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

[Dentali]

Nathaniel Richardson
Gardnerville Ranchos, Nevada
Saturday, March 16th, 2019



Richardson had been practicing Spanish a minimum of an hour a day for the last 3 months and while he was by no means fluent, he had developed enough to get by in conversation and would start actually bringing it out when engaging with native speakers, albeit in a limited capacity but it was better than nothing. Today he was in Douglas County, Nevada, a region of the state that was lush and beautiful at the foot of the mountains bordering western Nevada, contrasting the stereotypical desert terrain of the state.

He spent the evening at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and woke in the morning enjoying breakfast with the tourists staying in the hotel. He met with the staff and talked about promoting the tourism industry and lowering the cost of living while raising wages, he then visited Harrah's and Harvey’s Casinos, MontBleu and Heavenly Mountain Resort meeting with the tourists, staff and management and having one on one conversations about supporting the tourism industry in the state.

After a morning full of hotels and casinos he visited the Starbucks Roasting Plant and Distribution Center, sampling coffee and touring the facilities while promoting his agenda regarding infrastructure and benefiting truckers as well as general economic concerns. After a brief visit and photo op with the workers he traveled to Genoa trail system, as an avid athlete and outdoorsmen he greatly enjoyed his far too brief time on the trail where he met with park rangers, tourists and those in the tourism industry before stopping at the Genoa Station Bar & Grill for dinner. He treated his staff to dinner and spoke with the patrons, taking pictures and questions while enjoying local brews.

After dinner he traveled to Gardnerville Ranchos and started going door to door talking to regular people, having conversations, taking selfies and collecting contact information. He and his team excelled at this retail and combed the town for potential voters and supporters. He went to businesses big and small in the bustling suburban community, visiting every residence, diner and shop he could find. He continued until past midnight and his hand was sore from meeting so many people. Nevada was looking good.

[The Sandersmen]

Levi Murphy - Speech to Working Families Party, New York
March 15th

To get a Green New Deal passed, we need to ban corporate donations, ban corporate lobbyists and clean out Washington D.C. Clean politics means a clean, renewable future for the many, not just for the few.

Thank you everyone for listening. I believe it is a Q&A session now, so I am open to questions anyone would like to ask."

Giselle Campbell approached the stage and sat in her seat near the Senator.

"So, Senator, thank you for joining us, and for all the work you have done in your career to support working families. I have received several questions for you from partnering organizations of ours. This one comes from Trans United Fund. Many street-based workers are migrants or transgender people who have limited options in the formal economies. And so they do sex work for survival. It puts them in a very vulnerable position — the fact that it's criminalized. How will you plan to deal with sex work as President?"

[Puertollano]

Levi Murphy - Speech to Working Families Party, New York
March 15th

To get a Green New Deal passed, we need to ban corporate donations, ban corporate lobbyists and clean out Washington D.C. Clean politics means a clean, renewable future for the many, not just for the few.

Thank you everyone for listening. I believe it is a Q&A session now, so I am open to questions anyone would like to ask."

Giselle Campbell approached the stage and sat in her seat near the Senator.

"So, Senator, thank you for joining us, and for all the work you have done in your career to support working families. I have received several questions for you from partnering organizations of ours. This one comes from Trans United Fund. Many street-based workers are migrants or transgender people who have limited options in the formal economies. And so they do sex work for survival. It puts them in a very vulnerable position — the fact that it's criminalized. How will you plan to deal with sex work as President?"

"It should be abundantly clear, and it has become abundantly clear to me, that sex work should be decriminalized. In the same way that prohibition didn't work, how the current war on drugs isn't working, the prohibition of sex work just does not work, and in fact, it does more damage than it does good. What we need to do is make the sex industry regulated - to prevent the exploitation of the workers that you spoke about, and protect people from the spread of sexual-transmitted infections. We cannot stop the fact that people do sex work, but what we can do, is it least make it so that when it does occur, it is done safely with the rights of all parties upheld. Because at the end of the day, it's the poor working class communities hurt by this. It's a little radical, but it needs to be done. Sex work needs to be decriminalized, and that's my policy."

[The Sandersmen]

Giselle Campbell approached the stage and sat in her seat near the Senator.

"So, Senator, thank you for joining us, and for all the work you have done in your career to support working families. I have received several questions for you from partnering organizations of ours. This one comes from Trans United Fund. Many street-based workers are migrants or transgender people who have limited options in the formal economies. And so they do sex work for survival. It puts them in a very vulnerable position — the fact that it's criminalized. How will you plan to deal with sex work as President?"

