[1678] Presidential Campaign Thread

[Alduria]

All campaign actions/activity of the 1678 presidential elections, including platforms, speeches, press releases, tweets, press conferences, ads, billboards, go on this thread.

I will be continually giving feedback and reactions in this thread. Any news stories that are posted in the Aldurian Press will also be quoted and copied over into this thread by Administrators whenever possible.

I will also throw out situations and events into this thread for campaigns and candidates react to in this thread. Nothing will be damaging to anyone - unless their reaction to the event (or lack thereof) is what damages them.

Refer to the election calendar and announcements here.

[Recks]

Campaign Launch of
Camille Belmont for President
(Aldurian National Alliance)

Atanasio Paredes (ANA)
Introducing Camille Belmont
Narbonne, Asuara

Good morning, Narbonne! It is an honor to be here with you all today, an honor to stand before you as one of the voices of the Aldurian people in Parliament. You see, that is important to me as a public servant: to recognize the public that I serve is you, the everyday Aldurian citizen!

Indeed, there are those in government today, globalists and internationalists, who would deny the importance of a common Aldurian identity. They preach international cooperation, but what they deliver is economic inequality and the harm of Aldurian interests. These globalists come from many stripes, from many parties. Indeed, they can claim to be on the right or on the left: but what I have to say to those globalists, those internationalists is simple - the new arrangement is not right versus left, it’s Alduria First versus Alduria last!

See, one of the best parts of serving in Parliament is the ability to speak the truth, to tell it as it is. And nobody serving alongside me in my caucus has done a better job of telling the truth, of being honest and square with the Aldurian people as my friend who I am privileged to introduce here today.

Of course, I am talking about my close friend, Camille Belmont! A fixture of local politics here in Narbonne and across Asuara, Camille isn’t your typical candidate: she isn’t from Punta Santiago, after all. She’s from the heartland of Alduria, where everyday people live and strive and dream and hope.

Camille’s goal, I can firmly say, is for those in the outskirts of this nation. She wants everyone to have a life worth living. She wants everyone’s efforts to bring about prosperity: not just for the few, but for the many. And she wants your hopes and dreams to be realized through the combined power of our national identity.

Ladies and gentlemen of Alduria, it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you a great friend - a woman who many of you already know, but many more will come to know in the coming campaign - I give you, Camille Belmont!

Belmont comes on stage, waving boldly to the audience. She embraces Paredes, who makes his way off the stage. From behind Belmont come a number of young, attractive supporters draped in Aldurian flags and waving banners and signs.

 

Camille Belmont (ANA)
Presidential Campaign Launch
Narbonne, Asuara

Well: hello there! Good afternoon, Narbonne! It is an honor to be here, surrounded by so many of my colleagues and friends! Coming out here today, I would like to begin by thanking my friend, Atanasio, for that powerful speech. It is true, what he said, and perhaps Atansio will pardon me for being a bit more forcefully blunt: Alduria today is heading in the wrong direction.

Half of Aldurians don’t support Prime Minister Velez and his defeatist attitude towards government. Only 45% of Aldurians are satisfied with the direction our country is heading. And let me tell you this: the libertine government, godless and without any real moral rooting, is running scared! Yes, you and me have put fear in their shoes, we have challenged the very underpinning of their system.

Friends and countrymen, it is time for a change: a real, bold agenda for the common people of all parts of Alduria. We don’t need super-rich businessmen from Punta Santiago and their small-government cronies in power to tell us what we need to do, how we can do our part. No, it is our turn to govern: our turn to tell them what they must do, how they must contribute back to this nation.

The elites, they are afraid of common people like you and me. And, yes, a former member of my old party is not without blame. Alejandro Campos is as much the target of this campaign as Alfonso Velez: they are both symptoms of the same godless, rudderless philosophies of laissez-faire both without a backbone. The people of Alduria know that government has lost its touch with the common man and common woman.

That is why my campaign is not only about big, bold ideas that you will hear a lot about on the campaign trail, but even more than that, my campaign - our campaign - is about Strengthening the Spirit of Alduria. Our beloved nation, young though it may be, is lacking in core uniting principles. And the tactics of this past government have only exacerbated our crisis of identity.

