Fear and Loathing in 72’ – The Election Game (GM Vacancy)

[Lumine]

I must say, the amounts of backstabbing I'm getting via PM's are incredibly amusing, good work to you all! An update will follow on what's going on at the convention, then I will post results.

[Lumine]

DNC, Press Room

The aftermath of the first ballot saw some interesting shifts for power as candidates virtually spared no effort or expense in trying to lobby for supporters, leading to interesting results. From the candidates side, an expected Smathers late bid has yet to materialize, but the new (and aggressive) face of the convention is Senator Birch Bayh, who has been lobbying large numbers of people into supporting what looks like a very strong effort. From the withdrawing side, Shirley Chisholm pledged her delegates to George McGovern once more, while Senator Harold Hughes and Governor Andrus endorsed Muskie. The other favorite sons continue to the next ballot.

Of course had this remained a simple matter for lobbying it would have been uninteresting to the news, but a fist fight broke up minutes before the ballot as Yorty delegates heard some very nasty rumours coming from the more liberal delegates. Among the many insults and accusations thrown to the Mayor there have been claims of corruption, extremism, and a particularly harsh comment which portrayed Yorty as "disgusting", a "slob" and other such terms. Generally speaking, the large amount of attacks have hurt both the McGovern and Yorty campaigns coming to the second ballot as a sensation of them being unelectable is beginning to appear, but privately speaking most delegates are also disgusted at the level of attacks thrown against Yorty.

As of this edition, the source of these comments is unknown.

DNC 1972, Second Ballot:

(1517 votes needed for nomination)

Sam Yorty: 1185 (39.08%)
Edmund Muskie: 578 (19.06%)
George McGovern: 505 (16.65%)
Fred Harris: 426 (14.05%)
Morris Udall: 161 (5.31%)
Birch Bayh: 81 (2.67%)
Adlai Stevenson III: 59
Reubin Askew: 26
George Smathers: 6
John C. West: 6
Walter Fauntroy: 3
George Wallace: 2
John Lindsay: 1
Ted Kennedy: 1

The second ballot is even more deadlocked, as the irruption of Birch Bayh's large campaign efforts cause most of the Indiana delegation to switch to him along with several undecided and liberal voters. Andrus, Hughes and Chisholm are gone from the list as other favourite sons take a hit, some minor gains made by Muskie and Harris as the barrage of attacks and appeals fails to break the stalemate. On the losing side we have Mayor Yorty taking damage from rumours launched by one of his rivals, which he needs to address (and he can, considering there is some degree of outrage), and Senator McGovern, as even the liberal candidates turn on him in an attempt to reduce his already limited caucus.

[Lumine]

How many hours left?

About five hours for third ballot.

[Lumine]

How many ballots will there be, at most?

In other words, how much longer will the nominating process take?

Until we get a nominee, naturally. If it starts to take too long I will modify the gameplay and the ballots will come up more often with more unpredictability.

[Lumine]

15 minutes left, no more moves to be allowed for the Third Ballot after that.

[Lumine]

Right, I'll start calculating!

And spoiler alert, swings are going to get larger this time, as most of you have experimented with some very interesting nasty tactics (keep up the good work there)

[Lumine]

DNC, Press Room

"What the hell are those bastards playing at? Udall, you Quislingian son of a...!"
(Overheard quote from Hunter S. Thompson on the DNC floor)

Probably the best way of defining the turn the DNC took after the second ballot showed there was a significant stalemate to be broken was that there was chaos. In front of the cameras candidates were hopeful and forcefully denounced the attacks on Mayor Yorty, if only to save face and allow the press to say Democrats were united against Nixon. The couple of hours after the second ballot seemed to follow that narrative, as indeed several minor candidates indeed dropped out to endorse the major contenders: Governor West to back Bayh, Governor Askew to support Muskie and Walter Fauntroy to support Harris. With those votes in line the third ballot should have been a similar repetition of the second as delegates established some degree of consensus.

And then all hell broke loose.

