Interview with Kraketopia
Tight Presidential races
Written by Vlaska
Tight Presidential races
Written by Vlaska
In part one of a three-part special looking back at some of the more interesting and peculiar Presidential elections in Europeia's history the EBC had a sitdown with a participant of one of the tightest if not the tightest of Presidential races in Europeian history, Kraketopia. We had a walk down memory lane with him and relived the really tight election he competed in against Ninja Kittens.
Vlaska: When did you first gain citizenship in Europeia?
Kraketopia: I joined Europeia on Oct 23, 2013. My Citizenship was processed shortly after that, although it was delayed a bit due to the ongoing Presidential election between Anumia and Elias Greyjoy.
Vlaska: What was your first position in Europeian government?
Kraketopia: My first position in Government was as Minister of Communications, roughly two weeks after I had joined. President Anumia was desperate to find a Minister to fill the portfolio, and was impressed with my activity, attitude, and ability to write. At the time it seemed crazy (and it still is looking back) but it was a good term overall, with MinComm putting out some quality articles, and organically growing the Ministry's staff as well. We did one of the first audio interviews before mixlr, where I interviewed Anumia about his term. So many people complained about both of our accents (Australian and Canadian) that I stuck to print interviews after that
Vlaska: When did you first run for President and how successful were you?
Kraketopia:I first ran for President against Drecq in the May 24, 2014 election. I knew going in it would be a tight election, I was popular and seen as a rising star at the time, but Drecq was an eminently respected player with a lot more experience than me. We had what I believe is still the most civil Presidential campaign in history. Drecq was such a gentleman that the entire campaign was very cordial, including the irc debate. I remember that CSP wrote a tongue in cheek article claiming how boring the election was, and that we needed to savage our opponents to give the Republic something to actually enjoy about the election. I eventually emerged victorious in the polls, and began my first Presidential term.
What many people don't know is that this was my last summer before my final year of school, and I planned to retire after my term, as I wanted to spend that year building IRL connections before looking for employment at the end of the schoolyear. That commitment didn't last very long, as I successfully ran for a second term. The ERN was in a complete state of disrepair at this point, and as an avid military player, as well as someone who wanted to redeem the lack of success with the ERN during their Presidency, I stuck around to repair as much as I could as Grand Admiral. Thus continued the addiction for quite some time
Vlaska: What experience did you have before you ran in the election against Ninja Kittens?
Kraketopia:I think I had been in most of the positions in Euro before the election for my third term against Ninja Kittens. I had spent many terms as Grand Admiral, been Minister of Foreign Affairs, Communications, President Twice, multi term Senator and one term Speaker, etc. I also received a Triumph for my military achievements on the eve of the election.
Vlaska: Did you expect the election to be so close?
Kraketopia:Certainly nobody in my camp expected it to be that close, I can't speak for NK's camp. The general consensus in Europeia seemed to be that the term was for my taking, some even commented before standing opened that the election was mine if I wanted it. I think this hubris on many people's parts (and some on my own as well) is what led a significant number of Europeians to run to NK's campaign.
As the campaign waned on, it became clear that it was going to be an extremely close race. People generally favoured my external platform, but favoured NK's domestic platform, which the debates reflected. I had tried to answer the call for renewal by creating what I believed was a fresh platform with a number of new, good ideas, especially in the Foreign Affairs section. This seemed enough to convince some voters, but a sizeable segment of citizens disagreed.
Vlaska: Could you give us a quick comparison between political activity between then and now?
Kraketopia: The election itself reminded me a lot of that scene in "Gangs of New York" where both sides are trying to rush as many people to the polls as possible, it was absolute madness. Numerous citizens were coming out of the woodwork that nobody really knew, escalating the election beyond the normal scope. I remember being at work during the day portion of the election, and RZM giving me vote updates on the hour ( I wasn't able to get onto Euro at that office). When I came home, our entire campaign HQ was intensely focused on the race. During the final few minutes of the race, I saw idp5601, a new player, viewing the campaign threads. I PM'd him asking to see if he had any questions about my platform. In the end, he voted for me, and put me one vote ahead of NK as the race closed. Talk about a nail-biter. I think I just sat there for a good ten minutes listening to Prism's "Armageddon" as I gave a sigh of relief and began planning for my term.
We were definitely more politically active back then than we are now, especially during that election. The elections that followed were also very active.
Vlaska: Thank you for your time!