As President, I will place Alduria first in any and all cases. I’m not in politics to make friends with big business interests, with the shipping companies that exploit our workers, with the wealthy industrialists who get by without paying their fair share of tax. No, unlike the mainstream politicians of the center-right and center-left, the internationalists and globalists of yesteryear, I am here for you!

My commitment to Alduria begins and ends with a commitment to our shared destiny and our shared protection. The steps undertaken by this past government to fund our military are a half-effort, nothing more - and they know that. They know that their sons - busy drinking champagne at prestigious universities and guaranteed plush, cozy banking roles - aren’t the ones fighting the West Baatharz terrorists. That responsibility falls to our sons, our boys! And we need to give them the adequate tools to fight our inhumane enemies.

Our settlements are getting by, but under my Presidency, I will fight to ensure that they prosper. The private company model is just one way that the bankers and capitalist elites in Punta Santiago profit off the blood, sweat, tears, and toil of our hardworking brethren across the frontiers of Eura. We need to provide them with real resources, and my government will do that - no more dawdling or delays, we need an attitude of action!

Finally, I will speak today on the topic of immigration and trade. I’m an immigrant to Alduria; I’m not afraid of the talent that new arrivals can bring to Alduria. But when these arrivals bring disease, when they come unchecked and when they pose a threat to our wage workers that are already here in Alduria: I have a simple message for those undesirable new arrivals - you aren’t welcome here!

These immigrants are paid by the multinationals, by the rich shipping interests and the banking class, with one interest in mind - to undercut your wages! I support bringing high-skilled, well-educated, culturally-assimilated Aldurians to our shores. Indeed, we need more bright and talented citizens, but they cannot come here to prosper off the backs of those who are already here.

Trade is a similar story - the interests of the wealthy and few against the needs of the poor and many. In Punta Santiago, they are all about trade. But across the rest of Alduria, we are all about making stuff with our own two hands. We aren’t interested in their narrow economic gains, and as President I will support a tariff regime that protects Aldurian jobs and Aldurian interests first! Not the corporatist interests, but the people’s interests!

We must strengthen Alduria’s economy. Together, we can do that!
We must strengthen Alduria’s culture. Together, we can do that!
We must strengthen Alduria’s military. Together, we can do that!
And we must strengthen Alduria’s spirit! I will not rest until together, you and I do that!

[Alamilla]

Guillermo Alamilla's Speech
Democratic Farmer-Labor Party

Hotel Nueva Barris - Punto Santiago

Following an introduction of multiple MP candidates speaking on specific issues, we come around to the main event, the official introduction of Guillermo Alamilla as the DFL's presidential candidate for 1678.

Starting off the introduction is Jean-Luc Gambetta, DFL parliamentary leader.

Tonight, we have come here to listen, to those in government and to those without. It is perhaps the most solemn commitment of this party, and, in fact any party, that we should listen to voices of those we serve. Our duty as public servants is, above all else, to hear the people, to give voice to the voiceless. Not to sooth concerns, to address them. To empower the people to address them. Of course, we do have another item on the agenda tonight, the introduction of the duly elected candidate of the Democratic Farmer-Labor Party. When selecting a presidential candidate for a democratic party of the people, it is incumbent that we find a candidate who understands those values. Someone who will, lead the people not from a mountain top into the direction he shapes, but with the voice of the people in his mind and into the direction where they can shape themselves and their society. I believe we have found that man.

Without further adieu, it is my honor to present to you the next president of Alduria, Guillermo Jos Maria Alamilla y Martinez. 





I thank you, Seníor Gambetta, and all of you, and I do aspire to live up to the expectations you've all placed in me.

Alduria, is a unique place, and we are a unique people. We have suffered so much, flu, war, and horrible crimes. We have come from so many nations and survived and scraped and found our home here. We are bonded into one people, not by blood but by the sweat of our brow and our steadfast belief in the promise of this land and our shared ideals. The promise of Alduria stands as hope to all Micras that, no matter the storms and arrows that may be thrown from the universe onto us, that democracy and liberty shall not perish from this earth.

