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Ninety Days to Victory (Prime Minister Elections in Vendoland)
Topic Started: Jul 8 2014, 09:30 PM (1,135 Views)
Vendoland
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Good evening, I'm Russell LeBlanc, senior editor here at the Vendoland Gazette, Vendoland's number one news source. Thank you for joining us for Ninety Days to Victory, our ongoing special on the Prime Minister elections here in Vendoland. Over the next ninety days, we'll take you through an in-depth look at each PM candidate and each party as they work towards their goal, one day at a time. We would like to warn the audience that we will not be editing any content, so viewer discretion may be advised. It is our view that any editing would take away from the overall message and may intentionally or unintentionally affect public perception of the parties. We would rather let the candidates speak directly to the viewing public in order to let the voters form their own opinions.

Stay tuned to this program to see how this race unfolds. We only promise one thing: we will deliver the truth, whatever that may be.


[OOC: For the sake of clarity, any comments made by Mr. LeBlanc will be highlighted in purple. This will help to differentiate between Mr. LeBlanc, the candidates, members of the public, and other journalists.]
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We conclude our in-depth looks at the candidates with our analysis of Harold White, the Libertarian candidate. Here in the studio once again are Charlie Tanninghouse of the Vendoland Patriot Network and Eva Holcroft of the Appleton Free Press. Thank you both again for being here.

EH: Thank you.

CT: Thank you.

Now before we get into the analysis of White, I would like to ask what you thought of something. Both Walker and Oviedo campaigned today in towns that traditionally are lost causes for their respective parties. What do you think convinced them to do so and do you think it's time well spent?

With Walker, this all plays into the new Conservative strategy of trying to claim the center. He figures that Igawa is the one to beat and so he's looking to steal as much of Labor's base as he possibly can. I'm a little confused with what Oviedo is trying to accomplish though. For Walker, campaigning in Avalon makes sense; he's politically close to the base and the Conservatives have always done decently there. Not only is Torrington firmly in the Conservative column, the Progressives barely even exist there. I personally think this was a wasted day on her part and at this point in the game, you can't afford to waste days.


I disagree. In every other election out there, the same parties campaign in the same towns, with a handful of places changing hands once in a while. I think Oviedo is trying to change how things are done by taking a chance on a long shot. Torrington has always been conservative and demographically older, but that doesn't mean it will always be that. Besides, this visit may have larger implications down the road. If the Progressives can maintain their ideology and still present themselves as a party that is willing to speak to their opponents and work with them, that can only help Oviedo in the long run.


Thank you both for the insight. Now onto our look at Harold White:


Posted Image
Name: Harold White
Age: 68
Current Position: MP of Seville; Libertarian Party leader
Numbers of years experience: 32 years as MP; 25 years as Party Leader
Education: Westford Academy (secondary school diploma) / Randgriz Military Academy (Electrical Engineering)
Party Platform: Far right on economics / far left on civil rights / far right on social issues / far left on military spending

Eva, what do you think of White's chances to win it all?

I'll be honest; I don't think he has any more chance to win than he did the last six times he's run for PM. He's never received more than 5% of the popular vote and, to top it all off, he has a habit of saying extremely offensive things about regular citizens. If he keeps alienating voters with his offensive rheotoric, the Libertarian Party will be finished here in Vendoland.

Charlie?

I agree with Eva; I don't think he stands a chance. I think everyone is tired of the Libertarian Party and I think everyone's particularly tired with Harold White.

Thank you again to Eva and Charlie for your insight into today's developments and for your insight during our analysis series. Thank you to all of the viewers out there for tuning in. We hope to see you again tomorrow night.
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85 days until the election

Good evening. I'm Russell LeBlanc and you're watching Ninety Days to Victory, our special coverage program of the Vendolandian Prime Minister Elections.

Prime Minister Igawa met with senior leaders of the Vendoland Labor Federation today at a private function in Randgriz today. Though the function was invite-only and closed to the press, sources at the VLF and in Igawa's camp reported that the Prime Minister promised a renewed commitment to the working class and a proposed re-opening of several factories and shipyards throughout the country. The sources were in agreement that the labor leaders were receptive to the PM's message.

Harold White cancelled his scheduled speech in Redforge today. There has been no explanation forthcoming, either officially or unofficially. We will report any and all information as it comes in.

Angela Oviedo gave a rousing speech to a capacity crowd in front of the Wilshire City Hall today. Wilshire's long-serving MP, Eric Hancock of the Labor Party, declared his retirement at the end of his term last year and now it appears that Hancock's successor-to-be, Hilda Von Klerk, is fighting a highly contested electoral battle against the Progressive candidate, Lina Gusernaal. Oviedo's appearance appeared to both help Gusernaal's chances of election as well as boosting her own chances in the PM election.

