[1678] Parliamentary Campaign Thread

[Alduria]

All campaign actions/activity of the 1678 parliamentary 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.

[Alfonso Velez]

LIBERTY & DEMOCRACY PARTY PLATFORM:

Campaign Platform:

During this campaign, the Liberty and Democracy Party have released a manifesto taking these policy positions:

-Building on our successes during the past 5 years of L&D Government providing strong and stable leadership and making Alduria a better place to live.
-Commitment to expanding free trade with other nations
-Promote deregulation of businesses to allow Alduria's economy to thrive
-Privatize the bulk of Alduria's Government run business with an exception for the national oil company. Work on a public/private partnership for Aldurian oil to help stimulate the economy and gradually move Aldurian Oil to the point where it can operate mostly, if not entirely, privately.
-Prioritizing Defense spending, particularly naval spending with an emphasis on escort ships for trade routes. We highlight the successes we've made on Defense spending during the past 5 years under an L&D Government.
-Avoid unnecessary foreign entanglements that could result in conflicts with other nations. Avoid armed conflicts unless they are directly related to Alduria's security or overriding trade interests (ie, responding to attacks on shipping)
-Lower taxes for citizens and small businesses
-Help small business owners by offering legislation to ease regulatory burdens and provide exceptional tax relief during a business' first years
-Move more power away from the National Government to provincial and local Governments, particularly when it comes to welfare programs. The National Government would provide funding for local/provincial directed welfare programs that meet the specific needs of that locality/province rather than a "one sized fits all" policy. We tout our successes in this regard through the Local Government Act.
-Place an emphasis on "Alduria First" when it comes to our foreign relations. We won't close ourselves off from other nations--but we will always make sure that our interests are first in mind. This won't stop us from cooperating with other Governments and certainly won't stop us from signing free trade deals--but we have to look out for Aulduria first!
-Use money from privatizing industries to build needed infrastructure in areas that aren't strong economically. In economically strong areas, partner with the private sector to pool resources for infrastructure building. This mutually beneficial arrangement will save the taxpayers money and help businesses by providing infrastructure support to areas that can directly help their businesses too.
-Respect the total separation of Church and State and push back against any legislation that would seek to legislate morality or infringe on people's religious liberties.
-Continue to support the development of Biscarrose and Napoléon by private businesses
-Promote, support, and respect the privacy and liberty of all citizens. Oppose all legislation that infringes on these liberties. We tout our successes in enshrining these liberties in the Constitution.
-Promote an open immigration policy and particularly encourage the immigration of skilled workers. Promote programs that help immigrants integrate into Aldurian society.
-Provide tax credits to families so they can grow and prosper without government interference.
-Strongly support and expand settling corporations and ease the requirements for creating such a corporation.
-Invest in medical advancements and create a business-positive atmosphere to attract medical companies to come to and invest in Alduria to help our healthcare system.
-Support a vibrant private insurance industry that is suitably regulated. Ensure greater competition between insurance companies to make costs competitive. Move social safety net programs to provincial levels to better meet the unique needs of their citizens with funding provided by the national government.
-Allow provinces greater autonomy, particularly in the areas of taxation, education, and infrastructure.
-Support freedoms for all people regardless of sex, gender, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Oppose any laws that infringe on these freedoms. We tout our successes in enshrining these rights into the Constitution and our success in marriage equality. We also note our success in opposing the Bathroom Bill in the last Parliament.
-Continue to promote the enrichment of Aldurian culture, touting our successes in a myriad of bills we passed during the last Parliament.
-Continue to provide for access to safe and plentiful sources of water. Tout our successes with the Water Crisis Act.

Campaign Efforts & Candidates:

In contrast to their last campaign with a rag-tag group of fervent activists on a shoe-string budget, the L&D has grown in terms of resources and party size after being the senior party in Government for 5 years. This has presented both opportunities and challenges for the party. While there are now an army of volunteers to help out in the campaigning, they are hardly as fanatical and devoted as the small army of volunteers that helped carry L&D in the last election. This has resulted in a change in strategy with L&D focusing now more on quantity of resources rather than quality. L&D is now fielding candidates everywhere and is throwing around resources more freely than it did in the last election. This means that the party is now focusing on running elections within every province and electoral district in the Republic rather than focusing its resources strategically on just a few areas. L&D is taking a gamble that 5 years of Government will make them more appealing in areas that did not take them as seriously 5 years ago.

Another change is in the focus to recruit more moderate-minded candidates. In the last election, L&D struggled to avoid selecting candidates on the extreme fringes or "hardcore Libertarians". While there are still a small number of hardcore Libertarians now running, Velez and his faction have been largely successful in ensuring candidates generally fall within the "big tent" center of the party's ideology. The majority of the party's candidates are successful business people, intelligent young millennials (the party boasts one of the largest slates of LGBTQ+ candidates as well as four transgender candidates), and citizen-activists with a general lack of any "career politicians"--except of course those who were elected 5 years ago standing for re-election. The party has invested considerable money and resources into its party re-branding, and hopes that these efforts, along with Velez's personal appearances, will convince voters that the Liberty & Democracy is still the Maverick party for change that it ran on 5 years ago--while also being a party of stability and strength for Alduria. Time will tell whether or not Velez can maintain this difficult balance.

