So Many Candidates, So Many Issues
Senate field hurtles towards the finish
Written by McEntire
On the eve of the Senate election, the EBC is bringing you poll results that show Europeians are largely happy with the current field of candidates, and want to see big changes in the next term. The poll was conducted from January 11 to January 13, and had 26 respondents. Take these results with a grain of salt, since the response rate was relatively low. We chose not to include a direct head-to-head Senate race question to preserve the suspense of the election tomorrow.
The Current Senate
Since the EBC's midterm polling, each individual Senator, and the Senate overall, has seen a decline in job satisfaction numbers. Some of those changes are negligible -- for instance, Speaker Lime saw a decline from 56 percent to 54 percent -- and the erosion of approval ratings does not seem to have hampered the re-election chances of those Senators who are running again. We will dig into those results below.
Overall Senate
Not very active, slow to discuss, slow to resolve issues, had a mess with the monkey/jaydee senate sub issue. JayDee was inactive, went on LOA without planning a sub, picked the first person in his LOA thread who asked to sub, then proceeded to bungle his own declared absence...
Should be a max number in the Senate.
One of the most inactive Senates we’ve ever had
The last senate has been on the slower end of things, but I'm not sure if that's necessarily their fault. The new senate looks like it has a lot of ideas, which is promising.
Should be a max number in the Senate.
One of the most inactive Senates we’ve ever had
The last senate has been on the slower end of things, but I'm not sure if that's necessarily their fault. The new senate looks like it has a lot of ideas, which is promising.
Speaker Lime
JayDee's LOA was poorly handled. The substitute issue should have been handled quickly by the Speaker, but instead it went to the court and ended up with the same resolution as the Speaker should have done. A senate sub and the senator themselves can't both hold the same seat and its privileges at the same time, shut that down quickly.
I think Lime was probably too busy IRL to handle both MinCult and Speaker, and it showed in the senate. It took a quite a bit (2-3 days), to move some things to vote, even when the debate had already died. I'm glad he recognized that and isn't taking a second term.
I am still not happy that the speaker took a ministerial job but am content with the job they've done
I think Lime was probably too busy IRL to handle both MinCult and Speaker, and it showed in the senate. It took a quite a bit (2-3 days), to move some things to vote, even when the debate had already died. I'm glad he recognized that and isn't taking a second term.
I am still not happy that the speaker took a ministerial job but am content with the job they've done
Senator JayDee
JayDee always seems to create controversy no matter what he does.
LoA fiasco may have impacted this, but overall his entire term was just weird.
He seemed like a good candidate in the beginning, but seemed to fizzle out.
Incredibly disappointed, I feel as if JayDee has run his course with the Senate as every term seems to turn into a circus of bad decisions.
He vanished? He's not as active after his loa.
LoA fiasco may have impacted this, but overall his entire term was just weird.
He seemed like a good candidate in the beginning, but seemed to fizzle out.
Incredibly disappointed, I feel as if JayDee has run his course with the Senate as every term seems to turn into a circus of bad decisions.
He vanished? He's not as active after his loa.
Senator Lloenflys
probably one of the better Senators this term
Lloenflys was an active and experienced legislator.
Lloenflys was an active and experienced legislator.
Senator SkyGreen24
He had a good first term in the Senate.
SkyGreen has been a very good Senator, in my opinion. He's the reason I have faith that Cabinet members can hold Executive Office and a Senate seat going forward.
SkyGreen has been a very good Senator, in my opinion. He's the reason I have faith that Cabinet members can hold Executive Office and a Senate seat going forward.
Senator Xecrio
Not very active, spent all their time on the portfolio declaration
He had a fine first term, I felt like he was still learning the ropes near the end of the term. Glad to see him run again.
He had a fine first term, I felt like he was still learning the ropes near the end of the term. Glad to see him run again.
Senate Election
The Senate does have a higher approval than disapproval, though, and that's reflected in the strong numbers of individuals and re-elect numbers of the current Senators. 100 percent of respondents would vote to re-elect Senator Lloenflys. Nearly two-thirds would vote to re-elect Senators SkyGreen24 and Xecrio. One-third would re-elect Speaker Lime, and one respondent (representing 4 percent of our sample) would vote to re-elect JayDee. The Senators who are seeking re-election are in a strong position to be re-elected.
Overall, voters are satisfied with the current field of candidates, with a majority describing themselves as "very satisfied." This is a strong Senate field, if this poll is any indication. It's a little late for a last-minute Senate bid, the following candidates were mentioned as missing from the current field:
-Darkslayer (3)
-Josi (2)
-Lime
-Malashaan
-Vor
-GC
-Drecq
-Maowi
-No one, there's already too many
-People with sane ideas who understand Europeia (writer's note - good luck with that)
The Race for Speaker
The Speakership is not a popularly elected position, but the EBC wanted to know who the people favor for the position. There is a clear frontrunner, with half of respondents saying that they want Lloenflys to return to the Speakership. 6 respondents said that they want Calvin to be Speaker, and he has expressed interest in the position. 2 respondents want to see GraVandius elected to the top spot in the Senate. No other candidate got more than one vote.
Next Senate - Issues
Respondents were asked to choose the top three issues they wanted to see the next Senate consider. The only issue that was agreed to by a majority of respondents was Senate oversight of the Executive, with 58 percent citing it as a top issue. A near-majority want to see the Senate tackle advisory opinions and overlap between positions.
This Senate election, more than most in recent memory, has been focused on a wide set of issues. The Senate can only take up so much in a term, but the voters want to see major change. 46 percent say that the Senate should focus on large reforms, 23 percent said smaller changes, and 31 percent were unsure. That is a decent mandate for change, and the next Senate will have to choose its battles among the above issues in order to get a substantial number of things done. The choice of Speaker, and the Speaker's ability to keep things on track, will be crucial in what the Senate accomplishes.
Voters want to see bigger changes and a bigger Senate. 77 percent say that they want the Senate to be larger, versus 19 percent that want it to stay the same size. One respondent said that they wanted a smaller Senate, which is not legally possible. Finally, voters have no patience for jokes, with approximately two-thirds saying they would not consider voting for a "joke" platform.
The next Senate has a lot to live up to, and a large selection of issues to choose from. Only time will tell if it lives up to the hype.
There are so many ideas being thrown out there. I hope this next senate doesn't feel like they need to do things just to do things. Some of these ideas are clearly bad, some are pointless. Don't waste time trying to discuss every single idea, prioritize.
TENATE! TENATE! TENATE!
I was hoping this would be a good race for newcomers, but it doesn't seem to be shaping up that way.
It's exciting seeing so many people run - this is what Europeia is all about.
Lots of less than stellar platforms, unfortunately. I was excited for the large field but ultimately disappointed that the newer candidates don't have more to say.
TENATE! TENATE! TENATE!
I was hoping this would be a good race for newcomers, but it doesn't seem to be shaping up that way.
It's exciting seeing so many people run - this is what Europeia is all about.
Lots of less than stellar platforms, unfortunately. I was excited for the large field but ultimately disappointed that the newer candidates don't have more to say.
