The Land Of The Free: An American Political Roleplay (OOC)

[The World Capitalist Confederation]

Short answer: No. Maybe lessen the dramatization of that speaking. It's not terribly realistic. The hearing and his great-grandfather could still happen, but more 'chil'

Alright.

[Cormactopia Prime]

I had read it, but I thought I'd made the character sufficiently flawed that it wasn't an issue. Being ardently anti-establishment isn't necessarily a universally positive thing in Ohio, where in RL more establishment Republicans like John Kasich and Rob Portman tend to do better statewide, so in my view this was actually a bit of a flaw given the state. On top of that I did list some weaknesses that aren't necessarily obvious in the bio but would play out in RPing.

In any case, do you have any tips on fixing the character so it's less hotshot-like, and in the meantime can I at least reserve this U.S. Senate seat in Ohio?

Our main concerns is his strengths and weaknesses. It seems very lopsided in favor of his strengths. Maybe try and add a bit to his weaknesses. Maybe a controversial comment, a loose tongue, bad debater compromising connections, etc. (not all of them, of course). Or maybe weaken a few stregnths-develop that more.

As for the state, maybe a deeper red state might work better. Kentucky?

Thanks for the feedback! I edited weaknesses (here), adding in "attention seeking" and "divisive" which I'd meant to imply before but probably needed better spelled out. I also added a paragraph at the end of the bio talking about how attention grabbing and careerism have led to resentment and lesser influence, and concerns about ineffective representation back home. I hope that beefed up the weaknesses enough, but if it still needs work let me know.

I would really prefer to stay in Ohio if possible. It's a pretty red state now in RL -- not only did Trump win it in 2016 by 8 points, but there's currently only one statewide Democrat and Republicans still control the legislature, even after statewide office elections in 2018 in the midst of the Democratic wave.

[Uttland]

(Image)

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Character Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: Azekopolaltion
Character Name: Paul Philips
Character Gender: Male
Character Age: 35
Character Height: 6' 1"
Character Weight: 172 lbs
Character Position/Role/Job: Representative for Ohio's 9th Congressional District (Currently), Fmr. Mayor of Cleveland (2014-2018), Captain in United States Army
Appearance:
(Image)
Character State of Origin: Ohio
Character State of Residence: Washington D.C.
Character Party Affiliation: Democratic
Main Strengths: Powerful speaker, experienced, perceived as thoughtful, compassionate, popular with colleagues and people
Main Weaknesses: He's not very detailed in his policy, and he's a poor debater although he's an inspiring orator

Biography: Paul was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on October 8, 1946, as the eldest of four children. He was raised by a single black mom, who was a bartender. Growing up, his family moved 21 times and Paul was often charged with the responsibility of finding apartments they could afford. His mom was often domestically abused by her partner, but was afraid to break up with him because he was a wealthier salesman.

Paul wasn't a great student. He attended Cleveland State University and graduated from Case Western Reserve University with both a Bachelor and a Master of Arts degree in speech and communication. During his time at university he was heavily involved in Model Congress, where he shone for his speaking skills. Paul was also politically involved, starting a youth chapter for the Democratic Socialists of America at his college.

After he graduated, Paul became an community organizer; he was employed by a progressive group called Justice Democrats, where he advocated for his progressive vision. He was notable for his outspoken anti-war activism. When he ran for mayor, Paul had the advantage of being backed by the big progressive group. He broke records as the man who raised the most money every through small dollar donations in a mayoral election. He won Democrats over, as well as some independents who were won over by his strong rejection of identity politics, despite being a black man. He was elected as mayor of Cleveland; during his tenure, he made progress in decreasing poverty and improving public transportation.

Paul went on to run for Congress, making his main message about pulling out of wasteful wars. His support came from working class voters in his district, who turned out to hand him the election. His campaign garnered a lot of media attention, since he was a young black man. His Twitter is the sixth most followed out of any House member. However, he lost some of his support from the media when he criticized identity politics. His relationship with his colleagues is mostly friendly, although he has received some slack for coming out as personally pro-life; he thinks that an independent abortion organization should be formed to judge whether a woman can get an abortion after 20 weeks, if it isn't life-threatening. This abortion position, as well has his anti-war message, is unpopular with the media but highly popular with his constituents. It remains to be seen whether he can establish himself as an adept politician instead of just a fiery idealist.

Other Info: NA

I have read and accept the rules of the roleplay: (Your Nation's Name Here)

Do Not Remove: 84721

-''Paul was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on October 8, 1946'' was this an error?
-When did he serve in the army? The app isn't too detailed on this.
-Justice Democrats wasn't a thing to 2017, so his working for them can't really before 2014, and he wouldn't have had their support because again, they didn't exist yet.
-I don't think a 30 year old activist with little experience could win a mayorship of a major city, especially since the group that supposed to support him didn't even exist yet in 2014.
-his rejection of identity politics is weird since Cleveland is 53% African-American
-What did he do as mayor of cleveland to achieve poverty reduction and improving public transportation?
-the weaknesses and strengths are a skim on details.

[Uttland]

Our main concerns is his strengths and weaknesses. It seems very lopsided in favor of his strengths. Maybe try and add a bit to his weaknesses. Maybe a controversial comment, a loose tongue, bad debater compromising connections, etc. (not all of them, of course). Or maybe weaken a few stregnths-develop that more.

As for the state, maybe a deeper red state might work better. Kentucky?

Thanks for the feedback! I edited weaknesses (here), adding in "attention seeking" and "divisive" which I'd meant to imply before but probably needed better spelled out. I also added a paragraph at the end of the bio talking about how attention grabbing and careerism have led to resentment and lesser influence, and concerns about ineffective representation back home. I hope that beefed up the weaknesses enough, but if it still needs work let me know.

I would really prefer to stay in Ohio if possible. It's a pretty red state now in RL -- not only did Trump win it in 2016 by 8 points, but there's currently only one statewide Democrat and Republicans still control the legislature, even after statewide office elections in 2018 in the midst of the Democratic wave.

I think that should be fine, weaknesses seem beefed up enough.

I mean I have no problem with Ohio tbh, so honestly, that should be fine. It was more a suggestion to be in more line with the OP.

I think your app is fine, from what I see, however i'll ask the guy who's job it is is to approve what he thinks.

[Imperial Esplanade]

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Character Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: Imperial Esplanade
Character Name: Emily S. Davenport
Character Gender: Female
Character Age: 52
Character Height: 5'5
Character Weight: 124 lbs.
Character Position/Role/Job: United States House of Representatives (CA-34), House Committee on Natural Resources (Member 2007-2016, Ranking Member 2013-2018, Chairwoman 2018-).
Character Appearance:

Character State of Origin: California
Character State of Residence: California
Character Party Affiliation: Democrat
Main Strengths: Emily is a strong orator and is an gregarious person, thus she has always had found little-to-no issues with her ability to network or reach out to fellow members of Congress. This has, incidentally, led to her enhanced ability to fund-raise and to maintain a decent approval rating with her constituents, upon conducting events such as town halls or other meet-and-greets on a somewhat regularly-recurring basis.
Main Weaknesses: Emily is an extremely partisan individual, to the point of fault, and has been involved in politics for much of her life such that she has become synonymous with the perception of a true "career politician," as well as having an occasional regrettable choice in her publicly-disclosed voting history.
Biography: Born an raised in the small town San Clemente, situated just south of the city of Los Angeles, to a social conservative pastor father and an equally-so stay-at-home mother, Emily has credited her frequent run-ins with them, and acts of rebellion as a child and a teenager (albeit jokingly), as one of her initial "signs" that she was stubborn enough to ought to run for political office one day in her future -- a dream she never considered until her collegiate years. Emily, along with her five other siblings, grew up in a middle class home, only moving out of San Clemente once she was admitted to Stanford University up north in Santa Clara County, going with her longtime boyfriend from high school, Hal Davenport.

Originally attending Stanford with the intention of becoming a school teacher, Emily switched her major to study political science in her sophomore year of college. Upon graduating as part of the class of '89, Emily moved to Washington D.C. to intern with her Congressional representative's office from back home for a year, citing the experience as "integral to her growth," and saying it had "laid the foundation of her desire to seek running for Congress" as well. Emily stayed in Washington, working for her representative, for an additional two years before volunteering to be a part of the Clifford Presidential campaign during the 1992 Presidential Election. Emily described her time with the Clifford campaign, assisting across the state of California -- but especially focusing in the L.A. metropolitan area, saying it was "equally challenging as it was rewarding," and that she then openly considered moving to Washington, D.C. to work full-time in any capacity for any Democratic politician who would be willing to hire her thereafter.