[Alfonso Velez]

VELEZ CAMPAIGN KICK OFF, PUNTA SANTIAGO CONVENTION CENTER

Citizens of Alduria,

It's an honour to stand before you again as the Liberty & Democracy party submits itself once again to the will of the Aludrian people. In the upcoming election, you're going to hear from a lot of people about what they want to do. We'll be sharing in that message--but we also will be proclaiming what we have done. Over the past 5 years, we have lead the way in making our great Republic better. We ask you to return your trust to us once again and give us another 5 years to build on that success to make our Republic even stronger.

What have we accomplished? First and foremost, we have stepped up to ensure that our great Republic is protected. This Government has invested unprecedented amounts of money into our armed forces. Through our serious investment in our armed forces, we are ensuring that we are protected from all threats--and that our military is armed with the best technologies which they need in order to do their mission. The National Defense Authorization Act that we passed will ensure that this great Republic is safe from threats for many years to come. We also lead the charge to ensure that our brave men and women in the armed forces receive a free college education--the least that we can do to thank them for their noble service.

What else have we accomplished? We lead the fight and won to ensure that every person in our Republic has the right to marry the person they love no matter what their gender is. We also fought against and won the battle against the National-Liberal Alliance to ensure that we don't politicize our bathrooms and that no person ever feels excluded or uncomfortable based on their gender or sexual identity. We enshrined important rights and liberties into the Constitution to ensure that every citizen has a right to basic liberties no matter who they are, no matter who they love, and no matter what their life circumstances may be. We also provided protections in the Constitution to make sure that extremists in the Aldurian National Alliance won't be able to roll back those protections without a significant majority of Parliament ensuring that our victories for the rights of all citizens will be protected throughout time against extreme far-right views. We also fought and won to ensure that no one will ever be incarcerated for smoking a harmless plant.

What else have we done, you ask? We addressed and solved a water crisis and enacted legislation to ensure that we will never face this crisis again. We took decisive action to deal with the security situation in Corrada del Rio. We created a criminal code for the Republic, and we also fulfilled a key pledge of our party to increase power to local and provincial governments to have more power to Govern themselves. We've also passed legislation to protect and foster Aldurian culture and ensure that our history and values are shared and spread within our Republic and in the world at large. 

In short, we have used these 5 years that you have given us well to help develop and sustain our Republic--and with 5 more years, we will be able to make our Republic even stronger than before! What, then, is our vision for the next 5 years? Largely, it is building on the success and stability that the Liberty & Democracy party has fostered.

First and foremost, we will continue to address our number one priority--building up our military and our national defense. We have lead the way to strengthen our military in this short amount of time, and our efforts here have ensured that this Republic is safer than ever before. We will continue to invest heavily and make our military and national defense a top priority to ensure the safety of our citizens, our Republic, and our trade routes.

We will also take steps to help promote public health through programs designed to increase education about public health issues, tax credits to encourage medical companies to do more business with Alduria and to advance our health care system into the next stages of cutting edge technologies. We will also take steps to ensure our health insurance markets are closely regulated, while also promoting vibrant free-market competition to ensure that you have access to affordable insurance plans that also offer quality services. We will ensure that you will have unprecedented control over your healthcare options to find plans that work best for you and your family.

We will also take steps to continue to build and strengthen the economy of our Republic. Our policies over the past 5 years have helped strengthen our economy, and 5 more years of L&D will only continue this upward trajectory. We will place a greater emphasis on supporting and encouraging the growth of small businesses which form the backbone of our society by providing tax credits and removing red tape that prevents so many small businesses from succeeding. We will also promote greater trade relationships with other friendly nations which, in turn, brings money into our Republic and strengthens our economy. We will always put Alduria first--but we will also look to work in cooperation with our friends throughout the globe on mutually beneficial trade arrangements that help Aldorians.

Education will be a critical focus of the next L&D Government. We will look to encourage citizens to pursue higher education, and will look to create private-public partnerships to help educate the workforce of both today--and tomorrow. We will introduce legislation that will help train workers to adapt to ever-changing technology, and will partner with businesses to connect these workers to jobs upon graduation. We will also give more power to local and provincial governments to tailor basic education to suit the needs and strengths of their specific population. Our commitment to education and strengthening small businesses will also help create jobs. Through jobs and wage growth, Alduria will continue to grow and prosper.

