When Brigadier Rowan Alden of the RFCP announced his desire to run for CPW Admin, he brought the toll of RFCP candidates up to five.
For some, this was vexing. For others, it seemed par for the course. CPW was founded by RFCP, and various enlisted have already taken on important jobs in securing the launch of the league. The newest and unique feature of CPW is selecting democratically elected Admins, and invitation was open for anyone to submit themselves for consideration. The #cpw-elections channel, however, remained quiet. That is because Commander Prior ordered all those interested in running (including himself) to refrain from announcing before a non-RFCP candidate had a chance to do so.
Days went by without activity. And then Camie Perhaps (AKA Jamie, former PCP and former Captain of the RFCP during the merge) announced his candidacy.
Like lightning followed Prior Bumble’s announcement. But his thunder was stolen when Sidie9 (AKA Eva), his wife, posted her own announcement minutes later without warning. Colonel SWAG PENGU1N and Major Coolj then threw in their bids for the same seat before Rowan made his motives clear as well.
That left only Shad, Kerx, and Jamie as non-purple-and-black runners. And that’s not all. Rumors abounded that the pool of RFCP candidates was even still growing–Brigadier CC_Jay and Commissar Redovyco both publicly flirted with the idea of announcing candidacy. Criticism regarding an RFCP-centric start to the league was unavoidable now, and frustrating the allies in support of the league was not in the best interest of CPW.
Commander Prior turned for discussions to Field Marshal Sha (donning her brand new rank, which came after this excellent exchange):
Together, Sha and Prior decided that, although there are no stipulations in the official CPW rules against so many from one army running, RFCP would extend to CPW a gesture of goodwill of its own volition in response to the outsider concerns. That gesture was holding a primary election. This was to be a vote of only RFCP to narrow down their candidates to one preferred nominee.
Contending against Prior Bumble for this nomination posed a monumental challenge. Prior loyalists are populous in RFCP. He was sure to capture the youth vote as well, as his name is often the first and most memorable encounter in RFCP for new soldiers.
Each candidate took a different strategy in facing off against their leader. Some, like Rowan, secured an offensive position. During the primary debates, Rowan challenged that Prior’s name came with renown, yes, but also controversy, and some might not join the league simply because of it. SWAG chimed in with agreement. “What have you to say to that?” Rowan insisted.
“I’m not in the business of appeasing everyone,” Prior replied.
When Field Marshal Sha asked a similar question, Prior said,
“I’ll be working on our league. People can love me. People can hate me. I’ll be here working.”
Coolj took a different tactic–he focused on being a unique choice offering a fun and relaxed approach to administration. Rowan questioned his membership in CANC, however, a trolling club presided over by Cena, and whether this would affect his professionalism. The debates heated up with an unlikely alliance between Swag and Rowan teaming against Prior and Coolj.
For many, Eva and Swag represented a healthy distance from RFCP with gentler and more neutral backgrounds. Rowan and Coolj represented departure from the status quo and non-HICOM viewpoints. Prior Bumble remained an almost too predictable option, but whose ferocity and steadfast leadership would be hard to rival.
The polls opened after everyone was given a chance to speak in the debates. Votes were anonymously DMed to Sha. The results were as follows:
Prior Bumble’s victory did not surprise many. Interestingly, though, he did not capture more than half the vote. We interviewed senior political analyst Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia for his comments.
“Going into this game against Bumble was an uphill battle, without doubt,” he said, “but it wasn’t impossible. Prior’s opponents increased his odds of winning merely by the fact that they ran. Splitting the Prior-alternative vote four ways prevented combining the supporters of Swag and Eva behind a single candidate. And those who didn’t support his candidacy, rather than vote for his opponent, declared their own campaigns and spent votes on themselves.”
A narrower field of opponents may have lent Prior a couple more votes too, but Sabato is convinced that unifying behind a singular alternative “would have made Bumble far from unbeatable.”
A rushed political process, divergent time zones, and moods of defeatism around challenging Prior Bumble may have hindered the campaigns of the opponents as well. While Prior had a great deal of stigma and suspicions of bias to overcome, his bid was propelled by an endorsement from Shad.
We asked Prior to comment on his victory.
“This election was no guarantee. The candidates in the primary were honorable and offered real competition of philosophy and appeal.”
We pressed him to say something more Prior-like and triumphant. He smirked and kept walking towards his office.
“What do you want me to say? For peacetime leadership like in this situation, there are strong alternatives to me. In war? It’s Prior. Hands down.”
He will go on to join Kerx, Shad, and Jamie in the general election for CPW Admin, but, unless another non-RFCP candidate enters the race, all four are currently guaranteed a seat.
The unsuccessful RFCP candidates were all awarded RFCP’s Medal of Valor, a badge given only to two others in the past: General Tumbling and Major Pho.
We asked Coolj and Rowan to comment on the elections. Coolj had no remarks. Rowan, who conceded and moved support to Prior after the results, offers his thoughts:
“It was an interesting experience. I’ve never done anything like it before, but it was something I enjoyed greatly,” he said. “Honestly anyone could have won and I’d have been celebrating because it was such a great group of candidates.”
He added after a pause,
“And the debate itself…Well…It speaks for itself.”
Indeed it did. Prior’s last message in the public debate channel was what he joked to be his new slogan:
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