Yet, as fate would have it, she was unable to find employment and eventually returned home; yet following the Republican Revolution of 1994 that saw her district (among many others) flip from Democrat to Republican, Emily made the determination to run for Congress in the next cycle, two years later, in 1996, at just 29 years old. Her first attempt to run for office was an utter, abysmal failure (to put it lightly) however; and Emily hardly captured 1% of her district's vote -- falling in last place for the election. In 1998, Emily tried again, and failed once more with only getting 3% of the vote following an intensive effort in grassroots campaigning. Feeling deflated, exhausted, and defeated, Emily and her then-now-husband, Hal, moved to Los Angeles once he earned a promotion with an engineering firm based out of the city, and Emily found work with the City of Los Angeles shortly after, serving as an assistant to the mayor for three years -- a job that, as she has stated, "gave her the spark back." Emily left her job with the mayor's office in 2004, focusing heavily on local activism ahead of the 2006 midterms election, and decided to attempt running for Congress once more in spite of the previous two attempts back in her hometown. With the incumbent Democrat retiring, leaving an open seat for the election, Emily managed to squeak by in the primary, and she went on to win the general election against a surprisingly strong Republican challenger. As a Congresswoman, beginning in 2007, Davenport's record has largely followed the Democratic whip -- and continues to do so to this day, continually earning her the ire of anti-establishment activists and those generally discontent with the Democratic party in her district. Yet, despite a scare in the 2012 primary where she nearly lost to a local progressive hardliner activist, Davenport has held a mostly-firm grip on her district, easily winning re-election time and again, ever since.

Foreign Policy
NATO: Davenport believes that the Wolf administration, and by default the Republican Party as a whole by association via their silence on the matter, has been intentionally neglecting the most important alliance in America's repertoire and that repairing the relationship America has with NATO countries is of utmost priority as it relates to the foreign policy agenda of the United States. She believes the Republican treatment on NATO nation is a dangerous precedent, and that America must treat friends as friends and foes as foes.
Afghanistan: September 11th, 2001 will be eighteen years ago, and we have soldiers on the front lines to fight an enemy in "America's Longest War," who have no recollection of the events that transpired on that fateful day nor are able to recall life prior. Emily believes it is time to withdraw our forces, and to entrust and support the Afghanistan government in maintaining its' stability as it continues to combat terrorist threats from within.
Iraq: Davenport has a somewhat conflictive voting record: initially opposed, yet turned mildly-supportive of the Iraqi Troop Surge in 2007; citing it as tactically critical to the mission, but yet shortly after has been sharply critical and dismissive of American involvement henceforth in the years that followed, something she has continued adhering to as of this day. As ISIS arose, Davenport staunchly opposed sending American ground forces to Iraq to help combat against the terrorist organization, saying she believed an international coalition that involved limited American forces was the only acceptable option.
North Korea: Davenport has been cautiously optimistic as to the Wolf administration's attempts at brokering a diplomatic solution with the North Koreans at the time of negotiation, but has since called it "nothing better than a photo op for the two men," and has cited North Korea's continued nuclear ambitions as evidence to the Wolf administration's complete and total incompetence. Prior to the Wolf administration, however, Davenport has been supportive of diplomatic pressures and sanctions applied on the North Korean state and has generally opposed options of force against them.
Russia: Davenport believes that President Wolf has been too friendly and warm to geopolitical foes, such as Russia, and has strongly rebuked his cordiality with President Putin in juxtaposition with President Wolf's public contempt and frustrations expressed against American allies. Davenport has strongly condemned the Russian government as a "cesspool of corruption," and has called on America to be more bold and strong in its' rebuke against "acts that undermine the integrity and stability of the modern world," especially so in Ukraine, and has frequently called the Republican Party "disgusting hypocrites" for not being as vocal in opposition to President Wolf's dealings with the Russian government as they were against President Baharia.
China: Davenport has called China "the next great unknown," as in she wasn't certain in China was a existential threat to American supremacy or our greatest business partner in the modern world, and she has a mixed voting record between votes to strengthening trade relations with the burgeoning superpower and votes to support measures defending American interests from Chinese exploitation. Davenport has, however, stated that China is "weaponizing its' economy," and that the United States must work with other business partners to strengthen alternatives to China's economy and markets.
Israel/Palestine: Davenport supports Israel's right to exist, as a state, and has since evolved to also call for Palestine's recognition as a co-equal state to that of Israel, favoring a two-state solution between them. Davenport did not support the Wolf administration's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capitol of Israel, calling the move "dangerously divisive" and "problematic in the movement to seek a two-state permanent solution."
Iran: Davenport has always been critical of the Republican Party's hawkish views on Iran, calling them "warmongers seeking to create a new Iraq," and was supportive of President Baharia's Nuclear Deal to quell its' nuclear program. Not surprisingly, Davenport scolded President Wolf and the Republicans, both, for pulling out of the deal entirely and has since publicly questioned their collective competence on handling the issue of Iran.
Saudi Arabia: Davenport is hesitatingly supportive of the relationship the United States has with Saudi Arabia; in public, she openly enthusiastically touts the partnership as "instrumental to the foreign policy agenda and interests of the United States," yet has been far less clamoring in private and has never endorsed any bills in support of the regime beyond an "aye" vote. However, following the alleged assassination of a high-profile Saudi journalist, Davenport has touted the party line in calling for accountability regarding Saudi Arabia.
Libya: Initially, Davenport was supportive of the Baharia Administration, and its' implementation of the "no-fly zone," agreeing with the President (as nearly all Congressional Democrats had) on the grounds of a looming massacre and a political/societal crisis within the country. Yet, in response to the Wolf Administration's actions within the country, Davenport has been more muted, even suggested the United States ought to consider ceasing operations in Libya, to avoid being heavily-embroiled in yet another war.
Syria: Unlike in Libya or Saudi Arabia, however, Davenport was highly, publicly supportive of the United States policy regarding the fight against ISIS/ISIL, and more muted in response to the Wolf Administration's actions in Syria. Her rhetoric, while toned, has been to suggest a standard cautionary tale against becoming meddled and over-committed in a foreign war, akin to Afghanistan or Iraq, even though she has also said that "defeating terrorism, wholly and completely" is required.
Latin America: Davenport has expressed a desire to expand trade relations with Latin American countries, and American ties with each country, so as to combat against increasing Chinese influence in the region, and to keep the western hemisphere under U.S. geopolitical hegemony, and doing more to help combat domestic corruption and the prevalence of drug cartels south of the U.S. border, going insofar as to declare that "in the 21st century, we must ensure our own backyard is secure above all else, and that our neighbors know we stand with them. Their fight is our fight."
Cuba: Davenport has expressed considerable support to the Baharia Administration's decision to open ties with the Cuban government, calling it "a step in the right direction, with many more to go," and has heavily slammed the Wolf Administration for "turning back the clock, and damaging the reputation of the United States, by deciding on a whim to put into place sanctions against our Cuban neighbors, for no other clear reason than to reserve progress under President Baharia."
Venezuela: Davenport joins alongside many of her Democratic colleagues, calling the country a "dictatorship" under President Maduro, saying it is "unacceptable for us to remain silent against the face of such an extreme humanitarian crisis." Yet, has criticized calls or suggestions for war against Venezuela, calling them "warmongers who offer little actual solutions, only a bigger mess." Davenport agreed with the Baharia Administration's labeling of Venezuela as a national security threat, with their sanctioning of the economic interests of the nations, and has called for more against what she says is "a rogue nation."

