The Great Mutanatian Election, Year 2

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Let me give you a little background:This is an election centered on a fictious nation named Mutanatia. It is an island nation broken up into 4 districts, with equal population. President Mantis hails from District A, Jack Sammon from District B, and Teresa Sammon from District D. Comments are welcome

Moderator: Hello, and welcome to our second Annual debates on the race to the Presidency. First of all, we would like to remind all nations that they may participate at any time until we move on to the next phase of the election by asking questions to be debated upon. Now, with that in mind, we will start off with an important issue that is on everyone's mind, apparently: If elected, will there be a defense budget, and if so, with which branch of the military?

Mantis: Of course there will. It will be with the army, to protect our borders.

Jack Sammon: Definitely. However, I think our threats come more from abroad, even though the Great War has ended. It will be with the Navy.

Gil Grousard: Of course; we have to make sure that we are protected from the Archaeologians. For that reason, I would say...army.

Teresa Sammon: Definitely. Who knows who will attack us next? I would say...Marines.


We will now ask specific questions, geared for each on of you. President Mantis, we currently have no defense budget. How can you respond to that?

Mantis: I think I dismissed a bill I shouldn't have dismissed. At any rate, there will be a defense budget by the time the election goes up in August. I've kept my commerce and crime promises, remember?

Moderator: Jack Sammon, the last time we had a military budget, you used it to wage (what some believe to be a personal) war against Archaeolgia, then Venomia. Will the same thing happen again?

Jack Sammon: Only if we are provoked. I have changed since then. I promise that will simply not be on the attack; rather, we will be on the defense.

Moderator: Gil Grousard, is it Consitutitional to use any branch of the Military without being provoked.

Gil Grousard: My answer is...yes. This is because we can still go to war if not attacked, as long as it is agreed upon by the current Supreme Court Justice that such an attack is justified. We have never had this case, keep in mind.

Moderator: Teresa Sammon, you are leading the polls. You also have the endorsement of the Humanitarian Sector. This means that you are gung-ho on civil and human rights, am I correct?

Teresa Sammon: You are.

Moderator: With that in mind, if necessary, will you use the army, justifiably so, to invade a country in order to give a country's citizens better human rights.

Teresa Sammon: IF you're talking about Archaeologia, then the answer is no. In general? It depends on how deplorable human rights are in that country, and whether or not we have tried other way to coax the government to give them rights.

Moderator: That is it for this week's Mutanatian Election Debate. We will see you either later this week on Wednesday, or next Sunday.

Moderator: And we are back. We have three questions today. The first one is a general question. What would you, as President, do to lower taxes?

Mantis: Well, i'd make tax cuts, but nothing that would affect the crime rate.

Jack Sammon: I'd make tax cuts, and maybe even eliminate some unnecessary government offices.

Gil Grousard: I'd lower taxes as well, but I wouldn't want to infringe on the constitution when I make these choices.

Teresa Sammon: The solution to this is simple: Conduct a survey of everyone, and find out what ABSOLUTELY has to stay. The rest can go. IF we did that, I'm sure our taxes would plummet enormously.

Moderator: Thank you all. Now, onto the next question, geared towards each one of you. President Mantis, are you satisfied with the way things are going?

Mantis: Of course not! We need to make more democratic reforms!

Moderator: Jack Sammon, would you sacrifice democratic principles in order to transform this country's civil rights?

Jack Sammon: Depends on whether or not civil rights were low.

Moderator: Gil Grousard, do you believe that cracking down on political rights is constitutional?

Gil Grousard: Absolutely not.

Moderator: Finally, Teresa Sammon, are human rights in this country acceptable?

Teresa Sammon: I would make sure there are much more of them if I were president, that's for sure.

Moderator: I will finally ask you a question made by one of our foreign audiences. This question comes from the United Antarctic: What is your general plan for global warming?

Mantis: Strict government control of environmental laws. This includes protecting giant mantises.

Jack Sammon: Reducing carbon emissions and making sure there is lots of public transportation available.

Teresa Sammon: On the heels of that, I'd like to say, all of them, plus removing the pollutants in our rivers.

Gil Grousard: I would do anything within constitutional bounds to combat global warming.

Announcer: We have one specific question for Mantis, and then one aimed at the rest of the candidates. Mantis, you promised us about a year ago that tax rates would never reach 100%. Well, they have. How do you react to that?