Delegates and whips from the Harris campaign were caught spreading tales of the Muskie campaign being the one to attack Yorty, and the supposed leak caught fire when the Muskie Texan delegates overheard the news. Another fist fight broke in as chaos began to spread through some of the wings of a nearby hotel, the Muskie delegates denouncing the move and charging Harris instead with being the one to spread the negative tactics on the Los Angeles Mayor. Both delegations fought what can only be described as an escalating civil war which did not stop until the ballot.

That chaos would have been enough to cause drama on both campaigns as delegates broke from Muskie and Harris in disgust (Muskie took it better as he had the Florida delegates to stabilize his losses), until an unknown campaign leaked a story to the press stating that a deal had been reached between the Udall and Yorty campaigns, with the Arizona Congressman accepting to endorse Yorty in exchange for the Vice-Presidency. That only made it worse, as the New York delegates rose in anger and started shouting Judas! along with McGovern delegates and the Jesse Jackson delegation from Illinois (still strongly behind Harris), openly denouncing Udall on what they described as a corrupt bargain. It was thus that the Harris and Muskie delegations entered the third ballot on open war, while the Udall campaign saw liberal support evaporate.

With the McGovern effort virtually nonexistent and losing more delegates to a momentum wave, Birch Bayh and Sam Yorty stepped in to fill the void. Both delivered what was described as excellent speeches before the convention, appealing to delegates in a more effective way. While Bayh captured the lost ground by the other centrist and liberal candidates, the morale of the Yorty delegates was restore on the news of potential Udall reinforcements, allowing them to redouble efforts and round up support.

DNC 1972, Third Ballot:

(1517 votes needed for nomination)

Sam Yorty: 1300 (42.87%)
Edmund Muskie: 589 (19.42%)
George McGovern: 427 (14.08%)
Fred Harris: 371 (12.23%)
Birch Bayh: 219 (7.22%)
Morris Udall: 82 (2.70%)
Adlai Stevenson III: 51
John Lindsay: 1
Ted Kennedy: 1

The gloves came off and the swings became very wild (and they'll continue that way), as several minor candidates dropped out and others amplified their support. The obvious gains come from Mayor Yorty, who is even gaining on moderate support due to his speech and the disgust at the tactics employed by others, and Senator Bayh, whose tireless efforts have put him at over 200 delegates on very little time. From the still stable side we have Ed Muskie, who suffered a heavy blow due to the Harris controversy and managed to avoid a net loss mostly by the endorsement of Florida delegates sworn to Askew. From the losing side we have Senator Harris, who took a lot of damage on the scandal already explained (which lost to an improbable dice roll, mind you, not because of my own choice), Senator McGovern, who is melting away due to a lack of efforts and constant undermining tactics from the rest of the field, and Representative Udall, who saw his support go down by half after a fellow candidate leaked the deal story (not making that one, someone literally asked for that) and cause what can only be described as a delegate flame war.

So, Bayh is winning slowly but surely as a consensus choice, and Yorty is as close as ever as he has to be the nominee.

(A note from the GM: I know all of this might be a bit too dramatic, but I've always felt that's how brokered conventions can get. After all, OTL 1968 and 1972 were kind of a mess which was only lessened by Humphrey and McGovern having enough delegates to survive a first ballot on both)

[Lumine]

Before I forget, Fourth Ballot to be held twenty hours from now.

[Lumine]

This ends in a couple of minutes correct?

It is over now. Results will be in shortly, I think it might be a close run thing.

[Lumine]

DNC, Press Room

While the heated situation at the DNC was defused to a point by the hours before the Fourth Ballot, a growing sense of distrust had set in at the Convention, as the point had been reach in which the ballot number of 1952 had been surpassed. It was at this crucial moment and perhaps feeling the pressure of the media to have a nominee that several candidates and delegations decided to drop out or reassign their votes. Mo Udall was the first to go, derided over his Yorty endorsement and denounced once again as he tried to denounce the media for the "deal" story. It did not help that the Congressman was rumoured to doing background checks on his delegates to keep them in line, hurting his image as he left the stage.