"It should be abundantly clear, and it has become abundantly clear to me, that sex work should be decriminalized. In the same way that prohibition didn't work, how the current war on drugs isn't working, the prohibition of sex work just does not work, and in fact, it does more damage than it does good. What we need to do is make the sex industry regulated - to prevent the exploitation of the workers that you spoke about, and protect people from the spread of sexual-transmitted infections. We cannot stop the fact that people do sex work, but what we can do, is it least make it so that when it does occur, it is done safely with the rights of all parties upheld. Because at the end of the day, it's the poor working class communities hurt by this. It's a little radical, but it needs to be done. Sex work needs to be decriminalized, and that's my policy."

"Senator, this one's from 350.org...you've mentioned a Green New Deal as a policy solution to the climate crisis. How do you envision the transitional period between the status quo and fossil-fuel independence? In other words, what kind of fuel are you envisioning in utilizing as part of the transition towards a renewable future.. transitional fuels like nuclear or natural gas?"

[Gordano and Lysandus]

FROM: [Representative Caroline Simone]
TO: [Representative Kathleen Nez], [Representative Emily Davenport], [Representative John Atang], [Representative Alejandro Nuñez], [Senator Karel Volek], [Senator James Moore], [Senator Benjamin Little], [Senator Jillian Dayton]
BCC: [Speaker Malcolm Douglas]

Dear colleagues,

I am writing this email to you all in the hopes of broaching an idea that I think is of general interest to most of the people present. Any future Democratic administration cannot be fueled entirely on opposition to Republican politics, and eventually, we will expect rifts to reopen between the moderate and progressive factions of our party. In ways, we've already seen this occurring between some members of our party. If we are going to be able to govern effectively, then we need to be able to govern as a united front and make efforts to keep our divisions cloaked from the public eye. We need to manifest structures which will enable us to work together as a party despite those divisions. The Democratic Party will not be delivered to victory if we do not appear able to govern and deliver on the promises we make to the American people.

Congressional caucuses exist for the various wings within our party - the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Blue Dog Coalition being two examples of this. However, my interest is not in furthering factionalism but in ameliorating it. Thus, I'd propose the establishment of a Democratic Bicameral Unity Caucus (presumably under a more catchy title) to enable us to have mechanisms and institutions within Congress to build consensus on our shared ground and foster compromise where we differ. The Republicans have (until the recently Prendergast-Vohoffsky spat) done a very good job of maintaining their outward unity, and we should try to catch up with that regard.

I have written to you all in particular because I believe you all particularly understand the issue that I am highlighting, and I believe you all share my conviction that a stronger, united Democratic Party is necessary now more than ever if we're going to overcome the challenges ahead of us. We cannot afford to fail in 2020 - the inevitable price will be a Wolf-fueled recession which will prevent us from making any serious reforms as we'll be trapped by the same issues as Baharia - clearing up a mountain of economic chaos leftover from a previous administration's misrule.

I'll be interested to hear back from you on this proposal.

Yours sincerely,

Rep. Carrie Simone
NY-12

[Granluras]

buncha ultra-progressive BS

A young lady, of the postgraduate 20-something variety, and with an appearance that was a bit more rakish than one would expect Levi’s key demographic to bear, approached the microphone to speak. After making sure the rowdy Marxian lot behind her quieted down so she could speak, she put her mouth to the microphone with a polite smile.

“Good afternoon, Mister Murphy. My name is Sharon, I’m 25, and a nurse. I’m also a solid supporter of your ideals. I’ve been a supporter of progressive ideals for a while now, and I’ve probably followed politics since I was 14. However, I am not narrow-minded, and I come from a rural conservative family so I’m not as isolated from ‘the other side’ as many of my stock are. But I don’t mind, since they’re my family.” So far, so good, as Levi followed long with her exposition well, even if the audience grumbled at the ‘c-word’. “Your views have been, primarily by my parent’s, heh, described as radical and...inane. The Green New Deal, while greatly needed, would take a while to practically implement. Medicare for All is something that would be quite expensive, and I believe I heard a Democratic figure state it’d cost the tax payer $10,000. While economic equality is something we should strive for, with the way society has been grounded in inequal mechanisms for so long, it’s hard to radically change pathes. So, finally, my question: do you have as much of a sturdy plan for implementing your plans as much as you do for after implementing them?”