Mantis: I broke a campaign promise. But by August, I swear to you I'll have it all fixed up. I promise.

Announcer: Here's a question from the United Antarctic:
This is my next question: Say a big oil well is found in Mutanatia, considering high oil prices, would you sell it to other nations, only nations you are friendly with, or not sell it at all.

Mantis: Nations we're friendly with, of course. But that would have to be a freak find as we are working on ways, now to have cars run on ethyl.

Jack Sammon: We'd keep it, and sell it to other nations with a hefty price--if at all. This is because gas prices are so high, number one. Number two, the odds of cars running on ethyl by, say, 2055, is so unlikely that I think we should stick to gas.

Gil Grousard: Drilling, as we all know, endandgers the Mantis population--unless, of course, they are the ones doing the drilling. At any rate, I would say we'd give it to only nations we are friendly with...we never know if it will come back to haunt us.

Teresa Sammon: Share it, of course! All nations need money! As such, all nations will prosper from our find.

Announcer: This concludes this week's edition of election debates!

Moderator: Well, folks, this is the last round before we break for speeches. We have 4 very pressing issues. We'll do two this week, and two the week after the speeches. We're drawing from a hat, and this time, we have chosen lowering taxes. There is one special question for this: We all feel the pinch of the taxes, having to spend everything we have before taxes lest we have to give it all away. Where can we lower taxes?

Mantis: Well, the thing is, I can't lower taxes without having to raise them on important issues. I'd say we need breaks on average, everyday families when the time comes.

Jack Sammon: And when will this time come? With you at the helm, probably never. Now, I'm going to suggest that taxes be decreased on businesses.

Gil Grousard: This part of the the constitution, that all taxes cannot be raised or lowered without the people's consent has often been overlooked. I would go to the people before I raise or lower taxes.

Teresa Sammon: We'll try to go without taxes for once. I was a proponent of it last year, and I am a proponent of it this year.


That last response, Jack Sammon, and let's play it back so everyone in the audience and those of you at home can see it, is worthy of a response by Mantis, should she wish to make such a response. And that response was: And when will this time come? With you at the helm, probably never.

Mantis: Well, it's simple really: the day I get omething across my desk that involves me cutting something, I will do so.

Jack Sammon: But when, Mantis, when?

Mantis: I don't know. *sigh* Look, the problem with cutting things is, you cut the wrong things, you get into trouble with the crime rate. Right now, this place is swarming with taxes, I know that. But I'm sure what to do.

Jack Sammon: And what is that?

Mantis: Keep crime at an all-time low, and drive taxes down when deemed fit.

Moderator: And finally, we have this question: The National Debt. How can we lower the debt lower than it already is.

Mantis: Charity rounds on game shows.

Jack Sammon: Increased Taxes.

Gil Grousard: Constitutional--

Mantis: WAIT A MINUTE! You're telling me to lower taxes so that we can give the members in your district Jack Sammon, the business sector, a break! Yet you say RAISE taxes in order to combat this problem?!

Jack Sammon: IT would only be temporary. The problem with our psyche is with a 100% tax rate, we drain everything we have so we don't lose it. What if we made it 102%, either that or we lose it.

Mantis: What side of the fence ARE you on?!

Jack Sammon: The side that's best for this nation.

Mantis: Which is...taxing or no taxing?

Jack Sammon: Taxing.

Teresa Sammon: We'd have to borrow a lot from the people. The problem with this was the war bonds, initiated by President Sammon, if you remember. The problem with War Bonds is that, if you don't check them, we get into this mess that we're in now. Sure, we're reducing it, but only bit-by-bit. I think, therefore, that all war bonds should be cancelled until the debt is resolved.

Moderator: Heavy stuff. And with that, the debating is over for a while.

