Poirot for Senate(s)

[Poirot]

Running in two senate races was a way to increase the chances of winning but there was no win. I find it interesting to run when there are many candidates like the senate at-large. I like to visit the country and have a large pool of potential voters. The Lincoln senate seat looked to be uncontested than I declared and give voters a choice. It was also to try and retain a seat for the Liberal Party. Just before the election starts there was another candidate so voters had even more choice.

It has been some time since I ran. I learned the website I used to design my logo changed and it's not as easy to make a logo for me. That was a disappointment. It made me miss familiar faces that are no longer on the voter list.

I didn't win but I was able to deliver my message. I thank voters who gave me a high preference and people who took the time to follow my campaign.

If you don't run you can't win. I believe winning is not everything. Sure I am disappointed I didn't receive more votes but I usually have fun campaining.

Thank you kindly.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

Thank you Poirot for running. I'm sorry that there was no win. I think there were simply too many candidates, while the draft Poirot campaign for Lincoln has failed due to the late entry of another candidate.

I wish you the best of luck.

[Poirot]

Welcome to my live broadcast.

Today I am doing an unboxing. This is the parcel I received. It was posted in Nyman on March 3rd.

What could it be. I haven't ordered anything lately. Let's open it! oh, it's a star. It's a Gold Star of the Order of the Star of Atlasia !!!

It's beautiful. And there is a note with it:
Poirot, for his indefatigable optimism for a game brighter and more hospitable to moderates than the one he entered, and for which he has never given up the fight.
Signed by President Cao.

This is a surprise. I was not expecting this at all. Wow. What an honour to receive such a distinction. I can't thank President Cao enough to have thought about me and award this to me. I will put it right here on the shelf behind me so my followers will see it when they watch my broadcast.

[Joseph Cao]

This actually dated back to the original draft of the OSA list I made back in early October when it looked like I would lose, so it was serendipitous that you showed up again to remind me firsthand why I made the choice.

[Poirot]

Los Angeles, California in Fremont

I am running for At-Large senate in April 2023.

My secretary tells me I receive fan mail. They see the political situation and wish I should run. Being touched by the outpouring of support I have decided to run and give the possibility for every voter in the country to feel the joy of casting a vote for Poirot on the federal ballot.

The theme of the campaign is No Proxy, No Zombie, No blackmail.

I hear the call from the country and I answer Present.

[Pericles]

Good luck with your bid, you'd be a great change to see in the Senate.

[Poirot]

I'm in Billings, Montana in Fremont.
Hello distinguished citizens of Montana. Tonight I will talk about one of my campaign theme: No proxy.

That means I am against this new form of voting that appeared in the Senate, proxy voting. I am my own person and I will cast my vote myself. I will not delegate it to someone else. I don't believe in ouija boards to decide in my name if I would vote aye or nay.

If we start this form of voting it could make inactive legislators stay in office when they shouldn't because they have the possibility of giving their vote to someone else. Or a future majority could decide to make the rules such as one person can collect many votes and that is not good for active presence either.

It seems a secret advantage was found in the Senate, the earn an extra vote advantage. Like in Survivor, if elected I will search the premises of the Senate building for hidden secret advantages. I won't even do it in secret. I will search the chamber, in the cafeteria, the office of the PPT, the library, behind statues etc. to find secret advantages. I don't know what is out there. It could be the advantage of void a vote, get an extra vote, control a vote, steal a vote.

I'm for present people getting to vote. I say present.

Thank you for coming out tonight and don't forget to vote Poirot for Senate At-Large.

[West_Midlander]

I'm in Billings, Montana in Fremont.
Hello distinguished citizens of Montana. Tonight I will talk about one of my campaign theme: No proxy.

That means I am against this new form of voting that appeared in the Senate, proxy voting. I am my own person and I will cast my vote myself. I will not delegate it to someone else. I don't believe in ouija boards to decide in my name if I would vote aye or nay.

If we start this form of voting it could make inactive legislators stay in office when they shouldn't because they have the possibility of giving their vote to someone else. Or a future majority could decide to make the rules such as one person can collect many votes and that is not good for active presence either.

It seems a secret advantage was found in the Senate, the earn an extra vote advantage. Like in Survivor, if elected I will search the premises of the Senate building for hidden secret advantages. I won't even do it in secret. I will search the chamber, in the cafeteria, the office of the PPT, the library, behind statues etc. to find secret advantages. I don't know what is out there. It could be the advantage of void a vote, get an extra vote, control a vote, steal a vote.

I'm for present people getting to vote. I say present.

Thank you for coming out tonight and don't forget to vote Poirot for Senate At-Large.

