Change the Party from Within Simulator

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You know that America could be so much better. But it won't happen unless your political party changes some of its strategy. It's not going to be enough to just wait for the polls. What can you do?

You know - you're going to change the party from within!

Choose your Party:

Democrat

Republican

You know that America could be so much better. But it won't happen unless your political party changes some of its strategy. It's not going to be enough to just wait for the polls. What can <i>you</i> do?/*You're tired. Tired of pre-emptive war, tired of inequality, tired of being spied on, and tired of runaway inflation. You don't want war with Iran, but you also don't want war with Russia. It's too late if you wait for the polls. But what can <i>you</i> do?*/ You know - <i>you're going to change the party from within!</i> <center>Choose your Party: <table><tbody> <tr> <td><span class="icon">[img[http://paulgasca.com/game/change_the_party_from_within_simulator/images/Democratic_Party_Logo.png]]</span> [[Democrat->Vote Democrat]]</td> <td><span class="icon">[img[http://paulgasca.com/game/change_the_party_from_within_simulator/images/GOP_Square.svg.png]]</span> [[Republican->Vote Republican]]</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </center>

That's right, you are going to change the Democratic Party from within! <ul>Action Steps: <li>Find a candidate that's got your back!</li> <li>Become a Delegate to represent the voters in your party!</li> <li>Nominate your underdog, whether the public knows to or not!</li> <li>Force only good choices to exist on the ballot!</li> <li>Win!</li> </ul> Fact: It takes less than 3,000 delegates across the nation to sway the Presidential Nomination, in either party. [[SAVE THE WORLD]]

That's right, you are going to change the Republican Party from within! <ul>Action Steps: <li>Find a candidate that's got your back!</li> <li>Become a Delegate to represent the voters in your party!</li> <li>Nominate your underdog, whether the public knows to or not!</li> <li>Force only good choices to exist on the ballot!</li> <li>Win!</li> </ul> Fact: It takes less than 3,000 delegates across the nation to sway the Presidential Nomination, in either party. [[SAVE THE COUNTRY]]

Becoming a Delegate You're off to a good start. There are many empty seats every year in every county, they couldn't possibly turn down a grass roots go-getter like yourself, right? You go to your county and apply. The form is simple, but wait, what's that last question there? 'Do you vow to vote for who the party chooses no matter what?' That's pretty absolute, you think. What if they picked the next Hitler? What if "the party" overrides the delegates and the public? You're only here because you weren't cool with how they picked the last guy. What do you do? [[Yes, pledge for Hitler]] [[Argue Logically]]

You answer No on the form. You go in for an interview with The Party. They ask why you said no. You tell them you're an honest person and couldn't bring yourself to vote for the next Hitler just for the sake of party loyalty. They wouldn't either right? You discover that they would. "A lack of a vote is a vote for the other party," they scream! Did they convince you to lie? Hint: You can technically consider a party that desires the next Hitler to no longer actually be of that party. [[Yes, pledge for Hitler]] [[No, I'm too Honest]]

You plead rational, eloquent arguments back to back because obviously the party is about the ideals and not about a person who can be bought and sold. Despite many empty delegate seats, you are not chosen. YOU HAVE FAILED TO CHANGE YOUR PARTY [[Try Third Party]]

Congratulations, you have survived Level 1 of Corruption, and are named a Delegate in your County! You may now vote on local and State issues that support your cause. Next, you need to apply to be a Delegate for your State and attend the State Convention. [[Apply to State]]

Becoming a Delegate You're off to a good start. There are many empty seats every year in every county, they couldn't possibly turn down a grass roots go-getter like yourself, right?

Apply to be a Delegate to your State and Attend the State Convention While waiting on your State Delegate Interview, you: [[Wander into Committee Meetings and record them]] [[Vote on State Issues]] [[Avoid the Drama, just wait for the Interview]]

Wander into the National Nominations Committee Meeting to assign At-Large Delegates. When a state is a 'red state,' it gets bonus delegates. There is a separate process to assign those seats. You hear someone argue for labelling all those grass roots people that sneak in here to be delegates to subvert the party. You hear another whine that they should get a guaranteed seat. You learn the National Delegate position is actually a snooty Status Symbol given as a reward for years of donations, party loyalty, and receptivity to bribes. You learn you are stepping on some toes by not being one of those people. You see an expensive camera and mic setup filming this meeting, and assume anyone can watch later. You film the meeting anyway. You're glad you did, because the camera people don't post the video and nobody remembers them. [[Wander into the next Meeting]]