We will continue to welcome immigrants from all corners of the globe! This great Republic has been built by immigrants from all places and all walks of life. We will not shy away from this strength as others have, but will encourage its continued growth. We will particularly encourage immigration by people with specific skills that are needed in our workforce but where there isn’t a sufficient number of qualified applicants. These people will help fill the vacancies today and train citizens on how to take these jobs for the vacancies of tomorrow. We can not and will not look at immigration as a problem, but rather as a great strength of our great Republic.

As our economy improves, we will also invest considerable amounts of money in infrastructure. A booming economy can only sustain itself with proper infrastructure--ports, roads, bridges, ferries, airports--all of these things are essential for a society to grow. We will take fiscally responsible steps to help build up the services that this Republic needs to serve its citizens and its economy. We will also ensure that the Water Crisis that threatened us several years ago will never be a problem again and that all citizens will have easy access to safe drinking water.

My friends, in the days ahead I look forward to taking our message of success and growth throughout all corners of our great Republic. In my stops and speeches throughout Alduria, I will go into even greater detail about how our party is best equipped to lead this Republic for another 5 years and present our citizens concrete proposals--not vague hopes or fears. Together we can and we will build on the successes that we have created over these past 5 years. I look forward to the opportunity to share my vision with this Republic in greater detail, and I humbly ask you to give this party and myself 5 more years to advance Alduria even further. 

Thank you my friends, may God bless you, and may God bless our Republic!

[Recks]

Building a Better Country:

The Aldurian National Alliance’s 1678 General Platform

Introduction
My fellow Aldurians - we extend to you my warmest greetings, on behalf of the full-slate of candidates being run up and down this nation for the Aldurian National Alliance.

While we may look like a new party, those of us in the Aldurian National Alliance come from a variety of backgrounds that make us experienced and ready to govern on Day 1. From our leadership team’s experience in the private sector, in government, and in non-profit settings, we believe that we are best positioned to move Alduria forward: to build a better country.

Like 50% of the nation, we in the Aldurian National Alliance do not believe this past government has been effective. With 55% not satisfied with the direction of the nation, we acknowledge that the runaway, laissez-faire and libertine instincts of the current government have failed us.

That is why we are standing on this platform: a platform that is at the same time conservative and compassionate. We in the Aldurian National Alliance care about everyday people from across Alduria, not just the connected big businesses in Punta Santiago.

No nation - least of all a new nation - can be built without preserving our culture. While Aldurians come from many backgrounds, we all share that national identity, a sense of belonging. While this past government has sold out Aldurian interests to the highest bidder, we will not do so. We will fight for everyday Aldurians - the local plumber and the passionate schoolteacher, the small businessman and the union member - and we will put your values and beliefs first.

Together, we can build a better country!

Signed,
Atanasio Paredes           Parliamentary Leader, Aldurian National Alliance
Camille Belmont            Presidential Candidate, Aldurian National Alliance

Military, Security, and Settlements
No country can properly be called a nation without a strong and capable military. That is why our MPs have been supportive of promoting our armed forces, and why our Government will be ruthless in pursuit of the West Baatharz terrorists. This is not a time to pander to libertarian anti-war interests or socialist-inspired human rights, but rather a time to deliver victory for the Aldurian people who need it most.

Alduria has a calling: And we in the ANA firmly believe in the greatness of our country’s potential. We will promote the eastward expansion of Alduria across large swaths of unsettled Eura. The use of private settlements to expand have been successful, but we in the ANA believe that we can do more to assist these brave settlers. The right of these settlers to protect themselves from often-hostile native populations must be paramount, and this is where the state can - and must - play a role in promoting Aldurian greatness.

Specifically, an ANA government will:

• Enable military officers on the ground to make life-and-death decisions that protect their troops without having to run operations through political interference;
  
• Enhance funding for our military to ensure optimal lethality against our foes who would cause Aldurians people harm;
  
• Expand the ability of our police forces to cooperate with one another and coordinate international anti-criminal operations;
  
• Promote state-involvement in supporting the settlements across the eastern-edges of Alduria, from the safety of our settlers to the provision of basic public goods.
  

Society and Values
The Aldurian National Alliance is the only party that places an important role on the very nature of our society, and the values that Aldurians hold dear and near to their hearts. As a movement, we heartily reject the defeatist and morally-relativistic ideas of the other major parties: ideas that diminish the role of the family, that diminish the role of cooperation among communities.

Instead of our rivals who pander to ideologies of division, ANA is proud to stand for actual principles that can bring all Aldurians behind our common, shared national identity. We in the ANA are not ashamed of our staunch social conservatism, and it will continue to be these values that drive us forwards as a nation amid difficult times globally.

Specifically, an ANA government will:

• Deliver on our promise to pass a bathroom bill, so that our children and women do not have to fear public facilities;
  
• Establish community-wide efforts in areas such as sport and leisure, to promote an Aldurian cultural identity that we can all rally behind;
  
• Oppose the continuation of gay marriage, which has radically re-defined this institution’s meaning;
  
• Criminalize marijuana, which is a gateway to other narcotics usage, and impose sin taxes on other antisocial substances.
  

