u/HelloLyndon

This mod was written by u/AcceptableNoise2789, and was written over the course of six months, with research including a biography of Ross Perot (Citizen Perot, which btw I recommend you check out), the third volume of Jack Gargan's memoirs, and the REFORM you tube series. As someone who has written a Perot mod before, I was really excited to play this, and was pleasantly surprised to see it come so quickly.

I played 4 run-throughs of this game, and here were my thoughts.

Theme:

The mod's design is PEAK, 10/10. The color is amazing and blends perfectly. In the Additional Reading section, the Modder said they made the music player mostly rock to symbolize the rage that fueled Gargan's movement. I can understand that, and think it was a smart move. Though I'm personally not much of a hard rock guy, so I didn't like it very much (won't hold that against them though). I do like the theme and the header (credit to E on discord)

First run through:

I self-sabotaged and made Gargan go into retirement instead of setting up THRO, which automatically ended the game. The electoral map was a Clinton landslide, with perennial candidate John Hooker become the Independent of the race instead of Perot. Honestly, I liked the creativity of Hooker running for President instead of Perot, though I did feel that him winning 2.2% of the popular vote was kind of overkill. I think Marrou of the libertarians would do better than him.

Second run through:

I didn't retire, and got to play as Jack Gargan for about 5 questions. I actually enjoyed it, and felt it was kind of a grassroots experience in a similar way to 1972d, where Gargan isn't some world leader, he's a guy with a cool slogan and a car spreading his words across the country.

I succeeded in getting Ross Perot to run, which gave me the "Government Flu" achievement (I don't know what that refers to, probably something in Gargan's memoirs). From there, I got to play as Perot. It did not turn out as I expected.

To be honest, this was kind of a run through, and I didn't really take the time to read the questions carefully, but I saw some things I didn't like. For one thing, Perot seemed to have quite the potty mouth throughout the mod. It wasn't excessive, but it was something I didn't particularly enjoy. Another thing, Perot was a lot more...conservative than I felt he was in OTL.

The main thing I'm referencing is this question early on:

https://preview.redd.it/mqjpz1f7n6kh1.png?width=1636&format=png&auto=webp&s=01263af644f8dbd74c1875cd89e557f2097d549d

In this question, Perot has to choose between appropriating Buchanan's "no taxes" rhetoric (Which isn't very fiscally responsible), and ignoring him...but keeping him in mind for his cabinet? As far as I know, Perot never considered Buchanan for the cabinet. Perhaps this was mentioned somewhere in Gargan's memoirs, but I personally find both of these options unrealistic. Perot wouldn't calls for lower taxes considering his goal of balancing the budget, and I doubt he'd consider someone so divisive for the cabinet.

The second moment, was on the question of how Perot would appeal to minorities. I did some quick deduction, and figured Perot going to the NAACP was a bad move, so instead I tried appealing to Hispanics, a swing group. I was then shocked to see this feedback:

https://preview.redd.it/1zbjxzm0q6kh1.png?width=776&format=png&auto=webp&s=5680d2514e1297f0eae1b5a86c428f1aa33acbc7

Okay, first of all, using a derogatory term in a mod is risky to say the least. (See 1948: Identity War). But also, I find it unrealistic. I'm not going to say Perot was the most progressive guy, he grew up in 1930's Texas after all. But I find it hard to believe he'd be in front of cheering crowd of Latino supporters, and he'd just call them "b*aners." Who the hell does that? Maybe at the time it wasn't a "fighting word," but I have trouble imagining context where he'd call his audience that. It's a creative decision that I really think could have been executed better. To the modders credit, after I commented about it, they said they'd censor it.

Finally, came the running mate selection. i don't have much to say about it, other than I'd like to point out that Ueberroth was a Republican, so they didn't a have to put "?" under party. I also took a sigh of relief when I saw that most of the running mates introduced were ones the REFORM team wasn't planning on including in the Ross For Boss update.

I picked Kirkpatrick, because she was the most experienced person in the selection. I don't have much to say about Kirkpatrick's path, although I do find it weird that Bush would attack her for the socialist beliefs she held at the age of 19, which she had since denounced.

And one other thing I found weird was this feedback (The answer was about calling for infrastructure or something)

https://preview.redd.it/zwjly5wvo6kh1.png?width=795&format=png&auto=webp&s=4f3838821fddabdc2c4da0e67e18919f07c15f5c

No one cares about internal improvements? Tell that to the millions of Americans who were calling for more infrastructure and new highways in their district. Also, I don't really get the Man In the High Castle reference.