And we have created a constitution and we have secured democratic elections for the future. And our first government has even taken some steps to ensure our freedom. We have enshrined legal protections for all regardless of their gender, race, orientation, or any other immutable characteristic of humankind. We have finally nationalized our oil industry, so that the fruits of this land may be put to the benefit of it's people.
And we may cheer that. But, friends, this is where the hard work begins. It is so easy for the privileged classes to give theoretical legal rights with the stroke of a pen. However, it is putting those rights into action that takes a mass movement and people that can and will defend their rights in all spheres. We have just begun to build our sturdy little society and already the wolves are baying at our door. They turn ourselves against ourselves, into a people we don't recognize, categorizing and rating the new arrivals that land with the same spirit and toughness and hope that we all had arriving, to say who may our may not share in this promise. They are, as we speak, making plans to disintegrate the public trust and public resources and divide it among their patrician cabals. They speak of rights before the law, but where are your rights before your employer? Where are your rights before merchants and banks? They speak of security, but where is your security from disability, from hunger, from unemployment? They speak of the water crisis when one of the worlds greatest rivers flows in our own backyard and is so polluted none can use it. They speak of a growing economy, but where is that in the provinces?

You who came hear, I ask you, is this promise you came for?
No
Did you come to work your life away for the benefit of landlords and bankers?
No
Did you come to choose between groceries and a doctor?
No
Those of you who work in the oil fields, do you toil and scrape at the ground so that the highest bidder can profit from your labor?
No
Those of you who teach our children, did you come here so that you could not know what half of your students have even been educated?
No
Those of you of advanced years, did you come here so you could slowly wither once you are no longer useful to the rich and powerful?
No
Those of you of minority backgrounds and orientations, are strictly legal protections enough when you face discrimination and harassment in your workplaces and public accommodation?
No
Those of you with children, did you come here so that you can never see them?
No
Did we come here to become the people who turn us away?
No

Alduria can be better. We can transform ourselves into a society befitting the Aldurian people. I pledge to you to make it my life's work to turn Alduria into the place we can and should be. To truly secure the promise of Alduria for all of us and our children, for the sake of all mankind.

 

EDIT: Just to clean up a bit of spelling and take out an occ note. Sorry

[Recks]

Aldurian National Alliance
Presidential Poster

Poster.
Choose Aldurian Values! (Link)

[Recks]

Aldurian National Alliance
Press Release

"Where is Seydlitz?"
NARBONNE, ASUARA -- Today, Camille Belmont, the Presidential candidate for the Aldurian National Alliance, was in her home town of Narbonne. The Aldurian National Alliance, a conservative movement that is sweeping the nation by storm, has been busy at work promoting Belmont's image and recently have plastered posters of Belmont nationwide, with a particular focus in the states outside of Punta Santiago.

In Narbonne, Camille Belmont made the following remarks:

You know, this campaign is one about ideas, but it is also - inevitably, as politics seem to have it - about personalities. Many of you already know who I am, but for those of you who don't yet, my first and foremost description is that I am a proud Aldurian. I believe in the potential of our great nation. That is why I am not taking this race for granted - unlike Gerhard Seydlitz.

See, the LDP in their arrogance believe that they can win this election without so much as showing up to talk with the people. They believe that they are the shoe-in party, and that their hand-picked nominee will be able to hide from the public eye just long enough so that nobody gets a whiff of how bad he'd be as President.

The fact of the matter is simple: the LDP is scared that if the people knew their true motivations and their super-rich donor-base, they couldn't win a single election: not even the most remote dog-catcher role! And nothing shows this better than Seydlitz refusing so far to come out on the campaign trail. For crying out loud, I don't even think his staff know he's running for President, and yet the mainstream media love to paint him as the frontrunner.

Well, I have news for you: the folks in the LDP are running scared. They know that the radical socialists of the DFL have no chance at winning this election. Meanwhile, they know that momentum is on my side, on the side of the Aldurian National Alliance.

---

###

[Seydlitz]

Liberty and Democracy Party

Public Plaza
Fontainebleau, Napoleon

Spotlights center in the dark on a videowall in a prominent part of the public plaza, where the image of the Aldurian flag fluttering quietly in the dark is shown, amidst the murmurings of a restive crowd and the erratic lights of smartphones and camera flashes.