The Economy
According to our opponents, there are only two alternatives to economic policy: you are entirely on your own, like a ship lost at sea; or you don’t matter at all, you are just a cog in a machine. We reject this extreme libertarian and extreme totalitarian dichotomy outright. In fact, we in the ANA support a third way - where families and communities can succeed because of individuals and the state working in tandem.

The key part of our mission for the economy is equitable development: not just focusing on Punta Santiago’s growth, like the current government, but instead focusing on the growth of each of our states. To promote this strategy, we need to provide high-quality infrastructure at an affordable price while also respecting the rights of our working population.

Specifically, an ANA government will:

• Promote a state-led oil industry to ensure profits are equitably distributed across society, not just for the wealthy bankers and business interests who would benefit from privatization;
  
• Place equalizing taxes on the incomes of the super-rich, to provide for social-safety net providing mechanisms that are neither too cumbersome nor too weak;
  
• Encourage equitable distribution of jobs and resources across Alduria, for example by spreading key government bureaucracies across the nation they help - not just in Punta Santiago;
  
• Develop infrastructure capacities across the nation by building new roads (including a National Highway System), railways, runways, and ports.
  

Public Services
As a corollary to our economic policy, the Aldurian National Alliance firmly believes in the role of public services in our society. While we promote the idea of subsidiarity, we also recognize that there exist great inequalities between the Aldurian Capital District and the rest of the nation, especially our settlements.

To counteract this tension, we in the ANA believe that the national government does have a clear and distinct role to play in promoting health, education, and housing outcomes. In particular, we will fight to give our local doctors, local teachers, and local officials the power they need to provide for their communities.

Specifically, an ANA government will:

• Promote a variety of healthcare options, based on individual needs, to include public, private for-profit, and private not-for-profit choices;
  
• Strengthen an education system that recognizes real-world application - not just book smarts - and promotes skillful acquisition of trades;
  
• Continue to expand the construction of housing and allowing individuals in government-run housing projects to become a part of an ownership society by buying their property;
  
• Protect the environment by continuing the sunflower experiment and finding innovative solutions to the water issues facing Alduria.
  

Immigration and Trade
Alduria is first and foremost a nation of immigrants. We have opened our doors to the stateless from around the globe and this has made our unique national character. However, as any sociologist would affirm, bringing in new people puts a strain on the existing cultural norms of a community. To this end, the Aldurian National Alliance is calling for an end to unlimited immigration (which only drives down wages to the benefit of the wealthy few) and instead will be prioritizing those immigrants who can contribute to overall societal well-being.

Immigration’s twin issue, trade, is also an important area for Alduria to prosper. In order to be wealthy and prosperous, Alduria ought to focus on an export-centered economic path. No society can be rich which simply consumes excess cheap goods from abroad; it takes a strong-willed and productive spirit to prosper in the intensely competitive environment, and the Aldurian National Alliance will prioritize Aldurian interests first, always.

Specifically, an ANA government will:

• Advance a skills-and-assimilation-based immigration system with total and state-based quotas to cap the number of new entries;
  
• Ensure new arrivals have the tools necessary to contribute to society while cracking down on illegal entry that poses a security threat;
  
• Impose tariffs on the import of products from overseas that could be easily made in Alduria in order to kickstart our economic progress;
  
• Re-evaluate any and all existing trade agreements on a regular basis to assess whether they are a net job creator or a net job destroyer.
  

[Alamilla]

The Democratic Farmer-Labor Party of Alduria

The Democratic Farmer-Labor Party was officially formed with the merger of the National Congress for Social Democracy and the Communist Party in order to present a united front for the representation of workers in Alduria politics. With the collapse of New Center, a delegation from the left wing of the defunct party met with party leaders at the Hotel Nueva Barris in Punto Santiago to officially merge into the party, resulting in the Neuva Barris declaration, officially stating the general principles of the party and declaring their intention to stand as a single organization going forward.

The Neuva Barris Declaration:

In the interests of the future development of Alduria and the promotion of free, democratic, and egalitarian society, the representatives present of the Movement for Social Democracy, the Communist Party of Alduria, and the New Center Party recognize the following truths of the Aldurian situation in particular and human affairs in general.
1) All people are entitled to dignity within their lives and work and are entitled to the protection of their rights to bargain for and maintain input in the condition of their labor
2) The gross disparity of wealth between both individuals and communities is a fundamental threat to a free and democratic society
3) All people are entitled to the equal protections of law and society regardless of their race, nationality, religion, creed, gender, gender identity, orientation, or other immutable factors of the human condition.
4) A society has a moral and practical mandate to provide for the education, health, and security of the population of that society.
5) The development of economic structures and exploitation of resources within Alduria is and must to the benefit of the Aldurian people.  To that end, the undersigned commit to unifying into a political organization dedicated to the advancing these principles in the Aldurian government and society.

