A Divided America: 2016 and the first Two-Round Election

[Cal]

Barrack Obama was many things. The nation's first black president. An excellent campaigner. A term-limited president. And, as it turns out, sincere on his promise to bring reform to the American political system. In 2012, shortly after his closer-than-expected victory over Republican Mitt Romney (R-MA) he realized that his legacy was to be not-so-great. He had continued the wars overseas that he had promised to withdraw from in 2008, his signature Affordable Healthcare Act had been whittled down to be a shell of what he desired, and the change he had promised never materialized. To be remembered as one of America's most influential presidents up there with Lincoln, Washington, and FDR, he needed to do something big - Something crazy. 

So with this idea in mind of radical change, in 2013, President Barrack Obama met with those disgruntled in both parties. He reached out to the Tea Party Republicans to see if he could earn their support and was surprised to see them salivating for his proposal. This made him doubt whether it was a good one or not, but meeting with the far-left branch of his own party assured him that the proposal was valid after all. So, President Obama proposed the 28th Amendment. 

The 28th Amendment more or less brought the two-round electoral system to America, the one that been implemented in France successfully. The terms are relatively simple: Any candidate can run in the first round, but if there is no candidate who's share of votes is greater than 50%, then election proceeds to a 2nd round. In this second round, only the top two vote-getters are on the ballot. This also applies to Senate and House elections. The timeframe is as follows: 

First Presidential and Legislative Round: Second Tuesday of October
Presidential and Legislative Second Round: First Tuesday of November

The proposal shocked America. No one had actually expected President Obama to implement any real change, and certainly not something so foreign to American politics. Most Americans didn't quite know what to think of it at first. However, President Obama's meetings with far-right and far-left activists would yield results. Both radical wings of the parties were vocal of their support for the amendment, and many moderates remembered the 2000 election and the famous spoiler effect of Ralph Nader. The proposal would pass through Congress and the state legislatures with some opposition, but the final state would ratify the 28th Amendment in 2014. This meant that the 2016 election would be the first held under the new system. 

(More to come! Stay tuned before claiming any candidates!)

[Cal]

The RP Setup

The RP will be a quickshot effort based hybrid. What this means is that all events are graded on a very loose bimodal scale of satisfactory and unsatisfactory, with a different die being rolled depending on the quality of the event. I want to stress that this does NOT require a high level of effort - A good event is simply one that adds to the RP in a good way without seeming like you're just grinding out a super quick low effort event to see if you win in the end or not. This is simply to ensure that there are no "Biden - NH (3X)" style events. A few sentences is plenty enough, though feel free to do whatever you prefer.

A good event can roll from a 1 to a 12. A bad event can only roll between a 1 and a 5. This means that you have a higher chance of succeeding than you do failing, meaning the needle is generally going up when you choose to campaign somewhere. Turns are in a loose 48 hour period, and if you complete them faster, I will roll on them faster. Posts must be made here on the forum.

There will be only 14 turns in the overall RP. The first turn will consist of only a nomination and reception of your Vice Presidential candidate, and the final turn will be a shortened turn that you can kick back and relax before the final results come in. The schedule is as follows: 

Announcement of candidacy: Turn 1 (August 1st-ish)
First round: Turn 2-10 (Until Oct. 13th)
Second round: Turn 11-13 (Ends Nov. 3rd)
Final turn: 14 (shortened)

The RP will begin in the General Election. This is because the focus of the RP is not the primary season, but rather just how the two-round system would perform in America. You are welcome to run whatever candidate you would like within reason, but keep in mind that I won't boost up just anyone. For example, if you run Dennis Kucinich, you can expect roughly 5-10% of the electorate is going to follow you depending on your competition and campaign rollout. Someone like Hillary Clinton is looking more like 15-25% right off the bat depending on the competition. The range is really pretty large depending on how many throw their hat in the ring, so don't take those numbers as promises! 😛 

One returning mechanic from 1936 I have decided to introduce is Campaign Decisions. Every turn, one or more of the candidates will be given an event to respond to. These decisions will have a list of options that you can choose from, and feel free to elaborate how you would accomplish that goal in as much flavor as you wish. The outcome will still be rolled on. For this first turn, all campaigns will have a Campaign Decision to respond to, though in the future it may be as few as a single decision in a turn.

