President Writinglegend Isn't Good Enough To Run Unopposed

HEM

HEM

former
Jorts Connoisseur
Honoured Citizen
Citizen
Pronouns
he / him / his
President Writinglegend Isn't Good Enough To Run Unopposed
HEM Tiberius

Europeia was rounding off her most successful three months ever as the upcoming Presidential contest heated up. Activity had surged, making the summer of 2009 a whirlwind of growth and excitement for the region. The new Civil Service and City Council had given new members ways to immediately get involved, and the newcomer dominated Federalist Party sparked new life in the region's political system.

Presiding over this remarkable growth was President Pope Lexus X, who was asking the region for a fourth term in the Goldenblock.

Pope Lexus X said:
Ladies and gentlemen, I stand before you once again to ask for your blessing to lead you. We have been on quite a journey together, even though some of you only joined mid-way through! [...]

I have served you to the best of my abilities, and the results are clear. We stand now as the envy of Nationstates. Nations have joined us simply because of our prestige and population! Our activity has never been as high, and for this to occur during the summer months, it really is a remarkable achievement for the region. Europeia's Golden Age has lasted longer than any other region I can remember, and I intend to see to it that it continues to last through the next term and after I have stepped down.
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The "envy of Nationstates" in an enduring "Golden Age!" Bold statements indeed. Was Lexus merely using hyperbole to boost his own campaign??

As it turns out, empirically, not so much. Europeia had recently become the largest game created region, a title we held throughout 2009 and early 2010. Having spent most of 2007 and 2008 hovering between 150 and 200 nations, we now precariously approached the coveted 1,000 nation mark. Our forum activity had tripled from only a few months prior, as did our total number of citizens.

President Lexus, and his predecessor, President Asianatic (who somehow never gets enough credit..) created the greatest expansion of activity that Europeia has ever seen in our history.

But re-election prospects weren't looking good for Lexus.

Despite extensive popularity, early polls showed now infamous Senator Cordova I ten points ahead of Lexus. Cordova bumbled through the first few weeks of the campaign, bringing his numbers back down to earth, but polls still showed a race that was way too close too call. At the 11th hour, Cordova dropped out of the race, and most political commentators expected Lexus to finally coast to re-election. But there was such a demand for a contest, newcomer and City Council Mayor Klatonia was thrust into the race.

Klatonia had "wowed" many Europeians with his quick knowledge of the region, and deep ability to think critically. Despite this, he had only been a citizen for three months before being dragooned into running for President. Are you expecting a Lexus blowout? Not quite.

Polls had Lexus leading Klatonia by a single vote, and as it turns out, that's precisely what his final margin of victory was.

Pope Lexus X was re-elected by one vote. A even crazier twist still? That single vote was mine. Even though I was running on the Klatonia / HEM ticket, my personal friendship with Lexus tugged at my heartstrings. Twenty minutes before polls closed, I finally cast my vote: against myself.

As of today, President Writinglegend is running unopposed. He has received universal acclaim, strong approval ratings, and virtually no real questions in his campaign thread.

Writinglegend is a good President. He has made me extremely proud, and I am always eager to greet him as "Mr. President" when he queries a Skype convo with me.

But President Writinglegend is not good enough to run unopposed.

President Pope Lexus built the modern incarnation of Europeia with his hands. He combatted espionage from foreign infiltrators, he worked with the new City Council, he single handily sent over 10,000 recruitment telegrams and founded the very idea of a cultural "festival".

And Pope Lexus X still faced an opponent.

Because back in 2009, we dared to dream bigger. We dared to think about how to be better. We dared to challenge the status quo with the idea that it wasn't quite good enough. Lexus was revered as a giant, even then, but people still smiled and said "I can beat that..."

We have become complacent. We have somehow institutionalized political laziness and apathy. We settle for "good" because "great" requires risk-taking and effort. We are afraid to hurt anyone's feelings, because somehow EuroChat has become more important than EuroPeia.

Even as we have a historic Constitutional Convention going on, we keep searching lustfully for excuses to keep everything the exact same. We have no desire for adventure. We want to believe that in a game that only functions by keeping members interested, "change for the sake of change" is always a bad thing. After all, we've lasted eight years on this, right?

We're lasting, yes. But are we prospering?

Writinglegend is a good friend of mine. He works hard for us, and he doesn't have to earn my respect -- he has it. But he should have to earn my vote.

Because after all, if President Pope fucking Lexus X did, why doesn't he??
 