The Parliamentary Manifesto of the Democratic Farmer-Labor Party -
1678 Edition

As we approach the the second elections under our new constitution, we must assess the successes and failures of the outgoing administration and the steps necessary to maintain our liberal democracy and promote a better, freer, and fairer society going forward. Towards these ends, the Democratic Farmer-Labor party proposes the following actions and promises the following guidelines on our behavior in the next parliament to be assembled.


-8 hours work, 8 hours rest, and 8 hours liberty: People must be free to pursue their interests, their families, and their lives. We must have ownership of our own time. To that end, among the first priorities of a DFL government will be to mandate that all hourly workers be entitled to 150% of pay time worked over 8 hours in a single a day or 40 hours in a week's time. Additionally, a floor for salaried workers must be instituted to prevent avoidance of these rules.
-The right to collectively organize and bargain is paramount to giving the people power over their own lives. To this end, a DFL government will institute legal protections for worker's ability to organize into bargaining units and for those bargaining units to engage in actions to advance their position and make their voices heard.
-A DFL government will create a clear and unambiguous legal definition of independent contractors so that the designation may not be used to skirt the legal rights of employees.
-A DFL government will institute protections for pension funding in cases of bankruptcy and catastrophe, so that management may not alter the hard won benefits of workers without their collective consent.
-A DLF government will create a single, unified health insurance plan for all of Alduria, replacing current private premiums with a simple progressive marginal premium. This will reduce the inefficiencies created in administering multiple private entities, eliminate the perverse incentives inherit in private insurance markets, and allow us to negotiate payment schedules for drugs and services with a single unified voice as well as insuring that every Aldurian has access to affordable, quality healthcare.
-A DLF government will institute a comprehensive disability, unemployment, and advanced age insurance system. Benefits will be payed out against incoming payments with an income surcharge, with a cap on benefit in the highest income brackets and the difference supplementing benefits at the lowest.
-Funding for both of these programs will be supplemented with a low Value Added-Tax in order to distribute the tax base and decrease the potential burden on an individual
-The DFL will promote advanced, early screening for the cancers that increasingly plague our population so that treatment can be administered as soon as possible
-A DLF government will ensure that all children are granted the education necessary to be full, productive, and happy members of society. We will ensure that every child, from ages 5 to 16 is enrolled in the appropriate educational system and that all children from ages 16 to 18 are either in the educational system or apprenticeship programs, the later to be supplemented with instruction in language, writing, and mathematics.
-The DLF will ensure that the particulars of methods of instruction, programs, and in so far as possible funding within the education system stays within the purview of local and regional governments
-The DFL will institute a system of land grants, tuition controls, and low interest loans to ensure that higher education is accessible and affordable to all who wish to pursue it
-The DFL will create, within the Department of the Interior, a commission to asses the intensity and risks of radiation on any proposed site of habitation and formulate a plan to remediate those risks.
-A DFL government will immediately begin clean up efforts on the river to bring it up to safe standards for economic and recreational activity, and perhaps eventually drinkablity, to be financed by an emergency surcharge to income taxes on those in the highest 10% of income brackets.
-The DLF believes that the resources of Alduria must be used to the benefit of Aldruais and opposes any oil privatization scheme.
-A DLF government will expand the national oil company to include the whole of the mining sector.
-Any private investments in the Aldurian Oil Company will be on the basis of the private firm collecting a specified amount of the increase in production generated by the investment for specified period and ending with all revenues from oil production eventually being in back public hands
-A DFL government will standardize infrastructure development in Alduria, with a single rail-gauge, minimum bridge and overpass height, and a minimum load capacity for roads and bridges, so that any vehicle may confidently use any road or railroad. 
-A DFL government will institute tariffs, where not bound by treaty, on targeted goods in which domestic manufacture may build a competitive advantage and will use the proceeds for further infrastructure development, so we may both nurture domestic industry and create the infrastructure it needed to operate it.
-The DFL does, however, recognize the potential for public-private partnerships to allow for infrastructure development beyond that allowed by current fiscal restraints, and will engage in these provided that the agreements a structured in a manner in which the private entity is incrementally bought out to eventually put in the results of the project in public hands.
-A DFL government will see that branches of the Bank of Alduria are opened in each regional capital. These branches, using federal and regional taxes and trust funds of social insurance programs as initial deposits, offer low interest start up loan and act as lenders of last resort for local banks, to keep the wealth of local communities within local communities and foster reinvestment.
-A DFL government will reform the tax code to move taxation away from productive business activities and toward capital gains and accumulated wealth, to incentivize hiring, construction, and expansion and decentivize dividends, buybacks, and rent seeking.
-The DFL is committed to affordable and secure housing. We will institute a housing bill of rights, to require mediation before eviction or foreclosure, implement, in conjunction with local governments, a sliding scale of rent caps on multi-family units with decreasing allowable margins as value increases and as the building ages, to push developers in build newer and cheaper housing units, while we will institute a right to buy for single family home renters that have maintained a single domicile for five years or greater.
-The DFL is committed to the principles of the separation of church and state, and any DFL will studiously maintain the separation between them.
-The DFL is committed to maintaining legal equality of all races, genders, gender identity, nationalities, and religious persuations within Alduria, and any government in which we participate will respect and when necessary expand these protections
-The DFL is committed to not only legal, but social equality, and will institute legal protections for the protection of all classes in public commendation, hiring, and the workforce.
-The DFL is committed to an open society. We recognize the uniqueness of Alduria as a nation whose identity is formed from a common commitment to liberty, democracy, and the Euran dream. To this end we will maintain an open immigration policy and support programs to help new arrivals integrate into Aldurian society.
-The DFL recognizes the practical necessity and success of the development of Biscarrose and Napoléon by private entities, however we also recognize the moral necessity of democratic governance. We will continue to support their development on the condition that their boards of governance include the elected representatives of the people of those areas.
-The DFL remains committed to policy of armed neutrality and avoiding any entangling foreign alliances, particularly those involved in the USSO and Raspur Pact.
-A DFL government will work to develop economic, cultural, and humanitarian cooperation with other governments who similarly show themselves dedicated to neutrality, sovereignty, and independence.
-The DFL supports the maintenance and development of an integrated and robust sea and air military arm to combat the threat of piracy on the straits
-The DFL will work to avoid armed conflict and oppose any military adventurism not directly related to the security of Alduria.
-The DFL will begin a pilot program to connect returning veterans with housing, jobs, and general social reintegration.

