vcczar

I'm about to head to NYC for the day, so I'll keep this short. This is probably Biden's worst week since I started this forecast. It's the only time Biden didn't obviouly improve. Biden dropped in his popular vote lead. GA, NC, direction of this country all took noticeable hits. Trump also saw his favorables improve. However, Biden did see noticeable gains in MI, NV, and in the betting markets. Overall, Trump did better than Biden this week. Biden's 7 week streak of improvement has stopped. I think the primary reason for this is that there were very few polls this week compared to the previous weeks. I think Israel-Gaza and the mass protests on college campuses could be playing a role. Despite all this, the map is unchanged as it has been unchanged for 5 weeks now:

John Y Mason (VA-D) is a cousin of the many descendants of George Mason who have been notable politicians, mostly in VA. Mason is an unusual figure in that he served in the admin of 4 presidents, including Tyler, who was nominally in a Whig administration but by then Tyler was evicted from his party and was filling his offices with mostly conservative Democrats and some conservative Whigs. Mason died in office at age 60, and it seemed plausible he was aiming to be the Sec of State at some point. Tangent: The VA Masons aren't related to the Mason from Mason-Dixon line fame. Interestingly, both Mason and Dixon here were born in England. I always assumed they were both Americans. His actions: Mason, John Y 1844 Confirmed Sec of Navy for Tyler Mason, John Y 1845 Confirmed as Att Gen for Polk Mason, John Y 1846 Moved to Sec of Navy by Polk Mason, John Y 1854 Confirmed Amb to France by Pierce Mason, John Y 1854 Involved in controversial Ostend Manifesto Mason, John Y 1857 Kept on as Amb to Fr by Buchanan, dying two years later in this office

James M Mason (VA-D) is the descendant of the more famous George Mason of Constitutional Convention Fame. The younger Mason was something of John C Calhoun's protege. He was a slaveholder and a staunch defender of enslaving people. His actions: Mason, James M. 1849 Senate DC Committee Chair during Compromise of 1850 Mason, James M. 1850 role in Compromise of 1850 by writing the Fugitive Slave Act Mason, James M. 1850 Reads Calhoun's last speech for him, which predicts secession if slavery expansion is not tolerated Mason, James M. 1851 Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair.Served 10 years, including leading up to the CW. Mason, James M. 1854 in Congress junto that hooked Pierce to KS-NB Mason, James M. 1856 Advocates immediate Southern secession if Fremont is elected president Mason, James M. 1859 Leads Congr Invest; Republicans cleared of blame for Harpers Ferry Mason, James M. 1861 Expelled from the US Senate for aiding the seceding South as a US Senator; secedes with state, soon becoming CSA ambassador to England

Ok I’ll send one in a few days. I need to polish up the rules.

Lynn M Martin (IL-R) is so obscure to me that I actually didn't know who she was when I realized she had at least 5 actions. She might be the only person I didn't know. I don't think she's in AMPU. She was a US Rep for IL and a rare GOP woman in Congress. As such she given prominent speaking roles as the token GOP woman. She had her own ability outside of being a woman, but she had no significant moves as a US Rep. She was also nearly named commissioner of MLB. His actions: Martin. Lynn M 1988 Considered for VP by Bush Martin. Lynn M 1988 Gives nominating speech for Bush at GOP Conv Martin. Lynn M 1991 Confirmed Sec of Labor for Bush Martin. Lynn M 1992 Gives nominating speech for Bush again at GOP Conv Martin. Lynn M 1996 Considers running for pres, but opts against it

I don’t know anything about either treasurer candidate, so I voted based on their name. Bizarro sounded funnier. Maybe some didn’t like his name.

If anyone wants to run an election of my game, I can provide a clean spreadsheet doc.

TS Martin (VA-D) is the typical racist Southern Democratic politician of his day. He became party boss of VA by leading the disenfranchising the two groups that favored the GOP party and the Readjuster party's in VA. This is the tactic Southern Dems used throughout the South to create a one-party state. Martin's Party Machine became the more famous Byrd Organization after his death. His actions: Martin, Thomas S. 1902 VA Dem party boss as state disenfranchises blacks and poor whites Martin, Thomas S. 1912 Opposes Wilson's progressive ideas, but reluctantly votes for him anyway Martin, Thomas S. 1913 Influential Senate Appropriations Committee Chair. Serves through WWI Martin, Thomas S. 1915 warns against U.S. abandoning peace stand Martin, Thomas S. 1917 Senate Democratic Caucus Chairman

I think in Marshall’s defense, Wilson had locked Marshall out of the White House from the beginning. Wilson didn’t like him—maybe Wilson had no sense of humor. So any info he got of Wilson’s condition was not much more than what the public was getting, which was almost nothing. Wilson “appeared” to be working, as documents and statements came out of the WH with the help of Wilson’s wife and inner circle. Marshall was urged by members of the admin that weren’t part of the inner circle. He would also need unanimity, Wilson would have to be incapable of defending himself or accept his fate, or he could launch a coup. Marshall wasn’t going to launch a coup, and it was probably too much of an uphill battle. The process of gathering support and making the details of the stroke more public probably wouldn’t allow much time to serve. First, Wilson would have recovered enough by then (as he did by the time he left office, although not 100%). Secondly, the term was already almost expired. Marshall might have had a reason to act if the stroke happened a year or two earlier. Events moved slowly then. No social media and a media service that tended to be respectful to a president’s wishes.

1 more vote needed.

I've condensed the categorites from like 8 to 5, hoping it allows room for a short bio on the card. I'm now thinking the skills could be presented with something like this, which would conserve space. A number would go in each of these slots. I think that saves a ton of room. More later:

You and Short King still won the election despite deviating more from the base of your party than the Democrats deviated from there's, so it clearly allows for dynamism. My argument for keeping it "realistic" is to say, what would you do if you are trying to win an election and the voter dynamics are like this. You don't fit in your own party and you don't fit in the opposing party, so you run as a Republican anyway. Fortunately, most of the Republicans in this forum are MAGA loonies, so your primaries were in your favor. It took a lot of endorsements to get you to beat JViking, who is more in line with today's GOP. You won and unusual victory, but you won.

It will be harder to win as those that deviate from the base of the 2024 parties. That's the way I want it to be. You have to win as a politician in 2024.

@ebrk85 wins NE-2, but @ShortKing wins the election by getting the rest of NE! @ShortKing will follow Joe Biden as president of the US, with @Pringles as VP. @ebrk85 and @dkh64 put up a great showing. I don't have a popular vote calculator, but I'd imagine the GOP popular vote is waaaaaay more impressive than their EV vote. Democrats got a shallow 266, while the GOP won some of these contestable states immediately. I'd say the PV margin was probably at least 6-7%. Say 50%-43% with 7% going to 3rd parties. I imagine 3rd party turnout would be high here. I need to figure out a 3rd party mechanism. I would imagine many MAGA people would go elsewhere. That should have sunk the GOP somewhat. They were impacted by it to some degree.

@ebrk85 wins NV