[Puertollano]

"It should be abundantly clear, and it has become abundantly clear to me, that sex work should be decriminalized. In the same way that prohibition didn't work, how the current war on drugs isn't working, the prohibition of sex work just does not work, and in fact, it does more damage than it does good. What we need to do is make the sex industry regulated - to prevent the exploitation of the workers that you spoke about, and protect people from the spread of sexual-transmitted infections. We cannot stop the fact that people do sex work, but what we can do, is it least make it so that when it does occur, it is done safely with the rights of all parties upheld. Because at the end of the day, it's the poor working class communities hurt by this. It's a little radical, but it needs to be done. Sex work needs to be decriminalized, and that's my policy."

"Senator, this one's from 350.org...you've mentioned a Green New Deal as a policy solution to the climate crisis. How do you envision the transitional period between the status quo and fossil-fuel independence? In other words, what kind of fuel are you envisioning in utilizing as part of the transition towards a renewable future.. transitional fuels like nuclear or natural gas?"

"It's not going to be easy, because climate change is not an easy crisis to deal with. It is a crisis that threatens not only Pacific countries, but also the United States of America. My Green New Deal would focus on the cheapest and most advanced sources of renewable electricity; that being wind and solar as the two major renewable sources. Nuclear, like you said, is another option, however there is always the element that it could malfunction and cause catastrophic damage to the ecosystem permanently. If we were to look at a nuclear option, thorium seems a safer alternative all together. Since it is a more developing technology, though, I believe it's best to stick with what we know we can do well. There's nothing stopping us building solar electricity farms on the plains of Montana, utilize hydro power on the coasts of California or running wind turbines in New York. I understand that we can always talk up a big game on renewable energy and fazing out fossil fuels, sometimes we forget about the many communities that rely on mining, like in West Virginia. That's principally why we need a transition program, no job losses, only new jobs in those communities, with reliable work. Does that answer your question?"

[Sarenium]

FROM: [Representative Caroline Simone]
TO: [Representative Kathleen Nez], [Representative Emily Davenport], [Representative John Atang], [Representative Alejandro Nuñez], [Senator Karel Volek], [Senator James Moore], [Senator Benjamin Little], [Senator Jillian Dayton]
BCC: [Speaker Malcolm Douglas]

Dear colleagues,

I am writing this email to you all in the hopes of broaching an idea that I think is of general interest to most of the people present. Any future Democratic administration cannot be fueled entirely on opposition to Republican politics, and eventually, we will expect rifts to reopen between the moderate and progressive factions of our party. In ways, we've already seen this occurring between some members of our party. If we are going to be able to govern effectively, then we need to be able to govern as a united front and make efforts to keep our divisions cloaked from the public eye. We need to manifest structures which will enable us to work together as a party despite those divisions. The Democratic Party will not be delivered to victory if we do not appear able to govern and deliver on the promises we make to the American people.

Congressional caucuses exist for the various wings within our party - the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Blue Dog Coalition being two examples of this. However, my interest is not in furthering factionalism but in ameliorating it. Thus, I'd propose the establishment of a Democratic Bicameral Unity Caucus (presumably under a more catchy title) to enable us to have mechanisms and institutions within Congress to build consensus on our shared ground and foster compromise where we differ. The Republicans have (until the recently Prendergast-Vohoffsky spat) done a very good job of maintaining their outward unity, and we should try to catch up with that regard.

I have written to you all in particular because I believe you all particularly understand the issue that I am highlighting, and I believe you all share my conviction that a stronger, united Democratic Party is necessary now more than ever if we're going to overcome the challenges ahead of us. We cannot afford to fail in 2020 - the inevitable price will be a Wolf-fueled recession which will prevent us from making any serious reforms as we'll be trapped by the same issues as Baharia - clearing up a mountain of economic chaos leftover from a previous administration's misrule.

I'll be interested to hear back from you on this proposal.

Yours sincerely,

Rep. Carrie Simone
NY-12

Jillian Dayton stared at her laptop as she read the email on the way home, she clicked out a hasty response;

Dear Representative Simone,
Absolutely interested! Would it be possible for you to come past my office tomorrow morning to discuss this further?
Thanks, J

The next email in her inbox was a much less flattering "CAMPAIGN SCHEDULE: APRIL".