 

Organizational Strategy

The DFL, being the merger of two and half parties, has spend the period since the last election streamlining organizing efforts into three groups, the smallest and, usually, most senior being those assigned to manage relations and win the endorsement or at least tacit support of existing social organizations, labor unions obviously, but also women's groups, student organizations, lgbtq advocacy groups, immigrant's organizations,  farmer's groups, veteran's groups, PTAs, seniors groups, even, maybe, your local homeowners association or neighborhood watch (those last two probably aren't that friendly), the largest group, by far, being the general foot soldiers to do the door knocking, pamphleting, voter registration, and, eventually, the get out the vote drives, and lastly the local organizing committees, who are in charge of overseeing funding, logistics, and media relations.
When it comes to candidate selections, obviously any sitting MP, barring scandal or a lost vote of no confidence from the constituency membership, would be able to rerun on the DFL ticket, barring perhaps a few truly out there communists. When selecting new candidates, the DFL has tried to focus on people who are already known and trusted in their community, with an eye towards matching the candidate and community. Labor organizers abound in working class communities, immigration advocates in heavily (non-Alexandrian) immigrant communities, school board members and local government officials in the suburbs, student union leaders and politically engaged academics in university districts, senior citizen and pensioner groups or doctors in districts that are older, grangers and large animal vets in agricultural communities, even, when possible, some local faith leaders in particularly religious communities. The idea being to find candidate with built-in constituencies who help the party present itself as the party of communities united.

When it comes to campaign strategy, there is a general focus across the board on universal healthcare and workers rights, but DFL campaigns make an effort to tailor their pitches based on region and demographics. In regional terms, in the outlying provinces they tend to stress the regional development banks, keeping oil nationalized, and social insurance programs, while in Punto Santiago, the pitch is more focused on housing, immigration, and the eight hour work day. In terms of demographics, the targeting falls along two axes, the first being the pitches to specific groups, with the core DFL voter, working class families, activist students, and civil servants and government employees, (left overs from the Social Democrats, Communists, and New Center respectively), they largely center things on making sure that they are registered and ready to vote and on addressing concerns or countering harmful narratives that might crop up. For other groups, the party has identified five marginal groups and come up with general appeals aimed at winning them over. First, for the lgbt and racial minorities, the focus is on contrasting the DFL's platform of expanding anti-discrimination protections into public accommodation and the workplace as compared to L&D. For students and young people, the twin maxims are focus on what DFL can do for you (social insurance, affordable housing, tuition controls, ect.) and avoid patronizing appeals, such as trying to be the cool young person's party. For religiously inclined voters, stress the increase in family time and engagement springing from the eight hour work day and protections against religious discrimination. For rural voters, focus on enviromental and infrastructure  policy. For Eureans, focus on education and protecting against privatization, and for unaffiliated former New Center voters, focus on education and environmental policy.
For mass communication events, the party divides demographics into the likely age cohort of the audience. For likely younger and unestablished audiences, the focus is on the environment, housing, healthcare, and civil rights, for middle-aged, established audiences, the focus is on the eight hour day, the right to buy, and workplace protections, and for elderly audiences, the focus should be on social insurance and healthcare programs.

