The Atlasian Messenger Interviews Alcon San Croix[/b]
BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, WASH.-- The Atlasian Messenger has interviewed former President Alcon San Croix, a Washingtonian from the Constitutional Union Party.
Part 1Ebowed: Mr. Former President, do you have any future political ambitions?
Alcon: No.
Ebowed: Thank you for your time.
Part 2 (The Actual Interview)
Ebowed: What action as President are you most proud of? What action do you most regret?
Alcon: Overall, I most regret not being more active. The Presidency just came at a poor time for me. I felt like someone needed to do the job, though, for the sake of the nation's stability. I think I did a decent job with the Southeast, though, thanks in part to the level-headedness of the vast majority of the Atlasian citizenry.
Ebowed: What was the campaign like for you in February? Did you take a lot of heat for running, as a Democrat, with KEmperor?
Alcon: I enjoyed it but I wish I had ran in a summer month instead. I probably took less flack for running with KEmp than I deserved. At first, KEmp was seen as very moderate. Then he released his latest Political Compass score - with both positive - and, surprisingly, few people noticed that. I thought that, if we were to lose (which, of course, we did), it would be because of the Political Compass release, not because the new candidates were viewed as "fresher." If "fresher" is the word.
Ebowed: A lot of conservatives voted for Al/Siege over KEmperor/Alcon. Even former President PBrunsel supported the Lewis Trondheim/True Democrat ticket. Do you think your place on the only "conservative" ticket had to do with it?
Alcon: I recall that much of that was due to abortion, even though Lewis had a similar position to KEmp. I think it reflected a general malaise among the population about electing a ticket that had been the assumed winner for month. Being a latecomer is always an advantage in races. In reality, I don't think I changed anyone's mind for or against the ticket.
Ebowed: How did you feel throughout the race about your chance of winning? Who did you most fear would step into the race that would hurt KEmperor, before Al and Lewis had announced?
Alcon: Well, I knew that polls showing us with 75% of the vote wouldn't last, of course. I assumed we'd lose in the last week. I still had hopes, of course. Still, to this day, I blame the exploding ballot boxes.
Ebowed: What ideological differences did you have with KEmperor? Did these hurt the ticket during the campaign?
Alcon: KEmp and I were pretty aligned in our economic-relative-to-social views. It's just that he was four points more conservative than me in all cases. There were times when I thought he was too conservative. But I supported KEmp, and would have if I wasn't on his ticket, because I thought he'd do the best to resolve the Forum Affairs issues (and Constitutional issues), which were plaguing us at the time.
Ebowed: How did you feel during the crisis where Lewis Trondheim refused the presidency? How did you come to the agreement with True Democrat to be Vice President?
Alcon: I've always liked Lewis, but that disappointed me. It was pretty obvious that it would upset everyone. He should have just dropped out and endorsed Al, who would have subsequently won in a landslide. He was well-intended, though. As to the True Democrat Vice Presidency, he basically just asked me, and I accepted, although I wasn't very excited about it. I knew for a while I was in the final running through
Teamspeak and whatnot, so it wasn't a huge surprise.
Ebowed: What did you think of True Democrat's presidency? Were you expecting him to resign so suddenly?
Alcon: I think I missed his Presidency. I was making a sandwich.
Ebowed: You left the Democratic party for the Constitutional Union Party. What about the Union Party was appealing to you? Do you think the party can continue to hold the plurality of seats it has in the Senate?
Alcon: I'm a libertarian, really. I liked the Democrats, but it became difficult after all of the scandals to sustain the party. I like pretty much everyone in the Union Party (although I do in the ILP and many other parties, too). The Union Party was just most appealing to me because it has such a libertarian lean, even if I am one of the more liberal memebrs.
Ebowed: Why did you choose Peter Bell as your Vice President?
Alcon: I chose Peter Bell because I knew I would be preoccupied with school. And because everyone knows that British people are smarter than us.