[Gordano and Lysandus]

Jillian Dayton stared at her laptop as she read the email on the way home, she clicked out a hasty response;

Dear Representative Simone,
Absolutely interested! Would it be possible for you to come past my office tomorrow morning to discuss this further?
Thanks, J

The next email in her inbox was a much less flattering "CAMPAIGN SCHEDULE: APRIL".

Senator Dayton's Office, Washington, District of Columbia

Representative Simone hadn't expected to be invited to speak with Jillian Dayton but as an avid proponent of breaking America's political glass ceiling, she was glad to go. A warm smile was on her face as she made her way into the appropriate Senate office building, wearing a grey women's suit with skirt - a typically muted look on her part but she always dressed sharply and in a businesslike manner - it was part of her brand, or so she was told. The safe pair of hands. The neutral, reliable party. Giving a knock on the Senator's office door, he spoke with the secretaries and let them know she was there, and when she was finally admitted, she approached with warm enthusiasm and went to give Jillian's hand a shake. "Senator Dayton, it's a pleasure."

[Dentali]

“I have no preference, not a big drinker honestly just trying to be courteous... my wife likes the red though” he added sitting and relaxing “whatever you’re making smells great.”

She smiled, "thank you, my eldest gifted me a cookbook for Christmas, you tell me whether that was a subtle jab at my cooking or not. In my family, red was always for celebrations, perhaps we'll save that for a future celebration where our spouses can be with us. White wine was used to mark the beginning of a journey. Either that, or my parents were too heavy of a drinking couple," she poured two glasses of white wine, sat down and looked at James, "how are things in Michigan?"

"Michigan's better than its been. The Flint crisis is mostly over, Detroit is better than its been in decades... we are moving forward on the minimum wage, Marijuana, paid sick leave, infrastructure, so many Republicans obstructing us got voted out in 2018 and everything is happening at once. Much like Virginia actually... I think you'll have some big wins in 2019 locally."

[Dentali]

FROM: [Representative Caroline Simone]
TO: [Representative Kathleen Nez], [Representative Emily Davenport], [Representative John Atang], [Representative Alejandro Nuñez], [Senator Karel Volek], [Senator James Moore], [Senator Benjamin Little], [Senator Jillian Dayton]
BCC: [Speaker Malcolm Douglas]

Dear colleagues,

I am writing this email to you all in the hopes of broaching an idea that I think is of general interest to most of the people present. Any future Democratic administration cannot be fueled entirely on opposition to Republican politics, and eventually, we will expect rifts to reopen between the moderate and progressive factions of our party. In ways, we've already seen this occurring between some members of our party. If we are going to be able to govern effectively, then we need to be able to govern as a united front and make efforts to keep our divisions cloaked from the public eye. We need to manifest structures which will enable us to work together as a party despite those divisions. The Democratic Party will not be delivered to victory if we do not appear able to govern and deliver on the promises we make to the American people.

Congressional caucuses exist for the various wings within our party - the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Blue Dog Coalition being two examples of this. However, my interest is not in furthering factionalism but in ameliorating it. Thus, I'd propose the establishment of a Democratic Bicameral Unity Caucus (presumably under a more catchy title) to enable us to have mechanisms and institutions within Congress to build consensus on our shared ground and foster compromise where we differ. The Republicans have (until the recently Prendergast-Vohoffsky spat) done a very good job of maintaining their outward unity, and we should try to catch up with that regard.

I have written to you all in particular because I believe you all particularly understand the issue that I am highlighting, and I believe you all share my conviction that a stronger, united Democratic Party is necessary now more than ever if we're going to overcome the challenges ahead of us. We cannot afford to fail in 2020 - the inevitable price will be a Wolf-fueled recession which will prevent us from making any serious reforms as we'll be trapped by the same issues as Baharia - clearing up a mountain of economic chaos leftover from a previous administration's misrule.

I'll be interested to hear back from you on this proposal.

Yours sincerely,

Rep. Carrie Simone
NY-12

TO: Rep Carrie Simone
FROM: Senator Moore

I'm open to the idea in concept but I want to see how you believe i should be implemented. I don't want to establish a litmus test for the party.

[Gordano and Lysandus]

TO: Rep Carrie Simone
FROM: Senator Moore

I'm open to the idea in concept but I want to see how you believe i should be implemented. I don't want to establish a litmus test for the party.

