Civic Renewal June 2016 Convention (Vote on NE Class 1 Senate race)

[Lumine]

Great to see new faces on the party! I look forward to a fascinating debate moving ahead.

[Lumine]

At the risk of sounding self-serving, I would indeed like to request the party's support, believing that said endorsement is not detrimental or opposed to the the larger goal of creating a new party.

Ultimately, Leinad represents an excellent chance to have an active, committed and experienced President in the White House, with a project, a team and clear goals behind him now that we need to reform Atlasia in a whole new ball game. Our ticket, I believe, is a serious effort capable of both standing ground and being reasonable and mature in governing, and I think it represents many of the values, ideals, goals and so on that we share in common.

[Lumine]

Okay, university has been hell with the strike, forcing me to stay away most of the time.

The way the party rules are set we will have an endorsement vote, and while I respect the fact that Kingpoleon and NHI believe abstention is the way to go, I happen to disagree. I believe in the ticket I have formed with Leinad, I believe it is the actually sensible choice because it combines several parties and groups with the enthusiasm to form a credible and efficient government beyond a mere electoral coalition and because I think this party can play a large role in this process of actual change.

So yes, I welcome the debate as a party, but I will defend endorsing a ticket as the way to go.

Ultimately, not endorsing and not making a move to support a ticket seems to have little practical value when you consider it is merely sitting the larger part of the election out, particularly when what we need to focus as a nation is in governance beyond a single election. No centrist party, no big tent party, no moderate party (and so on) sits elections out and tends to have a clear preference between a ticket and another, and I stand convinced a non-endorsement brings little of value to the party. TPP, or the Progressive Union, or the many parties I have seen that could be considered somewhere between Federalists and Laborites made those endorsements without it being a narrative of a satellite party.

Practically and by precedent, as I've say, I see little sense in sitting this one out. Narrative wise the case is the same, the issue with the "satellite" comment is not one to come directly from endorsements, it is, I believe, due to other issues we have seen in the past time and that we can correct with the right type of effort. In my frank opinion, such a narrative is born more out of the perceived lack of organization and cohesion we may show at a given time than anything else.

It is hypocritical for me to bring out arguments about unity based on the fact that I am indeed the Vice-Presidential candidate with Leinad. I would rather argue that this ticket simply makes sense as the choice of good governance (because we both have solid records of achievement, and clear support from people with similar records that would continue to work after the election), it makes sense as an actual agent of change (because it is Labor that has been four terms in office and done virtually nothing as the nation suffers) and it makes sense from a centrist point of view. If I choose to run with Leinad is because I believe in him personally as a man who would make an excellent President, and so it does surprise me to see objections to him without a fundamental clarify of what makes endorsing the ticket an unpalatable choice.

And well, those are my thoughts on the matter, at least for now.

[Lumine]

Actually, I'm surprised that people would jump to conclusions so rapidly, as if I intended to make it personal when the argument is a general one.

Neither the Fourth Constitution nor crushing the Radical hordes can be claimed as a single achievement of the Labor Party as an entity, both were multi-party efforts with support from virtually all sides of Atlasia and from key figures (such as yourself, Truman, who in their right mind would deny how crucial your role was?) which either started from the citizenship as a whole via signatures, or by the demand of a broad array of Atlasians to do something when our government was literally disintegrating before our own eyes last year. So my argument is indeed that the Labor Party, as an entity, cannot claim ownership of these accomplishments and their legacy because that belongs to all the citizens. And beyond participating in those efforts I do not see (and yes, perhaps it is because of my retirement) how in the course of these four terms Atlasia has improved for the better under Labor government beyond the work of the Con Con, which again, is a multi-party, multi-ideological effort for which both you, and Leinad, and dozens of great men and women deserve all of our respect.

Which leads me to the obvious point, Truman, when have I made a personal attack on you in my previous comments?

I think the ticket of which I form a part of is indeed the better choice for a good number of reasons, some of which I have explained perhaps in little detail because to see many people interrupt this convention is getting perhaps, a bit tiresome. But in no moment have I implied you were not crucial to the passage of the Fourth Constitution, or have I equated my criticisms towards the Labor Party towards you personally, because as I've always made it abundantly clear you are one of the Atlasians I respect the most, disagreements we may have aside.

Truman = Labor = Bad is indeed a poor line of reasoning. But I'd be disappointed as well if people thought that was the argument being made.

[Lumine]

President: Leinad/Lumine
Senate: Abstain on both