Fred Harris was the surprise, as it was thought the damage made to his campaign could still be restored with a strong effort. But to the surprise of the convention, Harris released his delegates towards Birch Bayh, whose momentum grew large enough for the Senator to be considered a likely choice for second place in the upcoming ballot. Alas, he did not count on new efforts by Senator Muskie and Senator McGovern, the first finding room to grow among several Harris delegates and the second restoring confidence in his campaigns to stage a comeback from his past losses. It was minutes before the end of the ballot that Senator Stevenson acknowledged his campaign was going nowhere, leading Mayor Daley to instruct his delegates to back Mayor Yorty. As a result, the ballot left a pretty interesting scenario...

DNC 1972, Fourth Ballot:

(1517 votes needed for nomination)

Sam Yorty: 1421 (46.86%)
Edmund Muskie: 644 (21.24%)
Birch Bayh: 519 (17.11%)
George McGovern: 468 (15.43%)
Ted Kennedy: 1

As you can see, we have reached the breaking point at this convention. With the number of candidates severely reduced by now, Yorty continues to inch towards that much wanted goal of 1517 delegates, now needing just over a hundred to make his goal. Close as he is, time will not act as his friend, because a failure to reach the goal after being so close over too many future ballots could cripple him if not handled properly. On the liberal side of the party, delegates now have three clear choices in Muskie, Bayh and McGovern, who can technically still block Yorty yet don't seem likely to win by themselves on account of the large number of conservative delegates. Backroom deals, is believed, might be the key to break a potential deadlock, because new actors might jump in if it takes too long to resolve...

[Lumine]

Fifth Ballot coming up in 20 hours.

[Lumine]

Results in half and hour.

[Lumine]

DNC, Press Room

To many it was Yorty's moment, his clear shot at winning the nomination in one of the most hotly contested Conventions in recent times. But what should have been a swift victory unraveled in an unexpectedly quick way as the evening evolved, making the Fifth Ballot the final and decisive battle between Senator Muskie and Mayor Yorty. The first factor, of course, being the sudden entrance of Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson, who severely hurt Yorty's chances by rallying many western and conservative delegates to his side.

The second, to widespreak shock from the media, was the unity of the opposition in nominating a single candidate. Against all odds, George McGovern and Birch Bayh deposed their bids to endorse Muskie and form a common front to fight Yorty and Jackson, riding a momentum wave that, coupled with excellent Muskie GOTV among delegates, forced a decision. Alas, not everything was about Muskie and Yorty, for many delegates still casted a symbolic vote for Ted Kennedy or join the ultimately strong Jackson effort.

And then, the Democratic Nominee was chosen.

DNC 1972, Fifth Ballot:

(1517 votes needed for nomination)

Edmund Muskie: 1554 (51.25%)
Sam Yorty: 1273 (41.98%)
Scoop Jackson: 187 (6.16%)
Ted Kennedy: 18

Ed Muskie wins the Democratic Nomination on the fifth ballot!

[Lumine]

Congratulations to all of you!

Hosting this Democratic Primary was incredibly fun, it clearly took a lot of effort from all of you and it is sad to see a brilliant field reduced to one man. Alas, the nomination process is over, and in a stunning upset Ed Muskie managed to win the nomination that escaped him in OTL 1972, despite Sam Yorty's brilliant primary strategy (in all seriousness, I think Spiral was the one who played more tactically, taking an OTL fringe candidate into a more than plausible nominee).

So, what comes now?

YPestis has two choices now that we move into VP selection process. He can leave the decision to the delegates or choose a VP of his own (that I have to approve), which can either be played by him or by another player that he choses to hold that position. Anyone who has also played as a candidate in the Democratic primary can also run for VP to see if he gains delegate traction, but understand that it is a long shot against an appointed VP nominee. Either way, once YPestis has made a choice (hopefully) soon, I will bring the VP ballot results.

After that, both Muskie and his VP will give their nomination speeches, and I will give you a detailed analysis on the convention (the Democratic and the Independent one) along with potential bonuses and penalties gained by the players on those.

And then, the RNC!