FROM: [Representative Caroline Simone]
TO: [Senator James Moore]

I've no intention of it becoming a litmus test. It's about getting the Democrats ready for governing again. It'll be explicit that it's not about trying to control Democratic members of Congress, but fostering dialogue between differing viewpoints and helping us develop legislation that enjoys broad-based support. It doesn't necessarily look good for the Party where we keep churning out bills that don't quite make it over the line. Conflict resolution, resource pooling, unified messaging - I think there's plenty to gain here. I confess, I'm not a congressional grandée, I'd need guidance and advice on how to best structure such a caucus.

[Agarntrop]

FROM: [Representative Caroline Simone]
TO: [Representative Kathleen Nez], [Representative Emily Davenport], [Representative John Atang], [Representative Alejandro Nuñez], [Senator Karel Volek], [Senator James Moore], [Senator Benjamin Little], [Senator Jillian Dayton]
BCC: [Speaker Malcolm Douglas]

Dear colleagues,

I am writing this email to you all in the hopes of broaching an idea that I think is of general interest to most of the people present. Any future Democratic administration cannot be fueled entirely on opposition to Republican politics, and eventually, we will expect rifts to reopen between the moderate and progressive factions of our party. In ways, we've already seen this occurring between some members of our party. If we are going to be able to govern effectively, then we need to be able to govern as a united front and make efforts to keep our divisions cloaked from the public eye. We need to manifest structures which will enable us to work together as a party despite those divisions. The Democratic Party will not be delivered to victory if we do not appear able to govern and deliver on the promises we make to the American people.

Congressional caucuses exist for the various wings within our party - the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Blue Dog Coalition being two examples of this. However, my interest is not in furthering factionalism but in ameliorating it. Thus, I'd propose the establishment of a Democratic Bicameral Unity Caucus (presumably under a more catchy title) to enable us to have mechanisms and institutions within Congress to build consensus on our shared ground and foster compromise where we differ. The Republicans have (until the recently Prendergast-Vohoffsky spat) done a very good job of maintaining their outward unity, and we should try to catch up with that regard.

I have written to you all in particular because I believe you all particularly understand the issue that I am highlighting, and I believe you all share my conviction that a stronger, united Democratic Party is necessary now more than ever if we're going to overcome the challenges ahead of us. We cannot afford to fail in 2020 - the inevitable price will be a Wolf-fueled recession which will prevent us from making any serious reforms as we'll be trapped by the same issues as Baharia - clearing up a mountain of economic chaos leftover from a previous administration's misrule.

I'll be interested to hear back from you on this proposal.

Yours sincerely,

Rep. Carrie Simone
NY-12

FROM: Rep. J Atang
TO: Rep. C Simone

I would be interested in partaking in any such Congressional caucus should it come about.

[Gordano and Lysandus]

Governor Jonah Prendergast Jr.
March 11th 2019
Washington, District of Columbia

Senator Goldwater wasn't his only stop in D.C. that day. Aside from the fact he'd scheduled a meeting with Lilyana Wolf at some point, he also took the opportunity to touch base with some older colleagues. It may have been almost 20 years since the Burke Presidency began, but he knew who his friends were. Richardson might have an energetic public campaign going, but Prendergast hadn't yet gotten into full gear - he had other resources to call on in order to make sure he had a veritable war chest to lean back on. Whilst he was a creditably rich individual and his own money could sustain a large portion of his work, he still needed to make sure he had the funds to cover every possible emergency or situation. He needed to make sure he could fund any advert he might he need. That meant money, and so it was time to solicit a little.

He arranged for a lunch with some old colleagues from the Burke Presidency. Some of them worked in Labor with him, some of them had worked in other parts of the Executive Branch... Those who weren't independently wealthy and owned their own businesses at this stage were associated with or consulting for various large businesses. He made sure to pick out particular industries - hydrocarbons in particular. Coal, oil and gas may have been rivals once but they were brothers united when it came to fighting back against the environmentalist movement. He could use their dollars well.

Old Ebitt's Grill was undoubtedly D.C.'s oldest restaurant still in operation, and Jonah did have a particular fondness for antiquities. It did, however, offer a particular lap of luxury regarding the luncheon he was paying for, which he hoped would sweeten the deal just enough for his talk with his old colleagues. A little greasing the wheels to pay off later on. He spoke to them for a couple of hours, talking about the danger that was represented to large industries and what that'd mean for their particular pursestrings. He was pretty unequivocal in laying out how bad it would be if the Democrats pressed ahead with their Green New Deal. Self-preservation was the tone of his talk, the need for them to rally round and stand together. Richardson was, in his words, all too happy to compromise, and that'd mean that big coal, big oil, big gas would get sold down the river in order to achieve some other priority. Jonah tried to position himself as the man who was in their corner, who'd fight for them.

