The Political Process

The Political Process

27 ratings
How to Become President [Gameplay Mechanics]
By Kendrick
You do everything right, you are of the people. You make bipartisan pushes that help your constituents. You know you can win the Presidency, and then Iowa comes along and you lose to another Very Liberal or Very Conservative candidate.

I'm going to step by step show you
* Why do you lose
* How to win primaries
* How to win general elections
* Extras to make it more interesting
   
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[Fluff] Introduction: Bend not Break
This is part 1 of a guide to how to win the white house.

This is very brief as I will write part 2 which explains how to win. Before that, let's understand why you lose.

It's because you're good!


If you did everything right, then you're doing it wrong. Ask yourself, what is the point of the political process? It's to be a politician, and politicians are by far deceptive.


Consider Kamala Harris
Senator Harris was once for Medicare for All and even supported outlawing private insurance companies from operating. She then flip flopped and released a new plan that allowed private insurance companies to exist. We'll never know if she did it for donors or if she was genuine in her policy change.

Now does this mean that Kamala Harris is bad? No of course not. In the political process, it truly depends on what your ends are. Machiavellian I know but let's face it; you're currently losing, so a little corruption doesn't hurt.

Consider Donald J. Trump
President Trump was ambiguous about his health care plans even though his views were quite clear years ago. This ambiguity is a double edged sword as it makes people doubt your skills but at the same time makes you able to take a position that you feel suits your goal best.



“The green reed which bends in the wind is stronger than the mighty oak which breaks in a storm.” - Confucius
[Gameplay] Primaries: Promising the Moon
Hillary Clinton is a controversial politician to say the least. I do think though that for the controversies around her, she described Bernie Sanders's problem well:

"You've got to be responsible for what you say and what you say you're going to do. We need to rebuild trust in our fellow Americans, and in our institutions. If you promise the moon and can't deliver the moon, then that is going to be one more indicator of how we just can't trust each other."

In this case, we armchair politicians know that we can promise the moon.

General Tips
  • Have private opinions and public opinions. It's okay to lie because you're a politician!
  • Democrats candidates should pick the Liberal, Liberal presets for social and financial
  • Republican candidates should pick the Conservative, Conservative presets
  • Campaign on orthodox issues that the party supports (and his a priority)
  • Attack opponents to avoid losing enthusiasm. As a republican I always attack others for tax policy to maintain enthusiasm but to win public opinion.

  • Win opinions but be popular too

Early Game
  • Get money and participate in every debate. Go with orthodox answer (top one always)
  • You don't name recognition in Arkansas. You need it in IW, NH, NV, SC, and Super Tuesday I states
  • Hire every volunteer in all 4 starting primary areas and do door knocking ALWAYS
  • A lot of micro but do marketing in every upcoming state in the primaries.
[Playthrough] Example: Return of the King
Meet Karrab Amabo a Harvard graduate that's a moderate in the Republican party. I flipped NH red and was a governor and senator of the state. I would win with him as a (Moderate, Moderate) with 55% of the vote in NH. This guy is a pretty chill dude but he gets swamped in the Republican primaries. RINO's don't work.... unless they lie.



This run was done with no settings changed. So Normal with turnout set to defaults.

In the primary I put out an internet ad to make all the first four primary states know who I am. Let's see how I'm doing in Iowa at about 60% enthusiasm for all ideologies.



Pathetic right? Everyone knows who I am I have decent enthusiasm but they don't want me???!?!?!

What happens when I change my policy presets to Republican Orthodoxy



It appears to have improved but it is still in the margin of error. Also it appears a new challenger has gained recognition...

The next thing I do is check my policies and I see that Education is one of them.... very out of touch.


In this case I make my policies based on the hot button issues and of course it changes the polls completely



I didn't know this was a thing but yes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xb7TF_nm2g


And so as

This is out of the margin of error. So it should be clear that your policies should be relevant to what issues are. If I ask you something about taxes focus on taxes. Don't do some stupid gimmick to mix immigration into a question of taxation. It makes you sound irrelevant to voters which is what occurred in Amabo's case.

"Me llamo Beto. Me gusta uhhhh taxes para los ricos.......... please clap"

Now of course this is not enough. If you're not first, you're last.

Next thing I normally do is hire volunteers. It's important to keep pressing voters. You're volunteers might have broken noses from all the doors slammed in their faces, but you're making a dent in the public opinion!



Following my tips from earlier. Be an orthodox party member and hire volunteers. Participate in all debates and focus on fundraising only. Have max staff too to increase effectiveness.

I forgot to take a screencap of South Carolina but I lost that state so here are the others




South Carolina was won by Chadwick Magar. Then super tuesday comes rolling around and here are the results:



I didn't even bother campaigning two weeks later I became the nominee:


You might say that the platform made the greatest change and therefore you can be a moderate... WRONG. I did the same thing as I have this save and get this result:



In conclusion. Lie and be popular.

So now Karrab (I know Barrack has a c in it) Amabo can face off his opponent

COA


wtf. I love Bill Maher now.
6 Comments
corona_hero 25 Aug, 2022 @ 7:46pm 
1. Run TV ads to get your name out there until it is 100%. 2. Then, run some polls. I have found myself conducting polls to figure out who is favored to win in each state, and then I conduct polls in all the states that are close to win or lose, and focus all my marketing in those states. After you figure out which states are a close win or lose, poll to figure out the issues that are most important. 3. Look at your opponent and find the key issues that fall under the categories and issues in the battleground states. If you find any issues that most people would agree (poll data) are controversial, then run attack ads on those issues. All other issues that are popular and match your platform, run normal ads in those states. 4. And yes...the more field offices the better.
Erikin 4 Feb, 2021 @ 9:50pm 
How to fix unemployment,
1. Open 500 field offices in every state
2. Problem solved
dawnofman 18 Jan, 2021 @ 12:15am 
@Releasethebeast13 is right. You can win with a typical progressive policy set even in districts/areas that lean over 10% Republican.
nullpntr 29 Oct, 2020 @ 5:41pm 
Arkansas is a Super Tuesday state.
Releasethebeast13 20 Oct, 2020 @ 3:26pm 
@Pringles, your guides are hilarious. I just wanted to add that you don't neccessarily have to change your policy positions after the primary to win. I've won in a landslide (winning states like Missouri, Alaska, and West Virginia) while having a strictly progressive platform. Attack your opponents on there most unpopular ideas. I have noticed that attacking Republicans on the minimum wage works very well in red states. And if your opponent is against social security, then you've basically already won.
Mr. Wonderful 19 Aug, 2020 @ 12:08pm 
As a creator of multiple guides for this game on "How to be (insert politician name here)." I approve.