That title made me think this was going to be much harsher than it was. :p A well-written historical read, HEM.
 
Hell, I'll throw in my hat on the condition that WL/CC be forbidden to pull out of the race afterwards :p

MS/HEM 2015!
 
I arrived here in 2010. Since then, we have come of age as a region. We have figured out our regional identity. We have taken our rightful place on the broader NS stage, building influence and prestige commensurate with our numbers. Most importantly, we have built a community where people, by and large, treat one another with respect -- which was certainly not the case when I arrived here five years ago.

Not coincidentally, the median age of Europeians has risen during that time, as a more mature region has attracted a more mature citizenry. Most of the people who do the bulk of the work that sustains this region wouldn't abide the drama we had five years ago. Most of the old guard, including HEM himself, were driven at one point into retirement or near-retirement at some point by that drama. The old days weren't without their charms, but let's not look back through rose-colored glasses.

One tradition we seem to have lost is the relative newcomer or outsider using an unsuccessful presidential campaign as a springboard to a greater role in the region's affairs, and often a successful run for Goldenblock in the not-too-distant future. My loss to Oliver in 2010 was an example of such a campaign; Rachel's loss to Earth in 2011 is another.

Realistically, no one is going to beat WL this election, and it doesn't speak well for the region's judgment back in 2009 that it nearly elected a smooth-talking newcomer (even one who went on to have a fine career here, as Klat did) over an incumbent with a demonstrated record of achievement. That said, I agree with HEM that a well-run campaign is good for the region. I do hope someone takes up HEM's challenge -- and if that challenger runs a thoughtful, spirited campaign, I hope he/she is rewarded with an enlarged role in our regional life and a path that, with sustained effort, can lead him/her to Goldenblock down the road.
 
The real question is who will run against him? There are only so many people currently active enough and likely enough to get any votes. A short list would have to include WL and Calvin, both of whom are already running on the same ticket. Kraketopia who is GA and an AJ and a close friend of both the President and the VP, not to mention that his multi-term Presidency hasnt been that long ago. Anumia who has slowly been withdrawing from political life to the point where he doesnt hold any office and doesnt seem to want to and who also has a multi term Presidency in the not too distant past. And last but hopefully not least is me. And unfortunately I also will have to cut back (my studies have reached the point where I almost have more to do in the upcoming break than during the semester which already was more busy than most of the recent ones have been) which means I likely wont even be able to keep up my current involvement. I certainly wont be able to do the Presidency justice.

Therefore any run would likely not be able to include any of those tapped as favorites by the recent EBC presidential election poll (except of course WL and CC). And a pointless run by someone who knows he is going to loose, while possibly looking like political activity, isnt really.
 
I'd love to see Brunhilde run. She wouldn't win, but I'd like to get a taste of what she could do if Europeia was her top NS priority.

Rylian isn't ready, but I'd like to see him pull his ideas into a platform and answer some tough questions -- if he handled it well, his stock would skyrocket.
 
I'm with Skizzy that I'd like to see someone else run. I don't want it enough to be the one to run myself, in large part because I know I don't have the free time to dedicate to being serious about a run enough to put together a platform, etc.

However, even if no one else runs, I'd suggest all politically active citizens take a hard look at their platform and ask questions accordingly. There's been a lot of "great term, keep it going!" comments in the platform thread, which - while great for their egos, I'm sure, doesn't help to elevate the political discourse in the region.
 
I'm not sure "complacent" is the right word for where we are right now. While I agree with this article's sentiment and the sentiment of Skizzy Grey upthread, I don't believe that most Europeians are complacent now. We have a new generation of energetic newcomers making their mark (Rylian, zapper, etc). Things are steadily improving. The Presidency is a massive job that Wriitnglegend has performed to a great degree of success. We're not demanding better because right now we've found better, and a promise for that to continue.

I do hope someone challenges WL as Skizzy has said. I hope we get a real campaign. But I also hope that WL is re-elected in a landslide, because that's what he deserves, and that's what Europeia needs.
 
I would love to see someone like Brunhilde or another rapidly-rising Europeian run for the Presidency just to see how they act when challenged, what ideas they put on paper, etc.
 
I appreciate the wishes from some of you here.

However, I won't be running for President this term.

