[Arnhelm Alt] Opinion/Flash Poll: Boring Pres Election is Boring

[McEntire]

BEFORE YOU READ THIS OPINION: take our presidential flash poll (<---click there)!
It'll only be up for 24 hours (because the election is in 72 hours).

Opinion: Boring Presidential Election is Boring
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The place: Europeia. The year: 2023. This time 70 days ago, we were in a knock-down drag-out fight between myself, Kazaman, and JayDee to see who would take the top spot in the region. After a major defender-sphere realignment and ditching our regional founder, we're now at the center of a world war, with Raider Unity terrorists knocking on the door and an unpredictable global dynamic.

Surely, this absolute tornado of fuck is a recipe for another Thunderdome election, with the titans of Europeia presenting big visions of the future! Surely, the political animals of the premiere region in the game would smell blood in the water and would be lured in by the siren song of Executive power. Surely, this election would meet the moment!

*checks the Oval Room*

Ah, mhm. We have one candidate - the incumbent - and one platform with a number of comments you could count on one hand.

Was JayDee just so powerful as a President that he's scared off all competition? No tea no shade no pink lemonade, but I don't think any of us would claim that this term was invincible.

So what's the deal? In a conversation with another Europeian Old, we speculated that our aging player base may have replaced the traditional "summer slump" with a fall slump, where people are busy with the holiday season and a slammed time at our boring desk jobs. Maybe that's why no one is running.

And I can already hear the chattering class saying, McEntire you brassy old broad, put your money where your pretty little mouth is and run yourself. Well guess what! I have already run in three different elections this year so that they wouldn't be uncontested. It's someone else's turn.

I believe there's an opening in this race! Take the flash poll above to see if there is actually an opening. And you, YES YOU, reading this, start writing your platform. Successful campaigns can be launched with a short time before the election. And even if you don't win, let's get a few candidates in this race and force a runoff period! It's what we deserve.

Results to come soon.

 

[JayDee]

Thanks for writing this up Mc, I’m not sure whether I’m eager to see the results or not

There’s no small part of me that’s somewhat relieved to have an uncompetitive election. I hate campaigning cause it just saps so much energy out of me.

But.

I know that not only the region but I would be better for having a competitive election. Competitive elections force us to think hard about our ideas, we are more likely to be challenged for our policies and be able to make adjustments that still fit the overall theme.

We saw this with my platform with Pichtonia which received rather unfavorable reviews at first but we took feedback, adjusted course in some places, and managed to increase regional favor. It also helped that the debate showed we had depth to our ideas as well which many said was lacking in the platform.

If we’re being frank, I don’t think I’ve done well enough to merit an “uncompetitive election.” There’s a lot of places where I feel like we dropped the ball for one reason or another, most of it was beyond our control but there was still some of it I just feel like I should’ve done better. A good President/leader should be one who encourages the spirit and hunger for competition, not stifles it. I hope we’re able to cultivate that desire to seek leadership opportunities this term (if elected) and see a more exciting term.

What I will say to Europeia is that, if you’re not running cause you’re afraid of failure, then run! Even if you do lose, you’ll gain a lot of experience getting to talk to some super smart people who will give you advice and feedback on your platform. You’ll also show yourself to be an eager and motivated person and someone might look to take you under their wing to mentor and guide. Get your name out there, get to know people, learn things, maybe fail, maybe succeed.