Mantis takes the podium and taps her helmet, greeted with a smattering of applause. "Fellow Mutants and Mantisfolk:
I know that there are some promises I have made that have been broken. And I realize that this may have left you feeling disillusioned by me. I am going to make several promises right now and if, by the end of my term, I have not lived up to these promises, you have very right to elect someone else. In fact, I'd welcome it. Now, here are my promises:
1) Tax relief. Your money is valuable; its the sole of our economy Without money, our economy is nothing. Yet, we don't place too much of an emphasis on it. However, we still need it to keep the economy rolling. I promise one thing: That by the end of my term, in the beginning of August, I will have taxes down to about 70%/
(applause)
2) Crime. Crime is important. I have lived up to this promise, by making crime virtually extinct. I will keep this going despite the tax decreases.
(applause)
3) FINALLY, and this is by far THE most important: Political Rights. Many of you--make that almost all of you--have been saying that you want more political rights. I can promise you that we will, by the beginning of August, be a Inoffensive Centrist Democracy once again!
(applause)
Thank you, and have a great rest of the day.

She taps her helmet and this, she is greeted by a round of fresh applause. It isn't as strong as it used to be, but there is hope that she has rallied the crowd here in District C.

Jack Sammon takes the podium and wipes a bead of sweat off his forehead. He'd been practicing for two weeks now and had been losing ground in the polls. He was second only to Gil Grousard in District C, so orating in District C wasn't going to work for him. District D was Teresa's, his wife's, district. That left either his home district, looking to get a boost out of his dwindling numbers there, or it left District A.
Now as you are aware, each candidate can consult with his advisors only once during a speech round, and it cannot be for more than an hour. They consulted, and they decided to try their luck in District A, trying to appeal to the militaryesqueness of the mantises, that and they were being hunting. The goal here wasn't to try to establish so much of a footing, like Teresa Sammon had done miraculously, but rather to try to push Gil Grousard out of the race. He wasn't carrying any district, and there were rumors that Grousard was thinking of withdrawing, not as a quitter, mind you, but because he simply couldn't get a footholding AND because he was hindering Mantis in district A. It was an experimental venture into the world of the giant mantises, a world he had never lived in. So he spent a week there trying to figure out how to live like a mantis. After 5 days, however, he had figured it out.
Now, wiping another bead off of us forehead, the man who had nearly killed off half the mantis population during the Great Unjustifiable War stood, asking for forgiveness, and a promise of a better future.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of District A, but most importantly, mantisfolk," He began, silencing a telepathic wave of boos as he began. The mantisfolk were quite calm and humble, waiting for the speech to be over.

"Three years ago, you elected me as the leader of your country, and, well, let's just say that I didn't and haven't lived up to expectations. You expected me to be a brave leader, but, more importantly, you expected me to keep you alive. Instead, I started the Great Unjustifiable War and killed, according to statistics, nearly half of your population. I understand I am not popular here."

A deep breath, followed by a few telepathic, "You've got that Da*n straight!"s. Then, the man appeared to be rattled. His voice wavered as he spoke now, but yet it still commanded attention.

"I understand that I am not liked her. But alas, what brings me here then? I am, first of all, asking your forgiveness." A few nods in the crowd. "Second of all, I am here to tell you just what I can do to make your lives better. Nod your head if you agree with me on these points:
Your great leader is Mantis. She keeps you well-informed, and carries your 'army.'" Many nods.
"You live in fear for two reasons: 1) You are afraid of another unjustifiable war and your possible exinction." A few more nods. "Yet you trust that Mantis, should she start a war, would have your back." Many nods. "I think the failure that I had with many of you was my lack of communication. So I stand here now, asking you if I can make your life better, if you will let me make your life better. The second reason you live in fear," He says, "Is because of poachers." Nearly everyone nods. "Not only do they attack you, but perhaps more importantly, they attack Mantis, the command center of your very army. Everyone reports to her." Everyone nods.
"I come here today to make two promises. Two promises that will be held very near and dear to my heart. As you are aware, poaching of mantises is legal in some areas of District A, mainly the area around Mantis's house. She is afraid to pass a law banning it--despite the fact that you are, after all, a protected species." More nods.