After a while, the spotlights fade and the solid blue-gold-red colors of the fluttering Aldurian flag, which then fade to black, and focus turns on a cauldron that is suddenly lit in the center of the public plaza - which not many realize was there all along.

As the flame dances around the cauldron - with the flame and cauldron evident on the videowall, a female voice is heard in the background.

In the beginning was darkness. 

The flame disappears from the cauldron, and the plaza, save for smartphone lights and camera flashes, is bathed in black.

In the darkness, many cowered in fear, afraid of what was, is, and was yet to come. 

In the darkness, many felt hopelessness, cursing their fate, wringing their hands in dismay.

In the darkness, many felt that there was no other way.

A small flaming torch appears at the side, and the hushed audience watches in rapt attention as the small flame slowly edges its way, in the darkness, the crowd murmuring and parting as the flaming torch edges its way closer. As this happens, the murmuring increases in volume and excitement, as lit candles begin to radiate outward from where the flaming torch is, slowly moving towards the raised black cauldron, the public plaza looking very much like the night sky full of candle-lit stars.

The female voice continues. 

What is to be done?

What if, in the midst of the darkness, we choose to see the light?

What if, in the midst of the darkness, we choose to bring the light?

What if, in the midst of the darkness, we choose to be the light?

The flaming torch touches the cauldron, and the cauldron ignites, yellow flames snaking its way towards the sky. After a mere few seconds, floodlights center on the cauldron, driving away the darkness, the illumination focused on the sole individual holding the torch aloft with his left hand, beside the cauldron.

The crowd goes insane as it recognizes who is holding the torch - the former Secretary of the Interior, Gerhardt Eugen Seydlitz.

A different voice is heard. 

My fellow Aldurians, please rise to give honor to the Aldurian National Anthem. 

New spotlights focus on the Aldurian flag flying from the flagpole of the plaza, and the videowalls play cameo shots of Aldurians, Aldurian geography, the Aldurian flag, alongside the words of the national anthem:

As the anthem ends, applause is heard, followed by heavily upbeat music.

The spotlight follows Seydlitz, still clutching the torch, from the cauldron, through the crowds at the center aisle, and onto the stage. He places the torch on a special holder beside the podium, and waves as the applause continues.

[Seydlitz]

Good evening, my fellow Aldurians!

It's great to be here in Fontainebleau, in the great state of Napoleon!

My name is Gerhardt Eugen Seydlitz, proud member of the Liberty and Democracy Party! 

I was honored to have been granted the high and heavy responsibility of being your Secretary of the Interior, and Member of Parliament.

I've been asked to clear up some scurrilous rumors that have been raised time and again by our friends, and not-so-friends in the media: Yes, ladies, I have to confess, I am presently single - and looking!

But no, I must also say, duty to the country comes first before my personal life.

I am pleased and honored that I have been invited here, and it has been a treat to have been able to spend some time with your community.

You know, it's interesting. When one is in politics, one gets used to hearing all sorts of things. You hear all sorts of rabid name-calling. You'll hear scurrilous words like godless, gutless, losing touch with the common Aldurian, arrogant, conceited - scared, even!

Where is Seydlitz, they ask? Seydlitz is RIGHT HERE - WITH THE ALDURIAN PEOPLE!

Isn't it amazing to see how petty people can be in the absence of true, authentic, STRONG leadership? I SAY that THAT is a disservice to the Aldurian people. We should expect more, not less, from those who would seek to lead us!

If there's one thing I've learned, it's that politics is the end-game of who throws mud the most. Well, I'll not have that. We should talk ideas. We should talk platforms. We should talk the nitty-gritty specifics of governance!

The party of which I am a member espouses two fairly significant ideals - Liberty and Democracy. What does this mean? Freedom and a Government of the People, for the People, and by the People. 

Let me tell you what I represent:

I want to have a Strong Alduria.

I believe in a Strong Alduria, and a Strong Alduria will only happen if we have strong institutions, and more importantly, strong Aldurian citizens.

We want Aldurians to have a home of their own. We believe in public and civic spaces, and will ensure that there is sufficient funding and support for public parks and public libraries. We will encourage the establishment of more schools, and support quality education. We will make state funds available for scholarships, and we will support the sciences and innovation.