The debate cutoff will be either 5% or 10%, that will be announced later on. The first debate will be on Turn 6, the second on Turn 9, and the last on Turn 12. 

And... that's about it! I will do a writeup about the state of the race and some flavamaking once the candidacies are declared, but until then anything I write could turn out to be no longer true if the state of the race is changed considerably by an announcement. The only real barrier I would like to establish is that an establishment Democrat must be the Democratic nominee and an establishment Republican must be the Republican nominee, given that extremists/populists will be branching off for the 1st round. Please include 2-3 VP candidates you are comfortable with in your announcement post in case anyone chooses one of them for their own bid! Please announce your candidacies and when we have sufficient interest and all of those who want to play have declared, we can get this show on the road! 😛 

[Cal]

One last note: The Electoral Vote is still in effect. This was not clear in the original post, but is now being edited to indicate as such. This means that you are still shooting for being the clear winner in individual states, and regional candidates could have some real power. If the first round ends 198-85-75-45-45-45-45 or something ridiculous like that, someone that was previously a minor candidate could do very well as a result of the vote splitting from the winner-takes-all nature of the electoral college. 

[Fbarbarossa]

May I take Jerry Brown/Sherrod or Sanders or Nader ticket?

[Cal]

5 minutes ago, Fbarbarossa said:

May I take Jerry Brown/Sherrod or Sanders or Nader ticket?

All yours!

[Rodja]

Can i take Bernie?

[Rodja]

Or Warren if @Fbarbarossasettles for Bernie

[The Blood]

And They All Shall Clap For Jeb!:

It was his time. After skipping out of the 2008 and 2012 primaries, Jeb! had seen the damage done to his party. Without him, their true and supreme leader, the Republicans simply couldn't get their act together, losing to Obama twice as a growing authoritarian movement made gains in the party. However, those fascist rabble-rousers were now gone, leaving the party thanks to the new electoral system. And with that, it was time. Time for the heir to the Republican throne, Jeb! Bush, to take his rightful place. Jeb!, the next President of the United States, would claim his role as the 2016 Republican Presidential nominee. 

[The Blood]

Possible Mortal Souls To Serve Lord Jeb! As VP:

Marco Rubio

Scott Walker

Chris Christie

Paul Ryan

Beyond That Basically Any Establishment Republican Within Reasonable Bounds

[Pringles]

Dick Cheney/Lindsey Graham.

 

Neo Con ticket. 

[Cal]

39 minutes ago, Rodja said:

Can i take Bernie?

 

38 minutes ago, The Blood said:

And They All Shall Clap For Jeb!:

It was his time. After skipping out of the 2008 and 2012 primaries, Jeb! had seen the damage done to his party. Without him, their true and supreme leader, the Republicans simply couldn't get their act together, losing to Obama twice as a growing authoritarian movement made gains in the party. However, those fascist rabble-rousers were now gone, leaving the party thanks to the new electoral system. And with that, it was time. Time for the heir to the Republican throne, Jeb! Bush, to take his rightful place. Jeb!, the next President of the United States, would claim his role as the 2016 Republican Presidential nominee. 

 

7 minutes ago, Pringles said:

Dick Cheney/Lindsey Graham.

 

Neo Con ticket. 

All granted. @Rodjaplease list 2-3 acceptable VP picks, and @Pringles I doubt anyone will take Graham but have a backup ready if so 😛 

[Rodja]

Bernie Sanders announces he is running for President at a rally in Burlington,VT focusing on promising political revolution that will change the rigged system and make it work for all Americans not just the top 1%!(Would this count as good or bad event? @Cal)

Potential VP's:

Elizabeth Warren

Cory Booker

Nina Turner

Keith Ellison

Edited April 22, 2021 by Rodja

[Hestia]

Your Supreme Overlord has arrived.

Hillary Rodham Clinton declares her campaign for the presidency at an event in New York City, getting a large event in the city to declare her candidacy. She focuses her campaign on being "Stronger Together" and turning back the kind of divisive rhetoric from the other campaigns.

