It's Time to DO Something About this Party Politics Problem

Day 907, 20:11 • Published in USA USA • by Joseph Schmo

Fellow Americans,

This article is no joke (like many of my recent articles have been). On the contrary, this is the most serious article I have written in months. I just read a thread on the forums. I suggest you read it before reading any more of this article, but you'll be able to get the gist of it without doing so. This may end up being a wall of text, so my apologies in advance.

Today's PP election has proven that our politics have gone too far. We are putting our country's safety at stake by letting Ajay Bruno even be able to sniff the Party Presidency of the Republican Party. All I can say is thank God he isn't a Phoenix PTOer (which I consider more dangerous), because we'd be in big trouble if that were the case. Regardless, Max's decision (and SEES' apparent endorsement of his decision) to run for APF PP and the APF leadership's decision to give priority to their own election over the Republican Party election have both been the straws that break the camel's back for me.

I am not, however, one that only complains without offering solutions. I have solutions. Many will not like them. In fact, I would not be surprised if people from all parties attempt to drive me out of the country for it. However, I feel that these policies are the only possible (and I stress possible, because even they may not work) way to solve our political issues. I don't know if the government will agree, but I hope they will. So, I offer the following (rather radical) reforms.

Party President Primaries

Parties will be required to conduct primary elections for Party President. Not encouraged to, but required to. Many parties (the Federalist Party immediately comes to mind) already do this. Every party needs to. Doing this (in conjunction with the policies I lay out below) will, in my opinion, help solve our problem.

Doing this will allow each party to choose it's party president prior to election day. While other people will still be able to run, odds are they will not win without the endorsement of the party.

Under this policy, parties will only be able to offer ONE official candidate per election. If a party offers more than one, they will be subject to punishment (outlined below) unless the other candidate is reported to the government as a "rogue." Rogues must be barred from all party operations (including party forums, IRC, etc) and they will be subject to punishment similar to what parties will be subject to (again, outlined below).

NO Focus on Domestic Elections Allowed During PTOs

During an attempted U.S. PP PTO, any party that officially focuses on a domestic election will be subject to the punishments found below (I'm looking at you, APF). It does not matter if your party is threatened by "domestic PTOs". It is more important to stop foreigners (like Ajay) from winning. America always comes before parties. If we know that the "domestic PTOer" is safe, then we cannot let them take precedence over foreign PTOers.

On that note, any party who runs a candidate in another party and officially supports their candidacy (which SEES has essentially done with Max) will also be "illegal". While it isn't a PTO in my mind, if parties are not going to be able to defend themselves (thanks to what I said in the last paragraph), it would not be fair for parties to be able to take advantage of that. If that person happens to win, fine, but it is not okay for a party to officially endorse them.

"Punishments"

Many might wonder how this will be enforced. While it cannot be enforced within the realm of game mechanics, we in the eUS have come to rely on outside entities so much that we may be able to do so. Thus, if a party is found in violation of any of the above "laws," the party will no longer be recognized by the federal government, and the following will occur:

1. The federal government will publish a list of congressional candidates from parties no longer recognized by the government. Ads will be created promoting this article on congressional election day.

2. Any congressional candidates from that party who happen to win the congressional election will not be given access to the congressional boards. If too many congressmen are refused access, stand-ins will be elected (via the forums) to represent the states refused access in Congress on the forums.

3. The leaders of the party in question will no longer be recognized by the federal government. They will no longer be allowed to hold any government (executive or legislative) position. If they are considered to have been "too involved" in the "crime," they may be banned from the forum's at the President and forum Admin's discretion.

In addition, so-called "rogues" will be subject to the same punishments, only on an individual basis.

In Conclusion

I'm pretty ticked right now. Maybe all these ideas are crazy and would never work. I kinda just threw this article (and these ideas) together. Half of it probably doesn't make sense. Regardless, we NEED solution to these problems, and this is my solution. I may be crazy... but hell, this might just be crazy enough to work.

Regards,
General Joseph Schmo (Ret)
Former CO, U.S. Army
Former Deputy SecDef
Former Congressman from Vermont

Note: Sorry for any blatant spelling/grammar mistakes. Again, this was hastily thrown together. You can PM any major ones to me and I'll fix them. Thanks.