Franzl/Swedish Cheese campaign CONCESSION SPEECH

[Franzl]

Ladies and gentlemen,

The new Senate has begun, and important debate is currently taking place on important legislation for Atlasia. I'm happy that everything is running so smoothly. We also have a PPT now, MasterJedi, and I congratulate him sincerely to his re-election. The incident involving the PPT election was regrettable, and I feel silly for the way I conducted myself. I apologize to any who are offended as a result.

I have served as a senator for 6 months now, having had the honor of being Attorney General before that, and at the very beginning of my Atlasian public service, Speaker of the Mideast Assembly. That experience has provided me with an understanding of the way Atlasia works and Atlasians think. I know what's on our citizens' minds, and I have tried my best to represent all my constituents to the best of my abilities.

I am a proud member of the Democratic Alliance. We seek to provide a centrist alternative to the current bi-polar Atlasian political system, and we have no reservations about working with any political party, provided that they treat us with respectfully and professionally in order to work for the good of Atlasia.

Regardless, this campaign should not focus on pointing fingers at anyone. Rather, I am running for the Democratic Alliance in order to present my party as a viable political alternative, regardless of whether we have much chance of ultimately winning. That's not to say I'm not optimistic, Atlasia can do anything if it has the will, and I assure you, I'll fight to win in October. But even if that doesn't work out, I'll be happy to have led my party's ticket, and I'll be proud to have offered Atlasia the chance to vote for a centrist alternative.

We should focus on Atlasia's problems.....the financial crisis, the political system and potential reforms, ensuring equal opportunity to all Atlasians. We don't want to continue Atlasia's unfortunate tradition of partisan fighting. We wish both the JCP, RPP and potentially the LNF the best of luck in their respective campaigns, and I personally look forward to debating other candidates about the most important Atlasian issues.

Anyone who isn't pleased with the way things are currently running....ask me whatever questions you have on your mind. Anything. I'll do my best to provide honest answers and solutions I may come up with.

That's all for now, I'll be posting regularly throughout this campaign to provide updates....and eventually to reveal my choice for Vice President.

Thank you!

[Franzl]

Well I knew this was coming even though you said you didn't want to, unless that was a lie. It's just sad that you went from saying you'd run with me without DA support to folding in because of DWTL (though I don't believe that's the reason at all).

It's nothing personal. It's a combination of factors, I believe I've listed them in private. I wish you the best of luck in your campaign.

[Franzl]

I want to say thank you to all the people that expressed their endorsements, their support and their best wishes.

I'm happy that we have a competitive race going, but I also hope that the partisan fighting will stop so that we can start debating the issues that matter to Atlasians.

We owe it to our citizens to try and work in their best interest. That is our main purpose as public servants.


I just wanted to mention that I plan on introducing my running mate sometime around next weekend. Oh the suspense!

[Franzl]

As always, Franzl, you have my utmost support and endorsement.

I'm very happy to hear that....I appreciate it

[Franzl]

Update:

I'm looking forward to the bill about the pornography age that will soon be on the Senate floor. It is my intention to attempt to amend it to completely eliminate the minimum age instead of changing it from 18 to 14. I am aware that some people (one senator in particular) won't be pleased with that idea, but I don't see anything that would make such a move irrational. I believe that restricting freedom can only be an option if there are legitimate negative consequences that are the result of certain behavior, such as banning smoking in public, due to the health risks imposed through second hand smoke.

I also wish to state that I completely oppose the current bill illegalizing abortion in Atlasia. I was at one point "pro-life", and indeed, I still find abortion to be a disgusting practice, but I no longer believe that it is in the best interest of Atlasians to criminalize it. We certainly need to work to reduce the number of abortions that take place, but I won't support such a draconian method.