VP Ideas: Sec. Tom Vilsack (D-IA), Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Sec. Julian Castro (D-TX)

[Sean F Kennedy]

Joe Biden launches bipartisan campaign with Gov John Kasich as one of his potential running mates

Today Vice President Joe Biden did something nobody was expecting, he has a Republican as a potential running mate, only time will tell if this will bring broad support to the Biden campaign.

 

Potential running mates 

John Kasich

John Hickenlooper

Amy Klobachar

[MrPotatoTed]

Dang it, I was going to go for JEB! but @The Blood beat me to the punch.

Alright.  Give me Christopher Christoferson Christie!

Potential VPs: Jon Huntsman, Carly Fiorina, Rick Perry.

[Pringles]

1 hour ago, Cal said:

 

 

All granted. @Rodjaplease list 2-3 acceptable VP picks, and @Pringles I doubt anyone will take Graham but have a backup ready if so 😛 

Donald Rumsfeld will be a 2nd option 😛

Jk. Jeff Sessions or John Cornyn.

[WVProgressive]

Abby Martin hosts a segment with Jesse Ventura on her show Breaking the Set on RT America

Abby Martin: Hello everyone, I'm Abby Martin for Breaking The Set here on RT America, and today, I have very special guest. Former governor of Minnesota, and longtime freethinker, Jesse Ventura, welcome to the show!

Jesse Ventura: Yeah, it's great to be on here today, to talk to you Abby.

AM: So, let's not waste anytime, and just jump into what we really want to discuss here Jesse. What are your thoughts on the current state of American politics?

JV: Well, Abby, frankly I think it's a load of crap. Sure, yeah, you got the new, two round voting system, is all well, and good, but it keeps the broken Electoral College, and does nothing to uproot all these fat cat politicians that are just infesting our country right now.

AM: Yeah, it seems like you have a lot of passion for this.

JV: Well of course I have passion for this Abby, every red blooded American has a passion for good government.

AM: Yes, that is very true. Have to ever thought about running for President, to really give a shock to the system, or something like that?

JV: Well, to be honest with you I have, and I've been in talks with a couple people, and we'd cause, if we decided to actually run, we'd cause trouble.

AM: Really! Who's at the top of the Jesse Ventura Veep Shortlist?

JV: Well my first pick, and I want you to image the sort of trouble we'd cause the establishment. Imagine this for a moment Abby - Jesse Ventura, running for President with Howard Stern.

AM: Oh ho, I know a ticket of you two would be unstoppable Jesse, you should do it!

JV: And that's not all, I've also been in talks with Cynthia McKinney, and she's actually said she'll run with me if I wanted to run for President. Can you imagine that, Cynthia McKinney, and Jesse Ventura teaming up?

AM: Oh my god, now that would be a ticket to be reckoned with.

JV: Yeah, and I've even, in case those two don't want to run with me, I've also been in talks with the man himself, Vermin Supreme. His policies make about as much sense as Dick Cheney's!

AM: Ha ha. Alright, thank you for coming by Jesse, I think that's all we have time for.

JV: It was great to be on your show Abby, I'm a big fan of yours, and I think you do a great job at keeping the plutocrats in Washington honest.

For all intents, and purposes, consider this me claiming Jesse Ventura as my candidate, with a VP shortlist of Howard Stern, Cynthia McKinney, and Vermin Supreme in that order.

[Cal]

These are all looking great so far! I'll give anyone else interested until Monday, April 26th at roughly noon to get their picks in before the campaign is kicked off. There is no option to join mid-game as it would require substantial changes to the setup. Happy announcing, fellas! 

[Cal]

The 2016 general election was looking to be just as chaotic as many expected that it would be. This is America's first election with the new two-round system devised by President Obama, and it one without the architect himself participating. The two major parties' nominations were both won by relatively establishment candidates. 