Kyle Walker gave a well-received speech to the Vendoland Law Enforcement Foundation, in which he pledged to put 7,000 new local and state police officers on the street in the first two years of his term. VLEF has endorsed the last twelve Conservative Party candidates for Prime Minister, so Walker's attention to their needs certainly seems prudent.
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We are joined now in the studio by Quentin Marbury of the Mt. Xavier Globe and Gloria Savoy of the Seville Business Journal. Quentin, Gloria, it's nice to have you here on the program.

QM: Thank you for the opportunity, Russell.

GS: Thank you very much.

We now have results for our domestic reader poll. If the people of Vendoland had to vote for a Prime Minister today, this would be the result:

Igawa: 34%
Walker: 32%
Oviedo: 25%
White: 1%
Undecided: 8%

Margin of error: +/- 2%

Both Igawa and Walker have seen their numbers increase, with Igawa still slightly in the lead. However, their numbers are still within the margin of error. Gloria, what do you make of this poll?

I'm not surprised by these numbers. They're virtually where they were a few days ago, except Igawa and Walker, who have substantive policy speeches and productive campaign stops, and White, who seems to have gone out of his way to offend people. At this early point in the campaign, the only people who are paying attention are the people who always pay attention to the political landscape. As we get closer to Election Day, watch as those numbers start shifting all over the place depending on who says what.

Quentin?

I'm not sure this poll tells us much more than the previous one. I mean, all of the number are still within the margin of error except for White, which makes sense. I don't think we should read too much into this.

We also have results of the international viewers' poll, which we will now put on the screen:

Igawa: 50%
Walker: 50%

I'm surprised that Oviedo didn't receive at least one vote; most of the international community had their closest ties to Vendoland when Murphy and the Progressives were in power. They seemed popular, so I figured that there would be some carry over to this poll.

Again, I'm not surprised. Igawa and Walker are the only two to have really laid their cards on the table and explain their policies. Oviedo is a passionate public speaker, but if she doesn't start replacing some of that passion and rheotoric will facts, she'll be out of this game fast.

That concludes our program for this evening. Thank you to Quentin and Gloria for coming in. As always, tune in tomorrow night as our coverage continues. Thank you and have a good evening.
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84 days until the election

Good evening and welcome back to Ninety Days to Victory, our special coverage of the Prime Minister election.

All four candidates were in Parliament this morning to debate and vote on Resolution 114, commonly known as the "Vendoland Legalization and Rehabilition Act". The resolution, which was formally submitted by Angela Oviedo and the Progressive Party has two major parts. The first is the removal of criminal liability for the sale and possession of illicit drugs (marijuana, cocaine, ectasy, and heroin, to name a few). The second is a request for funding of public health and rehabilitation clinics throughout Vendoland that will assist those who are currently addicted to drugs. We asked each of the candidates what they thought of the proposal. Here's what they had to say:


Angela Oviedo
 
Putting people in jail for no other crime than addiction is morally wrong. The removal of criminal charges to the possession of illicit drugs and the proposed funding for helping those who wish to take control of their lives are steps we must take to address the growing social inequality in our country. Our jails are full of non-violent drug offenders and the vast majority of them are people of color in poverty. I see this as the next logical step after the Civil Rights Act; the next step forward for our country. I only hope my colleagues in Parliament see it that way as well.

Dan Igawa
 
I applaud the Progressives' effort. Their hearts are in the right place, but this isn't the way to do it. Sure, removing the penalties for small quantities of 'soft' drugs makes sense, but why remove the penalties for large amounts? If a cop pulls a car over and the driver has a few grams of marijuana, it's probably personal use. If the cop then finds a few kilos of the stuff inside, I think we can all reasonably assume the driver isn't planning on smoking all of that himself. My party has submitted a number of changes to the Progressives that we think will make this a worthwhile piece of legislation. Let's see if they are interested in working with us to make some common sense changes around here.

Kyle Walker
 
I voted against this measure due to the potentially disasterous consequences of legalizing drugs such as cocaine and heroin. Not only are these drugs incredibly dangerous to their users, their addictions frequently lead them on a path of criminality, starting with theft to fuel their habit and ending with violent crimes to secure money. We're not helping anyone if we're giving the okay to kids hooked on smack. That doesn't benefit anyone. This proposal will not only create thousands of new addicts, it will fund their rehabilitation and health services. Why not skip all of this nonsense and work towards eliminating this scourge before it destroys more lives?

