ENN Election Coverage

[HEM]

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HEM: "Welcome viewers in Europeia and around the world to ENN's Coverage of the December 2014 Presidential Elections! Tonight we are starting with analysis from our recently commissioned poll! We will start with the big question on everyone's mind: where do voters stand in the current Presidential race?"



HEM: "We will now get some feedback from our panel. With us tonight is Associate Justice Hyanygo, Senator Sopo, and Minister Writinglegend!"

Hyanygo: "Mouse has won this. The magic number for most elections is 20, and it's clear that Mouse is ahead and close to that magic number."

Sopo: "It's nice to see the "joke candidacy" receive a little bit less credibility in this poll."

Writinglegend: "I'm surprised even the joke candidates got some votes."

Hyanygo: "The only real choices are between Mouse and Notolecta and Mouse has trounced her only serious rival. The reason, I suspect, that this poll is better is that it isn't public."

Writinglegend: "But yes, they at least received a little less credibility this poll in contrast to earlier ones."

Sopo: "Poor Prometheus had absolutely no idea what he was getting himself into. I wonder if he voted for himself or it was someone else."

Hyanygo: "Shitmeisters and easily-jollied people like the public polls to mess around with."

Writinglegend: "I agree Sopo."

Hyanygo: "No-one would graffitti if only they could see it, and for brief amount of time."

Sopo: "Overall, it's clear Mouse has the lead, as expected."

HEM: "Next, we asked voters how enthusiastic they were about the election. We got some interesting numbers here!"



Sopo: "This is a good sign, really. People are happy to see a contested election, even if numbers show it will ultimately be one-sided. Noto has put his all into his campaign, and its revived the competitive spirit of Presidential elections. Sure, it would be better if the candidates were seen as evenly matched, but it's a large improvement on the last election."

Writinglegend: "Last election saw one ticket stand, and it was widely considered a lack luster election, as noted. This shows it's greatly improved this term, with four tickets going forward, although one is a joke ticket. I'm glad to see results like these, although I wonder what makes five pollers bored or dissatisfied by the candidates."

Hyanygo: "I think we take heart from the positive feelings."

HEM: "ENN was very curious to know what people thought about our political culture. For the last year, many politicians have complained about us being 'too PC' and afraid to hold people accountable. Do Europeians agree? Opinion is mixed, but quite a few seem to."



Hyanygo: "So we're ok, or too cold. This is perhaps better than being too hot."

Writinglegend: "At least we aren't too hot A split between ideal and too soft is better than the aforementioned."

Sopo: "I'm glad I'm not alone in the latter category. People have become thin skinned, and we've resigned ourselves to accepting mediocre performance. It's unsettling that the smallest showing of critcism can set people off. I hope we slowly amp up the politics around here--certainly not to our past highs, but more than now. I wonder if the population of serious players has decreased."

Hyanygo: "There are good and bad ways of treating mediocre performance, being a hard-ass is not, in general, a good way. On the flip side, we have very few people who can implement effective "soft" ways of dealing with bad performance."

HEM: "Hyanygo, I know a long time ago you argued that controversial figures were good for the region because they added spice to the politics? (i.e. you defended Falconias as an asset to the region in the past). Would you say your opinion has changed on hostile politics from then? Not trying to attack you, just curious."

Hyanygo: "I think I've just got older. When you're IRL young, you get your kicks in a heated environment. When you're older, have a job, have responsibilities, I guess you prefer the "let's get stuff done nicely" variety. I don't mean to say -I'm- always nice, but I am more accomodating than in the past and less likely to wade into things."

HEM: "Very interesting! Thanks for explaining that Hyanygo! We are now going to move on a topic that has stirred many passions here in Europeia -- our aiding in the invasion of the region 'Canada'. While the invasion itself took place some time ago, members have proposed the idea of some sort of apology. This proposal was vehemently opposed by others, but let's see what the region as a whole thinks!"