Republican Party
For President: Governor Jeb Bush (R-FL)
For Vice President: Governor Scott Walker (R-WI)
The Republican Party's convention goes relatively well, all things considered. Vice President Cheney and Governor Christie made clear their intent to run on independent campaigns fairly early on and well before the convention, so those who would be upset over the clear establishment nominees simply are not present. Jeb! Is able to rile up the crowds who believe in responsible Republican government as well as those who miss the Bush years before Obama. A clear platform of moderate-to-conservative policy seems to be a winner with the Republican Party, as it always has. (61)

Republican Independent
For President: Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ)
For Vice President: Governor Jon Huntsman (R-UT)
Governor Christie's announcement that he would be running his own independent campaign was originally very worrying to party insiders, but he quickly put those fears to rest when he announced he would be endorsing the Republican candidates in all other congressional and gubernatorial races. He argued that with the two-round system, voters should have the choice between himself and whoever the Republican Party eventually puts up and to compare their policy views from there. While there is some concern about splitting the vote with Bush, most Republicans are open to giving Christie's campaign a chance. (56)

Republican Independent Neoconservatives
For President: Vice President Dick Cheney (R-WY)
For Vice President: Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC)
VP Cheney's announcement was probably the least expected of the season for conservatives. He was an incredibly active Vice President with an ear to President Bush, but declined to run for the presidency himself in 2008 and 2012. Despite this, he claims that the Republican Party has been infiltrated by bad actors and that an independent campaign is needed to set his party back on its tracks. He has notably made no comment yet on whether or not he will be endorsing Republicans down ballot, but by and large he is considered an option for Republicans disenchanted with the party who don't see Bush as the way back to the old days. (58)

Unity Party
For President: Vice President Joe Biden (D-DE)
For Vice President: Governor John Kasich (R-OH)
The most unexpected disappoint of the election comes from an unexpected place: Democratic establishment king Vice President Joe Biden. Joe Biden declared his intent to a campaign at the very last second, after already giving his endorsement to Secretary Clinton at the Democratic convention. He notably declared that he had the full support of President Obama, who would quickly put out a video correcting this and stating that he had in fact endorsed Secretary Clinton over his own VP! It was a mess, and to make matters worse his decision to take on Governor Kasich as his running mate has left Americans scratching their heads. Biden may well be able to recover from this poor campaign rollout, but the prospects are not looking good. (6!)

Independent
For President: Governor Jesse Ventura (I-MN)
For Vice President: Mr. Howard Stern (I-NY)
The only candidate's rollout who went worse than Biden's is that of celebrity wrestler turned governor Jesse Ventura. Ventura hinted at his intention to run in this election in an interview, but the online reaction was awful. Fans of Ventura saw him as a sellout for delving back into politics, and he was criticized by some for throwing out Howard Stern as a serious name when Ventura himself has such a high political profile, and others by considering the disgraced Cynthia McKinney. Ventura heard these criticisms and made the decision to name Stern his running mate anyway, announcing on Twitter that they would be running a serious campaign for the highest office in America. Most still take the campaign as a poor joke. (3!)

Democratic Party
For President: Secretary Hillary Clinton (D-NY)
For Vice President: Secretary John Vilsack (D-IA)
The Democratic convention seemingly went well. Former Presidents Carter and Clinton both spoke on Hillary's behalf, and Vice President Biden gave a wonderful speech on why Hillary Clinton was best suited to be the next President of the United States. There was plenty of hand shaking and moderate establishment politicking to be had, and by all means it was a fairly standard convention. However, the Democrats have been hurt by VP Biden's erratic decision to announce his own campaign, and the confusion of just WHO President Obama endorsed is enough to sting Clinton. She was the definite frontrunner for the first round, but Biden damaged her greatly. (41!)

Democratic Independent
For President: Governor Jerry Brown (D-CA)
For Vice President: Mr. Ralph Nader (I-CT)
It turns out, the Veep wasn't the only one unsatisfied with Hillary Clinton as the Democratic candidate. Governor Jerry Brown launched his own campaign shortly after Biden, and his popularity in California has skyrocketed. Many in the state see the potential for Brown to win only California and a few other states and still advance to the second round due to the intense vote splitting that is sure to happen in the electoral college. Regardless, Brown's campaign sees a positive media reception and a buzz in his home state. (87!)