Your Ouija board comment is just a straw man. To be completely honest, I came to expect better of you and as a previous 1st preference voter on at least two occasions, I don't think I can rank you this time, or perhaps dead last.

[Poirot]

I'm near the cemetary in Evans City, north of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania in the Lincoln region. The cemetary was a filming location for the Night of the living dead movie. You guessed it. I will talk about another theme of my campaign: No zombie.

There is legislation to remove the activity requirement to be eligible to vote, that is removing a minimum number of posts in a certain period to cast a valid vote. I am against this. I'm for trying to be accomodating to people but there should be some minimum in place to avoid abuse. If yu don't post at all on the website, why would you be interested in the game on the website. We need to keep the barbarians out of the gate.

I don't know if 8 posts is too many. How many people lost a vote because they don't post enough. I go through periods I don't post nearly enough. I don't post in US politics threads. If I need some posts to reach the minimum I can find a poll to answer or post a news somewhere. Political parties often hold conventions so a member can sign in, vote for endorsement or publicly endorse a candidate. A voter can get a few posts easily that way. I don't know if 6 or 4 posts would be better but at least it's not zero. Having zero increases the risk of getting more uninterested players voting or someone building an army of zombies.

[Poirot]

I'm in Cincinnati in Ohio near the Ohio river in Lincoln region.

Across the river is the southern region. I want the country to be prepared to what could happen and think of the future and possibilities. The southern governor has claimed: The South is planning on obtaining sovereignty, whether that means we are in the Republic of Atlasia or out.

One of his goals is to get the regional rights amendment adopted. This is where comes my third campaign theme: No blackmail.

I don't want the Senate to change the powers scared of what could happen if not. When the constitutional convention happened a major change was giving more power to regions so that the federal government doesn't solve every issue and regions are left with nothing to do. At the time it was seen as a win for regionalists. Maybe some changes could be made but this should be done with what is better for the country, for the three regions in mind and not under threats of consequences by one. I am not convinced regions need massive new powers. Perhaps when federal legislation is too broad someone can speak up and suggest regions need some leeway, like setting a minimum for something and regions can decide to go higher if they want.

We also need to plan on what happens if a region declare it's no longer part of Atlasia. Are we going to play with two regions and another country. Are we going to keep the three regions but ignore people who wish to leave and ask them to go on another board. Do we want to have three countries. And what will happen to people in a seceding region, will they lose automatically atlasian citizenship or will they have a choice to stay.

When there was a referendum in the Northeast I voted to stay. I was loyal to my region and its aspirations but I felt it was not cool to wreck the game, that people spent time building and risk its future. 

[Poirot]

I am presenting my campaign song. The campaign theme is No proxy, No zombie, No blackmail.

The official campaign song is No shoes, no shirts, No problems by Kenny Chesney.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-01jhW_Yzhs

There was a focus group that showed I looked too cranky. They even refered to the cranky tour. To change the perception, this song gives a more relaxed and care free vibe.

This was in in Knoxville Tennessee in the south region because Kenny was born in the area.

[Poirot]

I'm in New York City, NY in Lincoln. I'm at a large meeting to thank and motivate volunteers and partisans. It also is a way to raise some money because traveling across the country is not cheap.

First, zombies are an important demographic on the voters list and I would like to say even if I have No zombies in my campaign theme I have nothing against zombies personnally. I'm sure they are fine people and I welcome their votes.

As the campaign is nearing its end I hope I did not insult anyone with my words. Sometimes I use images or say things that appear funny to me. On some things I have strong convictions.

We are having live music. Kool & the gang are here to perform Celebration.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6GZpmi8Z9Q

What are we celebrating? Looking at past campaigns, the first time I ran for at-large senate was in April 2013. It's the 10th year anniversary!

I was never a senator. I was elected to the House. The record is not very good so it's better to celebrate before the election with family and friends because there is a chance there is no reason to celebrate after.

For at-large Senate in April 2023 vote for Poirot.

Thank you kindly to all and I hope to see you at the ballot box.

[Poirot]

October 2023

Yes it's happening again! I am running for Senate. Senate(s) even.

I have declared for regional Senate. I was afraid this was uncontested (not certain). It could be if there is a Peace, Labor, DA support agreement. I don't know. The three parties are strong so there should be some competition. If there is competition between at least two parties I probably have little chance and if they agree for the same candidate I have no chance but it's an election game so why not try.

There is also the at-large senate election. When I look at the elections board every day I feel there is not much going on. There is a presidential election and besides one campaign there is silence. It's election time there should be some activity. So instyead of being bored on the sidelines I decided to participate. It's not exactly the first time I try for Senate.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

Good luck with your campaign. You're right in that the race should be contested.

[Senator-elect Spark]

Endorsed!

