18 Paragraphs YOU WILL READ

[Blair]

I say this with love but I can't let the federalists take all the credit for defeating the radicals; I seem to recall a certain Labor Senate Speaker helped run the bandits out of town.

[Blair]

To offer some advice for the federalists & to promote election board activity here are my thoughts.

It's valiant for Yankee to run for Chair but it's a thankless, painful and challenging job when you're winning with a good team; let alone in present circumstances the party faces. These thoughts aren't even about your leadership Yankee but rather the problems facing the party

When Labor was in a similar rut I learnt some lessons.

1.) Don't accept whoever turns up at the door: This doesnt' seem like a huge problem anymore but some of the most painful episodes on all sides in Atlasia have been when parties accept people who reguarly change party, who betray allies, who are abrasive and who don't have any idea how to plan ahead- in Labor we worked out we were better as a small team we could trust, rather than a large team we couldn't.

2.) Have an ideology: Ideology inspires people, it makes them get involded and it makes them want to win; we always had a broad degree of social democrats, social liberals, progressives, democratic socialists, eco-socialists & the odd blue dog in Labour- but our general ideology stacked up together & bound us together in common cause. This is the easy part but I still don't know what the federalist ideology for 2020 is? Especially Yankee when to be charitable you're talking about ideoligical events that happened years before even I joined Atlasia!

3.) Have an agenda- you can't have an agenda if you lack an ideology. In my house terms we got a lot done because I knew in advance what the Pericles Adminstration & Labor agenda was. If a federalist president got elected with a federalist majority I don't know what they'd do? Scrap the anti-Mexico City policy? Honestly beyond some piecemeal abortion legislation I don't know what it would be?

4.) Plan the Ticket for President in October- feel free to quote this when Labor lose in October but if you want something to plan, rally around & have fun then get someone to run who is a federalist. It's now been the case for three cycles that there is not a unified federalist ticket; some sort of backroom falling out (I assume?) meant that ReaganClinton got stopped in 'Oct from running when he was the strongest choice & then the last two cycles you've supported people purely because they're not Labour.  Siren is great & ran a good detailed campaign but honestly what did the federalist party gain from that ticket? The problem the party faces with endorsing these hybrid tickets is that once it loses you're back at stage one.

5.) The Brand- Is the Federalist Party the best name, the best vehicle & the best organsiation for beating Labor? If there is a chance that a new name, a new structure, a new party, a new strategy or even an ideological pivot would work then surely you should do it? I know I'm stepping on the hornets nest with this one but I wonder if problems 3 & 4 stem from the need for a huge makeover?

I also find it weird there isn't some sort of Clause 4 moment in the party or internal schism in the party (at least on the election board) There's no fight. Internal divison can be a sign of a weak party but it's also a sign of a healthy party that people want to fix and that people care about.

When I felt Labor was losing it's way I launched a suicidal run against Adam & when people thought I was being an awful Chair they tried to get rid of me. In Labor we had debates & fights over our platform, rule changes, contested primaries & so on.

I know it's a grim task & a thankless one but honestly there's a danger that the federalists respond like you just lost power in a 52-48% election with a 5-4 house- rather than going through a whole year of successively losing & handing Labor two super-majorities. Is it time to reach for the big red button?