The State Party Platform discussion sure looks interesting. The Platform is their statement of what the party actually stands for. Say, if you could change the party Platform to be full of good wholesome values, they couldn't get away with all of those bills that contradict them, right? You attend. They seem very focused on the part about immigration, and you discover that the Republican Party really is full of racist Mexican-hating rednecks. You panic. [[Bail, screw this->Failure]] [[Speak Up for Human Dignity]] [[Keep Quiet->Apply to State]]

Nervous and afraid of everyone around you, you wait patiently in the hallways for your State Delegate Interview. Overhearing things in the hallway, you learn the National Delegate position is actually a snooty Status Symbol given as a reward for years of donations, party loyalty, and receptivity to bribes. Having left no impression on anyone, including the good guys in the selection team that spent years getting there, you do not pass the interview. YOU HAVE FAILED TO CHANGE YOUR PARTY [[Try Third Party]]

YOU HAVE FAILED TO CHANGE YOUR PARTY [[Try Third Party]]

You get up to the mic and plead rational, humanistic values. You explain that illegals cannot take any jobs from law-abiding employers, and that's where the focus should be. Sadly, you are only one of a few who think that way, and some of the audience is composed of not-very-law-abiding employers. You are mysteriously not selected as a State Delegate. YOU HAVE FAILED TO CHANGE YOUR PARTY [[Try Third Party]]

You wander randomly into a Delegate Credentials Committee Meeting. You learn that in another county, a group of delegates were voted on and elected just like you were, except their County Chair decided to replace them all with his friends. The County Chair didn't show, and sent a lawyer to prepresent him. [[Step Away Quietly]]

Interview with a Straight Face You attend your interview with about 20 judges watching you. Luckily you are one of the last and they are too tired to ask too many questions. You get in!!! You then learn attending a National Convention will cost you about $1,000 in hotel costs plus almost a week of lost income. They will hire security to take groups from the hotels to the buildings, so the hotel is not negotiable. Can you afford it? [[A Small Price to Pay for Justice]] [[Ask your Grass Roots Candidate for Funds]]

You're in luck, somebody else was about to donate to the campaign, but decided to donate to you instead when they heard your story. Go change the world, young one! You celebrate. You turn on the news to see what happened in other state conventions. You hear Maine was full of supporters for your underdog, but the organizers of the Republican National Convention overrode and replaced half of your supporters with their chosen out of state members instead. Louisiana was also full of supporters who voted out their State Chair, but the old one came in with police to arrest the new one for trespassing and broke his fingers. You <a href="https://jaretglenn.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/how-the-republican-party-stole-the-nomination-from-ron-paul/" target="_blank">bookmark</a> many more stories for later. [[Next up... the Binding of the Delegates]]

You've already donated to your candidate, surely they can donate back for something as important and vital as this. You reach out for some love. They reply with a request for other candidate supporters to pitch in extra funds for any delegates who can't afford to attend the convention on their own. Well that's weird. What ARE they spending campaign funds on? You ask if they're going to purchase some road signs in the Convention's city, especially along the secured bus route. No, way too expensive, they say. [[Bail, screw this->Failure]] [[A Small Price to Pay for Justice]]

The Binding of the Delegates. You've made it. You're a duly elected Delegate, representing your state's best interest, and you're going to vote for the nominee that truly reperesents them. Not so fast! Didn't you know most states assign nominees to each delegate, and force you to vote for them? The outcome of the public Primary vote matters in this Party. Some states are winner takes all, and some are proportionate. Your state is proportionate, so you're in luck. You discover switching your vote would be a state felony. You discover binding an elected delegate's vote is a national felony. You wonder what the point of going is, if your vote is already bound... [[Bail, screw this->Failure]] [[Carry On For Justice]]

You go home and investigate this legal contradiction that might get you in real trouble. You're in luck! National laws, with regard to national issues, trumps state law. You're safe to vote your conscience. Anyone who enforces the state law that should have never made it to the books is committing a felony. And hey, there's some guy in California forcing the issue in court. A lawyer is asking a Judge for clarification, so all delegates can feel good voting their conscience and not be in any trouble with their state. [[Follow the Court Case]]

You follow the court case in California, as this will really pave the way for grass roots voters now and in the future. Oh darn, the heads of the Republican National Convention have filed motions to block and stall the simple Clarification, and win. [[Bail, screw this->Failure]] [[Proceed to the RNC with Uncertainty]]