Domestic Policy
Healthcare: Davenport proudly touted the Affordable Care Act as "the fix our healthcare needs," and as "the first big step," and has continued to stand by her support of the bill; yet, Davenport has also gone on to suggest it requires "the next big step, an embrace of Medicare-For-All." Davenport made some headlines when, early in the GOP majority of late-2017, she called her Republican counterparts in both chambers of Congress "senseless cowards" for their support of "Wolfcare."
Social Security: Davenport has mostly stayed quiet about the issue and challenges facing Social Security; yet has been on record suggesting that social security is in need of an overhaul, and that she supports the increasing, or even the elimination of, the payroll tax cap, while opposing the Republican view of raising the retirement age, saying that "some people cannot wait that long to retire," and that "it is another example of Republican obsessive efforts to kick the problem further down the line onto the next few generations."
Climate Change: Davenport has continued to scorch Republicans for their positions on environmental issues, as a whole, and especially so on climate change. Davenport has cited her background in Christianity once, saying "as a daughter of a pastor, I know the Bible, and I remember God commissioning us to be stewards of the Earth since the Old Testament. The Republican Party proudly touts religion on one hand, as the basis for its' beliefs when it is convenient, but runs the other way and ignores the rest when it isn't. To ignore the obvious long-term detrimental harm we are committing on the environment isn't just negligent, it should be seen as blatantly sinful for those who aren't complete religious hypocrites." Davenport has publicly expressed her support to House Democrats calls for a "New Green Deal." Davenport has called for the Wolf Administration to reverse-course, and re-enter into the Paris Climate Agreement, and has once openly suggested that she wished "the Baharia administration would have made climate change a more pressing issue from the start."
Pollution: Davenport has expressed support to the idea of a ban on single-use plastics, as well as calling for urgent action to clean up the world's oceans, saying "it isn't enough to fight against the climate challenges we face tomorrow because of our actions of today, we must save our oceans, and the fate of our existence on this planet, from ourselves today, right now."
Abortion: Davenport is completely, and wholly, supportive of abortion rights, even though she has said that she would "never considered it an option" for herself.
Taxes: Davenport supported the Baharia tax bill of 2010, as part of her support of the stimulus bill, though has since expressed some semblance of regret on the matter while opposing the Wolf-led Republican tax cuts of 2017, saying "if tax relief doesn't help the people who need it most, and if economic growth doesn't happen for the stagnant middle and lower classes of America, what even is the point of what we're doing here?" Davenport has accused "trickle-down economics" as being a fraud, and a guise to "help the rich get richer." Supports a Wall Street "speculation" tax, a top-tier "marginal" tax hike, and the increase of tax rates on the wealthiest of Americans.
Federal Budget: Davenport supported the Baharia Administration's spending and tax policies, ignoring criticisms of the effects it would have on the budget, and largely has done the same regarding the Wolf administration, yet has said "long-term, of course our debt has to be paid-off;" and has since regarding Republicans are "disgusting hypocrites" for actively criticizing President Baharia's administration, on the grounds of the national debt, while "not lifting a finger against Wolf, despite doing far worse."
Trade: Davenport has expressed support for NAFTA, as well as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, originally; yet, has taken a balanced-approach to the issue of trade, citing "environment and labor" as chief concerns she has moving forward in future trade negotiations, or re-negotiations, while saying she is open to revisiting the United States and its' involvement in any current trade deals, despite saying she isn't inherently opposed to NAFTA, or any other.
Gun Control: Davenport has called for greater action, and activism, on the question of gun control, going insofar as to support mandatory buyback programs, as well as an assault weapons ban. "There is no need for a weapon of war, meant to be in the hands of our military, to be in the hands of ordinary people on the streets of America. This is the United States there is no need for this, and we have to act for the safety of our children."
Education: Davenport supports the state's shouldering more fiduciary responsibility, on behalf of the students attending public universities and colleges, going insofar as to seek making them tuition-free for four-year students, while also doing the same for those seeking two-year associate degree educations at community colleges. Davenport supports Common Core standards.
LGBTQ+ Rights: Davenport initially began her legislative career adopting a position as against same-sex marriage; yet, she supported the notion of a "civil union," only to reverse her stance in 2010 to openly supporting same-sex marriage and endorsing bills to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act in 2011. Fast-forward to today, Davenport calls for greater protections for LGBTQ+ Americans, suggesting a "new civil rights act may be necessary" to protect them against discrimination, and has called for Congress to act on banning conversion therapy for minors across the United States.
Labor: Davenport has gravitated from a position of third-way economics, starting in 2006, and into a quasi-social democrat as of today. Davenport is supportive of mandating paid family and sick leave, and has taken positions of strong support in regards to labor and trade unions.
Minimum Wage: Davenport, in 2013, supported efforts to raise the minimum wage to $10.10, and again supported efforts to raise the minimum wage in 2015 to $12.00, and now supports a $15.00 minimum wage as-of 2016 with an additional claim that it must be "indexed to a living wage."
Criminal Justice Reform: Davenport is supportive of banning private prisons, declaring them to be a "modern institution of slavery," and calling them "cesspools of systemic racism." Davenport also supports mandating police officers wearing body cameras at all times, and the total abolishing of the death penalty.
Banking Industry: Davenport was supportive of Dodd-Frank, and now as-of her 2018 election, has taken to the position that "no institution should become too big to fail," and that "banks ought to be forced to be broken up" should they reach such levels of financial unsustainability. Also, as-of 2018, Davenport vows she will act to ensure that interest rates on loans are to be capped at a reasonable rate so as to protect consumers from financial exploitation or from other predatory practices against them.
Energy: Davenport, joining among the key contributors and endorsers of the "Green New Deal" movement, has clamored for incentives for the production of energy from solar, wind, and geothermal sources; although, Davenport has also drawn a contrast from many of the others in that she has also vocally supported nuclear energy, and touting it as a viable "bridge" between fossil fuels and the "energy of tomorrow." Davenport also supports the idea of a carbon tax, to help pay for the investments into a cleaner source of energy.
Homeland Security: Davenport, upon beginning her political career, sided with the President in support of the PATRIOT Sunsets Extension Act of 2011 and the USA Freedom Act of 2015, having initially refrained from commentary on the NSA spying scandal or sharing her opinion regarding the actions of Edward Snowden, saying on the matter "Mr. Snowden broke the law, but he brought to light a lot of concerns that many of us knew nothing about previously." Since then, Davenport has remained quiet on her opinion of him, and has kept to pivoting onto the point on seeking reforms within the homeland security apparatus while balancing between the national security interests of the United States and the civil rights and privacy of citizens and others alike.
Agriculture: Davenport has stated that "even though I represent a big city, and come from a big city, I have just as much concern for rural America as any other." Davenport supports aggressive trust-busting and comprehensive rural-development and revitalization proposals, stating "rural America oftentimes experiences the brunt of hardship, economically and ecologically; and lower-income rural Americans deserve to see their dreams become as attainable as those anywhere else in America."
Internet: Davenport endorses Net Neutrality, and suggests it ought to be codified into, and mandated by, federal law.
National Park System: Davenport Supports extensive expansion of land claimed under the National Park Service across the United States, and the restricting of "ecologically-threatening activities" and the "expansion of the human footprint" within land claimed by the National Park Service.

Other Info: Emily's middle name is Stephanie, and her maiden name is Shaw. Emily was also a member of the Pi Beta Phi Sorority during her years at Stanford. Rumored 2020 Presidential Candidate, has formed an Exploratory Committee.

I have read and accept the rules of the roleplay: Imperial Esplanade.

Do Not Remove: 84721

[Yaruqo]

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Character Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: Yaruqo
Character Name: Timothy Larson
Character Gender: Male
Character Age: 45
Character Height: 5' 7"
Character Weight: 175 lbs
Character Position/Role/Job: U.S. Representative (D-PA-3) - Jan. 2019 - Present; U.S. Representative (D-PA-2) - Jan 2015 - Dec 2018; Member of Pennsylvania House of Representatives (D-182nd-Philadelphia) - Jan 2011 - Dec 2014
Appearance: Photo
Character State of Origin: Pennsylvania
Character State of Residence: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Washington, DC
Character Party Affiliation: Democratic Party
Main Strengths: Local roots and strong financial backing from local community leaders, particularly those in the LGBTQ community, consistently progressive record, empathetic.
Main Weaknesses: Struggles balancing his focus on data driven policy with more progressive policies, a strong desire to make a name for himself, bachelor status has generated some tabloid juice, history of attempted self harm, depressive episodes, little legislative success.
Biography: Timothy Larson was born in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to a working class family. His father was a middle school teacher, and his family was active in the local church community. He went to public schools within Philadelphia, and despite the environmental difficulties, he managed to get a 3.2 GPA and make a passionate enough case to get him admitted into Temple University in the fall of 1992, where he would pursue a BA in History and a Minor in Criminal Justice. While he was able to get into the university of his dreams, he had the uphill climb to pay for his tuition. His family could only pay so much to help him, so he worked two jobs, as a waiter and as a canvasser for a local chapter of an NGO to help him make ends meet. By the time he graduated, he was able to land a job with this NGO, advocating for the city to focus on improving the quality of life of its black community, from environmental issues surrounding air quality in black neighborhoods that had historically been redlined into industrial zones to a push for community policing. It was as a community organizer and advocate that Larson would strive to make a push into politics. In the 2003 Democratic primary, he ran for one of the At-Large seats of the City Council, but his campaign, as bold as it was, did not manage to secure enough votes to break through the threshold to make it onto the General ballot, due to the number of Democratic contenders - there were 10 other Democrats wrestling for only 5 At-Large seats. However, this setback would clear the way for another run for office seven years later, and it would begin with a personal setback.

By the time 2007 rolled around, Tim Larson had been keeping a secret from his family for the vast majority of his adult life. He hadn't known what it was, exactly, up until college...and after college, when it wasn't "just a phase." So, a 33 year old Tim Larson made the decision to come out as gay to his parents...and was disowned. He later attempted to take his life, before he backed out and called 911. While shaken up and depressed, he had not hurt himself too badly. The suicide attempt is not known to the public, and only a few close members of Larson's circle know about it. Meanwhile, his "chosen" family rallied behind him, and would help him through work, therapy, and, when he got well enough, encourage him as a dedicated member of the Liberty City Democrats, Philadelphia's LGBT Democratic club and a growing power in local politics, and would eventually rise to become one of its leaders. And in 2009, this would prove to help him as he would jump into the primary for the 182nd District's open State House seat as a history making candidacy: not just the first openly gay man to run for the seat, but the first openly gay black man to run for that seat. His candidacy did irk more traditional minded black voters, but his ground operation and his connections managed to give his candidacy the shot in the arm it needed. He would eek out a win in the 2010 Democratic primary, and since the 182nd was a safe Democratic district, he would go on to win the general election and make history in Pennsylvania. But the State House was...difficult, to say the least. Not for lack of trying, not by any means. But in a state legislature dominated by Republicans and with Democrats that were, at that time, still not fully on board with LGBT equality, the freshman legislator had trouble making many inroads in Harrisburg. He did champion progressive reforms, as one is wont to do, as well as partner with bipartisan initiatives to attempt to reform the judiciary into merit based promotions, rather than decided by elections. By the time that news of the 2nd Congressional District's Congressman was embroiled in a corruption scandal broke in 2013, Larson was ready to move on from Harrisburg. And where else to go but up?

