For the best part of the last fifteen months, this is a concept that has resulted in some of the biggest cheers and some of the biggest rants. When this concept was originally introduced, it was laced with endless possibilities and so much promise. However, with so many concepts expanding within our community and our Amigo's having to prioritize their time, the unfortunate victim of time-management was this campaign. Since there have been several attempts to push this one forward. Several months ago I think we were heading in the right direction, but we once again faltered.

Then a little over a month ago I had taken on the role of pushing forward with this campaign and finally trying to see it through. An FSME was assigned to the forum to help us over see it, and we formulated a task force to help over see the day to day operations. Our task force created a schedule, worked on the debate structures, and basically worked out any and all kinks that we thought could have arisen. I tip my hat to you guys that worked so hard behind the scenes.

Unfortunately, when we went public with this new surge of the AbovePolitics.com Presidential campaign, the interest was not there. There are several members who have been here since the beginning and others who have recently joined in that have been a driving force behind this. You guys have discussed the issues and offered assistance at every corner. For that, we thank you.

But the time has come where we need to honest with the members who have an invested interest and let them know where this stands. As of this moment, we are officially pulling the plug on this campaign concept. I say this begrudgingly and I am very disappointed to think that we are forced to come with this. But we can not push forward with a concept with so little interest.

As our members read this, I know you are going to think of hundreds of suggestions that we could have adapted and could have utilized to make this more well known. But I, and the task force that worked so hard behind the scenes, are requesting the benefit of the doubt on this one. We tried, we really did. Between sending countless u2u's and thinking of innovative ways to shed light on this interest, it all rests on the fact that members are not interested. Some of the newer members may not know about this, but anyone who would take part.. they are aware of this concept, and for the most part they are uninterested.

In its' day, this could have been something special. But several variables came into play and this is the unfortunate reality we are left to deal with.

So to conclude, I thank our members for their participation and I hope this does not deter you from engaging in political discussion on our domain. While this is unfortunate news, it is something that it is owed to our membership.

This thread will remain open for members to freely discuss how they feel, but I do ask that things remain civil. I'm sure there are those among us that will be quite disappointed by this news.

Thank you for your time.

I wish to thank Chissler , Budski and the members who took an active part in attempted to revive the election . I will leave it up to others to pass judgement on how new mods can be appointed and yet no members were appointed with less authority to run the election while there was still interest.

To the candidates who re entered the race I am sorry to say that I didn't have any ideas on how to revive a dead horse.

However I feel that some perceptive is needed.

Now I know there are members who I can have level headed discussion on the board this has proven to be worth far more then any of the issues that were at hand with the election. Also I will continue to post regularly on AP as it is where the bulk of my interest lies rather then some of the more traditional ATS topics.

Shame....

I thought it was a good idea with tons of promise for expanding the political discussions here on ATS....

I understand however, that ATS works on what is popular being in the forefront, I just wonder if maybe it would have been more popular after it started up and got running....

Semper

I'm really sorry that this has not come to fruition, partly because the team have put so much time and effort in, and partly because some people have worked really hard to make this work by encouraging members to take an active interest, particularly in the last few days.
I'm not going to name individuals, because that would be unfair to everyone who put time and effort into this.

For everyone who took the time and effort to make campaign statements, to answer questions on their policies and to try and drum up interest, I'd like to say one thing:
Thanks guys.
And I really am very sorry that this excellent concept didn't take off - BUT as chissler said, the members have shown little interest, so how could we push ahead in good faith when it appeared members either didn't want this, or had no interest in it.

Once again, thanks to everybody who worked on platforms etc

Thanks again for all your hard work on this guys.

I can't lie and say I'm not disappointed we couldn't get this started, but I also can't deny that we gave it our all and there was nothing else that we could have done.

I'd also like to agree with xpert and say that my mission from now on is still going to be to bring PTS to the forefront around here and make the members see the kind of bright minds we have here. I believe in PTS and still think we can do some wonderful things here.

IT is unfortunate that this has become defunct, over the last year of so this eceltion started and stopped more times then Reggie Bush on a long touchdown run (would have made better sense when he was still good... like when this election talk started...)


Its a shame, and mabye, in the furture, we will learn for our mistakes, and give it another go....

Nyk537 it is nice to know that there others that share my sentiment . At its best AP can something akin to a on line think tank at it worst I wouldn't go with in a hundred miles of it . Having seen some of the highest quality discussions on AP I have concluded that the number of flags a thread receives is related far more to the nature of the topic rather then the quality of the thread. That is why AP will always be out of the limelight .

But hey I have learnt that when it comes to denying apathy the mission is far more rewarding then any recognition that may or may not come my way.

I am for one very disappointed in this decision. I thought this was an excellent idea with plenty of marketing potential. However I am not one of the owners of this awesome site.

I then have to congratulate NYK537 for being the ipso facto president of ATS albeit a defunct and moot point. Congratulations are in order for truly believing in this project and seeing it to its untimely and bitter end.

I think we may have been a bit unlucky with the timing - there are so many things happening right now, so many new members joining and different competitions as well.

At least we can all say we gave it our best shot, and I think that's something we can all be, at least, a little bit proud of.

Ya'll are the most lily-livered, psudeo-conspiratorical insurgents ever.

I'm holding a vote right now.

INTREPID!

If my one vote holds, he wins.

I'd like a few days to save my posts before you delete the forum.

Thanks

I think it's a shame but I'm hardly suprised.

I was never really aware of the campaign until relatively late on and I certainly wasn't really aware of the purpose and role of the elected President.
I also wasn't aware of who could vote, when the election was going to take place and what the voting procedure was.

So, from my perspective, it was a really good idea, the detail of which just hadn't been communicated efficiently enough.
Why?
I have no idea and pointing fingers and criticising serves no constructive purpose whatsoever.
Yet lessons can be learned for any possible future campaigns etc.

I am sure that given enough time, and possibly more support, Budski and Chissler could have worked it out and I think that the effort xpert11, bodrul et al put in was most commendable.

I would also like to offer my assistance in any way possible, in the now unlikely event tht a similar exercise is undertaken in the future.

Edit: Grammar and Spelling

[edit on 10-3-2008 by Freeborn]

Originally posted by xpert11
Having seen some of the highest quality discussions on AP I have concluded that the number of flags a thread receives is related far more to the nature of the topic rather then the quality of the thread. That is why AP will always be out of the limelight .

That is a very astute observation, xpert11.

As for the idea coming to an end, I'm disappointed but not surprised. I just feel bad for those like NYK and others who gave their time and effort in vain.

To be upset about what has gone on and how this has evolved is only natural. I do not object to such a stance. A few weeks ago I tried to take the reigns on this one and move forward. It has failed and I take responsibility for that. But to say that our hard work is "hog wash" is hardly a fair representation, considering some of the time that our team dedicated to this. So if you want to gripe about the process to point fingers at me, fill your boots. But overlooking the efforts of all of our volunteers is wrong, even if you volunteered your own time as a candidate.

So whether you choose to believe or not, the choice is yours.

But if you were a candidate that "quit" this process more times than you declared yourself, I hardly see how you are in a position to pass judgment on those that actually worked hard on this.

But alas, to each their own. You are entitled to your opinion.

But I will stand and defend the member(s) that liberally dedicated large portions of their evenings to help us formulate a schedule, plan of action, debate subjects, etc., without ever asking for anything in return or ever have their efforts publicly acknowledged.

So voice what you wish, but please be courteous to those that did work hard.