[Lumine]

Also, when are the rules for the General Election coming out?

#post1000

All in due time, I want the Convention Phase over first so some decisions can be taken by the players involved.

[Lumine]

VP Agnew to resign over bribery scandal!

To the outright shock of many in the Republican Party (and indeed, the nation), Vice-President Spiro Agnew (R-MD) announced today that he would be resigning the Vice-Presidency, having held the post for three years and a half after being selected by President Richard Nixon in 1968. The Department of Justice was tipped by an anonymous source that Mr. Agnew had accepted bribes as Governor of Maryland, and a swift and a throrough investigation confirmed the charges. Pressed to make a move due to the proximity of the Republican National Convention and perhaps due to the harm a prolonged struggle would do to President Nixon, Agnew chose to make his resignation effective as soon as possible, ending a promising political career as a conservative darling just as quickly as he had arisen to become Vice-President.

Though confined to the Vice-President, the scandal has taken a hit on Richard Nixon's image, and while he's still leading his Democratic challengers in tentative but not extensive polling taken during the DNC, insiders said the distance has narrowed somewhat (mind you, all of this is supposed to be happening in the span of few days, so Muskie is not technically the nominee here). From the purely administrative side, this leaves the immediate line of succession on the hands of Speaker Carl Albert (D-OK), President Pro Tempore of the Senate Allen J. Ellender (D-LA) and the recently sworn in Secretary of the Treasury George P. Shultz.

On the political side, a lot of speculation has been going on, some arguing Nixon will nominate a VP to serve the remainder of the term (some sort of elder statesman that the Democrats will vote for in the Senate) and a VP at the Convention for a potential next term, others arguing a full VP should be chosen. In any case, several individuals have been proposed by prominent GOP offices, like Senator Barry Goldwater (R-AZ), former Governor William Scranton (R-PA), Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare Elliot Richardson (R-MA), Governor Nelson Rockefeller (R-NY), former Secretary of the Treasury John Connally (D-TX) and even Senator Edward Brooke (R-MA). While the RNC will be the place to see in full force, former Agnew supporters are rumored to be considering a draft movement to give the Vice-Presidency to California Governor Ronald Reagan (R-CA).

[Lumine]

Gentlemen,

I seem to have developed something resembling a breakdown (which led to a pretty unpleasant night), so I will be undergoing a couple of medical tests while taking a few days off for things that are not the absolute priority (everything except college, so to speak).

The timeline is put on hold for a few days, but Muskie's selected choice (whom I have approved via PM) is going to pass the convention anyway, so I invite Muskie and his VP to post their speeches to get things moving.

I'll see you in a few days! (three, four, not so sure right now)

[Lumine]

Thank you, gentlemen, I really appreciate it!

Some pretty good speeches from Tmth and YPestis as well, making the DNC all but finished.

As of today I'm feeling a lot better, but it will take some time for me to post on a regular basis (just this, PM's and some Atlasia related votes). I'd say Tuesday/Wednesday at the absolute earliest for me to retake the game, the end of the weekend the latest barring unforseen circumstances.

Now, we are moving towards the general election, so I'm leaving it open for additional candidates to join in via PM as requests. Mind you, I'm trying to enforce a plausible scenario whenever possible, so I will be very strict in which candidates to accept (not a third party McGovern, for example, as he endorsed Muskie, or a candidate who is too similar to Schmitz as those votes are already there).

Also, we have a Democratic team and a Republican team in progress, so Schmitz (Classic Conservative) can choose whether to recruit another player to be John Rarick or play as both of them. It's his choice.

[Lumine]

Fear & Loathing is Back!

After recovering from my breakdown I had the impression too much time had passed for the game to be restored and I was sure the players had lost interest, but as it seems, there's enough enthusiasm for Fear and Loathing in 72' to actually stage a comeback. Four of the remaining five players have confirmed they return (I'm still waiting on Tmthforu), and with that in mind I have decided to bring back the game.

Where did we left?