With the LGBT community backing him in Philadelphia, as well as an assortment of progressive grassroots organizations and younger black voters, the primary competition against the embattled Congressman was eventually narrowed between Larson and the incumbent. It was here that Larson was able to shine and talk about all of the things that he wanted to do in Harrisburg, but now that he wanted to do in Washington: implement national nondiscrimination laws on the basis of sexual orientation & gender identity; impose higher national standards on the use of force in policing and implementation of more comprehensive training; provide more funding to inner city and rural communities to develop viable healthcare and education infrastructure - and make it focused on tackling systemic inequalities that had historically targeted black and brown communities; provide more funding for R&D for green energy production and higher environmental standards; universal background checks and red flag laws; and, what ended up setting him apart from the Congressman on foreign policy, he wanted to end the 2001 AUMF, saying that "We have been involved in Iraq for 10 years on the basis of this authorization, and we have been embroiled in God knows how many other conflicts around the world. It is time that Congress seize responsibility and encourage a more responsible use of American military force, manpower, and treasure." The Congressman had, like many Democrats, voted for the AUMF against Iraq. With a corruption scandal in the backdrop, the primary went to Tim Larson. He would breeze through the general and would be the first openly gay black man to sit in the United States House of Representatives at the age of 40, in January of 2014. A member of the Progressive Caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus, among others, he'd butt heads with Republicans in committee and on the floor, sometimes to his detriment (not scandal worthy, but very much gaffes that could have been avoided). Of course, being 2014 and with Republican control of the House set to be maintained until after the midterm election of 2018, he would be unable to get much done, aside from try to shutdown attacks on the ACA and other progressive causes by the Republican House Leadership.

In the 2016 Democratic primary, he endorsed former First Lady Clifford, stumping for her in his native Philadelphia and going around the suburbs. After her defeat to now President Wolf, his positions hardened, after having dealt with what he construed to be bad faith Republican tactics now for his entire legislative career, from Harrisburg to DC. He would march with protesters in Philadelphia International Airport to protest against the Muslim ban, and he even engaged in a sit-in at the ICE Philadelphia field office with local protesters to demonstrate against the draconian tactics of the Wolf Administration in 2017. In January 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down the congressional district map, and so Congressman Larson would end up running in the newly drawn 3rd Congressional District of Pennsylvania (what it is now IRL), which was similar to his old state legislature district. Now, for the first time in his political career, he is returning to a Democratically controlled House of Representatives, and he intends to ensure that the march to progress isn't snuffed out. He currently has no political ambitions beyond the House, according to insiders.

Other Info: Has long since left his family's Pentecostal church, has been an Episcopalian since ~2008.
I have read and accept the rules of the roleplay: Yaruqo

Do Not Remove: 84721

[Vaquas]

(Image)

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Character Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: Cormactopia Prime
Character Name: Luke Hawthorne
Character Gender: Male
Character Age: 39
Character Height: 6'2'' (188 cm)
Character Weight: 175 lbs. (79 kg)
Character Position/Role/Job: Athens County Assistant Prosecutor (2004-2011); U.S. Representative from Ohio's 6th District (2011-2017); U.S. Senator from Ohio (2017-)
Appearance:
(Image)
Character State of Origin: Ohio
Character State of Residence: Ohio
Character Party Affiliation: Republican
Main Strengths: Charismatic, social media savvy, passionate, hard working, good moral character
Main Weaknesses: Temperamental, cocky, hyper-competitive, attention seeking, divisive, seen as a careerist, recovering alcoholic (openly)
Biography:

Luke Jameson Hawthorne was born in Steubenville, Ohio on March 23, 1979, the only child of Alan and Delores Hawthorne (née O'Malley). His parents divorced before his first birthday, and he was raised by his mother, a social worker. In 1992, his father died in a car accident, the result of drunk driving.

Hawthorne graduated from Steubenville Catholic Central High School in 1997. He attended Ohio University on a wrestling scholarship, and received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in 2001, graduating cum laude. He was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity, the College Republicans, and the Bobcats men's wrestling team. Hawthorne then attended Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University, where he received his Juris Doctor in 2004.

Following law school, Hawthorne married his college girlfriend and fiancée of three years, Marissa Mackey, and the couple decided to move back to their college town of Athens to settle down. Hawthorne began working as an Athens County Assistant Prosecutor, a job he kept for nearly seven years. In 2006, the couple had twin sons Matthew and Mark. They welcomed their daughter Samantha into the world in 2009.

In 2010, having earned a reputation as a tough prosecutor in Athens County, Hawthorne made the decision to run for the U.S. House of Representatives. He campaigned as a cultural conservative in the primary, emphasizing his strong stance in support of religious freedom and the right to bear arms, taking hard line stances against same-sex marriage and abortion, and highlighting his tough on crime record as a prosecutor. He easily won the primary with 67% of the vote against two lesser known Republican competitors. In the general election, he focused on economic populism, and was particularly outspoken in opposing the bipartisan political establishment's support for free trade deals. While this combination of cultural conservatism and economic populism didn't play particularly well in Athens County, which is more left-leaning due to the large student population, it proved popular in the rest of the largely rural and industrial 6th District. On election day, Hawthorne defeated incumbent Charles Williamson by a 50-45% margin.

As a Congressman, Hawthorne continued to beef up his cultural conservative and economic populist credentials. He was a consistent vote on issues important to cultural conservatives throughout his time in the House. Hawthorne voted against every free trade measure that came up during his time in the House, beginning in October 2011 with bills to implement trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea. He was especially outspoken in his opposition to the 2016 Trans-Pacific Partnership, an agreement supported by some establishment Republicans. In 2015, Hawthorne was a founding member of the insurgent House Freedom Caucus. Hawthorne was re-elected to the House by comfortable margins in 2012 and 2014.

In 2015, incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Ray Portland announced he would not seek re-election to a second term, citing ongoing treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Hawthorne declared his candidacy for the U.S. Senate soon after. He faced a tough primary against Lieutenant Governor Marianne Tyler, who struck a more culturally moderate and pro-business chord and had the backing of Ohio's Republican establishment. Hawthorne eked out a narrow win against Tyler in the primaries, 50-49%. In the general election, he faced his toughest race yet against former Democratic Governor Todd Stillman, who led in the polls right up until election day. Propelled in part by the anti-establishment victory of Arnold Wolf in securing Ohio's electoral votes for President of the United States, Hawthorne was elected to the U.S. Senate by a 52-47% margin. He has been a legislative ally of the Wolf agenda in the Senate.

Hawthorne's frequent and vocal clashes with party leadership, along with his scorched earth campaign against Marianne Tyler in the primaries, have led to a perception he's a bit of a "diva" and spotlight grabber rather than a reliable team player. Many party insiders felt he should not have run for the Senate after just three terms in the House, and that Tyler had better prospects of holding the seat long-term given Ohio's swing state tendencies. Rumor has it this has left him less influential and disliked among many Senate Republicans, which has led to talk of him being ineffective in representing Ohio.

Other Info: Hawthorne has been open about his struggle with alcoholism during his freshman and sophomore years at Ohio University, as well as his father's longtime alcoholism which led to his parents' divorce in 1980 and his father's death in 1992. He is a recovering alcoholic and has been sober for the past 20 years, which he credits to the grace of God, his wife's tough love early in their college relationship, and the support of his fraternity brothers, teammates, and other friends in staying sober during his last two years at a college that has a well earned party reputation.

The Hawthornes are Catholic. They regularly attend Mass at St. Paul Catholic Church in Athens and St. Joseph Catholic Church in Washington, D.C.

I have read and accept the rules of the roleplay: Cormactopia Prime

Do Not Remove: 84721

I am willing to accept this character following his personality edits provided the weaknesses are properly displayed in roleplay. Also, it would not hurt to bump up his age a year or two.

[Puertollano]

(Image)

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Character Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: Puertollano
Character Name: Levi Murphy
Character Gender: Male
Character Age: 55
Character Height: 180cm
Character Weight: 72kg
Character Position/Role/Job: Governor of Minnesota (2010-current), President of AFL-CIO Minnesota (2005-2009), President of Amalgamated Transportation Union Local 1005 (2002-2005).
Appearance: (Image)
Character State of Origin: Montana
Character State of Residence: Minnesota
Character Party Affiliation: Democratic
Main Strengths: Strong union connections, energetic campaigner.
Main Weaknesses: Domineering/self-centered, poor family relationship.
Biography: Levi was born in Great Falls (Montana) to his mother Hetty Murphy and his father John Murphy in 1964. He was one of four children in a working class family. Levi and his siblings attended the public school in Great Falls, but he did not spend the entirety of his education in Montana. At age 17, their family moved to Minneapolis after their mother, Hetty, was offered a position as a principal at a school there. Hetty and her extended family lived in Minnesota already, so the family decided to permanently stay in Minnesota, rather than move back to Montana when her position expired. Levi's father, John, was a carpenter by trade, but also a skilled guitarist. His work as a carpenter and busking on the side meant the family could afford to give their children a good higher education. Levi went to Minnesota State University in Mankato, where he lived in a flat with friends while having a part-time job. There he studied urban planning, as he also studied public policy on the side. After finishing his course, by the time he was 22, he moved back to Minneapolis where he got a job in local council. From 1986 to 1989, Levi worked as a surveyor but quickly grew tired of that life.