Green Party
For President: Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
For Vice President: State Senator Nina Turner (D-OH)
Senator Bernie Sanders was one of the first to announce his campaign, and it came as a surprise to few. Many on Twitter and Tumblr had been calling for the progressive independent to take advantage of the two-round system and throw his hat in the ring to give progressive voters a real voice on the national stage, and Bernie was more than happy to provide. Announcing his campaign in Burlington, he was instantly a Twitter sensation with his fiery rherotic denouncing the partisan gridlock under the Obama administration at the hands of both Republicans AND Democrats. He promises to be able to bring real change to the nation should he be elected, and to work with both parties to see his progressive agenda enacted. (88!)

(More to come!)

[Cal]

The electoral map prediction to begin with is... an absolute mess. Clinton came into the general election with a strong stance as the frontrunner to make it to the second round, but unexpected party defections have really weakened her and split the base of the Democratic Party. Republicans are thankful that Cheney and Christie aren't able to dent the support of Bush throughout much of the South, but Bush only holds slight leads in Iowa, Wisconsin, and even his home state of Florida. 

Jerry Brown is the unexpected candidate who would earn second place and potentially advance to the second round if the election were held today. Governor Brown's strength in the Northwest liberal strongholds is unmatched by Clinton and barely touched by Sanders, which allows him to seemingly lock down a large number of electoral votes that would be imperative for either Sanders or Clinton to take if they want to advance to the second round. 

Vice President Cheney is rather strong in the American West, but also holds onto a lead in Alaska. He is competitive in several plain states, and remains the best option for knocking off Bush in the South. He is unlikely to make the second round, but a strong performance by his campaign could see his overtake Bush. 

Biden's horrendous campaign rollout and bipartisan pledge have not stuck with voters, and he is currently mostly splitting the vote for Clinton. However, he is on her tail in Delaware and Maryland, and a few good days could see his luck reversed. 

Governor Christie is the weakest of the Republican field, but also the candidate with the greatest potential for growth. He is competitive in the Midwest and the Northeast, and has a sliver of hope in California and Hawaii to take advantage of the liberal infighting and emerge victorious. 

Finally, Jesse Ventura is competitive in Minnesota, but polls poorly outside of his home state. His campaign rollout is to blame for this, as well as the crowded field of candidates who suck up a lot of the unique appeal Ventura once held as an independent. 

[Cal]

National Voter Intention, Turn 2
Bush: 20%
Clinton: 15%
Brown: 10%
Cheney: 9%
Bernie: 6%
Biden: 6%
Christie: 5%
Ventura: 2%

Annnd that's it! I know you are all probably anxious for polls. I mean, look at the monstrosity of an electoral map prediction as it stands right now. However, this first turn will be blind outside of that. Please request up to 2 states your campaign is interested in and I'll try to get those out with the turn update. I had planned on campaign decisions making their appearance this turn, but honestly this has been quite a bit of work already so I'll wait until Turn 3 to start those. Turn 2 is now officially underway! Remember, you have two days to get these in so take your time. Feel free to contact me with any questions. Good luck! 🙂 

[Sean F Kennedy]

Biden begins campaign after a poor launch

1. Biden will campaign in his hometown of Scranton Pennsylvania. Giving a heartfelt speech on the political journey has taken in his life. He will talk about common sense solutions at the majority of Americans can support.

2. Kasich will campaign in Columbus, Ohio at OSU, he enjoys a wide appeal of support and the Buckeye State even caring places like Summit and Cuyahoga county. 
3. finally the pair will meet in Baltimore Maryland hoping to get past the Pardison ugliness that has reared its ugly head in the past few years

[MrPotatoTed]

EDIT: Will create a new post with my actual orders, now that I understand more of what you're looking for.

Edited April 27, 2021 by MrPotatoTed

[Cal]

A note to everyone: 3 events per turn! I realized I just assumed that it was obvious since that's the usual around here, but its probably wise to say it anyway! 😉 

[WVProgressive]

1. Jesse Ventura campaigns on his unorthodox background for a Presidential candidate in Brooklyn Park Minnesota

2. Howard Stern asks his radio listeners for money to fund the Ventura/Stern campaign. He asks for small individual contributions of around $10 a piece.

3. Ventura campaigns in Virginia, comparing himself to George Washington, and telling Americans that he represents their best chance to elect a president that does not belong to a political party since Washington.