Ebowed: Why did you ask Cosmo Kramer to resign as Secretary of the Treasury?
Alcon: I would have had no problem with Preston's support of the Southeast if he had not also supported the voting rights nullification put in place by Governor StatesRights, which was an intolerable breach of civil liberties. He knew what his reactions would result in, though. I at least admire his bravery in standing up for what he believed in, even if I believe it was destructive toward Atlasian democracy.
Ebowed: From a former President's point of view, how do you think Siege and Emsworth are doing?
Alcon: Both are very smart and I think they are doing the best they can within the rather limited functions of President and Vice President. It's funny that we have a system in Atlasia where a Senator would rather stay a Senator just because they could get more done in that position than as President.
Ebowed: How do you think your regional Senator, True Democrat, is doing? Did you support the expulsion of Senator FuturePrez?
Alcon: I haven't really been following Atlasian politics lately, but if he's voting and proposing decent bills, I definitely think he's doing fine. I did support the expulsion of FuturePrez, because he was far too inactive. Has anyone heard from him since? I'm worried.
Ebowed: No; FuturePrez has not signed on once this month, and still has the title "Senator" in his username.
Alcon: Yikes. Hopefully just a long vacation.
Ebowed: How will you be voting in the upcoming District 5 Senatorial race?
Alcon: I will be voting against Gabu, because he is a tyrant and must be destroyed.
Ebowed: How about in the Pacific Gubernatorial/Lieutenant Gubernatorial election? What do you think of Immy's unexplained absence?
Alcon: He disappeared about three days after FuturePrez, right? I'll have to support John Ford, since Immy has been gone for nearly a month. Maybe there's a bad case of Internet mono going around.
Ebowed: Immy has been absent since July 19. He told his de facto running mate that he may be busy before the election, but he did not explain why to the forum. Speaking of which, how will you be voting in the Pacific Lieutenant Gubernatorial race between Robert Goldwater and Mr. Hobbes?
Alcon: I generally don't make decisions before Election Day. I'm usually genuinely undecided. This is one of those cases.
Ebowed: What is your greatest concern for Atlasia currently?
Alcon: I think that we may end up hemorrhaging members. Enabling Google searching of the Forum would certainly help.
Ebowed: Throughout your time in Atlasia, who do you think has been your greatest ally? Your toughest foe, if any?
Alcon: I've never been real in to that "allies and enemies" thing. But I would certainly have to say that my greatest enemy has been Cashcow. To Cashcow:
I will hunt you down and kill you.Ebowed: What do you think about the existence of a Forum Elite Conspiracy, and your participation in it? Do you believe that Atlasia has problems with elitism?
Alcon: I think that if there is an FEC, it sucks at what it does. Has the FEC ever been declared to be behind a candidate that actually
won? It's like being endorsed by NAMBLA, except with less pedophillia.
Ebowed: Do you think there are problems with elitism in Atlasia? Some say that Atlasia is tough for new members to get into and that the Fantasy Government is hard to keep track of.
Alcon: Elitism and intellectualism tend to blend together in unfortunate ways. I don't think we're ever going to change that. But I think, yes, we need to make the game more accessible for new members. We have like six "READ THIS FIRST!" threads. We can do better than this.
Ebowed: What do you think of current voting restrictions? Do you think the ten day rule regarding registration and voting eligibility is too strict, too lenient, or just fine?
Alcon: I have mixed feelings. I don't think the ten-day rule does much to stop cheating, but I also think that it doesn't do much to stop newcomers. I support investigating reform, and, if necessary, making the rules more lenient to increase the number of new voters.
Ebowed: Does it bother you that you spent 58 minutes on this interview?
Alcon: It just increases my bloodlust for you. And Cashcow. God, I hate Cashcow.
Ebowed: All right, well that concludes our interview. Thank you for your time, Former President San Croix.
Alcon: No problem. Thank you for having me.