In 1989, Levi moved to St Paul after he was offered work as a bus driver. There was a critical shortage of bus drivers in the city and Levi was rewarded with good pay. There he came strongly involved in his union, the Amalgamated Transportation Union. He moved through the union ranks as a diligent and activist member. During this time, Levi made many connections with unionists and others in St Paul. It was at this period of time when Levi met his wife, who was a bartender at a popular restaurant in St Paul. They began going out together and fell in love. In 2000, many in the local ATU branch were outraged when the union accepted a meager pay raise from the Metropolitan Council. This brought about great dissatisfaction with the union leadership at the time, as they accused the pay raise as not even able to keep up with rising inflation. In a concerted campaign, Levi ran for President of the ATU 1005 branch. His strong personal connections with the members of his branch and good oratory skills meant his campaign was successful and in 2002 Levi Murphy was elected President. There, Levi promised to pursue an "activist union", rather than a "roll-over union". A year later, in 2003, Levi married his wife, Penny, at a service in Minneapolis. Levi's family attended.

Events came to ahead in 2004, when the Republican administration in Minnesota began to approach the private sector about the privatization of transportation in the state. Although it was not a concrete step, it was a step in a direction that Levi did not appreciate. Ahead of this planned meeting, Levi, as President of the ATU Branch, organised protests that quickly caught on among other unionists and activist alike against the proposal. This is when Levi gained public attention, after a general strike was announced in response to the privatization attempts, mainly spearheaded by the "rising star" in the Minnesota labor movement. Initially, the strike was brushed off by the Republican Governor who accused them obstructing progress in the state and by causing a nuisance. However, because of a strong public relations team backing the protest and strike movement, the popular support was behind the movement against the privatization. During this period, Levi was frequently on local television, flouting his oratory skills and building is public image as someone who stands up to authority. Eventually, under public pressure, the meeting with the private sector was scrapped and it was hailed as a major victory for the unions, despite their dwindling membership nationwide.

At this time, Levi's wife, Penny, grew distant from him. She believed he spent too much time on work and rarely came home to see her during those times. She also frequently burst into argument with him over this matters, but he regularly dismissed her grievances. Penny believed it was best for their child and her to leave the family, thus she filed for divorce. Penny got custody of their child. Levi was disturbed by this revelation, but didn't let it define his career ambitions. Elections for President of the AFL-CIO in Minnesota were beginning to open for candidates and buoyed by his overconfidence and growing popularity among trade unionists because of his efforts, he won the election in 2005. As President of AFL-CIO Minnesota, he was particularly involved in the campaign-side of unionism. He appointed long-time friends to the positions of campaign coordinator and an ally in the position of membership secretary. This ally was Chloe Perkins, an associate he met during the strike. However, they began to see each other as more than that, and began to go out on dates (although outside of the public eye). Levi expanded his public image as an advocate for "working people", attending marches, protests and advising state Democratic politicians. During his final years as President, Levi officially joined the Democratic Party as a member. He had always, however, voted Democrat anyway.

By 2009, Levi and Chloe felt as though they should officiate it with a wedding, but he didn't want to do so still as the President of the AFL-CIO Minnesota. Therefore, Levi did not seek re-election as President and married her in 2009. With growing discontent with the Republican Governor of Minnesota, Levi Murphy believed it was a perfect opportunity to run for public office. With strong backings from the union and activist progressive organisations, Levi won the Democratic primary and clinched the Governorship in 2010. He ran on a progressive platform of raising the minimum wage, investing more in infrastructure and public schools, legalizing recreational marijuana, increasing the tax burden on the rich, universal healthcare, prison justice reform, universal and free college. As Governor, Levi achieved much of this. In his first tenure, Levi increased the minimum wage to $15 an hour, legalized recreational marijuana, increased public school teacher salaries and introducing a state luxury tax (on luxury cars, yachts etc.). In his second tenure as Governor, he released an infrastructure stimulus package to improve transit, especially in rural areas of Minnesota. Levi was unable to make any headway on his big ticket issues, such as universal healthcare or free college, as he believes it outside of the reach of individual states. He believes it needs support from the federal government.
Other Info:

I have read and accept the rules of the roleplay: Puertollano Do Not Remove: 84721

Completed. It's ready to be checked over.

[Vaquas]

Reviewing both Larson and Murphy.

[Vaquas]

(Image)

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Character Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: Yaruqo
Character Name: Timothy Larson
Character Gender: Male
Character Age: 45
Character Height: 5' 7"
Character Weight: 175 lbs
Character Position/Role/Job: U.S. Representative (D-PA-3) - Jan. 2019 - Present; U.S. Representative (D-PA-2) - Jan 2015 - Dec 2018; Member of Pennsylvania House of Representatives (D-182nd-Philadelphia) - Jan 2011 - Dec 2014
Appearance: Photo
Character State of Origin: Pennsylvania
Character State of Residence: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Washington, DC
Character Party Affiliation: Democratic Party
Main Strengths: Local roots and strong financial backing from local community leaders, particularly those in the LGBTQ community, consistently progressive record, empathetic.
Main Weaknesses: Struggles balancing his focus on data driven policy with more progressive policies, a strong desire to make a name for himself, bachelor status has generated some tabloid juice, history of attempted self harm, depressive episodes, little legislative success.
Biography: Timothy Larson was born in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to a working class family. His father was a middle school teacher, and his family was active in the local church community. He went to public schools within Philadelphia, and despite the environmental difficulties, he managed to get a 3.2 GPA and make a passionate enough case to get him admitted into Temple University in the fall of 1992, where he would pursue a BA in History and a Minor in Criminal Justice. While he was able to get into the university of his dreams, he had the uphill climb to pay for his tuition. His family could only pay so much to help him, so he worked two jobs, as a waiter and as a canvasser for a local chapter of an NGO to help him make ends meet. By the time he graduated, he was able to land a job with this NGO, advocating for the city to focus on improving the quality of life of its black community, from environmental issues surrounding air quality in black neighborhoods that had historically been redlined into industrial zones to a push for community policing. It was as a community organizer and advocate that Larson would strive to make a push into politics. In the 2003 Democratic primary, he ran for one of the At-Large seats of the City Council, but his campaign, as bold as it was, did not manage to secure enough votes to break through the threshold to make it onto the General ballot, due to the number of Democratic contenders - there were 10 other Democrats wrestling for only 5 At-Large seats. However, this setback would clear the way for another run for office seven years later, and it would begin with a personal setback.

By the time 2007 rolled around, Tim Larson had been keeping a secret from his family for the vast majority of his adult life. He hadn't known what it was, exactly, up until college...and after college, when it wasn't "just a phase." So, a 33 year old Tim Larson made the decision to come out as gay to his parents...and was disowned. He later attempted to take his life, before he backed out and called 911. While shaken up and depressed, he had not hurt himself too badly. Meanwhile, his "chosen" family rallied behind him, and would help him through work, therapy, and, when he got well enough, encourage him as a dedicated member of the Liberty City Democrats, Philadelphia's LGBT Democratic club and a growing power in local politics, and would eventually rise to become one of its leaders. And in 2009, this would prove to help him as he would jump into the primary for the 182nd District's open State House seat as a history making candidacy: not just the first openly gay man to run for the seat, but the first openly gay black man to run for that seat. His candidacy did irk more traditional minded black voters, but his ground operation and his connections managed to give his candidacy the shot in the arm it needed. He would eek out a win in the 2010 Democratic primary, and since the 182nd was a safe Democratic district, he would go on to win the general election and make history in Pennsylvania. But the State House was...difficult, to say the least. Not for lack of trying, not by any means. But in a state legislature dominated by Republicans and with Democrats that were, at that time, still not fully on board with LGBT equality, the freshman legislator had trouble making many inroads in Harrisburg. He did champion progressive reforms, as one is wont to do, as well as partner with bipartisan initiatives to attempt to reform the judiciary into merit based promotions, rather than decided by elections. By the time that news of the 2nd Congressional District's Congressman was embroiled in a corruption scandal broke in 2013, Larson was ready to move on from Harrisburg. And where else to go but up?