Sopo: "Pretty even split, but the non-apologies seem to have it, definitely. Though perhaps the Navy should consider refraining from raiding embassy regions in the future, in most cases. I'm still of the opinion that embassies are worth something, and I don't think the simple need to raid outweighs that."

Hyanygo: "There should be some consideration given to the embassy status and the fact that valued members of the community were heavily invested in Canada. As with most things, I think the moment you start laying out formulas and rules of thumb, people will love to nitpick at your definitions and rules so I won't bother. I'd just say that I don't think it was right for a range of reasons that in my mind compounded each other."

HEM: "What about the EAAC question? When asked what should be done with the EAAC 11 Europeians thought no changes were needed, 11 thought that some regulatory fixes were needed, 5 thought that the EACC should be abolished or see its role greatly diminished, while 3 didn't know enough to answer."

Sopo: "Another close one. Obviously since I wrote the article, I support some minimal changes which I don't believe are overly restrictive or harmful to the EAAC's overall mission. I think there's a kneejerk reaction against changes to the EAAC on behalf of some people simply because it's been an ongoing debate. I hope the changes I and others have proposed will be considered, it seems like many people hope the same thing."

HEM: "Alrighty folks, we have to scram for a quick commercial break. When we return, we'll run through some hypothetical tickets we posed to the voters. We'll be right back!"

 

[HEM]

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HEM Tiberius: "And we are back! On our next panel we have longtime ENN contributor Paul Krugman, former UK Prime Minister John Major, and a new panelist -- recently hired former United States Congresswoman Michele Bachmann! Also with us still is Senator Sopo! Welcome everyone!

Paul Krugman: "Thanks HEM."

Michele Bachmann: "Great to be here!"

John Major: "Hello everyone."

Sopo: "Hi!"

HEM: "Alrighty, so we posed some scenarios to the voters that we polled. We threw new Presidential candidates into the mix and saw how these potential candidates would shake up the field. We have some interesting results for everyone here! Firstly, with the Notolecta / Coolidge ticket!"



Sopo: "It's hard to say if this is because Europeians really like Calvin, or don't really like Noto. Either way, it looks good for Cal if he decides to run for President in the future."

Paul Krugman: "Noto is an old face in Europeia, and he is an extremely polarizing figure. Calvin is quite a bit fresher, has brought a lot of energy to the region. I just think Calvin is much more of an exciting candidate."

John Major: "I think its hard to read anything into this question. What does 'more likely' mean? And for almost the same percent of the region that would be more likely to vote yes, just as many say it makes no difference. Maybe Calvin at the top would gain a few votes for the ticket, but I have my doubts."

Michele Bachmann: "People might like Calvin 'in theory'. People might like the idea of him running a campaign, but he is still relatively inexperienced compared to the rest of the other candidates. If you force Calvin to defend a platform, and actually campaign as a President, he would be doing much much worse than Notolecta."

HEM: "Alrighty, on to the next scenario!"



John Major: "This is very interesting. OnderKelkia has been widely heralded as a stupendous Chief Justice, but he has done very little outside of the judicial branch."

Sopo: "That's absolutely insane. Not that Onder has not done a lot of good in Europeia, but he generally stays out of electoral politics and prefers to remain in the Courts. I'm really surprised to see so many votes for him in this hypothetical."

Michele Bachmann: "Like with the Calvin question, however, I'm wondering if these numbers are soft. I wonder if Europeians are interested in the idea of an OnderKelkia Presidency, but if they actually sat down and considered what that would mean, they might reconsider."

HEM: "Any ideas on what is driving this?"

Sopo: "A lack of enthusiasm about Notolecta as opposition, perhaps. Onder is also more different from Mouse than Notolecta. He's a foreign policy and military hardliner, and I think Mal and Mouse have taken a softer approach."

Paul Krugman: "I can't help but wonder if voters are actually less enthused about the current slate of candidates than they think..."