Harold White
 

I unequivocally support the first part of this bill; the most important freedom of choice given to all people is the freedom to do with your own body as you see fit. If someone wants to do drugs or not do drugs, that should be their choice. However, I cannot agree with the idea of funding health clinics and rehab facilities. That's not the government's job. Those places should exist, but they should be built with private money.


As expected, the debates over the bill have been contentious. We won't know the final result until tomorrow afternoon. Join us tomorrow night as I discuss the final status of this bill with a panel of experts. Thank you again for watching Ninety Days to Victory. See you tomorrow night.
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83 days until the election

Good evening. I'm Russell LeBlanc and you're watching Ninety Days to Victory, our channel's special coverage program covering the Vendolandian Prime Minister election.

The campaigns officially came to a halt yesterday and today as each candidate returned to Randgriz to debate and vote on the Vendoland Legalization and Rehabilitation Act. The proposed resolution would remove criminal liabilities on the use and possession of a certain quantity of illicit drugs as well as set up a comprehensive system of drug rehabilitation centers throughout the country.

After several hours of debate surrounding the constitutionality of such a resolution, the Progressives succeeded in passing a motion to move the proposal from committee to the full Parliament floor for a vote. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the measure was voted down by a margin of 29% for the measure and 71% against. The Progressives were unified in voting for the resolution, which the Libertarian MPs unanimously voted against it. In a very surprising turn, seven Labor MPs and four Conservative MPs broke ranks and voted for the measure; the remainder of the parties voted against.

Angela Oviedo, the architect of the resolution and its chief backer, had the following to say to reporters:

Angela Oviedo
 

It is a sad day for the many unfortunate souls in Vendoland who battle drug addiction. Every day that this Act isn't in effect is another day a non-violent offender stays in prison and another day that someone has to fight addiction alone. These people are not criminals and shouldn't be treated like trash to be thrown away and forgotten. I only hope we can bring a similar proposal in front of Parliament soon. Too many people need our help.
Edited by Vendoland, Jul 16 2014, 09:56 PM.
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To discuss the Legalization and Rehabilitation Act, we are joined once again by Gloria Savoy of the Seville Business Journal and Quentin Marbury of the Mt. Xavier Globe. Thank you both again for being here with us tonight.

The first question that must be asked is whether or not the defeat of this bill is good or bad, both in the context of each party and their goals as well as for the good of the nation.


GS: I think that the defeat of this bill is bad for the Progressives and good for everyone else, including the people of this country. The bill would have poured millions of credits into rehabilitation centers and then filled them up with people who start using drugs that would have been totally legalized. Our money can be better spent on a variety of different things and our people can rest assured that their neighbors aren't going to start mainlining heroin.


Quentin?

QM: Well, this doesn't happen too often: Gloria and I actually agree on something. I think it's a good thing for everyone that this bill got shot down. Honestly, the Progressives should be glad that this didn't go through. If it did, imagine the public outrage against them when the people realized how much strife the legalization would cause. People can overdose and die on cocaine, heroin, or a number of other drugs. How would we benefit from that?

How does the defeat of this bill affect each of the candidates?

I think the Conservatives will be the only party to end up looking good here. Yes, Labor and the Libertarians voted against it as well, but they still supported drug legalization. I think that the public will not look kindly on this and will vote for the party that they believe is looking out for them. At this point, I'm not sure the public thinks the Progressives are looking out for them at all.


Labor proposed introducing a compromise bill that only legalizes marijuana and similar "soft" drugs and drastically reduces the cost of the rehabilitation centers. As this debate continues, I think the people will see this compromise as the best way to move forward. When that happens, it'll be a big boost for Labor and it will make the Progressives look out of touch.

I'm getting word from my producer that we have received a substantial number of phone calls and emails related to the Legalization and Rehabilitation Act. Tomorrow night, we'll discuss some of those viewer responses. See you all tomorrow night.
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82 days until the election

Good evening and welcome back to Ninety Days to Victory, our special coverage of the Prime Minister elections. I'm Russell LeBlanc.

Today's headlines were dominated by Conservative MP Vivienne Tierney, who spoke against Angela Oviedo and the Progressives in no uncertain terms:

Vivienne Tierney
 
[A reporter asked "What would be the worst scenario on Election Night?"]

That's easy: Oviedo winning and the Progressives taking Parliament. The Progressives are woefully out of touch with the people, as evidenced by their declining numbers the last few years. People are tired of tax-and-spend liberals who only know how to throw money at problems. We need leaders who are willing to roll up their sleeves and tackle problems head-on.

