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HEM Tiberius
Managing Editor
First Minister Rand, the first citizen to hold this post, and hence the first citizen ever seek re-election to this post, faces a steep uphill battle as he tries to claw his way back to a second term in the newly-christened Pope Lexus Lane.
Rand is starting beyond Culture Minister Lleonflys, who commands an intimidating 51.7% of those polled. A hefty segment of the electorate remians undecided, and Cuddles is lagging behind the rest of the pack with 6.9% of the vote.
When forced to make a choice, both Rand and Lleonflys gain roughly the same percentage, while Cuddles adds a single vote.
Much of Rand's difficulties stem from his approval rating, which sits at a historically low 37.9%, outpacing his 34.4% disapproval rating but just the slimmest of margins. This skepticism of his term may be due to, at least in part, a failure of the administration to communicate any successes they had — or generally, communicate at all.
"I don't think Rand has done an adequate job of explaining why he was so distant this term. It's alarming to see him at such a disconnect between his perception of what transpired and reality. I'm not sure we'd be in a better place after another term of Rand at the helm," one anonymous citizen responded.
"Putting aside his spats with the Senate and general silence, the main reason I'm unsure of Rand is that he laid out a bold vision that we could achieve and accomplish, but it looks like nothing has been done from the outside looking in. Don't sell us a bad bill of goods, Mr. Outgoing First Minister," another survey responded bluntly.
In many ways, Rand was an unlikely first First Minister. His career has largely been built on contention, always willing to poke a finger in the eyes of a political establishment that never quite accepted him. He started his last election as an underdog, and will be starting this one as an underdog too, but Rand isn't without his supporters, and he goes into this next fight of his tumultuous political career with still some wind at his back.
"Rand gets a bad rap: he’s done very well this term and I’d love to see him as FM again," an alternative view from a Europeian citizen reads.
Rand's best probable hope comes from much more hesitant people are to criticize his administration as a whole, versus the man up top. 44.8% of Europeians have a favorable view of Rand's administration, with only 27.6% openly disapproving. These aren't great numbers, but they are numbers that could conceivably lead to an incumbent limping over the finish line.
Despite a tumultuous, bruising nine months that saw the mass resignations of Presidents, and the reform of a political system that had stood for over a decade, Europeians remain optimistic. The last known time ENN polled on the regional mood, in late 2017, 65.5% felt the region was on the right track. A poll a few months prior to that showed 62.9% feeling the region was on the right track. Today, 62.1% of the region are "optimistic" or "very optimistic" about the region's future.
But, a region that has often rewarded aspirational and uplifting platforms may have sobered up a bit. A significant majority of citizens prefer a realistic platform over an inspirational one, something that may haunt a First Minister who still has many unfulfilled promises from the last campaign.
Finally, a plurality of citizens feel that the executive split reforms have not been working, but most aren't willing to make a call after only a few months of operation.
"Executive split has made our labor shortage worse," one citizen claimed, but another citizen takes the opposite stance:
"I think the reforms have gone some way to positively benefit the region, however, I think that more reform is needed to help keep the region going. Capitalizing on the unique experience of politics on Europeia by further redefining the structure of the government will no doubt do some help to alleviate Europeia's activity issues we are seeing at the moment," this alternative view suggests.
Overall, opinion of Chief Kuramia is positive. Though with the First Minister election in the limelight, citizens may still be weighing that next election.
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