Old Ebitt's Grill was, after all, also a favored haunt of the American political class - it was the place for dealmaking. And he hoped that the deal he laid out for them would work. Protecting business access to the White House, protecting the industries that he, personally, felt made America great in the first place. He came away with a few explicit promises for donations and others saying they'd put good words in the right ears - all in all, a not too shabby performance, he felt. He knew once the campaign got into full swing, he'd need to get some fundraising on a mass scale done. He got on his cellphone to his campaign manager - that all needed to be ready for rollout once he went public.

[The World Capitalist Confederation]

Vohoffsky's House, Some Place in the 45th District of California

Vohoffsky and his allies once again sat the makeshift roundtable Vohoffsky had in his spare room. The room wasn't really well-decorated, but they were still trying to find a site for an HQ and agree on the decorating style. However, that aside, the recruitment process had finally been finished, and they got their staff together, along with the official formation of the non-connected AFM PAC.

"Well, Theodore, you got the publicity." One of his allies remarked, smoking a cigar.

"Yes, I certainly did, Jonathan. But what we need to do now is go back to economic conservatism. After all, we cannot afford the ire of the Republican establishment any longer. Our base is slowly walking out the door, and we might have to follow in the far future..." Vohoffsky remarked, looking towards the glossy, shining glass-coated floor.

"Well, that's something to consider for the future, Theodore. Yes, I think we do need to return to economic conservatism, ignore social issues for the moment. It's strategy, you know...And besides, most of our platform is economic, anyway, so I'm sure that what few supporters we do have wouldn't mind, would they, Theodore?" The same ally remarked back, taking another breath from his cigar.

"Indeed. We need to keep networking, push on social media. Our audience are young and technologically competent. What better place to advertise than the internet, after all? We don't need that many connections, only money, after all. Twitter's recent measures are an...obstacle, but there are still many more networks we could reach out and advertise in..." Another ally replied, his face stern as his eyes locked with the other ally.

"You are right, Thomas. We need to keep getting publicity...Get activists...We need to build a large national network by August, see if we can hit about 20,000 registered members by then. I'll get on the ground, get some photo-ops, do a town hall, just increase our ground support.. Jonathan, Harold, James, you'll meet with more industry leaders, see if we can get more of the tech community on our side. Thomas, work with Adam. We'll work to increase our base within YouTube, Twitter and many more. The rest of you, shoot some TV, radio and internet ads, we'll need them. Oh, and Barry, see if we can get a ghostwriter to write some op-eds in our names/" Vohoffsky continued, nodding at everyone as he did so.

The rest of them nodded back, as the meeting adjourned.

[Greater Arab State]

To: Representative Theodore Vohoffsky

From: House Minority Leader Thomas Volker

RE: A meeting

Representative,

I expect you to attend a meeting with me in my office imminently in order to discuss some recent developments.


Yours most respectfully,
House Minority Leader Thomas Volker

[Sarenium]

Jillian Dayton stared at her laptop as she read the email on the way home, she clicked out a hasty response;

Dear Representative Simone,
Absolutely interested! Would it be possible for you to come past my office tomorrow morning to discuss this further?
Thanks, J

The next email in her inbox was a much less flattering "CAMPAIGN SCHEDULE: APRIL".

Senator Dayton's Office, Washington, District of Columbia

Representative Simone hadn't expected to be invited to speak with Jillian Dayton but as an avid proponent of breaking America's political glass ceiling, she was glad to go. A warm smile was on her face as she made her way into the appropriate Senate office building, wearing a grey women's suit with skirt - a typically muted look on her part but she always dressed sharply and in a businesslike manner - it was part of her brand, or so she was told. The safe pair of hands. The neutral, reliable party. Giving a knock on the Senator's office door, he spoke with the secretaries and let them know she was there, and when she was finally admitted, she approached with warm enthusiasm and went to give Jillian's hand a shake. "Senator Dayton, it's a pleasure."

"Please, call me Jillian," Dayton gestured to the couches as she and Simone both sat down, "thank you for meeting on such short notice."