[Two other reporters asked "Aren't you worried about deeper political divisions?" and "Someone like Kyle Walker?", respectively, but Tierney left before answering them]


Angela Oviedo, who was back on the campaign trail in the western part of the country, replied with the following:

Angela Oviedo
 
I'm not sure what I have more of a problem with; the disheartening vitriol or her head-scratching assessment of me and my party. The people of my constituency will tell you that I actually solve problems and I don't just throw money at them. Perhaps Ms. Tierney needs to spend more time worrying about her responsibilities and less time speaking about things she knows nothing about.


Kyle Walker had no response to Tierney's comments, though a senior member of Walker's staff said "There's a right way to bash the other parties and there's a wrong way. What Tierney said was definitely the wrong way. She needs to be reminded of that."
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To discuss the implications of Tierney's comments, we are joined now in the studio by Eva Holcroft of the Appleton Free Press and Charlie Tanninghouse of the Vendoland Patriot Network. Thank you for coming back to talk with us.

Do Tierney's comments affect the election in any substantive way?


CT: I believe it does affect the election because it will now force the public to look at the Progressives and their method of handling problems. Even if it's only a small number of Progressive MPs that favor increased taxes and increased spending, those MPs will face more scrutiny from their constituents, who will be wondering if that's the best method of settling our nation's issues.

EH: Even if that was true, those MPs are in office because they were voted in by the people. And the sooner those people realize how wrong Tierney is about the Progressives, the sooner the people will turn on the Conservatives in a big way.

On that note, what do you think about Tierney's comments? Was she right to blast the Progressives the way she did?


She was completely out of line today. We need more partisan cooperation, not division. That sort of rhetoric doesn't help anyone at all. Honestly, the fact that the Conservatives have already resorted to running a dirty campaign means they're scared about their chances. Maybe they know something we don't and it doesn't look good for them.

I'm not surprised by the sentiment, but I am surprised by the timing. Typically, most parties wait until later in the election for these sort of political attacks. Tierney's comments mean one of two things. First thing, Walker is throwing out the old playbook and is running a very different campaign. Or second, Tierney is going off script and making these comments on her own. I'm going to say the first choice seems the most plausible; Tierney is much too experienced to make such a rookie mistake and Walker seems like an innovative guy. Let's see where this leads.

Thank you again to both Charlie and Eva for appearing on the show. Join us tomorrow night as our election coverage continues. Thank you and goodnight.
Edited by Vendoland, Jul 18 2014, 09:29 PM.
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81 days until the election

Welcome back. I'm Russell LeBlanc and you're watching Ninety Days to Victory, our special program coverage of the Prime Minister Elections.

Angela Oviedo held a rally in Falmouth today, in which she pledged to assist the unemployed with new employment opportunities and a public work relief program. Courting the voters of Falmouth will be a challenge for Oviedo; the electorate is center-right leaning and overwhelming supports the re-opening of the shipyards. The Progressives are running on a platform that calls for decreased military spending, so Oviedo will have to tread carefully.

Kyle Walker was in Carrington today, meeting with the locals and speaking to the City Council. A well placed source at City Hall, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the City Council was giving serious consideration to issuing a public endorsement of Walker. Carrington is a large city that is currently hotly contested between the four parties, so if this rumor is to be believed, it would signal a large victory for the Conservatives.

Prime Minister Igawa made an appearance in Appleton, where he spoke at length about his continued pledge to civil rights and public education. The crowds were receptive, if a bit subdued.

Harold White spoke to a large crowd in Torrington, where he detailed his plan to reduce government spending. His comments about the eventual elimination of social welfare spending drew quite a lot of applause, but the crowded soured when he talked about a significant reduction in military spending.
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Parliament has passed a resolution that allows foreign citizens and organizations to donate directly to the parties. I am joined in the studio once again by Eva Holcroft and Charlie Tanninghouse. Thank you both for being here again.

Let's talk about the implications of this new law. Is this good for Vendoland?


EH: You say donations, I say vote buying. It is truly sad to see that many elections in this nation are won by the candidate that spends the most money. We should strive to elect the candidates that have strength of character and actual answers instead of voting in whoever has the deepest pockets.

CT: Vendoland's actions affect the region, so it makes sense that the various nations of the region want to have their voice heard in this election. Have you ever wondered what the rest of the region thinks of us? This is our best chance to find out. And the way that I look at it, politicians need money to run their campaigns. People have to eat and bills have to be paid. It is what it is.


I have been instructed to remind the viewers at home that the views discussed on this program in no way reflect the views of this station or of any political party. Thank you to Charlie and Eva for joining us yet again and thank you for watching. See you tomorrow.
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