You proceed to the Republican National Convention with uncertainty. Weird, the building is already decorated as if the Media's Choice will win and there is no vote. You shrug it off. Since your guy didn't win the majority in any state, your underdog will need at least 5 states to sign a petition to allow his or her nomination anyway. Without this, no votes will be counted nor acknowledged at the Convention. Against all odds, you get your 5 states! You celebrate. [[Present Petition at the Convention]]

<center>[img[http://paulgasca.com/game/change_the_party_from_within_simulator/images/Democratic_Party_Logo.png]] <span class="cite">[[Image Source|https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Democratic_Party_Logo.png#Licensing]]</span></center> You're tired of inequality, so you decide to vote for your guy or gal in the Democratic Primaries!/*You vote for your guy or gal in the Democratic Primaries!*/ Good job, you head home with pride. On your way to the car, you notice an unusually large number of people showing up after 7PM. That's weird, the polls have already closed. You learn your vote did not count. Come again? Your vote did not count. In the Democratic Party, the public Primary vote is more of an FYI preference vote. The real numbers are tallied by hand among Delegates, and it tends to take place right after the public Primary. [[Wait 3 years and plan to be a Delegate->Democrat]] [[That's deceptive! I'm going Third Party.->Try Third Party]]

<center>[img[http://paulgasca.com/game/change_the_party_from_within_simulator/images/GOP_Square.svg.png]] <span class="cite">[[Image Source|https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GOP_Square.svg#Licensing]]</span></center> You're tired of the direction America is heading, so you decide to vote for your guy or gal in the Republican Primaries!/*You vote for your guy or gal in the Republican Primaries!*/ Good job, you head home with pride. You turn on the news and see your grass roots candidate does very poorly in the polls. Why? Well, there was less campaign money due to less media coverage. Well, they had less media coverage due to less campaign money. Too old. Less attractive. Too controvercial. Policies with real change would never pass anyway. We need someone who would compromise instead. But then you hear of a county with 0 votes for all nominees, in a county that favored your nominee. You hear that all media outlets in TV and print are owned by only 6 companies who get news from only 2 sources. There was that interesting video where a programmer confesses to being paid to flip votes on the electronic voting machines. It sure is odd that every Democratic President still votes for war and every Republican still votes for subsidies. It makes you wonder why they didn't get much air time in the debates, or why that other candidate's name was repeated over and over like a Coke commercial. What would happen if your candidate had gotten the majority of mentions instead? Well, it doesn't matter if there's a conspiracy or not. There's one way to get someone on the ballot without any room for vote fraud or voter manipulation. It's the delegate nomination process. If only good people exist on the ballot (ideally on both sides,) then no amount of voter manipulation will really matter. You decide to take your politics seriously - you will become a Delegate! [[Become a Delegate->Republican]]

You try to present the petition allowing your underdog to be eligible for nomination for President. The people responsible for accepting this paper dodge and avoid you. Surely you can track them down during the main event, though, and the whole thing will be televised. You find out the portion with all the debates, resolutions, platform changes, and policies is scheduled for the day before the media arrive. But hey, you're a delegate! You'll be there to witness and record it all, debate on the floor, call motions yourself, and vote down any changes. [[Attend RNC]]

This is it, your time to shine! You gave up a week of income for this and it'll all be worth it. The RNC Chairman takes the stage, and asks the 100 or so Rules Committe Members to proceed to the back room to have all their discussions, debate, and decisions held in secret. They emerged an hour or two later with some amendments printed out on fliers and gave all delegates only a few minutes to read it before voting to approve. Their rule changes include the same 'We can now change any rules outside the convention whenver we want without everyone here' rule. The 'nominees can delete delegates' idea was dropped in the final hour and changed to 'anyone who votes against their bound vote automatically resigns and their changed vote is not counted.' With the first rule to change rules in place, horrible things could happen later. Even some of the Establishment were disturbed by this. The Chair called for a quick vote on both. The vote was an ambiguous no. The aye's have it, he says. Booing floods the stadium for over 3 minutes. [[Blindly Accept->Hold out for that Petition]] [[Contest the Vote]]

You get to the mic and call a Point of Order to ask the Chair to redo the vote by a show of hands, which is a clearer way to count the majority. Your request is ignored. You repeat. Your mic is turned off. Party loyalists get all up in your face. You persist. The boos persist. A small crowd of 10 loudly chant U.S.A. into one microphone, which the media room switches on. The media cuts to commercial while the Chair patiently waits. The Chair carries on with his script like it never happened. You cry. [[Hold out for that Petition]]