[Gordano and Lysandus]

"Please, call me Jillian," Dayton gestured to the couches as she and Simone both sat down, "thank you for meeting on such short notice."

"It's no great inconvenience, Jillian." She smiled softly. "You may call me Carrie." Nodding a little and settling down into the couch, she moved her legs into her typical 'Duchess lean' manner of sitting and regarded the other curiously. "I'm assuming I'm actually here to talk about 2020."

[Shah Rukh Khan]

"Interesting...I'm guessing you're aware that I have endorsed Little for the presidency, but you're bipartisan work with him does make you seem like a reliable person to cross party lines, at least in my eyes. I am interested in your positions...there are perhaps places where you could work with even the crazy democrats among us. I saw recently in one of your interviews, I think it was South Carolina, where you expressed support for an earned income tax credit expansion...do you really back that, as a fiscal conservative? Because I've been a longtime supporter of such an expansion, and I'm a cosponsor on the congressional bill that deals with that...I think Westra sponsored that if I'm not mistaken."

"Tax credits based on earned income are a conservative idea not a liberal one" Richardson said chuckling "It encourages people to participate in the workforce... yes some Conservatives think it subsidizes low wage employers instead of employees... but thats an incomplete way to look at it, the EITC isn't just a cash transfer it gets workers into formal employment and increases their market income, then the longer they are employed the more skills they develop and the more they are worth... which leads to higher wages."

"Now its not perfect, its far too complex and the weirdness can do things like make people lose benefits if they get married or other counterproductive measures, it has a big rate of improper payments... Its needs to be reformed and streamlined, first and foremost do away with the marriage penalty and removing the disincentive to earn more money. Reform should come before increasing it... but yes, in concept I want to increase it."

"Right." Nuñez took an awkward pause. "You did strike me as a reasonable candidate, although it would be political suicide to say so in public...how do you anticipate the Republican field to be shaping up?"

[Sarenium]

She smiled, "thank you, my eldest gifted me a cookbook for Christmas, you tell me whether that was a subtle jab at my cooking or not. In my family, red was always for celebrations, perhaps we'll save that for a future celebration where our spouses can be with us. White wine was used to mark the beginning of a journey. Either that, or my parents were too heavy of a drinking couple," she poured two glasses of white wine, sat down and looked at James, "how are things in Michigan?"

"Michigan's better than its been. The Flint crisis is mostly over, Detroit is better than its been in decades... we are moving forward on the minimum wage, Marijuana, paid sick leave, infrastructure, so many Republicans obstructing us got voted out in 2018 and everything is happening at once. Much like Virginia actually... I think you'll have some big wins in 2019 locally."

"We're certainly hoping for big wins," she smiled, "I believe the unions of Michigan are also hoping for big wins with the automakers in Detroit? A pay raise of sorts?"

[Sarenium]

"Please, call me Jillian," Dayton gestured to the couches as she and Simone both sat down, "thank you for meeting on such short notice."

"It's no great inconvenience, Jillian." She smiled softly. "You may call me Carrie." Nodding a little and settling down into the couch, she moved her legs into her typical 'Duchess lean' manner of sitting and regarded the other curiously. "I'm assuming I'm actually here to talk about 2020."

"We could talk about 2020," Dayton responded, "I was not joking when I said I was interested in what you envision for the future of any such Unity Caucus."

[Gordano and Lysandus]

"We could talk about 2020," Dayton responded, "I was not joking when I said I was interested in what you envision for the future of any such Unity Caucus."

"I'm used to being approached under a pretext. The purpose of the unity caucus is, to put it bluntly, to try to stop the fault lines in the Party costing us the election. Baginski's refusal to concede to Clifford and then lukewarm endorsement was poisonous. We can't have that again. Whomever our candidate is - progressive or moderate - we need to make sure that our congressional delegation is able to back them up without unduly alienating one wing of the party or the other. We must maintain the broad church, or we'll risk losing ground to one flank or the other." She shrugged gently, looking down dejectedly. "I'm getting tired of having a weekly Twitter spat with Westra. I can't believe he'd go on The Young Turks." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "You'd think someone so moral would consider the implications. I despair, truly." Pulling away from her tangent, she continued. "We need to strengthen and build up our mechanisms in the congressional party to allow Democrats across the spectrum to put forward their views and allow us to find compromise and a plan forward. That's the essence of it. Maybe one day we won't need it, maybe American politics will change, but for the time being, if we're going to win 2020, we need to find a way of holding together the coalition and avoiding bleeding people off to third parties."