With the LGBT community backing him in Philadelphia, as well as an assortment of progressive grassroots organizations and younger black voters, the primary competition against the embattled Congressman was eventually narrowed between Larson and the incumbent. It was here that Larson was able to shine and talk about all of the things that he wanted to do in Harrisburg, but now that he wanted to do in Washington: implement national nondiscrimination laws on the basis of sexual orientation & gender identity; impose higher national standards on the use of force in policing and implementation of more comprehensive training; provide more funding to inner city and rural communities to develop viable healthcare and education infrastructure - and make it focused on tackling systemic inequalities that had historically targeted black and brown communities; provide more funding for R&D for green energy production and higher environmental standards; universal background checks and red flag laws; and, what ended up setting him apart from the Congressman on foreign policy, he wanted to end the 2001 AUMF, saying that "We have been involved in Iraq for 10 years on the basis of this authorization, and we have been embroiled in God knows how many other conflicts around the world. It is time that Congress seize responsibility and encourage a more responsible use of American military force, manpower, and treasure." The Congressman had, like many Democrats, voted for the AUMF against Iraq. With a corruption scandal in the backdrop, the primary went to Tim Larson. He would breeze through the general and would be the first openly gay black man to sit in the United States House of Representatives at the age of 40, in January of 2014. A member of the Progressive Caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus, among others, he'd butt heads with Republicans in committee and on the floor, sometimes to his detriment (not scandal worthy, but very much gaffes that could have been avoided). Of course, being 2014 and with Republican control of the House set to be maintained until after the midterm election of 2018, he would be unable to get much done, aside from try to shutdown attacks on the ACA and other progressive causes by the Republican House Leadership.

In the 2016 Democratic primary, he endorsed former First Lady Clifford, stumping for her in his native Philadelphia and going around the suburbs. After her defeat to now President Wolf, his positions hardened, after having dealt with what he construed to be bad faith Republican tactics now for his entire legislative career, from Harrisburg to DC. He would march with protesters in Philadelphia International Airport to protest against the Muslim ban, and he even engaged in a sit-in at the ICE Philadelphia field office with local protesters to demonstrate against the draconian tactics of the Wolf Administration in 2017. In January 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down the congressional district map, and so Congressman Larson would end up running in the newly drawn 3rd Congressional District of Pennsylvania (what it is now IRL), which was similar to his old state legislature district. Now, for the first time in his political career, he is returning to a Democratically controlled House of Representatives, and he intends to ensure that the march to progress isn't snuffed out. He currently has no political ambitions beyond the House, according to insiders.

Other Info: Has long since left his family's Pentecostal church, has been an Episcopalian since ~2008.
I have read and accept the rules of the roleplay: Yaruqo

Do Not Remove: 84721

This is an excellent application.

1. Does he have a partner?

2. Is his suicide attempt public?

[Yaruqo]

-snip-

This is an excellent application.

1. Does he have a partner?

2. Is his suicide attempt public?

1. No, he's currently single
2. Honestly, I'm not sure whether or not it should be. On the one hand, I'm not sure how realistic it would be for him to have won with that as public knowledge, but I also am not sure if it is that big a deal. I might defer to what you and/or other OPs think.

[Vaquas]

This is an excellent application.

1. Does he have a partner?

2. Is his suicide attempt public?

1. No, he's currently single
2. Honestly, I'm not sure whether or not it should be. On the one hand, I'm not sure how realistic it would be for to have won with that as public knowledge, but I also am not sure if it is that big a deal. I might defer to what you and/or other OPs think.

It would be more politically convenient for it to be a secret.

[Yaruqo]

1. No, he's currently single
2. Honestly, I'm not sure whether or not it should be. On the one hand, I'm not sure how realistic it would be for to have won with that as public knowledge, but I also am not sure if it is that big a deal. I might defer to what you and/or other OPs think.

It would be more politically convenient for it to be a secret.

Okay, I'll edit the app to make it clear that this is not known to the public.

[Vaquas]

-snip- Pennsylvania Congressman Timothy Larson

I hereby accept Congressman Larson's application.

Welcome aboard.

[The Land of the Moths]

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Character Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: The Land of the Moths
Character Name: Ramon Polilla
Character Gender: Male
Character Age: 52
Character Height: 5'8"
Character Weight: 128
Character Position/Role/Job: Mayor of LA
Appearance:

Character State of Origin: California
Character State of Residence: California
Character Party Affiliation: Democrat
Main Strengths: Charismatic, empathetic, tech savvy
Main Weaknesses: Shortsighted, unwilling to compromise, arrogant/prideful
Biography: Ramon Polilla was born out of wedlock on July 16, 1968 to congresswoman Rachel Aronowitz and Jose Polilla, the Uruguayan ambassador to the United States. His birth caused a great controversy which eventually resulted in his mother resigning her position and returning with her child to their home in Los Angeles, California. He was raised there until he was 12, when he was sent to live with his father in Uruguay, who had resigned from his position as ambassador in favor of coordinating efforts to help the poor across South America. He tagged along on many occasions with his father, granting him experiences that led him to understand at a very young age just what suffering was. Ramon would later go on to to attend the Universidad de la República, graduating in 1990 with an undergraduate degree in political science. Initially intending to remain in Uruguay and assist his father in his altruistic work, Ramon was convinced by both his parents to attend more schooling in the United States. Thus, he moved back to California.

His plans changed, however, when he began to take an interest in his home of LA. The racial divide in the city awakened an anger in the man that he hadn't felt before. What bothered Ramon the most - apart from the obvious abuse of power in the city's police and city council - was the growing divide between Latino and African American communities. Abandoning his parent's plans for him, he dived head first into the world of activism. With his mother's financial backing he was able to advocate for the unity of minority groups in Los Angeles, but few listened to his message. Instead, things only got worse. As years progressed, tensions continued to rise. On Wednesday, April 29, everything changed. The LA race riots were a fairly polarizing issue for everyone, but that was especially the case for Ramon. Having spent the last two years attempting with to unite black and Latino communities, he thought for sure at the beginning of the riots that it was an opportunity for that unity. Unfortunately, that was far from the case. On the first night of the riots, a Guatemalan immigrant named Fidel Lopez was dragged from his pickup truck, beaten, and spray-painted black by a crowd of rioters. That night, Ramon abandoned his ideas in favor of focusing solely on the Latino community.

He began working with UnidosUS in late 1992. Operating out of the LA regional office he met with politicians, assisted poor Hispanic communities, and engaged with members of various Hispanic gangs in the area. As he gained fame in LA he became an increasingly outspoken critic of Mayor Bradley, citing the complete abandonment of Koreatown as proof that "Not only does he neglect the needs of his own people, but he obviously couldn't care less about the other minority groups that he represents". Once Bradley left office in 1993 there was great concern in the Hispanic community as to who'd be elected next. Despite being a registered Democrat himself, Ramon pushed people to vote for Republican Richard Riordan in order to have a much needed term limit implemented. During Riordan's run from '94-'01, Ramon drastically expanded his influence. By the end of the mayor's final term Ramon was fairly well known across Latin American communities all throughout the United States. His dedication to Latino communities across the country resulted in his rise through the ranks at UnidosUS and him eventually being chosen for the office of President and CEO of the organization.

The organization allowed him to do a lot of good for the Hispanic community in LA specifically, where UnidosUS assisted many Hispanic families get their children through education by providing tutors and scholarships to students. The organization also saw an increased effort in helping undocumented migrants live a sustainable life, as well as a concerted political effort to decrease immigration regulation. When his name began to be floated around for the LA mayoral election of 2013, he decided that it was his time to follow in his family's footsteps and enter politics. Resigning from his position as president and CEO of UnidosUS, he announced his run for the office. He unsurprisingly received a great deal of support from long time residents of the city and won the election 56%-44%. His first term in office, however, was far from easy.

Under his first term administration he brought unemployment down five points via the creation of green jobs and general decline nationwide, passed an initiative to clean LA's major waterways, and raised the minimum wage incrementally over the years from the state minimum of $9 to a total of $13.25 by 2017. He had done enough for the city that he won re-election, but homelessness was on the rise and the African American community was throwing accusations of neglect at Polilla's administration. As 2019 starts, many LA residents are questioning Polilla's ability to solve the housing crisis. More worryingly, however, are accusations of racism from the press regarding comments the Mayor may or may not have made about an African American member of the city council. All in all, things aren't looking as good as they once did for Ramon Polilla, but he's charging ahead regardless.
Other Info:

I have read and accept the rules of the roleplay: The Land of the Moths

Do Not Remove: 84721

[Cormactopia Prime]

I am willing to accept this character following his personality edits provided the weaknesses are properly displayed in roleplay. Also, it would not hurt to bump up his age a year or two.

Thanks! I've edited (here) to increase the age from 39 to 41, he'll turn 42 in March 2019.

[Jovuistan]

Hello boys and girls! I have returned!

[Vaquas]

Hello boys and girls! I have returned!

Good to have you back.

[Jovuistan]

Can I reserve a Dem in Ohio's 11th district and a Republican Senator in Arkansas?

[Dentali]

This is an excellent application.

1. Does he have a partner?

2. Is his suicide attempt public?

1. No, he's currently single
2. Honestly, I'm not sure whether or not it should be. On the one hand, I'm not sure how realistic it would be for him to have won with that as public knowledge, but I also am not sure if it is that big a deal. I might defer to what you and/or other OPs think.

