Senate Seekers Wanted
Here’s a little online game for politics junkies: Senate Seeker. My brother introduced me to it a couple months ago. Here you create a fake candidate and run him or her for House or Senate. Elections are held every Thursday night. If you win a Senate seat, you get to propose bills and vote on bills proposed by other players (the game is a public beta, soon to be reset, and House members don’t yet have the ability to propose bills yet). Sitting Senators also get to run for President. The game ain’t perfect–in fact, it’s a still bit buggy–but it’s a decent time waster. Anyway, check it out if you’re interested in that sort of thing. And look out for that maverick Republican senator from New Jersey.
Speaking of Republicans, the reason I bring this up is that the game has a serious lack of Republicans right now (apparently it has been featured on some prominent liberal blogs). The Dems control the Senate 60-24 (with third parties taking the rest) and possess a similar margin in the House. It’s a bit lonely on this side of the aisle, so ITA readers are invited to join in the fun and help us even the odds.
5 Responses to “Senate Seekers Wanted”
So Democrats are pretending to run the government?
Sounds pretty typical.
David, this looks quite interesting. I couldn’t find any detailed description of the game process, though. The home page and FAQ have partial outlines, but they’re not comprehensive. I could just jump in and learn as I go, of course, but do you know of any complete outlines or tutorials for Senateseeker?
It’s pretty simple once you get started. Click on “sign up” at the left and fill out your name and party affiliation. Then check to see which state and race you want to enter in. There are currently a lot of empty Congressional seats and quite a few Senate races with only one candidate. It helps to do your first race in the House, because there is little competition. However, House members can’t propose bills or run for president yet (the House was a later addition to the game). Also, you can’t switch races with a single character. When you’re ready to run for Senate, you’ll create a new one.
When you fill out the ideological profile, try to match the state you’re in, rather than your personal ideology. It makes campaigning much easier.
You’re limited to 10 total candidates and all must be in different races. The admins DO check.
For campaigning tips, ask a party leader, or contact my player, “Tom Davis.” It’s a simulation, so there are always ways to game the system a bit.
I’m the Republican Leader on Senate Seeker, and if you came from here…let me know when you sign up.
My recommendation is to start in a state that has a lot of seats open. California, New York, Texas, and Florida come to mind as places for the initial character to start out.
Senate Seeker will be reset on March 16th. Now is the perfect time to join the game and learn the rules so you’re ready to play whenever that happens.