"My first promise, then, is simple: When I am elected, I will pass laws that make hunting of giant mantises, as well as human mutants (such as your leader) illegal in ALL parts of the country."
Massive waves of telepathic applause goes through his mind. Staggered for a bit, Jack Sammon steps back until the applause dies down. "I apologize...I'm not used to that yet."
"The second promise I will make for you is that, if I am *not* elected, I will work long and hard with whatever president there may be to make poaching illegal."
Again, the massive waves of applause ripple of applause.
"But this is just part of the first fold of the promise. The last part of this 'fold,' of the promises if you will, is that not only will you have resident citizen status, but yet are not full citizens, but you will BE a full-blooded citizen of Mutanatia."
Raucous applause.
I give you these three promises. Onto the second fold of the promise. I give you two promises in this fold: 1) That if a war starts, I will not be your commander--"
Telepathic gasps, followed by stunned silence.
"Stay with me here," The man pleads, and the mantises begin murmoring amongst themselves. Mantises are, after all, a rather voltile citizen. After a moment, they agree to continue watching his speech. "Stay with me here. As I said, I will not be your commander...BUT! I know someone who will be your commander, who is better-equipped to deal with you, who is used to telepathic waves sent by you. That person, that very person is the person who you adore so much! Mantismen and Mantis women, I will promise you that your commander will not be me. Rather, it will be none other than Mantis, who will report to me."
A loud, thunderous burst of applause echoes through his head.
After recovering, Jack Sammon adds, "Additionally, upon being elected president, I will spend-after the summit, of course--one full month living amongst the mantisfolk here and listening to your issues and trying the best to address them." A smattering of telepathic applause. "Finally, I will PROMISE you that no war will start without a great, justifiable reason. And that is that!"
And with that, Jack Sammon staggers off of the stage listening to the echoing of a massive, mammoth, gigantic wave of applause in his head.

Gil Grousard takes the podium in District C, amidst rumors that he is about to resign. With a deep breath, followed by several short breaths, he begins his speech.

"As you are well aware. there have been rumors of my picking my hat out of the ring and walking away."

In fact, Gil Grousard had gone through meetings with each of the different candidates, seeing what each one could promise him.
Mantis offered nothing but the usual.
Jack Sammon offered the chance of a lifetime: To help preside over trials of the Union Fighters. But alas, that was not to be any time soon--through Jack Sammon's own admission.
But then there was Teresa Sammon, wife of Jack Sammon. She promised a council of elders of sorts where there would be one representative from each district in an adjoining court. It wouldn't expand the scope of the Supreme Court, but instead they would serve as his advisor. Additionally, Teresa Sammon promised that this would be done through constitutional means: namely, an amendment, then a law. This intrigued him. She further offered a chance for him to sit down and actually write out the constitution as it was known today; most of the sections were outdated. Furthermore, it would, for the first time enable him to actively refer to a document, since most of it was in his head, stored as encrypted data that even he couldn't get to. It would once and for all make the Consitution available. The problem was, only Jack Sammon, Mantis, Teresa Sammon, and Jack Harrow knew the password. Mantis had since lost touch with the Constitution: mainly, she had lost its password, and Jack Harrow was known to have wiped anything to do with constitution from his memory upon retiring, as was the custom. Jack Sammon did not wipe his memory upon his resignation, nor did Teresa Sammon. However, that left only one person who would most likely win, and with a mandate as well: Teresa Sammon. Mandates require a bit of explanation: basically, when a candidate recieves 200% or more of the 400% available for a vote, they receive a mandate. This means that: 1) Everything he/she says becomes law unless struck out by the Supreme Court Justice within 48 hours. 2) Everything she does can only be reversed if she/he loses the election the following year. So for instance, if Teresa got the 200% and won a subsequent election, nothing could be reversed. It was intriguing for Gil Grousard, to be known as the first mandated Supreme Court Justice.

With a staggered breath--Gil Grousard had never been in front of a crowd this large, except for debates and that was easy because he was stated. "Well, those rumors are true. I do not walk away as a quitter; nay, far from it. I do not walk away as a loser. I am convinced that my services belong as a Supreme Court or Lower Court Justice. As a result, I simply have no desire to be president."

Among the scattered murmors, Gil Grousard voice emerges once more. "I, thereby, ask all of my supporters to throw their full support behind the candidate of their choosing. But, I do say this: MY support will be behind Teresa Sammon. Thank you very much, and may Lina bless you all, fellow Mutants."

With that he stepped off the podium, helped down by Teresa Sammon.

Teresa Sammon takes the podium in District C, the open district. She had just about captured the district, but she wanted to really, really capture it. With a good enough speech, she might be able to get that mandate. She was an unknown candidate, as such, she had something to bolster her speech up with. She brought the promise of kindness. The only question was: would she be able to keep this appearance up? She spoke with a soft voice, though, not to soft but not to hard. She had a gentleness in her appearance. Her long brown hair swayed gently in the wind as she began her speech.