Oh yeah, that Petition. The rules changed and now you will need 8 states to sign off before your underdog's votes can be acknowledged. Vote takes place tomorrow, good luck. [[Beg 3 states worth of Delegates]]

You spend your dinner parties interrupting everyone's wine to discuss urgent politics. You win! You got all 8 states! [[Submit new Petition]]

You try to present the petition allowing your underdog to be eligible for nomination for President. The people responsible for accepting this paper dodge and avoid you. The voting begins, and only the Chosen Nominee's vote totals are called out and tallied on the screen. [[Stay Safe, Vote for your bound Delegate]] [[Vote your Conscience]]

Well, now the friends you made here hate you and you betrayed the very reason for coming here. Hope that was some good wine. The votes are announced state by state, with only the Media's Candidate mentioned and tallied. Whole states defied him, unlike you. He wins, as expected. You get a text - everyone is staging a mass Walkout in protest. You might win back some respect. At least you can grab some media attention for this atrocity, right? [[Storm out in a massive Protest]]

You know the law, and you know you're safe to vote your conscience. That's what you came here for! The entire state of Colorado defies convention and votes for your underdog. Almost all of Nevada defies convention and votes for your underdog. This could really happen, folks. You defy convention and tell your State Chair you are voting for your underdog. He effectively tells you to sit he hell down and no you don't. He announces your vote for you. Without the Petition in place, the Media's Candidate would have to score under the threshold, and a second round of voting would be called that could include your candidate, then your candidate in particular would have to tip the vote. But, the total shoots up by a landslide and you sink as slowly as the balloons that drop. You get a text - everyone is staging a mass Walkout in protest. At least you can grab some media attention for this atrocity, right? [[Storm out in a massive Protest]]

Somewhere between a fourth and a fifth of the entire stadium, not just delegates, storm out in a loud, slow, organized protest. They proceed past the security lines into the public protests and greet media on both sides. They march on to some bars and drink away their dreams. [[Check the News]]

You check the news. The protest is hardly a blip in the media the next day. But you hear even bigger news from your new friends. There was at least one decent human being in the Rules Committee, and he had planned to vote no on both changes and be very demanding about it. But he didn't go to the meeting that day. [[Why not, you ask?]]

It turns out that the strongest opponent of the rule changes who had any power to do something about it was kidnapped. Huh? About 40 witnesses, all Delegates or guests of, were on the secured bus with him, heading to the Convention that day. It drove past the entry doors and didn't stop. It then meandered all around downtown Tampa. Passengers demanded to get off but that was against security protocol. About 2 hours later, it did go back to the entrance and let everybody off, but only after the vote was final. Apparently he was used to this, as he did not press charges and later announced he was still a supporter of the party. [[Just take me home already...]]

You try to relax, at least it's all over. You learned a lot. You tried. You're pulled aside at the security gate. Bullet shells were found in your luggage. You know, the luggage your arranged hotel helped you carry out to your car. [[Become Hysterical]] [[Stay Calm]]

You become hysterical. Corruption everywhere! Aah! Everything is wrong! You are arrested. You cannot vote if you have a felony on your record. YOU HAVE FAILED TO CHANGE YOUR PARTY [[Try Third Party]]

You keep your cool and explain the full situation. They let you go, because apparently, they are used to this. You go home and get some much needed rest. You watch the party melt away on TV, as it would clearly rather stay in control than win. You learned power runs top-down, not bottom-up. [[Try all over again anyway->Republican]] [[Switch Party Loyalty->Vote Democrat]] [[Try Third Party]]

That's it, you're onto their game. The system is rigged. A political party is literally just a party. A men's club. It can mean whatever they want it to and they won't hold anyone to it. They use up the old party image just like a new CEO runs a good company into the ground. And it's mostly legal. You're going to join a pure party, one without corruption at the top. You're sure there's no corruption because there's no money at the top. You join your preferred Third Party. You remember there's no money at the top. Or the middle. Or the bottom. The campaign fails because nobody even hears of these guys. The Media hardly ever mentions them, except to slant the poll perception, to make fun of them, or to nitpick about their flaws. Friends from both parties shun you for your decision. You'll have to give up on this one until practically everyone stops following the Media. YOU HAVE FAILED TO CHANGE YOUR COUNTRY [[Try to change the Republican Party from within->Republican]] [[Try to change the Democratic Party from within->Democrat]]

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