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Hey all! One of your Senators CiaoBella here, and it's that time again . . . the Senate Race! Before it begins however, I'd like to write an article for everyone who intends on running. I've been meaning to do this sooner, but I haven't really been able to get around to it. I'm going to include some helpful tips in this article that will hopefully help you in your quest to become one of our next Senators.
Do you really want to become Senator?
Before deciding to run for Senator, really ask yourself: Do you really want to become Senator? What are your motives - to represent the citizens of Whyville, be their voice, and try to implement their ideas? Or are you just running for fame? I'm telling you now, if you're just running for fame or to be known, don't run at all. You'll be known as that "did-nothing-was-never-really-committed-and-only-ever-ran-for-fame-Senator" senator, and forever be mocked on Whyville. It isn't right, let someone else who's really intent on being a true Senator win, don't waste everyone's time.
Then there's some people who go "Eh . . . well . . . I'm only running for the heck of it. I know I won't win but I'll just get my friends to vote and see how many votes I get." No. Do not even think about running. You're causing a lot of trouble by making a stupid decision like that. First, if you really think you have no chance at winning and you're just running for the heck of it -- to poke fun, then it shows that you're really not devoted or interested at all to become a Senator. If by some miracle, you're voted into the top 6 because of . . . oh . . . let's say, the way you look for example, as voters often do, and then you won the top 6, we'd have some Senator who isn't really committed at all and never belonged there in the first place! Does that happen often? No. Could it happen? I'm afraid so. Secondly, by submitting your platform, you're doing nothing but cluttering up the platform list and making it harder for voters to find their candidate and vote for them (not everyone knows the CTRL+ F option, mind you!). Thirdly, by getting about . . . 20 of your friends to vote for you and that's it, then that's 20 wasted votes that a winning candidate could really use! If you know you don't want to win, for real . . . don't do this to people. Keep the bench warm and let the players handle this. If you are, however, someone who wants to run for the right reasons, then great, you've come to the right place!
Campaigning
One of the key roles in ensuring your success in the race -- campaigning! Whether you want to gather an entire campaigning team or not is your decision -- I personally did not because I needed to make sure that people were told the correct things about me. But if it's your thing, go ahead, just make it very clear that you want things specifically explained to people so they'll be persuaded to vote for you.
Some people go in chat rooms, using shortkeys and flood it with "@@@@ VOTE ___ FOR SENATOR@@@" -- please, do not do this. I've found that this does NOT work. If you do want to spread the word quick, "VOTE ME!" is not very . . . convincing. People are just going to become so sick of seeing your username, they'll automatically blacklist and silence you. Include a brief list of your ideas at least, so it will spark peoples' interest. I campaigned long and hard. I went up to people, whispered to each person individually asking if they had voted yet. If they didn't, I proceeded to tell them that I was running, why I qualify for Senator, and a brief list of my ideas. If they were interested, I gave them detailed directions on how and where to vote, and I got a vote! It was SO much work, but I was very motivated to win. One might ask, "Oh my gosh! How did you explain to these hundreds of people over and over again the same thing!?" I had a friend that helped me so much . . . so much. Shortkeys. That's right, shortkeys. No, it isn't cheating, chill out! There's nothing wrong with using shortkeys, that's being resourceful. It isn't as if I ran around going "VOTE FOR ME BECAUSE CITY HALL SAYS SO!" Shortkeys is a very helpful tool that saved me the pain of having to type the same things over and over again to hundreds of people.
DON'T EVER bribe someone or accept a bribe -- never give out clams, parts, etc. for votes! That's cheating, you cannot do this, and City Workers ARE watching everyone when they're campaigning to make sure no cheating is going on. If you want to try it, then you'll be disqualified.
Campaigning is going to require a lot of hard work and dedication, take it from me. And to be quite blunt, be prepared to give up your life for a few weeks if you're very much into winning, because I sat on the computer 24/7 campaigning, practically living in that Poll Booth chat room as well. Stay polite. Be respectful. Understand that people will not always agree with you and your ideas and you'll just have to move on.
The Primary Rounds
Some people say this is the most important round of the entire race because if in the first few hours that voting has opened you don't already have higher votes than most people, then you'll ultimately lose. While I made sure I had more votes than everyone when the voting opened, this was because I was too nervous to be behind people most of the time, but ultimately losing if you're behind some people? This is not always the case. For example, there were at least 2 candidates in the top 6 who were behind a lot of people for the first few days of the beginning rounds, and I'll be honest - I didn't expect them to get into the top 6. But if you're dedicated enough, you can surely find your way up there, just work hard.
Your platform! When making your platform, you should definitely present yourself well enough so that people will think to themselves, "Oh man . . . this guy's legit!" Explain why you think you qualify for Senator, your experience, and include a list of your ideas. One of the mistakes I made was making my primary platform quite long, which can totally turn people off - so I had to tell each person one by one a brief list of my ideas. Try not to have your platform obnoxiously long, but don't be too vague either. Be sure to check your spelling and grammar (pre-write your platform in Microsoft Word or something else that will correct everything) you don't want to look like you're dense!
The Top Six
Ah . . . the top six. I personally find the top six the most nerve wrecking part of the election, however, be honored that you've been elected into the top six! You're going to need to write your updated platform now. In it, go more in depth with your ideas, as this will be an article -- you won't have to worry about boring people to death with the platform window that makes your platform look 10 years long. You should include new ideas that you've gathered while you were campaigning, many thanks to everyone who voted for you, and your last words to people before they go off and vote, tell them why YOU should be their Senator! Give it your all. Be sure to visit the BBS of your updated article, as people will pose many questions here and will debate. Answer all of their questions so they aren't confused, and don't forget, not everyone will agree with you and your ideas.
With such popularity now, it might come with rumors! For example, in the BBS of my updated platform, there was a post where someone started a rumor saying "CIAOBELLA'S SISTER WROTE HER PLATFORM!!! SHES A FRAUD!!!" and "CIAOBELLA GAVE PEOPLE CLAMS TO VOTE FOR HER!" It's frustrating really, there were many people coming up to me in chat and mailing me asking why I would do such a thing, why I don't deserve to be Senator, etc . . . Understand that there will be people who may just be jealous of you and don't want to see you succeed at all and feel that by spreading rumors, you'll fail. Keep your head up, I didn't fail! Report these posts if you see them, and try to clear this rumor up. The City Workers are always watching, they're usually invisible in chat rooms, if you were paying people to vote for you, they'd know right away and would quickly disqualify you.
When the final voting round starts, it gets really nerve wrecking as I said before. Get your tail out there and campaign like no other. To make it easier, try to direct people by saying "Go to home page, in the white area, look for the "Senate Vote" link -- click that and vote!" It'd be much more efficient if the City Workers would put a "VOTE" button on the screen for us since it is confusing to find it on our cluttered home page, but for now, try your best to explain to people where to vote.
* Top Three Senators! *
Congratulations! You've now made it to the top three and you're now one of our next Senators! You also . . . took my wreath away, take good care of it ;)! It's been a long stressful campaign, but be sure to thank everybody for voting. Be sure to make it to the inauguration and try your hardest to make it to the Senate meetings -- citizens look forward to hearing what their Senators and City Workers have to say! Also, don't be a stranger now that you've won, be sure to show yourself around Whyville and frequently chat it up with the citizens.
Ciao!
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