Anyway, I didn't do good as Ross Perot, which is a little embarrassing. I did end up winning 27 EV's as him:

https://preview.redd.it/nyobp6emp6kh1.png?width=1198&format=png&auto=webp&s=9be4ec6ca49a33e74dfb8d3fc9528c879a79e27d

I did a third route, where I tried to read the question more carefully, got Perot and then dropped out as him. For that one, I won Maine and Bush won the election.

Fourth route:

I tried to prevent Perot from joining the race, and I succeeded! This then ended the game, and revealed Lowell Weicker to be Perot's replacement if he didn't run in the first place. While I find it a little unrealistic seeing as he was a sitting governor, I found him winning about 4.8% of the vote to be about right.

Final Thoughts:

In the overall reading section, the modder commented that they were trying to create an unbiased portrayal of Ross Perot. Personally, I think they succeeded. At the end of the day, I think Perot was based, but he was also an egotistical conspiracy theorist who's viewed weren't particularly grounded. But at the same time, I think it's a bit too hard to do well as Perot, there are a lot of trip ups that set you up for even bigger failures than in OTL, and there are some creative decisions which I personally don't agree with.

Final score: 7.5/10.

(Originally 7/10, but I decided that the graphics were so good that an extra 0.5 was warranted).

President: Ross Perot (I)
Vice President: James Stockdale (R)

Secretary of State: Jeane Kirkpatrick (R)

• “A former Reagan administration official. She’s experienced, she’s smart, but even better: She’s a woman. Now what ornery old foreign diplomat is going to come to Washington, and want to say no to sweet Miss. Kirkpatrick?”

Secretary of Treasury: Paul Tsongas (D)

• “I like Paul. Me and him agree on almost everything when it comes to economic issues. With him, we’re going to balance the budget and put America on track for the 21st century. There is a small issue in that he supports NAFTA, but hey, you can’t ask for everything.”

Secretary of Defense: Colin Powell (R)

• “He’s an experienced general, tough as steel, well-recommended by both sides of the aisle. Granted he’s part of the military establishment, but who knows, maybe this will allow me to keep an eye on ‘em.”

Attorney General: Tom Luce (R-TEXAN)

• “He’s my personal attorney, a close friend, and a smart cookie.”

Secretary of Agriculture: Kika de la Garza (D-TEXAN)

• “He’s the chair of the House Agriculture Committee, he’s opposed to NAFTA, and he’s from Texas. He might as well have been cooked up in a lab for this administration.”

Secretary of Commerce: Lee Iacocca (I)

• “He’s a smart man, and a good friend of mine. It took some cajoling to get him on board, but there’s no one else in America who has his business acumen. Well, maybe one.”

Secretary of Labor: Ann McLaughlin (R)

• “She was Secretary of Labor under Reagan, a man who I deeply admire. She’s experienced, she’s against the NAFTA agreement, and she’ll keep these labor unions in check. That’s exactly what we need right now.”

Secretary of HHS: Bernadine Healy (R) 

• “She’s a smart woman, she’s done good work as Director of NIH, and I considered her for Vice President. She’s the obvious choice.”

Secretary of HUD: Douglas Wilder (D)

• “I didn’t really know who to choose for this. I went up to the Democrats and my friend Jesse Jackson, and I asked: “Who should I appoint?” They suggested Governor Wilder, a smart fella who built new infrastructure across Virginia while balancing the budget. That’s exactly what I want to happen nationwide.”

Secretary of Transportation: Robert Crandall (D-TEXAN)

• “He’s from the Dallas area too, he’s a smart fella, he was in charge of the biggest airline in the United States, and he also happens to be my friend. I’m sure he’ll do great.”

Secretary of Education: Carl A. Parker (D-TEXAN)

• “Back in 1984, me and Parker, back when he was just a member of the state legislature, helped create one of the most impressive education reforms in the state’s history. I intend to do the same now at the national scale.”

Secretary of Veteran Affairs: Not Sure

• “All I know is, when they're up in front of the Senate and they get asked about the POW issue, they'll have two responses: Either they say the President is right, or they shut up like a clam.”

Supreme Court:

Judge Amalya Kearse to replace Justice White.

• “Reagan considered her back in '80, she's plenty smart, and she’ll be a great way to mend the fence with the African American community."

Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Energy: I don't know gosh darnit.

ROSS 4 BOSS UPDATE COMING WHO KNOWS WHEN.

https://preview.redd.it/q07qdybn7wah1.png?width=526&format=png&auto=webp&s=f5c8d0cd6a2f939afd82caa80d3336aa18ff899d

I saw this effect in Red 1956, and on mods on NTS, but haven't figured out how to replicate it.

View Poll

It was a dark, summer day. I was bored so I played both the midnight mods in order. I played Midnight 1964 on Campaign Trial Showcase. It was awesome, especially because of its amazing soundtrack. I started to play Midnight 1965 on New Campaign Trail, but to my surprise, there was no soundtrack.

No Soundtrack

I looked at the release post for Midnight 1965, and I saw tons of comments praising the soundtrack, saying how it added to the gloomy mood of the game. This only made me more driven to find it. I looked at the bottom of the release post, and there was a link to a code depository. I checked the link.

Dead.

I used the Wayback Machine.

There was one result.

https://preview.redd.it/9csv55nu138h1.png?width=1310&format=png&auto=webp&s=32f691dcf9eb6fb12c7a900afec0c3e8357015a3

For a second I felt joy. Until. I tried the links.

Dead.

I scoured the posts on the subreddit, maybe someone captured an image of the soundtrack in their playthroughs.

Nothing.

As a last resort, I checked to see if someone added the playlist to Spotify or You tube.

Again, nothing.

I again checked the posts on this sub, and found a comment where Gardfeld said he would fix the playlist after he was done with the Midnight 1964 Redux. But this was two years ago. So it's probably a dead end.

I fear that I may never hear this acclaimed soundtrack. The one that began with a strange Goldwater speech. The one that spoke of the "wrong man".

I walk at night, the moon beaming down at me, wondering whether I'm getting the right experience.

But who knows, on one of those walks, maybe I'll find the soundtrack sitting at my feet. On a dusty dirt road, on a path known as The Campaign Trail.

Title

Cuomo Side: Writing is good, and I like that the questions focus on events that other mods don't touch on (North Korea, Oklahoma City Bombing). One minor note: It's stated that Cuomo 're-negotiated' NAFTA and ratified it within his first two years in office.

To start, there wasn't a NAFTA to 're-negotiate' when he entered office, so he just negotiated it. Second, considering that Cuomo would likely fight for more concessions than Bush (who wasn't able to sigh NAFTA until a month before leaving office), it's unlikely that NAFTA negotiations would reach a conclusion in Cuomo's first term. Overall, Cuomo's side gets a 8/10.

Weld Side: I don't have much to say. It's good writing, it provides useful context for Weld's actions as Governor, and I like that there are opportunities to give other Republicans the nomination. (10/10)

Buchanan Side: My biggest gripe with Buchanan is that he seems to be overestimated electorally. On my first play through, I chose the worst answers to try to humiliate him, and he still got 8%. I find it hard to believe that his worst is doing as bad as Perot. And in the historical results, he gets 9% while Weld gets 41%, implying that Weld would have won if not for Buchanan, despite Cuomo seeing to have been a pretty good President in the mod.

Furthermore, it’s weird that Buchanan is in the debates. Did the debate commission not change the rules since Perot declined to enter? Did Cuomo get the commission to let Buchanan participate in order to split the republican vote? Or is Buchanan just polling above 15% nationally, and was endorsed by several major outlets as per the commission’s '96 rules?

I also think it wouldn't have hurt to include an answer that makes it so that he loses the Reform nomination to Lamm, or even Perot. Overall, for the Buchanan side: (6/10)

Design: The colors and banner were awesome. The background theme wasn't as good. The picture of the Uncle Sam running in a parade didn't really fit in. Also, the photo of Ann Richards isn't that good, with the lighting being uneven between her and the background. Overall, 8/10

Tooltips: My biggest issue with the mod is the tooltips, or lack thereof. From what I can tell, there's only one tooltip in the entire mod, for CuomoCare. The tooltip for CuomoCare was very helpful in providing context for what the bill did, which is why its disappointing that other obscure terms and topics such as the NPT Treaty (Q3), Yousef (Q6) and the Keating 5 Scandal don't have tooltips. Overall, this underutilization of tooltips subtracts 0.25 from the overall score.

Anyway, overall score for 1996 Lion: 7.75/10.