining to defaults. We have three defaults to announce, so the following players in the following states advance to the winner’s podium and will receive an additional IVS vote:
 

John E in Georgia
Sheridan in Iowa
Elliot Davis in New Hampshire

Candidates are reminded that continued campaign can effect the NPC Senate races and House races, so they are certainly encouraged to keep posting rounds or fundraising if they are so inclined but it is no longer required.

Thanks, and congrats to those players.
 

Approved.

Q3 2014 Round Up

National:
- The shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager by a Ferguson, Missouri police officer, has now sparked significant controversy, heated protests throughout the larger St. Louis area, and sympathy protests nation-wide. Black Lives Matter, a unique combination of slogan and loose coordinating structure, has emerged as the primary voice of these protestors.
- From the period of July 3 to July 7, Chicago experiences fourteen fatalities and sixty-eight casualties due to gun violence; this marks the most violent five-day period in the city’s history amid growing concerns about gun violence.
- Former New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin is sentenced to ten years in prison following conviction on corruption and related charges.
- Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Florida see their same-sex marriage bans overturned, but ruling stayed.
- The FTC reports that ‘imposter scams,’ crimes where the scammer pretends to be from the IRS or another government body, have increased by 24 times over their base number in 2013. According to reports, the primary victims of these scams in 2014 were military veterans and the elderly.

International:
- Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan, two of the last living leaders of the Khmer Rouge, are formally sentenced to life imprisonment in Cambodia.
- Occupy Central with Love and Peace, a pro-democracy organization in Hong Kong, announces the start of a general protest and strike.

Business:
- Home Depot announces that fifty-six million customers had their financial data accessed following a security breach; simultaneously, Chase Bank has reported a similar intrusion on their servers has compromised over eighty-three million accounts and led to a massive phishing attack against other banks, though only Fidelity reported a data breach. Per reports, Home Depot’s material was accessed for a little over a week while Chase Bank’s breach started in July and is just now coming under control.
- Amazon purchases Twitch, a streaming service, for $970,000,000.
- Microsoft purchases Mojang, and acquires its Minecraft IP, for $2,000,000,000.
- CVS Pharmacy rebrands as CVS Health and ceases the sell of tobacco products.
- RealCoin, built on the model of BitCoin, launches, claiming that they peg their prices exactly to $1 and that they maintain an exact amount of currency for backing purposes – some experts have questioned if this is reflective of reality or just elaborate marketing.

Science and Technology:
- NASA reports the existence of a body of salt water on Titan; simultaneously, they report the presence of tectonic activity on Europa. Both discoveries mark a first for science.
- Geneticists identify the root genetic cause of autism in homo sapiens.
- A new species of sea mammal, the Australian humpback dolphin, is identified.
- Harvard-based roboticists manage to produce a self-organizing robot swarm consisting of one thousand individual robots.
- A new meta-analysis of climate change data asserts that there is a “99.9% probability that the primary driver of climate change is greenhouse gas emissions.”
- Paleontologists revise the date for the emergence of oxygen-producing lifeforms back an additional sixty million years.

Human Interest:
- Zoe Quinn, an independent game designer, has stoked significant controversy in online circles following accusations that she had slept with a journalist in return for positive reviews of her work. What started as a rather innocuous story has devolved into a conflict seemingly consuming entire sections of the internet, as Quinn, fellow game designer Brianna Wu, and feminist podcaster Anita Sarkeesian have received numerous death threats and threats of other violence.
- Comedian and actor Robin Williams commits suicide in Paradise Cay, California.
- Kira Kazantsev, formerly Miss New York, is selected as the new Miss America. Kazantsev is the third consecutive winner of the Miss America pageant from New York, and the third consecutive former Miss New York City to advance to Miss New York and Miss America.
- James Brady, former Reagan Press Secretary and gun control advocate, dies.
- The HMS Erebus, the flagship of a failed British Arctic expedition in 1848, is finally discovered after nearly one hundred and fifty years of searching. Early exploration of the ship confirms long-standing oral histories from the Inuit population that the crew of the Erebus became trapped in the ice before falling to starvation and cannibalism. Erebus’s sister ship, the HMS Terror, remains missing.

Arts and Entertainment:
- A collection of nearly five hundred private photos of celebrities in compromising situations are released on the internet. The photos were reportedly acquired due to a combination of security failures and data breaches in the iCloud, sparking some debate as to the security of the system. Media dubs the event ‘the Fappening.’
- Reports of comedian and actor Bill Cosby having raped or otherwise assaulted hundreds of women are first circulated publicly. According to reports, knowledge of Cosby’s behavior was an open secret within Hollywood and comedy circles. Cosby has so far denied the allegations.

Sports:

Approved.

Well I hope you don't. Welcome back.

Howdy folks,

First off, I know there are some negative feelings about the Senate race. Obviously, that is fundamentally on me and I will take the responsibility there - I have plenty of real life excuses for that, but there is no point in trotting those out because this is not a defensive post. This is an apology for that and more importantly for this, what I see as the fundamental flaw here: too much stuff was scheduled simultaneously, and I was not available to help people figure out this process and provide the meaningful feedback that makes an election run. I should have extended out the calendar to not have the election overlap with finals and my wedding - that was a gross error, and for that, I apologize. 

I would like to thank Anderson for what he has done so far with the round - I'm not relieving him from duty just yet because I will need the help, but given the growing state of the coronavirus situation in Florida my honeymoon has been cancelled so I will be more present than originally expected. Additionally, I have finally completed my grading for the semester so I am not just wildly oscillating between various real life concerns at the moment. 

So I am coming back a bit early, I'm maintaining Anderson for the week to get things caught up, but I am back and I have some fire back. That said, there are two big issues that need to be discussed.
 

1. The first is that I want to thank Terrus for his energy in running Founding Fathers, even with its closure. I really appreciated what he provided and continues to provide for this community. 

2. The second is that the sun sets on all things, and my tenure as Chief Administrator is no different. It was never meant to be permanent, and to be frank I did not expect to hold the position for so long. So here is the current situation for me: In the presence of continued activity (which I am hopeful for), I will continue to run the game through the 2016 Presidential election (which should conclude, if my count is right, some time in March). Once that race is concluded, I will be passing off the reins as Chief Administrator to someone else, as yet undecided. 

Thank you all, thank you for your continued participation in this community, and I'll get to work throwing some life into the Senate races and the remainder of my tenure.

Welcome to the game! Approved.

Well I am very sorry to hear that. I hope you will come back soon, and given your statement here I would certainly love to have your feedback on the election system.