We will promote and support inclusive and alternate mobility, and shall make quality mass transit a priority in a Seydlitz administration, with emphasis on moving people instead of contemporary cultural norms of prioritizing cars. We will ensure that there are protected bicycle lanes, and we will support pedestrianization. We will make support for renewable energy and mass solarization a national policy. 

We will support microinsurance initiatives, as well as in giving a greater voice to labor, senior citizens, youth, persons with disabilities, the LGBTQ community and minorities in national and local policymaking. Every Aldurian’s voice matters, and I will protect every Aldurian’s right to be heard, in accordance with the Constitution and the law.

We will ensure that election day is a national public holiday.

We will secure the necessary legislative reforms, such as a national police act and a courts reorganization act, to ensure that justice is truly served in Alduria.

Alduria stands as the light of the world. We will make it national policy to stand for free, fair, and democratic elections, everywhere in the world, and promote the consideration of human rights, as a matter of Aldurian foreign policy.

Now, many may say that this is all hot air, and empty bluster. The beauty of a democracy is that people can believe whatever they like, and I respect that.

The one difference between me and them, however, is that I've already done it, while they merely speak of it.

As your Member of Parliament, I helped make the Criminal Code part of the law of this land. We helped fix our most serious crisis to date with the passage of the Water Crisis Act. I ensured stability by the enactment of the Continuity of Government Act. We did our part to contribute to the National Defense by making sure that our armed forces are well-armed and well-equipped for the important task of keeping Aldurians free and safe. I authored and helped secure the passage of the Aldurian Heritage, Culture, and the Arts law, and most importantly, the Local Government Act - which gives YOU, the sovereign Aldurian people, among other things, your right by law to gather and assemble in your Civic or Youth Assembly, discuss and debate policy, and keep us all honest.

In this Aldurian Republic, WE work for YOU. In this Aldurian Republic, I believe that YOUR voice matters.

In the coming days and weeks, I will continue to listen to what you have to say, and believe me, we will do what we can to ensure that your concerns are not just heard, but immediately acted upon! A Strong Republic is a responsive republic, and a Seydlitz Administration will embody that.

We are the people. We are the nation. Let us work together in a Seydlitz Administration!

Seydlitz waves and shakes hands all around the stage as new upbeat music begins
 

[Alfonso Velez]

The L&D runs it's Day 3 ad in Presidential targets as well as Parliamentary ones [OOC: If this is allowed. If not, please retcon for the Presidential side]

L&D Ad Day 3:

Dark music and black and white images play as various pictures depicting anti-Democratic activities by various police states in other parts of the globe with Paredes' voice from yesterday's speech in audio:

Narrator: What does Paredes think about liberty and human rights? Let's hear for him.

Paredes voice (on clip): "What good are civil liberties..."

Paredes voice (on clip): "Why should we hide behind so-called human rights..."

Parades Voice (on clip): "It takes the construction of a serious surveillance apparatus..."

Narrator: If Paredes and Belmont win and the ANA establishes the police state it promises, how will they treat people who disagree with them?

Pictures are now replaced by Paredes himself on camera at yesterday's rally with him saying the remarks without any editing:

Paredes (on clip): If they were held accountable for the lives that were lost by court martial, I can tell you this: Alfonso Velez would be stripped of his rank and title, he would be flogged, and yes - his cowardly desertion of our people would probably call for capital punishment!

Narrator: Fight for Alduria's liberty. Fight against the police state. Oppose the extremism of Paredes, Belmont, and the ANA. Vote for L&D--the only party fighting hard for your liberties and opposing the ANA's vision of a police state. Your rights depend on it!

[Alfonso Velez]

L&D Presidential Posters/Billboards/Banner Ads:

A flattering picture of Secretary Seydlitz features in the middle with the following captions:

Top Caption: KEEP ALDURIA STRONG AND FREE

Bottom Caption: VOTE SEYDLITZ TO BRING LIBERTY INTO CLEVELAND LANE

[Alfonso Velez]

2nd L&D Presidential Billboard/Posters/Banner Ad:
 

The above image contains the outline of the world of Micras rather than Earth. After the second line it says:

"Vote for Liberty. Vote for Seydlitz!"

The L&D torch logo appears in the middle.