HEM: "Fascinating stuff. On to the next match up featuing r3n!"



John Major: "No surprises here. R3naissanc3r is seen as incredibly competent and administratively gifted. There's no doubt he would be a contender, if not the frontrunner, in any race he threw his hat into."

Sopo: "This is less surprising. r3n has done a lot for Europeia as an admin and a Cabinet member, and he's also more visible than Onder. If he truly wanted to be president, he would be difficult to beat. Nonetheless, he is another person who has generally stayed out of electoral politics, and we wouldn't necessarily know what to expect of a -President- r3n."

HEM: "What about former Presidents who have remained active in public life? Starting with former President Sopo!"



Paul Krugman: "What's interesting is the trend that we are seeing here for Mousebumples' voters. She appears to have 12 'relatively strong' voters -- some of whom said they were 'leaning' -- who don't leave her for any candidate other than R3n. Of those 12, 9 appear to be 'very strong' supporters, who stuck with her even when r3n was a candidate. It will be interesting to see if this pattern continues;

John Major: "And those numbers are important, because it tells us who is truly a 'leaning' voter or not. Mousebumples apparently has 12 voters who won't leave her for much. That number actually makes beating her possible, if extremely challenging."

Michele Bachmann: "Focusing on Sopo specifically, it's not too surprising. He has a strong support base that is very deep, even if it isn't very wide. Any race with Sopo in it would be a close one."

Sopo: "I appreciate the sentiment, I do. I'm unsure why I gain so many votes. Honestly, my policy positions would not be much different than Noto's or Mouse's, and I'm not sure that I've been more politically active than Noto, certainly not more than Mouse. I also don't hold the same "outsider" appeal of r3n or Onder. Honestly, I'm puzzled."

HEM: "Interesting stuff. Paul, let's see if those observations with the numbers stay the same. What about former President Anumia? How would the race look with him thrown in the mix?"



Paul Krugman: "Okay, so 12-13 strong Mousebumples supporters."

John Major: "Anumia is certainly a contender, but he seems to be a few votes behind other candidates who either haven't been President, or were President much longer ago. I think many citizens, living six months under Anumia's administration, might not be ready to go back quite yet.

Sopo: "Anumia is neither new nor exciting. Though the trend seems to indicate several responses interested in a "anyone but these guys" candidacy. I'm not sure if he's benefitting from that trend, or picking up votes on his own merit."

HEM: "And finally, what about former President Kraketopia who just finished two terms?"



Sopo: "Anumia Kraketopia is neither new nor exciting. Though the trend seems to indicate several responses interested in a "anyone but these guys" candidacy. I'm not sure if he's benefitting from that trend, or picking up votes on his own merit."

John Major: "Agreed. Kraketopia is well known, and has his supporters, but he isn't really offering anything right now. Which to be fair, might be because he isn't running for President."

HEM: Alrighty, well that concludes our analysis of ENN's most recent opinion poll. Presidential election coverage will continue, right here with us, all the way up until election day!"

 

[Calvin Coolidge]

John Major: "Agreed. Kraketopia is well known, and has his supporters, but he isn't really offering anything right now. Which to be fair, might be because he isn't running for President."

This is my favorite line of the whole thing. :lol: In regards to the Calvin Coolidge for President question, I appreciate all the support, even if it means pretty much nothing in this election.

 

[HEM]

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HEM: "Welcome to our viewers in Europeia and around the world! I am HEM Tiberius, and this is ENN's coverage of the December 2014 Elections! With voting just over halfway, Mousebumples has a significant lead over her two opponents! We are going to dissect ENN's last opinion poll and see what made Europeia tick in this election! Do you have some numbers for us Anderson?"

Anderson Cooper: "I sure do HEM. When asked about their voting preferences roughly 36 hours ago, Europeians said the following:"



Anderson Cooper: "Our poll has the race looking significantly different than the votes at present, which you can compare below:"



Paul Krugman: "Kinda makes me glad that we didn't release our numbers before voting."