[Poirot]

In Nyman

The Senate wants to build a new capitol district. I think that is a bad allocation of a big amount of money. It will benefit engineering firms, construction companies and building firms. It will not help the average citizen. It will not help families having to deal with inflation, it will not help the homeless, it will not help improve the living conditions of the elderly or fight children's poverty. Think about all the helpful things we could do with the money allocated to build a new capitol district. And it's not good for the region of Nyman. There could be job losses, less economic activity and taxes collected in the region.

Vote for better priorities. People before buildings. Vote Poirot.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

In Nyman

The Senate wants to build a new capitol district. I think that is a bad allocation of a big amount of money. It will benefit engineering firms, construction companies and building firms. It will not help the average citizen. It will not help families having to deal with inflation, it will not help the homeless, it will not help improve the living conditions of the elderly or fight children's poverty. Think about all the helpful things we could do with the money allocated to build a new capitol district. And it's not good for the region of Nyman. There could be job losses, less economic activity and taxes collected in the region.

Vote for better priorities. People before buildings. Vote Poirot.

One word: "jobs".

It isn't like that gnomes will be hired to do all the work during nighttime. And creating jobs is a good way of lifting people out of poverty and make them less reliant on a government with a strained budget.

Secondly, for safety reasons this move is the best. Also this will massively help the dairy states their development, and help rural communities in Atlasia flourish due to the (central) location. We cannot neglect our infrastructure. The new location is a great location that fits for the game, adds to worldbuilding and I really believe all of Atlasia will benefit massively from this.

A part of the investment will pay itself out. Creating new jobs is a good way of helping the homeless and improving living conditions, in particular since you don't need a college degree to work in several sectors of the construction business.

[Poirot]

I'm in York, Pennsylvania.

I believe is political diversity in the game. I don't like a duopoly situation or multi party mammoth alliances that remove competition. As a member of a small political party I will be vigilant and fight for the existence and interests of parties that are not dominant. I want the number of members in a party to appear in the census or other privileges to stay the same. Small parties have the right to have a place in the sun too.

[Poirot]

In San Francisco in Fremont region

This morning I want to talk about having control of your body and life. The Senate passed a bill that would charge with manslaughter health professionals who facilitate or help the death of an individual. I believe assisted medical death should be a possibility for those who wish. There should be some limits and strict process for this act but I don't like forcing people to slowly die in great pain. If people are terminally ill and ready to go, they should have the possibility to go.

Control over your body also applies for me to organ donations. To increase organ donations some places use the presumed consent policy (it is presumed that an individual consents to give organs). I don't like this. I don't think doctors should take out organs out of a deceased because the person did not sign a card or a form. Organs should be taken out if the deceased explicitly agreed for this to be done. To increase organ donations  there should be more awareness and informative campaigns to make people willing to agree to organ donations.

[Poirot]

I'm in Bourbonnais in Illinois.

I feel we would make progress if we stopped gloryfying individuals by naming a day, an airport, a building after them. I support the Say no to nepotism act. In Atlasia it is touchy to honor an individual that way. It is difficult to be fair in making an honor, why would this person be worthy of a day and not the other one. I guess it depends if you have friends in power. And there is the risk that later other people / another party will want to erase the name of an individual (because they don't like them, are from a rival party, decide the person is controversial or current players don't remember the person).

Another way to make progress is to prohibit dueling. It is an archaic way to solve conflict. People should use conciliation. With dueling we lose players at a time when the game needs to retain players.

[Poirot]

Don't forget to vote in the october election. I am on the federal ballot for at-large senator and the Lincoln ballot for regional senator. If you are residing in Lincoln you have the possibility of voting two times for Poirot. There is nothing wrong with first preferencing Poirot on the two ballots, you don't have to split your vote for Senate.

I counted fourteen candidates for at-large senate. While I am impressed by the big number of people interested in the office of at-large senator, the big number is not reflected in a big number of public campaigns. I see on the federal ballot two referendum. I hope it's not topics too complicated because there was no topics on the elections on that so no possibility for people to argue for or against or obtain more information before the vote.

Have a good vote(s) everyone and vote Poirot for Senate(s).

[AGA]

Endorsed!

[Poirot]

The result for the Lincoln Senate is in and I received 16 votes representing 39%. Not enough to win but a good result. I want to thank all the voters who first preferenced me. I congratulate nerd and wish him well in representing the region at the federal level.

I have not seen the result of the at-large election yet but I would be shocked if I'm elected. It seems voting was mostly done with two lists of 5-6 names for each. It's like we are heading back to a duopoly. It's hard to make it when you are not part of "one side" and don't have zombies. There is always next time. I will probably be a senator when not enoug people are interested in the job.

[Joseph Cao]

You ran a good race, Poirot, happy to have supported you.