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Let me begin by thanking the Federalist Party for electing me to my 5th term as Party President. This ties me with Fingerguns and Gnilraps two very highly influential Feds of yesteryear. It leaves me one term short of tying the infamous Greene12 for most terms ever in the Federalist Party. That is a mark that I may one day surpass, but probably not in the near future. More than likely I will step down after this month and pass the torch to someone else. I returned to eRepublik after a 3+ year absence in April of 2013. I examined the top 5 parties, and found that only the USWP and Feds were familiar to me. All others of the V1 era had been swallowed up by the passage of time.

After my examination of the Parties I initially settled on the AFA. They were second in membership to the Feds, and they had an in game ideology of center right. I knew even then that such a thing had absolutely zero bearing on the in game conducting of Party business, however that is where my real life political leanings go so I decided to join them. I left a few days later when I realized that RGR = Ajay Bruno. I was amazed and somewhat impressed in spite of myself that he had held on for so long and even managed to build such a large following.

This is the first article I wrote after returning to eRep. A few days later I wrote my first article about the Feds. I joined after Josh Frost announced his intentions to become a Federalist. It was by far the best decision I have ever made in eRep. The Party was welcoming, and went out of their way to give me opportunities to get involved in the Feds.

Looking back now I never thought I would stick around this long or get this involved in my Party or my Nation. I just wanted to come in work hard, contribute in some small way, make a few friends, and have some laughs along the way. I have done that and more. I owe so much of that to Fed Leaders that took an interest in me and continually placed their trust in me to do a good job. Over time I realized that things had changed a bit. Many of those leaders that helped me grow are gone. They no longer play at all, only check in occasionally or have dramatically scaled back their activity. It became my turn to help enthusiastic up and coming players succeed.





That really is what the Feds and SHIELD the official Party MU (yet it is open to all Fed or not) are all about. The term used so often when I first joined up was something along these lines: We are a newb centric, country first meritocracy. That phrase is not used nearly as much within our ranks these days. However, they still resonate within me. I want those words to be more than words. I want them to be truth. I want our members to have a place in which like me they can succeed beyond their wildest expectations. I want the eUSA to be a better place for our Party and MU being an integral part of it.

I truly believe that I and the Party succeed when it’s members succeed. Finding, embracing, and utilizing the talents of players on a continual basis is the lifeblood. As I mentioned above this is the 5th time I have been elected Party President something I take some pride and satisfaction in, however I take infinitely more pride and satisfaction in seeing players like Apollo221, WookyJack, and Trekker become Party Presidents and be successful in their own rights. I hasten to add that I do not in any way claim credit for their achievements. It has simply been a pleasure to see them come in as either fresh returnees from the eGrave or activated into the meta for the first time in their eCareers and rise to be leaders. I consider all three of them to be friends and excellent examples of what the Feds can offer.

This last Primary was a strong example of that. I had 3 challengers that were excellent. Nick Bergman is possibly the finest CO SHIELD has ever had. Dave Gulya has been tireless working relentlessly in high level posts at both the Party and the national level. SlyBabyMichele has also been a hard worker in the Leadership of both SHIELD and the Party. They have future Party President written all over them. Nick tied me in the Primary something that has never been seen before in our long history as a group. I consider him a great friend and wish him well in any future endeavors he undertakes.







I decided to run for a 4th term because I noticed that as a whole we seemed to be drifting away from our Newb Centric Meritocracy roots. This alarmed me somewhat as the apparatus that is required takes a great deal of work to set up and maintain. I know from my own aforementioned experiences that it is very much worth it once the infrastructure is in place. So after winning last month I instructed Dave my CoS to get most of the Departments staffed up with a Director, Deputy (Director in Training) and at least two staffers. Dave has been as good as gold in getting that goal met. However, the task was even more time consuming than initially thought.

So much time has gone into restoring the Departments to full worker strength that oversight over the daily workings of those Departments suffered somewhat. I asked each of my Directors to not so much worry about tangible results, but to focus on the process. To paraphrase: Teach your people to do things the right way and the numbers will come. My goal has been to effect something of a cultural shift. All too often the norm has become one overworked and under trained Director running a Department that once kept a small handful of people legitimately busy. This affects the quality of work, increases burnout, provides fewer opportunities for the membership to take ownership in the day to day running of the Party, and gives us no ready replacements to promote when inevitable Leadership attrition happens.

We have made a lot of progress towards the goals I set for our Party a month ago. I believe that the excellent turnout and quality of this last Party President Primary shows the strength of our ongoing process. This month the plan is to consolidate and expand on our progress. I made allowances for less than active Directors as it was the Holiday season and frankly RL > than eRep. However, this month there will be less tolerance. We now have a decent pool of talent available to step in and take the reins of a Department. Once more Leadership posts will be given based on merit rather than on need. Meritocracy at its finest!





If you are a new Fed or even a long time Fed looking to get involved, let me boil down the first two basic things you will need to succeed in your goals. Fed level access to the Fed Forums if you do not have Fed access just create and post a thread introducing yourself and requesting Fed access here: (http://fedparty.forumotion.com/f3-introductions-and-access-requests), the next thing you will need is a Fed Job: (proudhorny.us/FedJerbs/). Whether your goal is to be in Congress, Party President or even Country President the road to those posts (at least in the Feds) begins with those two basic tools.

In addition to opening future political doors, the Fed forums provide a place that is fairly and judiciously moderated for all. Fed or no all are welcome in our Fun Zone. Opportunity to socialize, make friends, play games, and win prizes abound there. So please feel free to stop by even those with visitor level access will be able to participate. As the game crumbles community becomes all that much more precious. The game may be in shambles but that does not mean that our Community should also be allowed to fall into disrepair and decline. A successful involved player strengthens and adds vibrancy to the Party/Community. We succeed when you succeed!