When it comes to getting out the vote, the organizing committees are hard at work organizing phone banks, buses, and carpooling for election day. Additionally, voter registration drives will be conducted until the last minute in likely DFL communities and all DFL ads have been mandated to include the day of the election, and, for direct mailing to domiciles, the location and times of their local polling station.

 

 

[Recks]

Aldurian National Alliance:
Election Strategy

The ANA has largely focused on recruiting candidates that have built-in constituencies, and this largely involves recruiting candidates who are Alexandrian or Caputian (although some Euran candidates, particularly Constancians and Ladinos, are recruited for more ethnically diverse states). A key feature that most candidates running on the ANA’s ticket is that they tend to overwhelmingly be married with children. This is seen as emphasizing their traditional values, in alignment with the ANA’s values-based platform. A number of the candidates are former members of the military, with a decent number of businessmen and women thrown in the mix. While the party activist base is primarily male, a concerted effort (largely led by Presidential candidate Camille Belmont) has been made to recruit capable females to the party.

The ANA has made a particular effort at cultivating young conservatives through its recently-formed youth and student wings. These groups are known for being controversial online (think: meme culture) and hosting equally controversial speakers on campus. The efforts at getting young people involved is aimed at giving the ANA manpower to knock on doors and do the groundwork for get-out-the-vote. That being said, the majority of natural audiences are older, and they are utilized as well - more with engaging in email, social media, and text campaigns with their friends and neighbors.

One audience that we believe is under-tapped is the Euran population of Alduria, and so we will be focusing on bringing them on board (with our strong social conservatism, which overlaps with much of their traditional values). To this end, our Euran candidates (again, mostly Constancians and Ladinos) focus on their communities of interest.

Geographically, we focus on small-to-medium sized towns, particularly those outside of Punta Santiago, as the main focus of the campaign. The further one gets from the capital, the more class-based the speeches will tend to be: pitting “us” settlers versus “them” elites. Our organizational strategy within each state (for the non-Euran population centers) is to allow a head-candidate to be the main celebrity in that state, thereby drawing larger crowds wherever that candidate goes within the state. Lesser known candidates are also encouraged to host events, but these tend to be among activists and less public: a few candidates have been known to be loose-cannons and are therefore more cloistered away from the media - except when we want free publicity.

Our media strategy involves regularly staying in the mind of the voter: we agree with the idea that all publicity is good publicity, and we employ a number of meme tactics in attempts to go viral. The idea is that no single candidate is outrageous enough to be disqualifying, but every candidate takes turns in the spotlight to garner some shock value. We will be advertising in some traditional settings, but we recognize that our low polling (so far) and economic messaging has placed us out of the money race for big donors. That being said, we try to pick up the slack by appealing to small-quantity donors.

[Alfonso Velez]

L&D ad for day 1-- Media: TV, Internet

A narrator with a silky voice that projects both strength and warmth is heard

Narrator: Wondering who to vote for? Let's compare the options.

Calm, cheerful music plays as colour videos of Velez, Seydlitz, and other recognizable L&D figures appear giving impassioned speeches in Parliament while muted.

Narrator: While the Liberty & Democracy party fought tirelessly for civil liberties and equality for all our citizens, what did the opposition parties do?

The sounds of crickets fill the screen as the colour images of a vibrant Parliament are replaced with the image of empty seats on the opposition side of the Chamber in black and white.

Videos now turn back to colour with the happy music resuming as Velez shakes hands with soldiers and stands in front of a large tank

Narrator: While the Liberty & Democracy party worked tirelessly to ensure that our brave men and women in the armed forces were fully funded and passed the largest military spending bill in our Republic's history, what did the opposition parties do?

The sounds of crickets fill the screen as the colour images of a vibrant Parliament are replaced with the image of empty seats on the opposition side of the Chamber in black and white.

Videos now turn to Velez meeting with local Government officials, as well as local museum curators

Narrator: While the Liberty & Democracy spearheaded multiple efforts to promote our great Republic's culture and wrote legislation to give local governments greater control on how to run their own affairs, what did the opposition parties do?

The sounds of crickets fill the screen as the colour images of a vibrant Parliament are replaced with the image of empty seats on the opposition side of the Chamber in black and white.

The screen now turns to a video series alternating between soldiers and tanks, a patient getting healthcare, a small business owner shaking hands with Velez, a happy teacher teaching kids while Secretary Seydlitz stands in the corner of the room with a smile, the image of cargo being offloaded at a port, and finally the image of a bridge being built with Velez wearing a hard hat. 

Narrator: Vote for a party who doesn't just talk about doing things for Alduria, but which has a proven track record of success. Vote for the Liberty & Democracy for 5 more years of good governance. If the opposition parties come into power, what have their actions shown us that we can expect?