[Everyone laughs]

John Major: "Look, I think there are a few things going on here. I think the key demographic of 'people who did not vote in ENN's poll' went strongly for Mousebumples. I think this makes sense. Find me some semi-engaged members who have paid attention to politics the last few months, but may not be engrossed into it, and they are breaking for a popular incumbent Vice President. It makes sense."

Jay Leno: "I agree. I also think that Notolecta struggled to distinguish himself as a contender to Mousebumples, and she was able to run a smart campaign because of that. By and large, Mousebumples avoided doing or saying anything controversial during the campaign. But with that, she left some questions unanswered in both the literal and figurative sense."

Paul Krugman: "Look, Mousebumples is going to win. I don't know if ENN has officially called it or not -- I think we've called the plurality or whatever for her -- but she's going to win one way or another. We knew that from the results of our poll, and we especially know that with the bulk of the returns in. It will be very interesting how she governs, and whether this campaign had any real value at all."

John Major: "What are you going on about Paul?"

Paul Krugman: "I'm serious. This was a softball campaign with a boring debate and slow campaign threads that haven't seen posts in 48 hours. Nobody -- including Notolecta -- had the stones to seriously challenge Mousebumples. Seven Deaths and Rach did a better job challenging her on the issues, which is probably why they've collected so many votes. That's why she wins. That's not how I like to see victors crowned."

Jay Leno: "I'm going to disagree with Paul here. Mousebumples is a tireless public servant, and that's why she started out in front. The fact that nobody surpassed her electorally is just testimony to Europeia's faith in her. I'm not seeing how that is a bad thing. Yeah, some more lively debate would have been nice, but hardworkers are rewarded in Europeia. That's how it works."

HEM: "Anderson, what did Mousebumple supporters look like in the ENN poll?"

Anderson Cooper: "Extremely solid in their support and extremely loyal. Every single supporter started the campaign supporting Mousebumples. She had a very very solid base, and without any missteps she kept them around."

HEM: "Moving on to some of the issue questions, what did we find out about the Great Architecture Project?"

Anderson Cooper: "We found out that the GAP is an issue that deeply divides Europeians. Let's get the numbers on the screen for our viewers:"



Anderson Cooper: "You see here that Europeians have deeply contrasting views on this issue. A slight plurality favor dumping the project completely, but a solid majority of Europeians want to see it stay in some way, shape, or form."

John Major: "I think these numbers suggest that the middle ground is the way to go, and that's more or less what Mousebumples has promised to do."

Jay Leno: "The question to be asked was: 'How much do you care?' If Europeians care quite a bit, this could start quite the uproar. The reaction to HEM's article makes me more inclined to think that people -- for the most part -- aren't too terrible passionate about this issue."

Paul Krugman: "There seems to be extraordinarily little that Europeians are passionate about."

John Major: "Paul, did you just come back from watching a sad movie or something?"

Anderson Cooper: "Well...ermm..anyway, we then asked those polled what they thought about the international paper project:"



Anderson Cooper: "By and large, Europeians support the idea of an international paper. The only question is 'how much?'. 45% of those polled thought it was not a top concern and that no blame should be placed, while 39% thought that it was a top concern and that the Malashaan Administration dropped the ball."

John Major: "I think this question is problematic because it is addressing two separate concerns. First, it asks whether the paper is important. Second, however, it asks whether Malashaan deserves blame for it failing. Some people who vote for the second option may still think the paper is important, but wanted to avoid assigning blame. Its a bit of a conundrum when analyzing this question. It is clear, though, that a large -- but not overwhelming -- segment of the population thinks the paper is important AND thinks Malashaan's administration is responsible for its failing."

HEM: "Alrighty folks, we will have a few more poll questions to go over with more election coverage after this."

 

[Anumia]

Krugman is on fire today. Sad fire, apparently