EUROPOLL - Senate Election

It's that time again Europeia - the chance to either throw the bums out or vote the bums in.

With the Senate election campaign kicking off, the current field of six* has an interesting mix of candidates, with many "big name" Europeians running (though, as of this posting, the current Senate Speaker and Grand Admiral, Common-Sense Politics, has not thrown his hat into the ring).


When it comes to the poll:

-The first four choices correspond to the first question (How do you feel about the current Senate?)
-The last four choices correspond to the second question (How do you feel about the candidates?)
-Please only choose one selection for each question

What issues or areas of focus will you be looking for during this campaign?

 

[Swakistek]

I would challenge your dominance of the election polling industry with another of my legendary Inquirer polls, which would incidentally be superior to yours, but it so happens that I'm preoccupied with other duties, so our duel-by-polls will have to wait.

Be warned. As soon as this term ends, I'm coming for you, EBC. COMING FOR YOU.

Lock your doors. LOCK YOUR DOORS.

Oh wait. Actually, they tell me that I'm indirectly responsible for the EBC right now, so, uh...good job.

 

[Skizzy Grey]

The quality of the candidates is self-evident. It's going to be a tough slog for a newcomer like Matthew Vinage -- who deserves a shot to hold his newly won Senate seat but won't (and shouldn't) finish ahead of the likes of McEntire and PASD.

I think the current Senate is getting undeservedly poor marks. There's more to good legislating than passing a stack of bills. The Senate has acted quickly on the Executive's requests for advice and consent on nominees, and it has killed a few bad ideas that were pushed rather forcefully at various points during the term.

 

[Notolecta]

The quality of the candidates is self-evident. It's going to be a tough slog for a newcomer like Matthew Vinage -- who deserves a shot to hold his newly won Senate seat but won't (and shouldn't) finish ahead of the likes of McEntire and PASD.

I think the current Senate is getting undeservedly poor marks. There's more to good legislating than passing a stack of bills. The Senate has acted quickly on the Executive's requests for advice and consent on nominees, and it has killed a few bad ideas that were pushed rather forcefully at various points during the term.

I think you're drastically overestimating the quality of the field. We currently only have seven people running likely for 6 seats. McEntire has a history of bad activity especially when in positions. Malashaan hasn't been around in several months and literally just got back; he even displayed that he has not yet caught up on the things that have changed. PASD has been active, but not insanely so, and it's been a good while since I've seen him stably in a position here. Matthew Vinage never really got a chance to prove himself this Senate term, but definitely has been active on a whole. Dreq has been struggling in interior, which makes it questionable whether giving him back the extra workload of being a senator is wise. Remsol has been semi impressive, but his track record in the senate stands, and I don't think anyone has decided whether he is capable of handling both a senatorial and executive role. Then you have NES, who people claim is active, but only behind the scenes. Not to mention he is more an executive guy than a legislative one.

 

[McEntire]

Noto, do you have any mode that isn't to tear others down?

McEntire has a history of bad activity especially when in positions

Did you miss the three consecutive Senate terms I served not two months ago, two of which as Speaker? Or my time as Minister of the Interior? I know I have a history, but I tried pretty hard to redeem myself.

Malashaan hasn't been around in several months and literally just got back; he even displayed that he has not yet caught up on the things that have changed

Malashaan's a whiz, and one of the best Speakers we've had, serving something like four consecutive terms as Speaker? If you don't think he's a quality candidate for office, you're insane.

PASD has been active, but not insanely so, and it's been a good while since I've seen him stably in a position here

PASD is a smart guy who's been around for a long time, understands this stuff, and has really intelligent input.

Matthew Vinage never really got a chance to prove himself this Senate term, but definitely has been active on a whole

I think Matthew is a great candidate, and I do think we need some new blood in the Senate this cycle, which seems already to be dominated by golden oldies.

Dreq has been struggling in interior, which makes it questionable whether giving him back the extra workload of being a senator is wise

Personally, I think Drecq is a fantastic Senator. When I was Speaker, he was one of the few that would voice his opinion in a really clear way, and he was willing and able to work with legislative language.

Remsol has been semi impressive, but his track record in the senate stands, and I don't think anyone has decided whether he is capable of handling both a senatorial and executive role.

Remsol's trying for redemption, and should be applauded for it, not criticized in this oddly frank way you have.

Then you have NES, who people claim is active, but only behind the scenes. Not to mention he is more an executive guy than a legislative one.

