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Anti-Establishment™ Candidate ProfessorHenn Ruffles Feathers
As the race for Delegate enters the home stretch of the first of potentially unlimited re-runs, the election has been energized by the candidacy of ProfessorHenn (Sporaltryus) mounting a direct challenge to the Establishment™.
Among South Pacifican citizens, the Establishment™ is the well-known and well-defined group of those who have been in government for a long time, with prominent members such as Belschaft, Griffindor, and Max Barry. This elite inner circle is further divided into the Secret Cabal, consisting of people who are not liked, and the Public Cabal, consisting of people who are liked. Collectively, however, the Establishment™ is widely regarded as the group steering South Pacifican politics, because every person who is in government for long enough inevitably ends up being inducted into the Establishment™, reflecting the ever-expanding reach of this shadowy group.
This political status quo, however, faces a new challenger in the form of ProfessorHenn’s campaign for the delegacy. “ProfessorHenn represents a significant departure from legacy candidates,” one political operative told The SPIN Doctor. “They have never held the office of Delegate, yet have mounted a viable campaign against well-organized and well-funded opposition.” Indeed, as of the time of publication of this article, ProfessorHenn’s political opponents have spent around seven times as much money on the race as ProfessorHenn’s own campaign.
ProfessorHenn has sought to differentiate themselves from the Establishment™ in areas other than campaign finance as well. For example, they have introduced a new political strategy by campaigning under the name of “ProfessorHenn” — or “ProfessorHenn” on the forums, or “professorhenn” on Discord. In contrast, legacy Establishment™ candidates have historically struggled with this level of transparency during election season, as indicated by how difficult most South Pacificans find it to name every Establishment™ member. Instead, those legacy candidates have often opted to create new names for their campaigns that they consider more appealing, using terms such as “People’s Coalition” or “Ronald Reagan.”
Legislative records show that ProfessorHenn is an experienced newcomer in these kinds of anti-Establishment™ antics. They previously argued against the approval voting system that has become a flashpoint of this election, voicing their support for alternative systems again and again and again. They led the charge to reign in the Establishment™ — those who have been in government for a long time — with term limits. These efforts, however, have not previously provoked the same level of Establishment™ response as their current Delegate campaign.
In response to ProfessorHenn’s apparent lead in the first round of the election, the Establishment™ has launched a public effort to restart the entire election. “This is not a campaign against ProfessorHenn, but rather for more choices,” an Establishment™ spokesperson told The SPIN Doctor. “In other words, we’re not campaigning for a different outcome, we just want to restart the entire process to elect the same person at the end.”
Reportedly, the Establishment™ is also working on contingency plans in order to retain their grip on power. Some South Pacificans have shared rumors that the Establishment™ is writing a ‘reprisal list,’ a list of political enemies of the Establishment™, based on a previously leaked list known as ‘2Glen2Glorious.’ The Establishment™, however, has denied these rumors. Even the publisher of the Southern Onion, the fact-based regional newspaper that first reported on ‘2Glen2Glorious,’ has downplayed its significance under recent scrutiny by alleging it to be a parody of a post from The East Pacific.
Amidst these developments, South Pacificans remain divided between voting for the anti-Establishment™ candidate of ProfessorHenn, or voting to re-open nominations to vote for ProfessorHenn again, as suggested by the Establishment™.