[Sarenium]

"We could talk about 2020," Dayton responded, "I was not joking when I said I was interested in what you envision for the future of any such Unity Caucus."

"I'm used to being approached under a pretext. The purpose of the unity caucus is, to put it bluntly, to try to stop the fault lines in the Party costing us the election. Baginski's refusal to concede to Clifford and then lukewarm endorsement was poisonous. We can't have that again. Whomever our candidate is - progressive or moderate - we need to make sure that our congressional delegation is able to back them up without unduly alienating one wing of the party or the other. We must maintain the broad church, or we'll risk losing ground to one flank or the other." She shrugged gently, looking down dejectedly. "I'm getting tired of having a weekly Twitter spat with Westra. I can't believe he'd go on The Young Turks." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "You'd think someone so moral would consider the implications. I despair, truly." Pulling away from her tangent, she continued. "We need to strengthen and build up our mechanisms in the congressional party to allow Democrats across the spectrum to put forward their views and allow us to find compromise and a plan forward. That's the essence of it. Maybe one day we won't need it, maybe American politics will change, but for the time being, if we're going to win 2020, we need to find a way of holding together the coalition and avoiding bleeding people off to third parties."

"I agree," Dayton replied, "our party's unity must be maintained. Our registered membership wants the party to drift to the left, our representatives who form the House Majority won in Republican leaning seats. I do worry that the wrong nominee in 2020 would lose even Virginia," she warned, "a number of prospective members consider themselves, myself included, as the potential nominee come 2020. Would non-aggression be something that would be binding between candidates?"

[Gordano and Lysandus]

"I agree," Dayton replied, "our party's unity must be maintained. Our registered membership wants the party to drift to the left, our representatives who form the House Majority won in Republican leaning seats. I do worry that the wrong nominee in 2020 would lose even Virginia," she warned, "a number of prospective members consider themselves, myself included, as the potential nominee come 2020. Would non-aggression be something that would be binding between candidates?"

"I think that would be fundamentally detrimental to the proper function of the primary process, they need to be able to criticize other candidates and there's academia that backs the idea that a rigorous and difficult primary can actually produce a stronger candidate in the end for the general, but there'll be an obvious expectation towards civility. It'll serve primarily as a forum to allow members of various extractions to develop ideas for policy and political messaging." She folded her arms neatly. "When I was working as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, coalition building was a vital part of my work. Looking at political schism in Cyprus and then Kurdish-related issues in that role and subsequently as Ambassador to Turkey. There's an infinite value in focusing on what unites us rather than divides. The divided are conquered, and I have no desire to fight another election like 2016 and lose. I worked so hard to try to get Diane elected, we all did. She deserved the Presidency, and instead we got Wolf. Yes, there are progressive Democrats and moderate Democrats and Blue Dog Democrats... but we're still Democrats. We still fundamentally believe in broadly the same things, just not how far to go with them." She shook her head. "We must be united by this time next year, or we're doomed."

[Dentali]

"Tax credits based on earned income are a conservative idea not a liberal one" Richardson said chuckling "It encourages people to participate in the workforce... yes some Conservatives think it subsidizes low wage employers instead of employees... but thats an incomplete way to look at it, the EITC isn't just a cash transfer it gets workers into formal employment and increases their market income, then the longer they are employed the more skills they develop and the more they are worth... which leads to higher wages."

"Now its not perfect, its far too complex and the weirdness can do things like make people lose benefits if they get married or other counterproductive measures, it has a big rate of improper payments... Its needs to be reformed and streamlined, first and foremost do away with the marriage penalty and removing the disincentive to earn more money. Reform should come before increasing it... but yes, in concept I want to increase it."

"Right." Nuñez took an awkward pause. "You did strike me as a reasonable candidate, although it would be political suicide to say so in public...how do you anticipate the Republican field to be shaping up?"

“Well” Richardson says with a gruff sigh, “not going to lie we don’t have nearly as much data as I’d feel comfortable with, I usually like go take a massive amount of time doing preparation and research. Obviously I couldn’t do that this time around.”

“Best case scenario a bunch of candidates like Prendergast try and out Wolf one another in style and substance and crowd each other out, then I take up the rest of the field and energize the people looking for a return to normalcy. Best case scenario.”

“How about your side of things?”