Oh, and I'll be making my running mate announcement on Monday evening. Feel free to start the guessing game

[Franzl]

Update:

I'm looking forward to the bill about the pornography age that will soon be on the Senate floor. It is my intention to attempt to amend it to completely eliminate the minimum age instead of changing it from 18 to 14. I am aware that some people (one senator in particular) won't be pleased with that idea, but I don't see anything that would make such a move irrational. I believe that restricting freedom can only be an option if there are legitimate negative consequences that are the result of certain behavior, such as banning smoking in public, due to the health risks imposed through second hand smoke.

I also wish to state that I completely oppose the current bill illegalizing abortion in Atlasia. I was at one point "pro-life", and indeed, I still find abortion to be a disgusting practice, but I no longer believe that it is in the best interest of Atlasians to criminalize it. We certainly need to work to reduce the number of abortions that take place, but I won't support such a draconian method.

My opinion of you has just gone down.

Well I apologize that my campaign isn't specifically designed to make your opinion go up.

[Franzl]

By the way, am I right in predicting that you will select a fellow Democratic Alliance member for running mate?

Wait and see

[Franzl]

Update:

I'm looking forward to the bill about the pornography age that will soon be on the Senate floor. It is my intention to attempt to amend it to completely eliminate the minimum age instead of changing it from 18 to 14. I am aware that some people (one senator in particular) won't be pleased with that idea, but I don't see anything that would make such a move irrational. I believe that restricting freedom can only be an option if there are legitimate negative consequences that are the result of certain behavior, such as banning smoking in public, due to the health risks imposed through second hand smoke.

I also wish to state that I completely oppose the current bill illegalizing abortion in Atlasia. I was at one point "pro-life", and indeed, I still find abortion to be a disgusting practice, but I no longer believe that it is in the best interest of Atlasians to criminalize it. We certainly need to work to reduce the number of abortions that take place, but I won't support such a draconian method.

My opinion of you has just gone down.

Well I apologize that my campaign isn't specifically designed to make your opinion go up.

I find remarks like these very condescending. The amount of overall contempt our elected officials in all parties have been showing the mainstream electorate is particularly disgusting. The notion that we, as voters, are somehow beneath the people we elect is ridiculous.

^^^^

Does Franzl realize that his comment means one less (potential) vote for his campaign??

I'm not willing to sacrifice my principles in order to gain votes. I say what I think, and I vote that way. I would hope that potential voters would respect that.

[Franzl]

Update:

I'm looking forward to the bill about the pornography age that will soon be on the Senate floor. It is my intention to attempt to amend it to completely eliminate the minimum age instead of changing it from 18 to 14. I am aware that some people (one senator in particular) won't be pleased with that idea, but I don't see anything that would make such a move irrational. I believe that restricting freedom can only be an option if there are legitimate negative consequences that are the result of certain behavior, such as banning smoking in public, due to the health risks imposed through second hand smoke.

I also wish to state that I completely oppose the current bill illegalizing abortion in Atlasia. I was at one point "pro-life", and indeed, I still find abortion to be a disgusting practice, but I no longer believe that it is in the best interest of Atlasians to criminalize it. We certainly need to work to reduce the number of abortions that take place, but I won't support such a draconian method.

My opinion of you has just gone down.

Well I apologize that my campaign isn't specifically designed to make your opinion go up.

I find remarks like these very condescending. The amount of overall contempt our elected officials in all parties have been showing the mainstream electorate is particularly disgusting. The notion that we, as voters, are somehow beneath the people we elect is ridiculous.

^^^^

Does Franzl realize that his comment means one less (potential) vote for his campaign??

I'm not willing to sacrifice my principles in order to gain votes. I say what I think, and I vote that way. I would hope that potential voters would respect that.

While I agree with your sentiment here I get the feeling that you are begginning to act a lot more like PS and less like yourself, Franzl.

Huh?

[Franzl]

Just remember that AndrewCT would be president right now if he didn't pick that idiot as his VP

[Franzl]

Am I the only one that considers it rather disrespectful to take my views on porn and abortion and say "that makes my opinion of you go down"?

[Franzl]

What would have been condescending is flipping flopping back and forth, changing your positions so that you can make everyone happy (which the RPP, constantly hiding under the guise of non-ideology hilariously attempts to do).