"Ladies and gentlemen, mantiswomen and mantismen (the few of you that are here in District C, and for those of you in other districts), I understand that not much is known about me. So I will describe a little bit about myself:
I was born about 30 years ago, when this island nation was still under colonial rule. My family worked in District D and we fought with every bone in our body to get by. You see, we were teachers of a different sort. We spoke not about the world as it was then; nor of the world it is now; we spoke of the greater tomorrow. We were philsophers of a sort, but yet we had our day jobs teaching kids. What we saw shocked us: everyone believed the solution to the world's problem was with war. We knew better.

In 30 years' time, we would be given our independence, as Jack Sammon (and then-Supreme Court Justice Mantis) drove the United States forces out and, on top of that, held our ground against the Archaeologians. Granted, at that time they were called Venomians. Our village in District D was completely and totally burned to the ground. This was not unique, as about 20 of the 30 were destroyed either by the United States Army or by the Venomians. It was about this time that Jack Sammon and I got married. I loved the man, not for his policies (laughter), but for who he was. We lived in our own separate districts most of the time. I wasn't cut out for the business world because I wasn't as selfish as they were in District B. As a result, I continued to live in District D. My husband and I would occasionally meet in District C's great 4-star ranches for our rendezvous. Time went by, and over that time people began to look at me and say 'You know, she's absolutely right! We want a better tomorrow!' I helped rebuild District D's villages stone by stone, with little to no government assistance; you see, we wanted to do things ourselves.

I come from District D, a District that believes that there should be no need for war, a District who was once burned to the ground, a District who knows the pain an agony of war, a District who would be prepared to fight however, but it would have to be for a cause greater than the two wars that we've been through.

The Great Unjustifiable War was the turning point for me. Everyone in the village had been pestering me to run, and so I did. I scraped by with just about 100 out of 400 points for the votes, the first time any third-party candidate other than Mantis or Jack Sammon had done so. I was stupid and ran solely on a platform of no taxes.

Now, let me highlight to you the problems that go on in the Districts:
In District A, poachers still remain, and Mantis has failed to snuff it out, either through law or otherwise.
In District B, the businesses are all failing because all of their money goes to taxes.
In District D, the rebuilding effort continues--not of our village but, rather, the trust of our government.

District C is not without its problems. In fact, I would argue that what happens in District C effects the entire country. Let's see here:
District C is a farming district, and as such it givesu s most of our meat. Well, our source of meat is dwindling recently, if you'd notice. Why? Because President Mantis has decided to outlaw all forms of animal breeding.
District C's farmers don't get a lot of income, and as a result, they have to spend it all on necessities for the next day. The $20 that used to be saved, because of taxes, is now taken away by taxes.
District C's long-held traditions, such as arranged marriages, are also under attack.
The youth of District C, looking at how their parents are doing, are all moving out to other districts, including District A, hoping to find a better life. What happens when the farmers are too old to continue their work? Surely, with no child to take their place, we might starve.

But what do I offer? I offer a solution to our problems. Not only do I offer a solution to this problem, but I promise you: President Mantis will be held accountable for her actions! (applause)

I will offer solutions to the problems that exist in today's society:
In District A, laws can be passed that prevent poachers.
In District B, taxes can be lowered so that businesses can profit.
In District D, trust can be rebuilt by having a President who lives up to what he/she says he/she is going to do.
And in District C:
Taxes can be lowered
Higher Emphasis can be placed on farmers
Arranged marriages can resurface
And Animal Breeding can be allowed again.

(Applause)

I come to you not with abstract promises, or with vague ideas. I come here before you with a simple statement: We are all in it together. There is something for every one of you. Every single District's problems can be resolved, and quite easily as a matter of fact.

(Applause)

So I ask you, throw your support on me. You can count on me. We will fix the nation's problems, starting with District C, and ending up with District D. We will not go to war unless there is a a very, very, very good reason for it. We will once again be our former thriving selves.

(applause)

With that, Teresa Sammon left, with a mammoth wave of applause following her.

Moderator: We have one question for you, the candidates: The Federal Debt is now a SURPLUS! What should we do with the money?

Mantis: We should spend it on building our military.

Jack Sammon: Now is the time to cut taxes! We need to cut taxes and give tax rebates to those whose income have been drained.

