Election Advice/Picks
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by Fionia
The month is winding down, and another Congressional term is too. Time for countless ads and articles to flood the airwaves. My official campaign article will be coming, just like everybody else's; look for it no later than the 23rd. But, before that, I would like to present my picks for who I would like to see in Congress, and some advice on running for Congress.
My Picks
I was originally going to use this section to list which incumbents I would like to see return, but I'm not entirely sure who's running this month. Also, I don't feel that I alone should be passing judgment on how effective my fellow Congressmen (and women) have been, considering that I most definitely have biases and preferences.
I would, however, like to highlight two candidates running for a first term that I think will make excellent Congressmen.
Patches O'Houlihan
Patches is an amazing person in this game. Anybody who has been on the eUS forums or the USWP forums has most likely heard of him. He is extremely active and friendly as well. Not only is he active in both serious discussions and random topics, he is a very intelligent player. He knows a lot about a lot, and what he does not know, he's not afraid to ask about. I look forward to being able to work with him in Congress. His presentation can be found here.
b. k. blake
b. k. is a great friend of mine, and one of the reasons I have stayed in this game. He also is a very intelligent person, and he is passionate about the work he does. He takes pride in his work and what he has accomplished, and he has accomplished quite a bit, even if it is not all visible to outsiders. He is running in Nebraska this month; I wish him luck and hope he gets elected.
Do's and Don't's
Do
* Have an account on the eUS forums, and participate in political discussions there. Congress needs more active people (and less critics, kthnx). It will not only make you less likely to get trolled, because people will at least have heard of you before; it will help you to understand the current issues before Congress because most Congressional action does not take place in-game. It takes place on the forums.
* Know what Congress can and can't do. Rheinlander von Phalz wrote an astounding article about this recently.
* Be friendly, especially when it comes to the people in your party. The core, active members of the party always like to know who they are actually running. Also, if they know who you are, they can help you out, both in elections and when you're in Congress.
* Listen to The Report On Air. Okay, this isn't an essential point, but it's a fun and (most of the time) informative show.
Don't
* Run a smear campaign, especially against a candidate who has been in Congress several terms already and has done many wonderful things for the country. This tactic will not help you now, and it will probably damage any political future you might have, if all people know about you is that you attacked Ligtreb.
* Promise what you cannot deliver. Example: Q5 hospital. This also applys to things that are impossible in terms of the game (clean water).
* Run ads. It seems like this would be the perfect strategy, but older players get annoyed at seeing so many ads, especially when people start ads on the 16th. FWIW, I have gotten into Congress twice without personally running an ad (yes, and ad was run for me last election, but I did not ask for that to be run). If you cannot resist running an ad, run it on the 25th only.
So that's it for now. Like I said, look for my campaign article to be coming on the 23rd. Also, I might have an article talking about various Congressional rankings soon.
Signing off,
Fionia
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Comments
a great article and one that helps me even now
Great article 🙂
I love that clean water has become a universally-accepted example of poor Congressional candidates.
Good article. Voted/already a subscriber.
A well-timed ad led to a lot of attention being paid to my first platform, though. As a general rule, however, I agree that you don't want to over-expose yourself with ads, for the reason you stated, but I think you should start a little earlier, like mid-day on the 23rd or the 24th. Plenty of people are going to be doing ads on the 25th and yours could get buried.
If the article attached to the ad is worth its salt, the people who choose to click on that ad won't be as annoyed at you. XD
I would put "Mass-mail as many random people as you can, asking them to vote for you" in the Don't category, personally. XD
Good article.
And agree w/ Astra Kat G about the ads - too much is definitely no good, but a little leading up to the election can be a good thing, especially when backed with a solid article.
Go eUSA!
I also agree that eRep ads are not the best way to go (but I think eRep mailing random people, as long as they aren't inactive or have foreign citizenship or something, is a decent way to go as long as you are genuine). In my last Congressional bid, three of my opponents (and I only had two real opponents) all ran advertisements leading up to the day of the election and I still never used eRep ads for campaigning. They did not win.
Excellent work, agreed!
Interesting read... voted.
Excellent article, Fionia.
I look forward to your campaign article!
Voted/Already Subbed
As far as ads go, a recent study was done showing that 1 campaign article will go a long way and that more than 1 will not increase chances of getting elected. Also, advertising for more than 1 day (while more gold will be spent) also will not increase chances of getting elected.
Good article, Fionia. Hopefully this time we'll serve together in congress instead of as opponents on the campaign trail 😉.
Voted.
mjdiv,
eUS Secretary of Interior,
former Secretary of Media (last 5 administrations),
former senator (RI, NY and FL), currently running in RI
Great article!
I don't understand why you don't have more subs.
What do you feel about Mass PMing?
Astra appears not to like it.
😃
Thanks for the good advice!
v&s. I also was thinking mass PM might be the way to go if I run in a couple of months, so what do you think of Patches question?
Mass PMing- It's probably the only reason I got elected for my first term. The night of the 24th, I went through and PMed people that a)were living in NY, b) had greater than 10 wellness, c) were U.S. citizens, and d) had greater than 35 xp.
In short, I think it's a good idea to make an effort to PM people in the state you're running in, but when you do PM them, don't just beg them to vote for you. Include some other information like moving to California or Florida.
And thanks for all the great comments guys!
Well there you go, then. An ad helped me get elected my first term (but I refuse to mass PM), Rhein hasn't used any ads, and Fionia got elected through mass-PMing (and doesn't think very highly of ads) her first term.
Clearly, there's more than one path to success here. 😉 If you're going to mass-PM, then, follow Fionia's advice regarding it. ^.^
Thanks for the advice.
Blanemcc for Georgia, whoo! 😃
Amazing article! Thanks! : )