Some Convention Ideas

[Dennis Kussinich 08 23]

Hi,

I really enjoy playing P4E + P, one addition I would like is doing more with the convention, such as picking speakers, and having there speach done in a President 2000 way, where you can pick more then one issue, and the strenght of it. The speakers can cost "Convention PP" which will be certain amount to spend to get speakers., but will give you base, and short term, or long term percentage gain based on how well the speech is done.

Thanks,

Dennis Kussinich 08

[JoSpiv 5]

I agree with this.

If you pick speakers from certain states maybe you get an extra bump in that state, and I think you should have the option to choose which city will host your convention. When we do senarios for the future that option would make it more fun I think.

[Dennis Kussinich 08 23]

I agree with this.

If you pick speakers from certain states maybe you get an extra bump in that state, and I think you should have the option to choose which city will host your convention. When we do senarios for the future that option would make it more fun I think.

The city part is also a great idea.

[Dennis Kussinich 08 23]

bump

[icrover 0]

I'm a fan of being able to pick speakers for the convention, ESPECIALLY if you get a bump in the home state of a speaker (assuming it's a good speech).

As for the site of the convention, I guess it would be all right as an option, but the locations for the conventions are set well ahead of time. I'd personally rather the conventions were where the parties have set them, rather than where I choose.

[Dennis Kussinich 08 23]

Alright, The City part could be optional?

[Dennis Kussinich 08 23]

bump 2.0.

[iramalama 0]

Create your own convention. I like both ideas...the choose-your-own-convention city and choose-your-own-convention speakers. Good suggestion. And nice trick with the 'bump' to keep the topic going.

[Dennis Kussinich 08 23]

thanks, I just waiting for Softi80 to reply.

[Anthony_270 1,138]

Hi DK08,

We'll look at the convention and ways to add detail to it - thanks for the suggestions. The winner of the convention often doesn't really control the convention's speakers, their priority, and so on, but a player's candidate can certainly customize their own speeches - we'll think about it.

thanks, I just waiting for Softi80 to reply.

[Dennis Kussinich 08 23]

Great, thanks.

[MDR 2]

In a situation with a lot of candidates with significant ballots it should be possible to haggle over where state delagates are situated on the convention floor, the issue platform... everything that is truely debated prior to a convention. Also, after the second ballot the last place candidate should have to drop off, then another candidate after the third... etc, having everyone but two candidates drop off after the first ballot is rediculous

[progressivedem 2]

Also, after the second ballot the last place candidate should have to drop off, then another candidate after the third... etc, having everyone but two candidates drop off after the first ballot is rediculous

I've been thinking about mentioning that for a while now. It's unrealisitc and not how conventions are conducted.

[Anthony_270 1,138]

Thanks for the feedback - it's noted.

Anthony Burgoyne

80soft.com

In a situation with a lot of candidates with significant ballots it should be possible to haggle over where state delagates are situated on the convention floor, the issue platform... everything that is truely debated prior to a convention. Also, after the second ballot the last place candidate should have to drop off, then another candidate after the third... etc, having everyone but two candidates drop off after the first ballot is rediculous

[Sabutai 0]

Well, it depends on the balance between fun and realistic. The national committees decide the convention locations years in advance -- so why would a winning candidate get to do so two months out?

I do like the idea of lining up the convention, however, or really getting into the dynamics of conventions. There are many split conventions in this primary ssystem, and it would be fun to go in there and engage in some horse trading to get the majority, rather than just having the loser candidates drop out -- promising the VEEP slot, or something else.

[ElectricMonk 3]

We need the convention in detail for earlier scenarios, i.e. 1972 and earlier for the Democrats and 1976 and earlier for the Republicans (the last conventions to have a fighting chance for someone else).

In 1960 the anybody-but-Kennedy campaign could have won if Johnson had 10-15 more delegates and Kennedy hadn't done an amazing job.

In 1968 it was a confusing mess all the way to the convention and could easily have become a floor battle if RFK had lived, for example.

Reagan could have been the guy in 1976 for example, and Rockefeller in '60, '64, and '68.

Actually what needs to happen is a delegate wooing system. You have to try and get them to switch by making yourself popular in their state (keeping, roughly, the current system) and if you swung a couple the unit rule kicks in (in earlier primaries) and bam a whole bunch more delegates.

Maybe stick how the delegates want to vote: i.e. in 1960 Kennedy has 50 delegates unit rule, but only 26 are pledged. Barnstorming Kentucky as Johnson swings a pair of delegates and you receive the 50 delegates.

Then at the convention floor you spend CP? EP? in 6 hour turns or something to swing delegates to your side.

Oh, and the city the convention is should matter as well. For example there's a famous story about the Massachusetts delegation in 1924 as it climbs over the 100 ballot mark that they either have to move to a cheaper hotel or change their vote.

[KevinTMC 1]

I agree with adding more to the convention...especially when going into a convention without a clear winner.

There could be extended haggling the week before the convention, ways of simulating dramatic multiple ballots and floor fights, et cetera; but the two biggest improvements in my book would be simple to implement.

1) Allow the VP slot to be offered (or asked for) in exchange for an endorsement, even before a candidate has a majority of delegates in his pocket, so long as the endorsement would put the candidate over the top. After all, there's a lot more impetus behind the horse-trading before the nomination is wrapped up than after. You might also allow the VP slot to be offered even if an acceptance would leave the candidate with just 90-95% of the needed delegates--this could set up scenarios in a rough analogue to 1976, where Ronald Reagan hoped that an early running-mate announcement would impress enough delegates to eventually put him over the top.

2) More sophisticated allocation of delegates after the first ballot. In my limited experience in gameplay so far, it has seemed that the computer just doles out free delegates in proportion to what a candidate has already got. So whoever was ahead in the beginning automatically wins. That's not very interesting or fun. Or realistic--in a recent Republican scenario, my candidate ruled California in the polls without Duncan Hunter in the mix; but when he was eliminated, a majority of the delegates Hunter got from winning California went to my rival, who was slightly ahead in the overall delegate count. I should have gotten some credit for being way more popular among Republican voters in California than my rival, and for the considerable time and attention I lavished on the state even after their primary.

Even before the convention, in fact, it ought to be possible to try to woo delegates won by candidates who dropped out without endorsing anyone. Those delegates shouldn't just be arbitrarily committed to various remaining candidates right away.

Also, while I'm on the subject of offers and drop-outs, I would like to see a couple other tweaks.

a] There should be no offers of nothing in exchange for dropping out. If you (or the CPU) run out of money and momentum and hope and decide to pull the plug, you should simply drop out...not call some random other candidate to "offer" to drop out, with no endorsement of anyone and in exchange for nothing.

b] One should be able to offer more than just the VP slot and PIPs. Some cash to help pay off campaign debts, perhaps? A cabinet post? (I'm not sure how the latter could be made significant...perhaps if your platform had to change to accommodate that candidate's views on a relevant issue or two, or if taking that person on board had a risk of alienating some supporters.)

[KevinTMC 1]

Also, when the convention meets to vote on the nominee, one should be offered the option to go through the state-by-state roll call (accompanied by a cumulative count of delegates at the side or on the bottom of the screen). This would be especially helpful for third-party conventions, where all of the delegates are "selected"/committed on the same day; going through them state by state with a running count would be much more exciting, as well as more informative. (The last game I played, the third-party primary maps disappeared after the convention, so there was no way for me to go back and see the vote totals, and evaluate how effective my strategy had been.)