I would want NES in any Senate. When the guy gets passionate about something he writes a damn 500 word essay, and that's a very attractive quality for a Senator. "Executive guy", "legislative guy", these terms don't mean anything. If you understand policy, you understand policy, and I believe that NES does.

Sorry, I just had to stick up for my fellow candidates. There's no need to tear people down, and comments like yours above do nothing but that. There's no productive good that could possibly come out of listing every candidate and saying why the field is lackluster, and there's no reason to do it besides you see yourself as the great Europeian truth teller. Well, you're not, and if we had less people who felt it was their responsibility to be brutally honest regardless of circumstances, we'd probably have a less tense community.

 

[Skizzy Grey]

I think you're drastically overestimating the quality of the field. We currently only have seven people running likely for 6 seats.

With several days left before voting begins, history suggests we'll add at least one or two more candidates to the mix. Therefore, I assume we'll have something like 8-9 people vying for 6 spots.

Normally, in a field like that, you'd have two total duds, which would make pretty much everyone else a shoo-in, save for perhaps a mini-race for the last spot. Not this time -- the public may not be ready for Remsol to take his second act to the Senate, but otherwise, every candidate on the list looks like someone who could easily make it to the next Senate. And as a consequence, there won't be any shoo-ins if (as I expect) the final field expands to 8 or 9 candidates.

 

[Common-Sense Politics]

I think the field is maybe the best we could realistically hope for. You have two extremely capable former speakers returning in McEntire and Malashaan. That's big. NES is a strong former senator who has an ability to analyse and articulate a viewpoint like few others, neverminf his tremendous experience in the game. Drecq has been one of the only people I could really rely on for activity this term. PASD's a quality candidate if he can back his bidup with activity. I want to see Matthew retain his seat as well. What more could you want?

 

[Notolecta]

Noto, do you have any mode that isn't to tear others down?

McEntire has a history of bad activity especially when in positions

Did you miss the three consecutive Senate terms I served not two months ago, two of which as Speaker? Or my time as Minister of the Interior? I know I have a history, but I tried pretty hard to redeem myself.

Malashaan hasn't been around in several months and literally just got back; he even displayed that he has not yet caught up on the things that have changed

Malashaan's a whiz, and one of the best Speakers we've had, serving something like four consecutive terms as Speaker? If you don't think he's a quality candidate for office, you're insane.

Recent activity means more than anything. I never said Malashaan isn't competent, but he's been gone for a while, and hasn't been back for long enough to put him back into the swing of things. I'm just being honest here. A majority of the candidates are either questionable on activity or just not fully proven. I think you are completely misreading my comments on several of those people. I never said Remsol hasn't been redeeming himself; in fact, I said he has, but I don't think it's wise to throw him into a senate seat without first seeing how he finishes off his term as MoCI. I also want to see Mathew vinage back in and never said he doesn't deserve the chance, I just said he didn't really get a chance this term to prove himself.

I don't see why the hell I should go around saying that this is the best field of candidates ever when I just plain don't agree with that. I don't give two shits if you have problems with me speaking my mind because I'm going to do it anyway. That is just who I am; I don't sugarcoat things and I don't hold back my opinions just because someone might not like them or they might make someone look bad. You can misconstrue my opinions into me tearing people down all you want, but in reality I didn't actually tear half of those people down. How is saying Mathew Vinage hasn't yet gotten his chance to prove himself cutting him down? Or saying that Remsol is showing a lot of progress, but needs more time to show his change before putting him into dual positions? And all I was saying about PASD and Malashaan is that neither have been particularly active, which isn't really cutting them down just stating some facts. I never said either was incapable of being a senator(in fact I never said that about any one of the candidates), but it certainly is a concern when most of your experienced hands have been less active in recent times(including you). The only experienced hand that could be considered active is NES, and the common Europeian can't even see his activity, so a lot of people don't really see him as being active.

 

[Apollo]

Then you have NES, who people claim is active, but only behind the scenes. Not to mention he is more an executive guy than a legislative one.

:blink:

Ever heard of GB&I?

 

[HEM]

Then you have NES, who people claim is active, but only behind the scenes. Not to mention he is more an executive guy than a legislative one.

:blink:

Ever heard of GB&I?

Where NES was king for a period? :creepy:

 

[Malashaan]

I understand Noto's concern about McEntire and me. In my previous terms as a Senator I witnessed quite a few instances of people coming back from periods of low activity, getting elected to the senate on the back of prior achievements, and then resigning or disappearing almost immediately. I know I'm not going to do that, and I don't believe Mac will, but it's a valid concern based on the Senate's history.