On Turn Sixteen, the Democratic National Convention, which nominated Senators Ed Muskie and Birch Bayn, as Sam Yorty and his supporters staged a chaotic walkout in protest. At the same time, a convention of conservatives and independents nominated John Schmitz and John Rarick as an independent ticket for the General Election, and Vice-President Spiro Agnew was forced to resign over a bribery scandal, leaving Nixon the dilemma of appointing a VP before Congress and choosing a new VP for the RNC.

How do we move forward?

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Once this is sorted out, I will post the rules and gameplay of the General Election, which I am writing as we speak. We will have a preparation phase in which I will ask for slogans, issues, themes, targets and so on, and then we will play, tentatively five turns (hopefully a month or so) and then a simulation of Election Night 1972.

In the meantime, I will also accept further candidates, but I will restrict them to be fair to the veteran players and to be realistic. George Wallace and Ted Kennedy will not run, for example, but don't be afraid of picking candidates outside the box. Alternatively, new players can also play as surrogates for the main candidates, campaiging through the country to increase the momentum points (a new system we will implement) of their respective nominee.

[Lumine]

I am afraid I do not have the time available that I did last fall. I will be cheering from the sidelines. Best of luck to everyone.

Sad to hear, Tmth, I was looking forward to your schedules!

Obviously, Senator Bayh remains Muskie's running mate, so YPestis needs to find a player for him as well.

By the way, everyone, my running mate is already selected. He/she will be announced soon.

Excellent! Please remember to nominate a VP for Congress too, I want to simulate that as well.

[Lumine]

I've been informed NeverAgain will play Bayh, leaving Rarick to be selected and Nixon's running mate to be announced, along with additional candidates or surrogates (former players are of course invited to play as their former candidates as surrogates if they wish).

If the forum has not collapsed later this evening, General Election rules and gameplay will be up.

[Lumine]

Bump! I still need both Nixon's VP and the Rarick player to be announced.

[Lumine]

I will be playing as Rarick

Noted!

Dar, you're up, I can post the rules and get things sorted as soon as I know who the GOP running mate will be.

[Lumine]

Dar has settled on a VP for the GE and a temporary appointment as well, and he has asked until tomorrow to make the formal announcements. Beyond that, I will not wait. In the meantime, here are our basic rules for Phase Three of the game: the 1972 General Election:

General Election Rules:

1. Turns: The General Election will be covered in nine playable turns, plus the special of Election Night 72’ (which might be interactive to some degree). The first eight turns cover a week each, and the final turn covers the final week of the presidential race, spanning from the 1st of September to the 7th of November. Each turn lasts 72 hours, which I may extend for 24 hours if absolutely necessary.

2. Debates: We will have three debates for this phase, two presidential ones (Turns 2 and 7) and one for the Vice-Presidential nominees (Turn 5). All campaigns are invited, but candidates are free to attend as they wish. Each debate will have an opening and closing statement, and three issues to be discussed, with each candidate having a right to up to two rebuttals to other candidates. After the end, I will assign points to each candidate on each part of the debate, and roll the dice to assign you a performance level (from one to six, to simulate whether the candidates were in top form or not).

3. Schedules: The schedules remain basically the same as in the primaries, with the exception of fundraising, as it makes no sense to raise money at this moment. Your actions are the obvious ones for campaigning, or to use the media through interviews, press conferences and campaign ads. The Nixon and Muskie campaigns can run a max. of 3 TV, Newspaper or Radio ads per turn, the Schmitz campaign is limited to two (which cannot be both from TV, to reflect the lesser funds of an independent campaign against the big parties).

4. Polling: Well, each turn brings a national poll; with players being allowed to request four state polls each turn (that makes for twelve each turn). I will have the real numbers on the ground carefully noted down, but each poll will be released with a margin of error of up to 3%. It’s no Dewey beats Truman, but it should add a sense of uncertainty.

As you can see, fairly simple. As soon as I have those announcements I will post a race analysis of the primaries, a write-up of the July-August events, and begin Turn Seventeen.

[Lumine]

Excellent.

I'm writing the analysis and the July-August events as we speak. Expect turn Seventeen tonight or tomorrow, the GE finally moves on!