Teresa Sammon: I disagree with respect with both of the candidates. We have neglected for too long the poor of this country. We need to, instead, use part of our surplus to help the poor, I’d say at least a half of it. With the remaining two quarters, we can use that for tax rebates and to build our military.

Moderator: This will be our last debate. Stay tuned for the first ads in our series, starting with Mantis:

Ad #1: A wispy image appears on the screen, that of Teresa Sammon, as Mantis’s voice is heard:
Mantis: We all know Teresa Sammon as the loveable humanitarian, who wants to restore faith in the government. But did you know that Teresa Sammon, when rebuilding her district, refused government aid when her village was sacked? Not only that, but listen to this:
The Wispy image appears to speak: I am, speaking as a representative of my district, against government aid for the incoming influx of mutants. I do not support government intervention of this sort; furthermore, I am against this treaty that will end the war with Venomia.
Mantis: Is that really the mark of a humanitarian? Vote for me, and I will assure you that the government will offer help when it can.

Ad #2: A clear image appears on the screen, that of Mantis, and her image moves as she speaks:
My name is Mantis. I’ve been your President for two years. It doesn’t look like I have much of chance at this, considering the past transgressions I have made. But I urge you: A vote for me is a vote against Teresa Sammon’s mandate. A mandate is a dangerous thing, mainly because the decisions of anyone who has a mandate cannot be overruled by the next sitting president; rather, the next president would have to have a mandate. Avoiding a mandate means avoiding potentially disastrous consequences for this country.
Ad #3: Mantis appears on screen and begins to speak:
Stay with me. I promise you, you won’t regret it. I promised turning this country around even though I had messed it up and, well, we’re back to where we began, besides the taxes. Stay with me, and I promise a brighter tomorrow, brighter than Teresa Sammon could ever, ever offer.

Ad #1: A wispy image appears on the screen, that of Teresa Sammon, and Jack Sammon’s voice is heard:
“Teresa Sammon:
You all know her. She is my wife. But does she stand for what she believes in? I certainly think so. However, there are some inconsistencies that I’d like to point out. Compare this from this year’s debate:
‘The government needs to help when it can.’
To this:
“When I was about 20, my husband started the Great Unjustifiable War. It destroyed my hometown. But, I, the leading political leader of my district, did not accept aid.”
Is Teresa a true Humanitarian—which are rare enough to find—or is she only pretending? You make the decision.”

Ad #2: A clear image appears on the screen, that of Jack Sammon, and her image moves as she speaks:
My name is Jack Sammon. I come to you with one and only one promise: to reduce your taxes drastically. Thank you very much.

Ad #3: Jack Sammon appears on screen and begins to speak:
President Mantis. You all know her. She has made several promises:
To increase military spending
To increase trade
And that the tax rate would not reach 100%
Of these promises, she has only kept one. Additionally, she has crippled businesses by keeping the taxes at 100%. She has also crippled the farming industry by banning animal breeding. She has made a number of ridiculous decisions. President Mantis: Domestically Stupid.

Tom, the anchor, was there, as was Mantis. About a ½ billion mutants tuned in to see this interview, the first of its sort.

Tom: We are sitting here with the current sitting President, Mantis.

Mantis: How do you do, Tom?

Tom: Let’s dive into things. Starting on the foreign front, the war drums were beating for quite some time during the election about going to war with Archaeologia, which was then called Venomia. How did you avoid war?

Mantis: Well, it’s simple. He agreed to pay money to the “so-called” mutants at the expense of one of my tirades, and he also agreed to let Mallumian bookmobiles enter the country, the first of its sort to enter later this year, after the elections and such things are finalized with whatever president is sitting.

Tom: Outstanding. Now, we turn to your campaign promises. Mantis, you promised, among other things: No war with Archaeologia, which you passed with flying colors; to lower crime rates, which you did an extraordinary job with; and to open trade with countries, which you did as well. Any thoughts on those accomplishments?

Mantis: Well, it wouldn’t’ve been possible had not my fellow Mutants come to me with these issues.

Tom: However, you promised that taxes wouldn’t reach 100% while you are in office; however, it has. What are your thoughts on that?

Mantis: Well, I’ve made some careless mistakes; I’ll be the first to admit that. But I have faith that the next President will do their best to lower taxes.

