A Taste of Skizz #11

I'm not sure whether making an endorsement in the current presidential election qualifies as one of my last official acts, or one of my first acts as a member of the peanut gallery. I arbitrarily chose the latter -- partly as an excuse to revive my old EBC feature.

My heart wants to stay out of this election. On one side, you have a person who has been tremendously loyal to me (Rachel), whose loyalty I wish to repay. On the other, you have perhaps my best friend in Europeia (Aurora). Staying neutral is an appealing option. Unfortunately, it would also be cowardly -- one of the presidential tickets is clearly superior to the others, and as someone with a unique perspective on current affairs, I think it's important for me to say so.

I endorse Rachel and Asperta.

Quite simply, Rachel has chosen as her running mate the only person in Europeia who has worked as hard as she has in recent months for the benefit of Europeia. They are the people we need in Goldenblock to stave off a "summer lull." Both have recent records of achievement and the demonstrated ability to inspire others to take part in projects they lead.

More broadly, I think the time has come for Europeia to elect a president who came to prominence here during the rapid growth of the past year. I respect Lex's experience, but I don't think his relationships with the people who make Euro go today are as strong as Rachel's. I think someone who has only dabbled in regional affairs recently will struggle to motivate others to bust their ass for the region -- which is perhaps the most important thing a President must do.

Allow me to waffle for just a moment -- Aurora is a phenomenally effective person. She counts the cost before she commits to anything, so if she's standing for VP, she's ready to go all-in for Euro these next sixty days. Regardless of the outcome of this week's election, that's great news for us!

Please vote on Tuesday. And if you disagree with the opinions expressed here, keep in mind they represent one man's perspective from the peanut gallery.
 
Click to expand...
As a fellow member of the peanut gallery, rather than start up my own thread, I'll throw it in here. My apologies Skizzy, but I'm sure what I am about to say will not upstage your opinion, but complement it.

I'll start with my main disagreement with Skizzy - that one ticket is clearly superior to the others. I know one is clearly inferior to the others. But the top two are really very close, and depending on ones perspective, either can be seen as better.

I am not for a second going to deny that the Lexus/Asianatic ticket military and foreign platforms are the strongest I have ever seen in a Europeian Presidential election, and it is indisputable that Asianatic is a highly effective operator more than capable of addressing the challenges we will face on other fronts. So on the one hand you'd expect me to back them.

But there are other aspects to selecting the best President for Europeia than purely policies. And thats coming from me. I'm not a man of personalities and that's not what persuades me. But, one has to understand that Rachel is the right person for the moment, it just makes sense, it is her turn. But there is no such thing as turns in politics, and the democratic will of the people trumps any kind of "right".

It's a cliche, but yes, it is to an extent about looking forwards rather than backwards. Rachel has built up a rapport with the region, and presumably this is reflected by her level of support holding strong against incredibly strong opponents. It just makes sense to elect her ticket right now. And what makes sense for Europeia, is often whats best of it. But I'm very glad that Lexus and Asianatic have run, because they have undoubtedly raised the game.

The way I've just looked at it, Rachel can be better for Europeia if she can combine the experience and quality of people like Lexus and Asiantic, with her enthusiasm and drive, and Asperta's work ethic. And I hope she will.

(I've spoken privately with both candidates and I have no personal interests in backing one above the other, they have both shown me exactly the same intentions. So this isn't part of a business deal, nor am I repaying loyalty, etc.)
 
Like NES, I do not see Rachel's candidacy to be clearly or even noticeably superior to that of Lex's. Henry's, well, another story at this point in time.
 
I agree. Leaving aside Henry who has adopted a tactic that doesn't so much rely on a strong platform, I don't think that either Lex or Rachel really has a platform that is clearly superior to the other; they're both excellent candidates, and each of their platforms have good points, and bad points, while being pretty good overall.
 

Oh, I agree that neither platform is superior to the other. I think Rachel and Asperta are the better choice (not a close call) because of how the two of them have busted their ass for this region these past several months.

Being President is a hard job. We've only had one two-term President in the past year, and in retrospect, she was burned out and shouldn't have run for re-election. Like Edison's memorable quote about genius, being a good President is 99% perspiration.
 
What you say is true Skizzy. Being President is a mentally tiring job. Obviously I don't have first hand experience in Europeia, but having held similar positions elsewhere I can understand. I would have never run two terms in a row in GB&I, one was plenty. One has to question whether the motivation of someone who has served the position already is going to be as strong as someone like Rachel, who has everything to prove, etc.

I would say Lexus' platform was possibly marginally superior. And his ticket has the victory on experience and quality. But Rachel and Asperta have the drive, enthusiasm, work ethic and rapport with newer members. They can learn or borrow experience and quality from their advisors, but Lexus can't borrow those other assets. Rachel/Asperta therefore offers a superior candidacy, just about.
 
I can't say either candidate is superior at this point - I think we have the potential to do well in each Administration. I am however more aware of Aurora's role in the VP role (as I understand it a less conventional role than most previous VP's) than of Asperta's. A strong talent in the Interior, I'm afraid he's sort of wasting his talent in the GA position and hopefully he will be used more effectively next term no matter who ends up winning.
 

Asperta has done a good job as Grand Admiral.

When he took the GA job, I asked Asperta to make recruiting more sailors his highest priority, because that's far more important to the Navy's long-term vitality than going on a few "sport f--king"* raids now. Asperta has executed well on these orders, adding a few newbies in his few short weeks at the helm.

So, if you measure Asperta by how well he has performed the job he was asked to do, he has done an excellent job. If you disagree with the focus, then that's a criticism that ought to be directed toward me, not Asperta.


*-Those who watch Entourage will get the reference. :)
 
Skizzy Grey said:
Asperta has done a good job as Grand Admiral.
Click to expand...
I understand your need / desire to defend your Grand Admiral, but there's no doubt Asperta is a better Interior Minister than a Grand Admiral. Anyways, my point regarding not having a clear idea of how Asperta will be utilized in a Rachel Administration stands (possibly my own fault, the answer might be lurking somewhere), and I'm also sort of ... missing Aspeta possibly? He just doesn't seem as active as either of his VP candidates (McEntire and Aurora) - he hasn't posted in your campaign thread, etc. I know he's bright and active, but he hasn't been too much of that during the election season so far.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top