I would say keep it secret, perception of mental instability is a big detriment I don’t think he could overcome

[Vaquas]

Can I reserve a Dem in Ohio's 11th district and a Republican Senator in Arkansas?

Yep!

[The Democratic Marxists]

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Character Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: The Democratic Marxists
Character Name: Abigail "Abby" Winthrop
Character Gender: F
Character Age: 54
Character Height: 5 ft 8'
Character Weight: 132 lbs
Character Position/Role/Job: Junior Senator from Massachusetts (2016 - )
Appearance:

Character State of Origin: Pennsylvania
Character State of Residence: Washington DC and Massachusetts
Character Party Affiliation: Democratic
Main Strengths: Policy wonk, intelligent, articulate, detailed, idealistic and progressive, organized
Main Weaknesses: Bad at networking, not an inspiring orator, doesn't have much experience in politics

Biography: Abby Winthrop was born in 1965 to a solidly middle class family in Reading, Pennsylvania. Although her father was a truck driver and remained so for most of his life, her mother was the main breadwinner in her family, being a public school teacher. Winthrop attended public school in Reading, where she became used to the high level of poverty in her city. In fact, according to the national census, Reading had the highest share of American citizens living in poverty in the entire country. Winthrop still expresses how lucky she felt to have access to good teachers like her mother, who she credits for getting her ahead in life, more so than her school. Her father had a heart condition, and Winthrop often recounts how the family sometimes used to struggle to pay for his medicine.

Winthrop was taught advanced learning material at home by her mother, and thus she was an excellent student. She graduated at the top of her class and she got into Boston University in 1983. However, due to her parent's economic condition, she took out quite a large student loan. Winthrop majored at BU in Economics. She wasn't a politically active student; she didn't even register with a political party. But, while at college, Winthrop started to understand certain issues facing Americans. She came to realize while doing various research projects in class how broken the US economic system was. After being shocked by the extent of income inequality in America, Winthrop applied to Harvard Law School in 1988 hoping to become a labor lawyer, and got in. After completing law school in 1992 and joining the bar, Winthrop decided to specialize in labor law; she wanted to help workers and unions prosecute cases against corporations who were abusing their power. She took on several local cases, and she won most of them.

Winthrop soon realized that she was really struggling to pay off her student loans, since labor lawyers are not paid much. She decided to quit law in 1995 and become an economist instead, which turned out to be a terrible decision in terms of salary but a great decision for her personal knowledge. She was employed as an adjunct economics professor at Amherst College. She was given a grant at Amherst to do research on two topics: student loans and housing. Winthrop did pathbreaking work on both. Her detailed paper on tuition deferral programs in colleges to solve the student loan crisis became a popular idea amongst leftists and liberals alike, and her really detailed idea for a Universal Housing Voucher gained steam. She started writing articles on policy in the Berkshire Eagle, a neutral local Boston paper. As more academics became interested in her work, she was offered a job as the Policy Editor for the Boston Globe in 2003. Aside from her editing and editorials for the Globe, Winthrop became a regular op-ed columnist for the New York Times, becoming one of the country's most visible economists as well as a progressive icon, even though she was apolitical. Winthrop was invited to several forums, universities, etc., which helped her make a name for herself in academic circles as well as in the media. In 2006 she published her first book, Corporate Leviathan, which was well received by the economic community and the general public. It was a New York Times bestseller. Winthrop went on to write three more books, one of which was her most famous book: Progressive Pragmatism, published in 2012. It received numerous prizes and clarified her position as a progressive thinker rather than just another economist. Winthrop continued to write for the New York Times and the Boston Globe, and she started appearing often on major cable news channels like Fox News and MSNBC to provide legal as well as economic analysis.

As the elderly Democratic senator for Massachusetts retired in 2015, several "Draft Winthrop" organizations sprang up, and she agreed run for the office to bring "Policy for People over Profits" to the Senate. She did not, however, have it easy. A party-backed neoliberal Congressman was also in the race, and the Massachusetts Democratic Party did not want an outsider in the Senate. It's not that Winthrop was anti-establishment as such, she was just not experienced. But the people of Massachusetts took a liking to her, and she did win after a bruising primary where she had to show her true progressive colors. Despite her strained relationship with the state Democratic Party, she accepted the nomination and ran as a Democrat. She went on to handily win the Massachusetts general election in 2016, thus being elected as the Junior Senator for Massachusetts.

Winthrop's time in the Senate has been complicated. While her caucus appreciates her wonkish nature, she has been heavily disliked for her (restrained but consistent) criticism of the two party system. Despite being a self-described social democrat, her colleagues have referred to her as a "socialist" and she has not denied the label. She has also attracted controversy for her supposed atheism, which she had not expressed publicly until resurfaced essays released on the web in late 2018. Past essays she has written that have been critical of all religion have been called into question by Democrats and Republicans, as she has heavily criticized both Christianity and Islam.

Winthrop has made student loans and housing the key issues of her focus during her current tenure in the Senate. She has also been a big advocate for trust-busting legislation; she has been the only Senator to advocate for the unique idea of breaking up the media companies: NewsCorp, Spectrum, and NBC. She has expressed support for all major progressive ideas, including Medicare for All, free college, and a Green New Deal.

Other Info: Abby Winthrop is married to an eminent environmental economist, Josh Burns, and has two children.

"In America we like to talk about freedom. But you know what? There is no freedom without economic freedom. The freedom to not be pigeonholed into paying for expensive healthcare. The freedom to not have to worry about putting food on the table. Until we can truly make decisions for ourselves without worrying about how we spend our money, we are not truly free."

I have read and accept the rules of the roleplay: Yes

Housing: A federal universal housing voucher, available like food stamps
Healthcare: Single-payer Medicare For All
Student Loans: Incentivize private college tuition deferral programs, free public college, forgive 95% of all student debt
Minimum Wage: $15/hour
War: Pull out of Afghanistan, end support for Yemen War, require Congressional Approval for all war
Climate Change: Carbon tax, green manufacturing, waste-to-fuel as transitional fuel, net zero emissions by 2030
Money In Politics: Public Financing, Ban Super PACS
Trade: Fair Trade over Free Trade, against NAFTA
Immigration: Reform ICE, create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants
Corporations: Raise the corporate tax rate, break up monopolies
Taxes: Raise them on everyone
Transport: High-speed rail
Voting: Abolish the Electoral College, lower voting age to 16
Guns: Ban Ak-47s and AR-15s, compulsory buyback, national gun licensing and registration
Education: Pre-K for All, allow kids to go to public schools of any district
Criminal Justice: Police body cams, arm police with tasers, ban private prisons, decriminalize marijuana

Do Not Remove: 84721

Fixed everything you suggested, decided to change her to a Dem who has a strained relationship with the party machine. Added dates. Made her older. Removed pragmatic label. Stated that the essays were released in 2018. Leaned heavily into the academic side of her life; shored up her journalism credentials and gave her four books to her name, including a highly popular one. I hope it’s good.

[Fronket]

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Character Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: Fronket
Character Name: Kara Westbrook
Character Gender: F
Character Age: 34
Character Height: 5’ 4”
Character Weight: 120 lbs
Character Position/Role/Job: Representative for Illinois’s 7th Congressional District (2016-), State Senator for Illinois’s 2nd District
Appearance:

Character State of Origin: Illinois
Character State of Residence: Washington DC/Illinois
Character Party Affiliation: Democratic
Main Strengths: Moderate, friendly and likable, wealthy, well connected, media darling
Main Weaknesses: Naive and unversed in policy details, seen as too flashy by some people, unintellectual orator, seen as elite by some

Biography: Kara Westbrook was born to Solomon and Harriet Westbrook in 1985; her father was a wealthy hedge fund manager, while her mother was a financial advisor to the Mayor of Chicago. As a result, it wasn’t difficult for Westbrook to intern early with Chicago politicians. Despite being a mediocre student in school, Westbrook gained experience from early on, working on mayoral campaigns in Chicago and getting involved with the machine politics of the Chicago Democrats. Westbrook became the head of her elite private school’s Youth Democrats chapter, and thus she often met with state senators often.

Westbrook completed her bachelor’s degree in political science at Northwestern University in 2004, where she was an active student political leader; she often spent time registering people as Democrats and, rather than being interested in political issues, Westbrook focused more on party politics. It wasn’t hard for Westbrook to get into a good grad school after Northwestern; her father and mother were both University of Chicago alumni, so it was natural that Westbrook completed her graduate degree at UChicago, in political science. By this time Westbrook was already an intern for her congressional representative. She graduated in 2010.

She started working as a campaign staffer for her representative in 2011. However, she left the job in 2012 to run for a seat in the state assembly. With her parents’ wealth and her established Democratic credentials, it wasn’t difficult to be speedily elected as a state Senator. She was covered quite heavily by the local media, since she was an approachable person and her father had friends in the media. She became moderately well known outside of her district and was solidly supported by her constituents, who appreciated that she held many town halls with them.