Tom: Moving right along. You have made some, as many people see it as, rather reckless decisions. Some of them have been outlawing animal breeding and allowing breastfeeding while on the job. Another example of a controversial decision was when you decided to outlaw forced marriages. What are your thoughts on this?

Mantis: Well, outlawing animal breeding was a stupid decision, and allowing breastfeeding on the job was simply carried out way too far. As for outlawing forced marriages: this is a modern country, Tom, and outlawing forced marriages is simply not the way to go.

Tom: The current classification of the country is “Democratic Socialists.” There has been outrage produced by the collective community say that this country is and, unless there is a better form out there, should always be an Inoffensive Centrist Democracy. Thus, many people are understandably outraged. What are your thoughts on this?

Mantis: Again, I make these decisions that are presented to me on a case-by-case basis. If they contribute in one form or another to reclassifying this country, I cannot help that. However, each time it has been classified as such, I have made—what I thought to be—decisions with that thought in mind of changing back to the country’s rightful classification.

Tom: President Mantis, you’re the first-ever two-term President, running for a third term. Yet you are trailing considerably in the polls. How are you going to work to rectify that?

Mantis: The answer is simple: Stop making so many stupid decisions. But more importantly, stop making decisions that do not lower the tax rate.

Tom: Finally, President Mantis, as you are well aware, if the election were to be held right now, Teresa Sammon would have a mandate. Yet you say that a mandate is a dangerous thing. Why is this?

Mantis: It’s simple: A mandate status, as per the constitution, would not allow another, unmandated president to change the decisions of the mandated president. Thusly, it would be important to not have a mandated president. This is because it would take another lifetime for another mandated president to come along and reverse some of the—potentially—harmful decisions that were made.

Tom: Thank you for stopping by, President Mantis.

Mantis: You’re welcome, Tom.

--SPECIAL MNN BULLETIN: Tonight, the permanent interviewer of the candidates will be named as Samerial. Alas, as of last night, Tom had a heart attack and died. As a result, Samerial will be our temporary interviewer. This interview was conducted live, as was last week’s.

About a ¼ billion mutants tuned in to see this interview, the second of of its sort.

Samerial: We are sitting here with a former President, Jack Sammon.

Jack Sammon: How are you tonight?

Samerial: Very well, thank you. As the mutants who are turning into this broadcast are no doubt aware, you started the Great Unjustified War. Why did you do this?

Jack Sammon: The war drums were beating. Franz Venom had said, on a number of occasions, that he wished to declare war on us and destroy us. I simply beat him to the punch. Additionally, I was not “close friends” with Franz Venom.

Samerial: You hail from District B, no?

Jack Sammon: That is correct.

Samerial: District B, as you are no doubt aware, was the least-touched district of them all during the Great Unjustifiable War, producing more than three-quarters of the tanks and other weaponries.

Jack Sammon (cringing): That is correct.

Samerial: Did you do this to give your district a particular advantage during the war, so that businesses would no doubt boom while the war was being waged?

Jack Sammon: That is not true at all, ma’am.

Samerial: Are you sure?

Jack Sammon: Yes, yes, I’m sure, I’m sure.

Samerial: Moving along. We have two more interview subjects to go. You told us at the debate that you didn’t want to tax, that you were in favor of lowering taxes. Yet, later you said that you wished for taxes to go higher than 100%, something that you believed would help out the national debt. Is this what you still stand for?

Jack Sammon: Of course not! First of all, I feel the pain of the crunch of businesses that this 100% tax rate has caused. Additionally, we are now, thanks to President Mantis, out of national debt. Thus and therefore, this question does not apply.

Samerial: But if we were to go into debt again, would you advocate this?

Jack Sammon: No. I simply wanted to show that I believed a much more aggressive strategy was needed to reduce the national debt. Nonetheless, the national debt is no more.

Samerial: Final question: Your wife, Teresa Sammon, has been leading in the polls for quite some time now and is bordering, occasionally, on obtaining a mandate for her seemingly impending Presidential Term. Do you believe that a mandate should be obtained by her, or anyone in particular?

Jack Sammon: No. This is because, #1 she has not yet been president. Even though she won during the tax simulations contest and kept taxes to a low 30%, I believe that she might lower the wrong taxes. And if she is a mandated President, then we cannot undo the (potential) damage she may create. This goes for anyone, even a repeated President.