If you are trying to portray NC Yank as a flip-flopper for changing a couple votes in the Senate...

I'm not, I was speaking hypothetically. My point is that taking strong policy stands and understanding that you'll sometimes have to disagree with potential voters is not a sign of condescension but respect of the citizenry.

In that case, Franzl should have said "This is one issue we may disagree on, but there are plenty of others that we agree on and should focus on those aspects of my campaign" or something. I agree that the remark was very PurpleState-esque and I saw the remark as basically saying "Yeah, this is where I stand and I don't really care what you think about it."

With all due respect, precisely that kind of statement would seem very opportunistic and artificial to me.

[Franzl]

What would have been condescending is flipping flopping back and forth, changing your positions so that you can make everyone happy (which the RPP, constantly hiding under the guise of non-ideology hilariously attempts to do).

If you are trying to portray NC Yank as a flip-flopper for changing a couple votes in the Senate...

I'm not, I was speaking hypothetically. My point is that taking strong policy stands and understanding that you'll sometimes have to disagree with potential voters is not a sign of condescension but respect of the citizenry.

In that case, Franzl should have said "This is one issue we may disagree on, but there are plenty of others that we agree on and should focus on those aspects of my campaign" or something. I agree that the remark was very PurpleState-esque and I saw the remark as basically saying "Yeah, this is where I stand and I don't really care what you think about it."

With all due respect, precisely that kind of statement would seem very opportunistic and artificial to me.

Give it a rest Franzl, isn't it obvious that you can no longer command respect from people who used to have the uptmost admiration for you just a few weeks ago. Your the one appearing phoney with bogus indignation.

so "commanding respect" = sucking up?

[Franzl]

What would have been condescending is flipping flopping back and forth, changing your positions so that you can make everyone happy (which the RPP, constantly hiding under the guise of non-ideology hilariously attempts to do).

If you are trying to portray NC Yank as a flip-flopper for changing a couple votes in the Senate...

I'm not, I was speaking hypothetically. My point is that taking strong policy stands and understanding that you'll sometimes have to disagree with potential voters is not a sign of condescension but respect of the citizenry.

In that case, Franzl should have said "This is one issue we may disagree on, but there are plenty of others that we agree on and should focus on those aspects of my campaign" or something. I agree that the remark was very PurpleState-esque and I saw the remark as basically saying "Yeah, this is where I stand and I don't really care what you think about it."

With all due respect, precisely that kind of statement would seem very opportunistic and artificial to me.

Give it a rest Franzl, isn't it obvious that you can no longer command respect from people who used to have the uptmost admiration for you just a few weeks ago. Your the one appearing phoney with bogus indignation.

so "commanding respect" = sucking up?

No. But commanding respect means not entering private sites to spy, not plotting to take down a respected Senator whom you were at one time willing to run on a ticket with, running against said Senator for President when he has done nothing since then to make him less qualified, admitting that your campaign is party first even though the DA claims to work "above partisan politics" and though many on this site believe in "Country First, Party Last" regardless of what they think of a certain former and terrible Presidential candidate.

So being respected means providing the RPP their ticket to winning the election?

I think we should let the voters decide what respect is about.

[Franzl]

Agreed....let's stop this....

[Franzl]

Good evening!

As promised, I will now announce my running mate and hopefully the next Vice President of Atlasia.

This person is relatively new all in all, but his record is very strong. He has been a wonderful asset to the Mideast region, and his pragmatic politics, willingness and ability to debate, and his constantly respectful, courteous behavior caught my eye very early.

He has proven himself to be a well liked and respected member not only in our region, but throughout all of Atlasia, and I doubt many people will disagree that he has the ability to fulfill the duties of Vice President.

My fellow DA member, and very good friend: Swedish Cheese

[Franzl]

Good evening!

As promised, I will now announce my running mate and hopefully the next Vice President of Atlasia.