She served in the state assembly for 4 years, in which she was a reliable spokesperson for her party. She voted safely within party lines, and never made extreme statements. She often chastised progressive colleagues when they stepped out of line. She held a very good relationship with state union bosses, who publicly endorsed her and often campaigned with her. Her union support was not antithetical to her relationship with big donors, who were very willing to support her campaign, seeing her as a sustainable future leader, perhaps even a federal Senator. Her hard work in raising funds and confidence in the party paid off when a Congressional Illinois seat opened up. She was fielded by the party to run, and easily won the seat on Capitol Hill in 2016. She ran as a conventional moderate Democrat, who was charismatic in her own amiable way.

She is liked by voters for remembering constituents’ names. She is loved by big donors for her unwillingness to shun them. She has quite the robust Instagram following, which she uses intelligently. She’s been known to keep her friends close and her enemies closer, often being sweet to progressives in public while plotting to sabotage their proposals with leadership behind their backs. For example, Westbrook helped to rally Democratic support for a border spending bill that progressives were opposing; it was ultimately a win for the bipartisans, not the lefties.

She has not been invulnerable to controversy. After her inauguration, sex tapes of her and a very famous popstar were revealed on the Internet by paparazzi. She denied the claims that she was having an affair, saying that the tapes were deepfakes. The Democratic Party stood by her, and she wasn’t deemed important enough for the Republicans to attack. Her personal life remains a favorite topic of gossip magazines, who claim that she has split from her husband. She has one 5 year old daughter.

Other Info: She is fluent in French, since her grandparents are Canadian

I have read and accept the rules of the role play: Fronket

Do Not Remove: 84721

[Sanabel]

(Image)

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Character Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: Fronket
Character Name: Kara Westbrook
Character Gender: F
Character Age: 34
Character Height: 5’ 4”
Character Weight: 120 lbs
Character Position/Role/Job: Representative for Illinois’s 7th Congressional District (2016-), State Senator for Illinois’s 2nd District
Appearance:

(Image)

Character State of Origin: Illinois
Character State of Residence: Washington DC/Illinois
Character Party Affiliation: Democratic
Main Strengths: Moderate, friendly and likable, wealthy, well connected, media darling
Main Weaknesses: Naive and unversed in policy details, seen as too flashy by some people, unintellectual orator, seen as elite by some

Biography: Kara Westbrook was born to Solomon and Harriet Westbrook in 1985; her father was a wealthy hedge fund manager, while her mother was a financial advisor to the Mayor of Chicago. As a result, it wasn’t difficult for Westbrook to intern early with Chicago politicians. Despite being a mediocre student in school, Westbrook gained experience from early on, working on mayoral campaigns in Chicago and getting involved with the machine politics of the Chicago Democrats. Westbrook became the head of her elite private school’s Youth Democrats chapter, and thus she often met with state senators often.

Westbrook completed her bachelor’s degree in political science at Northwestern University in 2004, where she was an active student political leader; she often spent time registering people as Democrats and, rather than being interested in political issues, Westbrook focused more on party politics. It wasn’t hard for Westbrook to get into a good grad school after Northwestern; her father and mother were both University of Chicago alumni, so it was natural that Westbrook completed her graduate degree at UChicago, in political science. By this time Westbrook was already an intern for her congressional representative. She graduated in 2010.

She started working as a campaign staffer for her representative in 2011. However, she left the job in 2012 to run for a seat in the state assembly. With her parents’ wealth and her established Democratic credentials, it wasn’t difficult to be speedily elected as a state Senator. She was covered quite heavily by the local media, since she was an approachable person and her father had friends in the media. She became moderately well known outside of her district and was solidly supported by her constituents, who appreciated that she held many town halls with them.

She served in the state assembly for 4 years, in which she was a reliable spokesperson for her party. She voted safely within party lines, and never made extreme statements. She often chastised progressive colleagues when they stepped out of line. She held a very good relationship with state union bosses, who publicly endorsed her and often campaigned with her. Her union support was not antithetical to her relationship with big donors, who were very willing to support her campaign, seeing her as a sustainable future leader, perhaps even a federal Senator. Her hard work in raising funds and confidence in the party paid off when a Congressional Illinois seat opened up. She was fielded by the party to run, and easily won the seat on Capitol Hill in 2016. She ran as a conventional moderate Democrat, who was charismatic in her own amiable way.

She is liked by voters for remembering constituents’ names. She is loved by big donors for her unwillingness to shun them. She has quite the robust Instagram following, which she uses intelligently. She’s been known to keep her friends close and her enemies closer, often being sweet to progressives in public while plotting to sabotage their proposals with leadership behind their backs. For example, Westbrook helped to rally Democratic support for a border spending bill that progressives were opposing; it was ultimately a win for the bipartisans, not the lefties.

She has not been invulnerable to controversy. After her inauguration, sex tapes of her and a very famous popstar were revealed on the Internet by paparazzi. She denied the claims that she was having an affair, saying that the tapes were deepfakes. The Democratic Party stood by her, and she wasn’t deemed important enough for the Republicans to attack. Her personal life remains a favorite topic of gossip magazines, who claim that she has split from her husband. She has one 5 year old daughter.

Other Info: She is fluent in French, since her grandparents are Canadian

I have read and accept the rules of the role play: Fronket

Do Not Remove: 84721

Hi! Welcome!

Interesting app, but please make sure you have read the contents of the spoiler entitled, “Please Read Before Applying.”

[Agarntrop]

(Image)

---

Character Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: Fronket
Character Name: Kara Westbrook
Character Gender: F
Character Age: 34
Character Height: 5’ 4”
Character Weight: 120 lbs
Character Position/Role/Job: Representative for Illinois’s 7th Congressional District (2016-), State Senator for Illinois’s 2nd District
Appearance:

(Image)

Character State of Origin: Illinois
Character State of Residence: Washington DC/Illinois
Character Party Affiliation: Democratic
Main Strengths: Moderate, friendly and likable, wealthy, well connected, media darling
Main Weaknesses: Naive and unversed in policy details, seen as too flashy by some people, unintellectual orator, seen as elite by some

Biography: Kara Westbrook was born to Solomon and Harriet Westbrook in 1985; her father was a wealthy hedge fund manager, while her mother was a financial advisor to the Mayor of Chicago. As a result, it wasn’t difficult for Westbrook to intern early with Chicago politicians. Despite being a mediocre student in school, Westbrook gained experience from early on, working on mayoral campaigns in Chicago and getting involved with the machine politics of the Chicago Democrats. Westbrook became the head of her elite private school’s Youth Democrats chapter, and thus she often met with state senators often.

Westbrook completed her bachelor’s degree in political science at Northwestern University in 2004, where she was an active student political leader; she often spent time registering people as Democrats and, rather than being interested in political issues, Westbrook focused more on party politics. It wasn’t hard for Westbrook to get into a good grad school after Northwestern; her father and mother were both University of Chicago alumni, so it was natural that Westbrook completed her graduate degree at UChicago, in political science. By this time Westbrook was already an intern for her congressional representative. She graduated in 2010.

She started working as a campaign staffer for her representative in 2011. However, she left the job in 2012 to run for a seat in the state assembly. With her parents’ wealth and her established Democratic credentials, it wasn’t difficult to be speedily elected as a state Senator. She was covered quite heavily by the local media, since she was an approachable person and her father had friends in the media. She became moderately well known outside of her district and was solidly supported by her constituents, who appreciated that she held many town halls with them.

She served in the state assembly for 4 years, in which she was a reliable spokesperson for her party. She voted safely within party lines, and never made extreme statements. She often chastised progressive colleagues when they stepped out of line. She held a very good relationship with state union bosses, who publicly endorsed her and often campaigned with her. Her union support was not antithetical to her relationship with big donors, who were very willing to support her campaign, seeing her as a sustainable future leader, perhaps even a federal Senator. Her hard work in raising funds and confidence in the party paid off when a Congressional Illinois seat opened up. She was fielded by the party to run, and easily won the seat on Capitol Hill in 2016. She ran as a conventional moderate Democrat, who was charismatic in her own amiable way.

She is liked by voters for remembering constituents’ names. She is loved by big donors for her unwillingness to shun them. She has quite the robust Instagram following, which she uses intelligently. She’s been known to keep her friends close and her enemies closer, often being sweet to progressives in public while plotting to sabotage their proposals with leadership behind their backs. For example, Westbrook helped to rally Democratic support for a border spending bill that progressives were opposing; it was ultimately a win for the bipartisans, not the lefties.

She has not been invulnerable to controversy. After her inauguration, sex tapes of her and a very famous popstar were revealed on the Internet by paparazzi. She denied the claims that she was having an affair, saying that the tapes were deepfakes. The Democratic Party stood by her, and she wasn’t deemed important enough for the Republicans to attack. Her personal life remains a favorite topic of gossip magazines, who claim that she has split from her husband. She has one 5 year old daughter.

Other Info: She is fluent in French, since her grandparents are Canadian

I have read and accept the rules of the role play: Fronket

Do Not Remove: 84721

Hi! Welcome!

Interesting app, but please make sure you have read the contents of the spoiler entitled, “Please Read Before Applying.”

Hotshot alert.