Thanks for taking my poll!
posted by Peter at 9:35 am
0 comments
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Friday, October 05, 2007
The Seanad races
Fort Wayne, IN
Whilst all eyes are on the Presidential race - we should not allow ourselves to forget the Senate races. As ever, we have the Regions up with the President. After spending little more than 2 minutes reading the Candidacy Declaration Thread, here is the state of play:
Mideast - Al has been elected and then retired from the Senate so many times now that you may have missed his latest announcement, but he's doing just that. At present there are no declared candidates - who knows? I might run.
Midwest - Lewis Trondheim is running again, and with no declared opposition, he looks like the firm favourite, but never misunderestimate the Midwest and its capacity for doing different.
Northeast - Verily, after winning appointment to the Senate is now seeking a term of his own. No declared opposition.
Pacific - I'm not sure if Rob has declared his intentions, but there is a queue for his seat - Everett, Robert Stark (if he's legal) and hughento have all declared candidacy for the seat. Whether any campaigning for the seat will actually take place is a different question entirely.
Southeast - No declared candidates, though surely Sam Spade won't be turning down another turn of the wheel?
All in all, not that good at the moment. We can only pray for more candidates.
Whilst all eyes are on the Presidential race - we should not allow ourselves to forget the Senate races. As ever, we have the Regions up with the President. After spending little more than 2 minutes reading the Candidacy Declaration Thread, here is the state of play:
Mideast - Al has been elected and then retired from the Senate so many times now that you may have missed his latest announcement, but he's doing just that. At present there are no declared candidates - who knows? I might run.
Midwest - Lewis Trondheim is running again, and with no declared opposition, he looks like the firm favourite, but never misunderestimate the Midwest and its capacity for doing different.
Northeast - Verily, after winning appointment to the Senate is now seeking a term of his own. No declared opposition.
Pacific - I'm not sure if Rob has declared his intentions, but there is a queue for his seat - Everett, Robert Stark (if he's legal) and hughento have all declared candidacy for the seat. Whether any campaigning for the seat will actually take place is a different question entirely.
Southeast - No declared candidates, though surely Sam Spade won't be turning down another turn of the wheel?
All in all, not that good at the moment. We can only pray for more candidates.
posted by Peter at 3:57 pm
0 comments
The Progressive Primary
Nyman D.C.
It is about time I sweep off the cobwebs from this dormant tabloid and comment on the news of the day a little more.....
The Progressive Primary - it could perhaps be declared one of the modern wonders of the Atlasian world - a primary that suddenly runs the risk of actually mattering. There are very few Atlasians who remember the first primaries in Atlasia before the February 2004 contests, and even fewer who participated in them. Those contests mattered - they set up the Nym v. Supersoulty contest, and candidates paid genuine attention to them.
The Progressive Primary does not have the same impact as those primaries, and it never could - the electoral system is much friendlier to any candidate who chooses to stay in the race despite poor primary polling, and perhaps more importantly, remains friendly to any winning candidate if lower placed candidates stay in the race. IRV dispels many of the potential problems of a split leftist/centrist/rightist vote (though they can exist in certain, extreme circumstances). Also, the partisan dealignment, whereby ties of individuals to a party are much weaker because they have no real world equivalent, has also meant the primaries are not as strong as they could be. Ultimately no candidate fears the wrath of members of their own party if they fail to drop out after a poor showing - the Progressive Primary is not run by a Party leadership at all.
Instead, the Progressive Primary is being run by one man for the benefit of the general left of the political spectrum, and even if it doesn't provide some benefit to the left, at least it has provided some interesting viewing until the actual election takes place. That man is EarlAW - he has constructed the primary from the ground up - he assembled a voter list; he decided a programme for the primaries across the Regions; he designed a system for awarding delegates; and he administers the whole thing.
How much will the Progressive Primary matter? Only time can tell, though it has a much better chance than many that have gone before it - it has grabbed the attention of many on the left who have voted without prompt, and lots of candidates have paid attention to it (as opposed to taking it for granted which used to happen with internal party primaries).
Its ultimate test will be this - does the winner of the primary get a push out of the final convention and actually do better than many of those who he beats? Only time will tell.
It is about time I sweep off the cobwebs from this dormant tabloid and comment on the news of the day a little more.....
The Progressive Primary - it could perhaps be declared one of the modern wonders of the Atlasian world - a primary that suddenly runs the risk of actually mattering. There are very few Atlasians who remember the first primaries in Atlasia before the February 2004 contests, and even fewer who participated in them. Those contests mattered - they set up the Nym v. Supersoulty contest, and candidates paid genuine attention to them.
The Progressive Primary does not have the same impact as those primaries, and it never could - the electoral system is much friendlier to any candidate who chooses to stay in the race despite poor primary polling, and perhaps more importantly, remains friendly to any winning candidate if lower placed candidates stay in the race. IRV dispels many of the potential problems of a split leftist/centrist/rightist vote (though they can exist in certain, extreme circumstances). Also, the partisan dealignment, whereby ties of individuals to a party are much weaker because they have no real world equivalent, has also meant the primaries are not as strong as they could be. Ultimately no candidate fears the wrath of members of their own party if they fail to drop out after a poor showing - the Progressive Primary is not run by a Party leadership at all.
Instead, the Progressive Primary is being run by one man for the benefit of the general left of the political spectrum, and even if it doesn't provide some benefit to the left, at least it has provided some interesting viewing until the actual election takes place. That man is EarlAW - he has constructed the primary from the ground up - he assembled a voter list; he decided a programme for the primaries across the Regions; he designed a system for awarding delegates; and he administers the whole thing.
How much will the Progressive Primary matter? Only time can tell, though it has a much better chance than many that have gone before it - it has grabbed the attention of many on the left who have voted without prompt, and lots of candidates have paid attention to it (as opposed to taking it for granted which used to happen with internal party primaries).
Its ultimate test will be this - does the winner of the primary get a push out of the final convention and actually do better than many of those who he beats? Only time will tell.
posted by Peter at 11:40 am
0 comments
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Previous Posts
- Jesus to run for President
- Atlasian Observer Polling - Presidential election ...
- Thanks for taking my poll!
- October 2007 Past Presidents Poll
- The Seanad races
- The Progressive Primary
- Electoral Reform: Another Round
- Senate News Update
- Republic Declines to Seek Re-election; Porce Enter...
- National Governor's Alliance Proposed
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