Opening Statement
Greetings, FCN. I am honored to present my qualifications and goals to you this evening in my campaign to serve as President. I am also honored to share the stage with such a stellar and full stage of candidates. Any of these individuals will make fine presidents, and the FCN can rest assured that they will continue to be in good hands following this election.

If I am so fortunate as to earn your vote, I hope to bring my experience to best in leading the FCN to even greater heights over the next term.

Thank you for your attention and consideration during this election. FCN forever!

Q: "Have you decided who to put on your cabinet and Supreme Court if you win the election? And a follow-up, Rhiney, in his dispatch, mentioned appointing a Secretary of War, and as you know my administration has had no one to fill the position, after Legion resigned, and no one else was interested for the position(who I believed was qualified for a cabinet position). How do you plan on solving this, and other vacancies if no one who is qualified is interested?"

re: Justices, I hope to reappoint the current batch as I feel they have done a tremendous and professional job. That would be my preference. If any are unable or unwilling to, I would seek individuals who maintain the same level of commitment to justice and following the Constitution.

Next topic, experience. The candidates have some varying levels of experience, in and outside the FCN. [...] Do any of you wish to comment on your experience, including things I left out?"
Backing up a bit, regarding our War Department. This will be a priority for me. In the past we held some competitions with other regions to boost military involvement -- I would probably try to do that again. In the event of a SecWar who was inactive, as Commander-in-Chief I would take that responsibility upon myself to lead until I was able to find someone able to fulfill the duties of the post.

Regarding experience, I have held most of the possible posts in this government, at one time or another, and so I am well aware of the duties and responsibilities of each Cabinet position. Having such a background, I can assist the Secretaries if needed in achieving goals and hiring staff, helping to direct the administration as it seeks to grow the region.

"Next topic, foreign affairs. Many of you stated your wishes for improving relations with other conservative regions. What do you hope to accomplish in that realm? And while on the topic, the LCN, which has been a controversial issue since last June. Waldy, for example, has been a strong opponent of the embassy closure, whole Gagium was a strong proponent. To both if you, why do you hold such strong views towards the LCN? And what do you plan on doing with them in your term?"
Our relationship with the LCN is unfinished business. I would like to see that chapter closed, and a new page turned. So, specifically, I would seek to restore the embassy and begin a start with a clean slate with the region in particular.

I would also seek to assist RTL in restoring activity again, and carry out our treaty that calls for periodic State visits.

[responding to Gagium on the LCN topic, him taking an opposing view and all] As I said, it's the biggest "unfinished business" of foreign relations at this point in time. I'd like to see it resolved and push on with new endeavors. While I don't see us cooperating with the LCN in the manner we did against Farkasfalka, I don't want the one region we have outlawed relations with to be one that has Conservative tags and Conservative in the name, as well as one that, for better or worse, has members with FCN ties in it.

Furthermore, on foreign relations, I would try to make sure we don't lose a step on our Delegate's endorsement level. Currently, we have the most Delegate endorsements of any Conservative-focused region, and thus hold a position of some prominence.

As I mentioned, there is currently only one region in the entirety of NationStates that we have officially cut ties with, and it is the LCN. Not TCB, not Farkasfalka, not The Leftist Assembly -- it's the LCN. To me, that is something that should be corrected.

"Next topic, internal affairs. There are plenty of plans from various candidates, on this, and plenty of good ideas. New Waldensia, you stated your hopes to revive the FCN Olympics, which currently is indefinitely postponed because few people applied. How do you hope to fix this?"

I would make sure that regular regional telegrams are sent out on events like the Olympics. Additionally, I helped several individuals put together their delegations for the previous Olympics, and in an effort to get the next Olympics off the ground I would offer assistance to those who are interested but perhaps don't know quiite how to go about joining.

The regional newspaper was a great thing for our region. I would love to see it revived, though perhaps it should be spaced out more in order to not burden the Head Journalist too much.

I am pleased with the status of our current RP. Although I have been unable to join it due to other constraints, I have heard great things about it. I would work with my SecInt on ensuring that efforts are made to continue it.
"Another question about internal affairs, which I believe will be an important issue in this term, which is Senate reform. Ulrech and Rhiney proposed an elected senate. How do both of you envision this elected Senate to be? To the rest, what are your opinions on this?"
I am excited to see reforms being discussed in the Senate. Activity has increased of late, and I would love to see more members become involved in regional politics. I do agree that Senate proceedings should be opened up to the general FCN public.

I do not, however, believe that moving the Senate to NS from Discord is a wise move, as the setting would not be as conducive to deliberation, debate, and voting as Discord is

How the Senate decides to conduct or reform itself is primarily a role for the Senate, not the President. In the matter of the President being potentially a member of the Senate, I have begun to think that it may be a bit of a conflict of interest. Perhaps the President should be a non-voting member, able to debate and propose legislation, but unable to vote as he wields the veto pen.

[Closing statement]
I'd like to thank the gentlemen for an invigorating and thought-provoking debate. @Mr. Furby, you did an admirable job of designing questions that would prompt in-depth discussion by the candidates, and the FCN is better for having held this event.

Voters of the FCN, you have before you a field of candidates that are determined to see our beloved region flourish. Your decision will not be light, but neither will it be wrong. I am confident that our region will see continued progress with any of the candidates in this contest.

I have served the FCN since the very beginning. I plan to serve the FCN until my dying NS day. My record speaks for itself. My platform can be viewed at page=dispatch/id=1303633. There are some additional items that were not discussed tonight that I will make a priority if elected, such as finishing the offical history of the FCN.

We have built a truly wonderful home in the FCN, and I would be honored to receive your trust in leading it through the next term.

FCN Forever!

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