February Congress Election Review

Day 2,291, 06:08 • Published in Canada Canada • by Alias Vision
Prelude.

I was talking about games with a friend when I eventually made a reference to this place. His reaction was immediate, "You still play eRep, that's amazing!" Actually his exact words were a lot more colourful and a lot less flattering.

I calmly acknowledged that I was still very active but mentally questioned why. The answer is that I still enjoy doing this... writing articles. That I still get a small charge each time I earn a new medal (even the meaningless ones). I get to play with numbers for fun as opposed to for my job. And frankly there are members of this community that I just really enjoy interacting with.

So there you have it.



February Congress Elections.

Canada is in a constant state of war. Because of this the question of whether or not we will have Congress on a given month is always relevant.

We secured a 30 member Congress which considering we fluctuated between 1 and 3 regions is not insignificant. We owe this larger number to two things: opportunism and prioritization. Canada seized the opportunities it saw to inflict damage on its occupiers and free regions by coordinating RWs plus some timely allied assistance. Canada also benefit by a relatively neutral occupying force in Spain whose troubles in Europe means they are content with Canada concentrating on the US rather than them. It is important to remember that we are and remain one region away from triggering the land bridge necessary for a wipe. If Spain's priorities change, it will spell trouble for us.

This was going to be an interesting Congress election cycle because of a few developments. The first was the sharp increase in Canada's population and the arrival of a new political party in the top 5. Elections are always an important marker of where a nation stands in active population. Canada gained 600 citizens... could we hope for 600 new voters?

The second important development was the job President Rylde has been doing. Rylde is and will always remain a polarizing figure and he will always have his critics. That being said, it is my personal opinion that he has been doing an exemplary job. He has shown leadership and kept the population more informed than any other CP in recent memory. His willingness to stay at the controls overnight has directly led to victories on the battle field. Now the question is this; Rylde has always strongly branded himself with the MDP. Would the party therefore reap the benefits of his strong work or does our President really have a brand of his own that does not automatically reflect on the party?



What do the numbers say?

357 Canadian citizens participated in the elections. That represent an increase of 53 voters from January and 64 from December when we last had a full slate. If this was the beginning of a trend or an actual bump in activity, it would be great news for Canada. Unfortunately my pessimistic side thinks it may have more to do with a change in the way citizens are accounted for. Still, the figure is a positive one and in this pool of voters 17% can go a long way.

A reminder, last month Congress elections resulted in the following distribution:
CPF, 16 seats, 40.13% popular vote.
MDP, 9 seats, 22.7%
TMS, 2 seats, 14.8%
RHH, 5 seats, 12.17%
PFC, 2 seats, 10.2%

TMS would drop out of the top 5 parties and be welcomed in RHH. TMS is one of the most visible parties in Canada. They regularly dominate the media with their humour and general shenanigans. Rolo always has a core of support no matter where he goes or what he does. Would the combination equal increased success in Congress?

February final numbers are in and they are:
CPF, 11 seats, 36.41%
MDP, 8 seats, 26.33%
PFC, 4 seats, 13.45%
CPC, 4 seats, 12.32%
RHH, 3 seats, 11.48%

In terms of popular support they are... shockingly consistent. Even with a new, larger party in the top 5 the distribution of seats and votes did not move much.

But we reduced the size of Congress by 25% so let's look at the number proportionally to see if the story remains the same.

January:
CPF, 47%
MDP, 26%
RHH, 17%
TMS, 5%
PFC, 5%

February:
CPF, 37% (-10)
MDP, 27% (+1)
PFC, 13% (+8 )
CPC, 13% (+8 compared to party they replaced)
RHH, 10% (-7)

So the Rylde and/or MDP brand did not see a significant change in support. They are trusted by roughly a quarter to a third of Canadians and they defend their turf well.

Even though they maintained their leadership position in Congress, the big losers this month look to be the CPF. Is it an exposure thing? Or is it another factor like pulling votes by the CPC? In any case the drop should be taken as a message that you can't be idle and assume support will come. From an insider's perspective I thankfully see a lot of positive momentum in the party and Canadians can expect renewed dedication to the cause.

The big winners would appear to be the PFC. From a last place finish amongst the top 5 in both seat count and popular support last month, they saw their ranking raise to third. There is some good talent in the party and we look forward to see how that translates in Congress.

Kozak Bohun and the CPC is an interesting study. From manic effort and activity, to quitting, passing by quietly working in the background, this leader and party has done it all. They will have 4 seats in Congress and a platform to push their ideas with enthusiasm. So far Kozak has been virtually the only visible face of the party but he has articulated clearly what his party stands for and what his agenda will be.

What do I make of RHH dropping their share of Congress by 7%? Nothing. Not because I dismiss them but because we are dealing with Rolo here. I would wager that we see the TMS vote holding up the party while the leader was concentrating elsewhere (CPC if you are to believe Kozak). That's the tricky thing about Rolo, he never stays still and so the story that the numbers appear to reveal is rarely the accurate one.



Moving forward.

There are only 12 returning Congressmen this month, although a number of new members have a vast wealth of experience (Thedillpickl, Rolo, Funky, myself, etc).

There are some names I regret not seeing elected because of their level of contribution and their ability to debate the issues (Chochi, Muglack, Addy who is running slave pits in Serbia).

So the challenge is extended to February's Canadian Congress. Be at least as involved as the previous month's team. Continue to work in a unified way to the benefit and betterment of Canada.

We expect nothing less from all of us.