The final image of the ad returns back to the empty opposition benches of Parliament in black and white with the loud sound of crickets.

[Alfonso Velez]

L&D Billboard/Non-Video Internet Ads:

The L&D party has posted the following billboard and non-video internet ads throughout Alduria. The party has also distributed posters which may be displayed at various locales who support the L&D party:

Ad 1:



Please note that the ad in Alduria says "Vote for the Liberty & Democracy Party" and has a link to their website.

Ad 2:

[Alfonso Velez]

VELEZ STATEMENT TO THE PUNTA SANTIAGO PRIDE PARADE

Good Morning friends! It's an honour to be here today as we celebrate another year of greater freedoms for all LGBTQ+ persons in our great Republic. I'm proud of the work that the Liberty & Democracy party has done on this front--and I'm also proud to be the first openly gay Prime Minister of Alduria. Friends, make sure that each and every one of you vote in this election. Make sure your friends and family vote. Ask everyone you know if they've registered to vote. Ask people who needs transportation to the polls on election day.

It's easy to take the liberties that we've fought for and won for granted, but even though the battles have been won, we must remain vigilant. Already we've heard from Mr. Paredes and the Aldurian National Alliance that, if they're elected, they will tear down these freedoms and institute policies that erode the most basic of human liberties--the right to love who we love regardless of their gender. My friends, vote like your liberty depends on it--because in this election, it does. We must fight against the ANA and their transphobic legislation. We must fight against this attack on our civil liberties. To do that, we need your support so that the Liberty & Democracy party can stand for everyone's liberty while protecting our democracy.

Let me also say this: we stand for liberty for all. To people like Mr. Paredes who think that marriage should only be between a man and a woman I say this. I respect your right to have that opinion. I will fight to my last breath to protect your right to express your view and to chose who people of faith will marry in their churches. We will never impose our social beliefs on the Republic and force people of differing beliefs to not follow their hearts and conscience so long as that action does not take away another's right to life or liberty. That is the important distinction between our beliefs and platforms. The L&D stands for freedom for all--even, and perhaps even especially, for those voices who stand against us. We will never impose our beliefs on others--but will always allow people to make their own choices. Mr. Paredes' agenda is the complete opposite. He seeks to impose his morality on the whole of the Republic. He seeks to prevent two people who love each other from getting married because of their gender. It is an assault on our liberty, it is an affront to the protections enshrined in the Constitution, and it must not stand. The Liberty & Democracy party will continue to lead the fight against forces from any side that might seek to erode the liberties of all the citizens of this Republic.

My friends, we can't do this without your help. Please show up to the polls on election day and cast your vote to protect the rights of all people to love and live their lives according to their hearts and their conscience. Vote for the Liberty & Democracy party. Thank you all!

[Recks]

Aldurian National Alliance
Day 1 Campaign Materials

Today, all of our materials are Internet-based. There are two heavily-promoted memes (to energize a young, conservative base and also generate publicity at the start of the campaign) and a video targeting traditional demographics on video-sharing and social-media platforms.

Meme #1.
Virgin Alfonso Velez/Chad Atanasio Paredes (Link)

Meme #2.
Pepe Says... Vote ANA (Link)

Internet Video.
Scene cuts to a young mother with daughter walking towards a public bathroom. The women's sign is clearly visible. As they approach the door, a biological man who is obviously cross-dressing and seemingly unaware walks out of the restroom. Mother is disgusted, and daughter appears extremely nervous. 
Scene turns to an interview with the mother.
Mother: Hi, my name is Susana, and I'm the proud stay-at-home mom with three young children. These kids are my life, so when I heard that the mainstream political parties don't want to do everything they can to protect my children, I was so angry. Fortunately, the Aldurian National Alliance is willing to put people like me and my daughters first. Is that really too much to ask?
Scene cuts to Atanasio Paredes, speaking with a small focus group.
Paredes: I've heard horror stories from across this great nation about how the libertine, immoral, godless government and their mainstream allies have left the Aldurian people behind. People like Susana who just want their children to grow up in a safe, supportive environment. The Aldurian National Alliance is the only party that will fight for everyday Aldurians, not the extreme hedonists we see on the streets.
Screen shows images of Alfonso Velez at the Punta Santiago Pride Parade.
Paredes Voiceover: While our opponents have promised to fall head-over-heels for these immoral communities, only the ANA has pledged to end this madness. But we cannot do this alone.
Screen changes to large groups of people wearing ANA blue shirts in various settings: at a phone bank, knocking on doors, at a rally, etc.
Paredes Voiceover: As we begin this campaign season, we need activists and volunteers from across Alduria to knock on doors, write letters to the editor, and engage in a campaign like our future depends on it - like our kids' lives depend on it. Because that is what this election is all about. I'm Atanasio Paredes, leader of the Aldurian National Alliance, and with your support we can save Alduria before its too late.