This person is relatively new all in all, but his record is very strong. He has been a wonderful asset to the Mideast region, and his pragmatic politics, willingness and ability to debate, and his constantly respectful, courteous behavior caught my eye very early.

He has proven himself to be a well liked and respected member not only in our region, but throughout all of Atlasia, and I doubt many people will disagree that he has the ability to fulfill the duties of Vice President.

My fellow DA member, and very good friend: Swedish Cheese

Is Swedish Cheese eligible for the Presidency? If the requirement is 180 days, that is 6 months. May 30th was less than 6 months ago. I believe you have to choose again.

That doesn't apply to people that were registered to vote at the time it was passed.

[Franzl]

Anyway... back to substance.

What will be the top three things on the top of your agenda should you be elected? How actively will you push for your agenda?

I'll get back to you on this really soon!

[Franzl]

I must say, Great Ticket. This is the type of thing people of expect of you Franzl, to complete the answer to your earlier question.

In that case, I'm happy to fulfill those expectations

[Franzl]

Could you outline your fiscal policy for me? This is likely how I will determine the candidates I ultimately vote for.

Do you just mean general economic principles, or do you have any specific questions or concerns?

[Franzl]

I supported the original stimulus package this last Senate session in the hopes it would provide some sort of economic boost, I'm still waiting to hear what the actual effects of it were.

I might entertain the idea of certain smaller boosts on a needs basis....but I'm generally sceptical of pumping more money we don't have in order to generate demand that is often artificial and impossible to maintain. That's why I strongly opposed attempts to legislate "Cash for Clunkers" in Atlasia.

Taxes are good the way they are for the most part, although I wouldn't mind a small tax cut for the lowest individual bracket. Aside from that, but maybe more sensible at a later date, I strongly support lower corporate taxation in an effort to be more internationally competitive.

As far as trade is concerned, I tend to support laissez-faire international policies. Free trade is mutually beneficial in my mind in most cases, and only extreme circumstances would force me to oppose individual free trade agreements.

Green economics? Well, I obviously believe global warming is a problem that needs to be taken seriously. What I don't approve of is the way the real life Greens complain about CO2....but simultaneously oppose attempts to generate more nuclear power. That's one of my main environmentally friendly ways to become somewhat more independent of oil. Other things include supporting modernization of federal buildings, and support for high speed rail, and any public transportation really.

NCYankee's bill to provide necessary credit was very important, and I anticipate that that will have a positive effect, and will probably save lots of Atlasian jobs.

I'll write more about economic policy as this campaign progesses, as it is the most important element of good government, in my mind.

[Franzl]

Thanks to Afleitch who produced this brilliant campaign banner!

[Franzl]

What about a national bank?

I'm honestly unsure on that currently. You make some good points in favor, but I do have concerns about competition, much like I did when the debate was on nationalizing the Atlasian auto industry.

I'd like to wait for Senate debate before making a final decision.

[Franzl]

Fair and good point. Thank you.

[Franzl]

So I guess most of you are pretty surprised.

I can assure you that it was nothing compared how surprised I felt when I was first offered the position by Franzl. At first I was almost convinced that there had been some sort of misunderstanding or mix-up. When it became clear to me that I was in fact the person Franzl wanted by his side, I became determined to be the best running mate, and the best Vice President anyone could ask for.

I’m very glad to see the warm response to my nomination, from some of the most influential and admirable posters in this game. I’m actually really flattered.

Even though my time in Atlasia has not been very long, I have still grown really attached to this place. This game has some of the most intelligent and interesting people I could ever imagine. I think that just by being around you guys, and by hearing all your different arguments and perspectives, I have become wiser. Not to mention I have made some really great friends here.      

Therefore I want to make sure that Atlasia has the best of the best, and that this game really is everything that it can be. I believe that the best way to achieve that is by electing Franzl our next President. During the coming month I will work hard and tirelessly to make sure it happens.  

Thank you all for the support and kind words. Dave bless you, and Dave bless Atlasia.

Also please no RPP vs JCP fights. Lets all be friends instead *HugHugHug*

Humble as always