I've flirted with the idea every time an election has came up since I joined the region. First, I discussed the idea with Sopo in the election he later won with WL at this side. I came out of that feeling a bit angry and more than a bit put off from the entire experience. I won't get into why but I will say that ending the ticket with Sopo saw me get truly upset for the first time since starting to play NS. By the time we decided not to continue the ticket, we had already pretty much completed our campaign, set out a plan for what we wanted to accomplish, and we had interviewed everyone we wanted in our cabinet. We had even gotten most of them to agree to join us. It just wasn't to be.

The second time, it was a different beast. McEntire told me upfront that he considered himself weak with FA matters before we even talked about a ticket. Out of touch, even. I gave him a pitch, showing what I could see happening in NationStates. I ended up being allowed to manage our FA approach. I was rather happy about that. It's undoubtedly one of my favorite areas of the game. Seeing the interactions between the CoS members, working out the SOFA, and trying to dig TCB out of the hole supporting the NLO has put it in have been some of my most enjoyable moments in the game. It started off wonderfully. Writing up the campaign was fun. Things didn't start getting draining until people started demanding statements to be released about people seeing us as elitist. I knew it was happening, I just couldn't prove it. I couldn't betray the people that had trusted me. McEntire, who had already been freaking out about the entire thing, told me to drop it. He didn't believe me either. At one point, I had been working for 12 hours on computers that I had to send out the next day. My hands were red and bruised because I had a backlog of PCs to finish. We got into a rather heated argument when I told him I couldn't type out a response in rebuttal to something someone had said. My hands hurt too much. From there, it only got worse. People were telling me that they would not support the ticket, that if it were reversed they would have but that since McEntire was at the top they wouldn't. McEntire was rather on edge with the entire thing. Always refreshing the polls, worrying, and just generally making it worse for himself. After a bit, I knew we were going to lose. I hadn't been around during the last term and that hurt our chances. McEntire wasn't well liked by a surprising amount of people while WL and Calvin were riding pretty high because of their recent work in previous terms. By the end of it, I was just ready to be done with the process. I didn't enjoy losing.

Now, coupled with the fact that most people with a shot aren't interested in running or running with me, I just don't feel up to it. Putting together a campaign, talking to people about support, and building a cabinet for a push that won't lead to anything just doesn't seem like fun. Maybe later on in the year, when my batteries have recharged and I have someone to run beside me. For now, I am enjoying being a Foreign Minister in TCB and building things there. I'm enjoying being a Senator and working on bills here in Europeia. I'm enjoying working with the Congress of Sovereigns. I am really enjoying not losing another election to Calvin( :p ). As much as I appreciate all of your support, it isn't quite enough to get me to go for it quite yet.

Thanks, though.


Great article, HEM. You can be a damn good writer when you're not focused on bleaching your jean shorts.
 
From my newbie point of view, Europeia is the hope for many nations in the nationstates universe and we must not fall short of that. I agree that somebody else should run, in order to enrich our democracy. This is a very large region, I find it difficult to understand why there are any candidates. I hope somebody runs and I look forward to see a good campaign that enriches the president, our principles and our democracy.
 
Skizzy Grey said:
I arrived here in 2010. Since then, we have come of age as a region. We have figured out our regional identity. We have taken our rightful place on the broader NS stage, building influence and prestige commensurate with our numbers. Most importantly, we have built a community where people, by and large, treat one another with respect -- which was certainly not the case when I arrived here five years ago.

Not coincidentally, the median age of Europeians has risen during that time, as a more mature region has attracted a more mature citizenry. Most of the people who do the bulk of the work that sustains this region wouldn't abide the drama we had five years ago. Most of the old guard, including HEM himself, were driven at one point into retirement or near-retirement at some point by that drama. The old days weren't without their charms, but let's not look back through rose-colored glasses.

One tradition we seem to have lost is the relative newcomer or outsider using an unsuccessful presidential campaign as a springboard to a greater role in the region's affairs, and often a successful run for Goldenblock in the not-too-distant future. My loss to Oliver in 2010 was an example of such a campaign; Rachel's loss to Earth in 2011 is another.

Realistically, no one is going to beat WL this election, and it doesn't speak well for the region's judgment back in 2009 that it nearly elected a smooth-talking newcomer (even one who went on to have a fine career here, as Klat did) over an incumbent with a demonstrated record of achievement. That said, I agree with HEM that a well-run campaign is good for the region. I do hope someone takes up HEM's challenge -- and if that challenger runs a thoughtful, spirited campaign, I hope he/she is rewarded with an enlarged role in our regional life and a path that, with sustained effort, can lead him/her to Goldenblock down the road.
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Well this says everything I wanted to say really.
 
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