Samerial: Thank you for your time, Jack Sammon.

Jack Sammon: You’re quite welcome.

About 1.75 billion mutants tuned in to see this interview, the third and final of its sort.

Samerial: We are sitting here with a big-time humanitarian and hopeful candidate, Teresa Sammon.

Teresa Sammon: Thanks for having me on the show.

Samerial: You’re quite welcome. On to the issues. You said you were a humanitarian, and as such you would help aid districts that were ravaged by war, no?

Teresa: Yes…

Samerial: Then why did you decline aid from President Mantis following the Great Unjustified War?

Teresa: This is simple. This because A) We didn’t want to get indebted to this particular president, and B) because we, as neighbors, help each other out.

Samerial: Tell us about your District.

Teresa Sammon: Well, District D, simply put has the best sense of togetherness of any of the districts I’ve been to. If someone needs money, all of us within a 2-mile block will chip in. Sure, we still “keep up with the Joneses,” but when one of us needs help, we’re all there to help chip in.

Samerial: Fascinating! Moving right along, in many of your speeches, you have said that the direction this government is going in is terrible.

Teresa Sammon: That is correct. This is mainly because Political freedoms are at an all-time low, public businesses are being crippled by the 100% tax rate, and to top it all off, animal breeding is banned. Not to mention all of the other stuff that’s been going on, such as the fact that we haven’t gone after the Union Fighters in the nearly two years since Mantis has been President. I come with solutions.
Samerial: Do you believe you are the one who will be able to put this country back on track?

Teresa Sammon: I do.

Samerial: One last question: There are rumors that the Union Fighters will try to assassinate you at your inauguration, should you win. Are you worried?

Teresa: Whatever happens, happens Samerial. You of all people should be able to understand that.

Samerial: Thanks for your time.

Teresa Sammon: You’re quite welcome.

It was time to announce the Supreme Court Justice nominees for each candidate. The stage was set, the time to potentially change the face of the nation was now. Mantis steps up to the podium first, followed by Jack Sammon and then Teresa Sammon.

Mantis: My Supreme Court Justice Nominee for this year is Jack Sammon. We all know about him, and what he stands for. But what we also know is he is—for the most part—fair and balanced towards everyone in every case.

Jack Sammon: My Supreme Court Justice Nominee for this year is President Mantis. We all know about her; she even served for me when I was President. Indeed, we all know she isn’t afraid to speak up when she suspects something is amiss.

Teresa Sammon: My Supreme Court Justice Nominee for this year is Gil Grousard. We all know how well he’s done serving for President Mantis, so I think it’s about time that I continue the tradition of having a great Supreme Court Justice.

It was time for Mantis’s last speech of the election season. The pressure was mounting. Her advisors—who she was only allowed to meet with once a month—had decided upon District A as the location of her speech, her home district. They did this as a means of shoring up support. This speech was unique in that no one had heard the speech prior.
She took a deep breath, saluted the crowd which, since it was her home district, sparked into raucous applause. For a moment she reveled in it, with a sense that this would be the last time she got such applause. After the clapping had died down, Mantis began.

“I’m here to talk,” She said, and wasn’t, as always, following a script or teleprompter, “About reengineering the future. I’ve made several boneheaded mistakes, I am fully aware of this. Animal experimentation laws have crippled our farms. The tax rate being at 100% has all but eliminated spending any money on leisurely activities. The list goes on and on and on. I’m here not to promise you I will undo these things, but instead to promise you that the future will be better. I will create a council of advisors to help me make better-informed decisions. But consider the bright side: There is hardly any crime. You have many political freedoms, and you have decent civil rights. I promise you this: I will expand upon these concepts while working to correct the mistakes of the past.

I will make better-informed decisions. I cannot promise the outcome of these decisions, much like I cannot promise much else. But I can, however, promise you that you will be looking at a better-informed president, one that will hopefully shape the future of this country to be better.

Finally, if you cannot, for whatever reason, decide that I am the better president, I warn you against mandates. They are dangerous, especially for someone who has never run a country before.

I urge you to ponder all of these things. Make up your mind, follow your heart; but above all, do what is right for this country.”

With that, she saluted the crowd again and basked in the applause before leaving the podium.