I am a big fan of Galactic Civilization, and I have been waiting to get my hands on Political Machine for quite some time.
I finally found it for a mere 19.99. My first suggestion to Frogboy is this:
Bundle Stardock central and all your shareware tools into a single application (The skinning/themeing thing) too many choices, and shareware nag screens to choose from. I have no idea which one I like and which one I do not because there are simply too many things that end in "X" (DesktopX etcX whateverX).
My second suggestion comes first after giving you the context of what I have done so far:
First I created myself. I was pretty honest about my choices, I increased integrity and decreased my money scores. As a hard worker I upped stamina (and found that to be pretty critical in the game). I supported only the issues that were important to me, not the stuff that was pretty safe and popular in all parties (including independents).
I did pretty well up until I faced Gerald Ford, about then it became where I found myself pandering to groups that prior I had never pandered too, to broaden my popularity. I chose always Hilary Clinton, because I tend to think you could nab that female vote and New York at the same time. I am from Florida, so that being a key state, I found that to be a great base of operations.
The second guy I created was "Kang Ruthless".
A republican, whose agenda is clearly world domination. He focuses on issues that I personally find unsavory, such as capital punishment, war, 'traditional values', religion etc. I cranked down his appearance and intelligence and decided to simply keep him off TV shows. A fun aspect of the game to me. I did go on a show and I found this event to be hilarious:
When asked about Ruthless's solution to the middle east, I said I would nuke them all.
The interviewer asked a FOLLOW UP Question, surely I couldn't be serious..and I said "yes, I believe that would be my strategy".
Despite my clearly insane comments (and the newspaper printed it afterwards) I still won against Carter 436 to 67, taking all but 4 states including his home state. I tend to think thats pretty realistic though, we may have elected Ross Perot if he had better strategists running his campaign and he was nuts too.
So having played myself, and an evil guy here are my suggestions:
1- First, I agree with the post that the incumbant advantage should be a toggle to one or the other, and that it should be name recognition in every state.
2- I think that if you sift through all the newspaper articles about the various Hubris of presidents, especially in recent times, there is usually a smoking gun or something. Whether it be missing tapes, shady land deals, draft dodger, not really earning your medals, or some ugly woman you met in a hotel and played hide the cigar with.
I think that the game accurately reflects to some degree the muckracker and scandals, but only passively. You set him there and let him go.
In reality, most campaigns seem to focus on the negative, but yet I find in this game you really can take the high road and say you favor something, as opposed to attacking your opponents viewpoint. I think that there needs to be a clear advantage to playing dirty that is readily apparent.
This is a mutli-part suggestion:
1- Players have to choose a certain number of Hubris from things like above before the campaign. The formula to determine how many should be something like (10-integrity) + optional up to 2 more.
For those extra you get to select two other 'passions'.
You get a certain number of passions (Which are your core issues, abortion, health care, etc) that you can select or are picked based on the candidate, and these you get bonuses on and can actually talk about your opinion on. In ALL other matters, you can only attack your opponents views.
You see this takes away your ability to always stay positive. You have to be negative some times, because you can only critisize. A good example would be Kerry.
While Kerry can talk about what he might do in Iraq, in reality the only thing really open to him at the moment is to say something like "I would not do what Bush is doing" (At least that is what we hear as a public).
The Hubrises come as events unlock them (running into a question mark, a muck raker can reveal them) and then they are automatically put in a state they are found, or sometimes your opponent can choose what state to reveal them in. Sometimes though it can backfire IF you get too negative.
I realize this may seem over simplistic, but I am only wanting to provide the genesis of some thought for this. I definitely think the publics perception will only tolerate a certain amount of negativity, after that you are just an a-hole whiner to the people.
3-DEBATES!
I want an interactive debate ability when I land in the same state as my opponent, if he does't accept the challenge that may be a slight decrease in popularity for him. Bigger if I get him on TV and can bang him. You might try a sort of paper-rock-scissors style debate interface, modified by intelligence, charisma and so on. Maybe ask a question on top issues, on core values (such as integrity) and then one at random.
4-
One interesting campaign worker, would be a "Finance Manager" you can have only one of them, and in that state and surrounding states they can reduce costs, but they also set a cap on the amount of money you can spend.
5-
How about creating the ability to do some interesting events like in Gal Civ, where you have to make a choice when you enter a state. A good example:
"The senator from Wyoming calls you and says he'd like you to appear at his charity rodeo, he promises big votes if you can make it?"
Then there is a chance he is just setting you up for failure, or wasting your time to increase his own, or maybe it turns into a good photo op.
Another is a morality choice:
"You get a call from a Washington State Lumber lobbyist, who asks if you wouldn't mind some serious contributions, in exchange for a commitment to allow some 'minor' strip mining and deforestation rules to go away when you become president'
Based on your answers, this could become a hubris but with extra payola!!
Essentially, instead of passive events, your immediate reaction to them allows you an opportunity to interact with the game world.
Modders could essentially construct events akin to 911 (The movie or the real thing, for instance).
6-
An interesting Campaign follower would be a "Journlist Bus" that follows the candidate, and increases his recognition, but also if he fails at things, broadcasts thoughs more negatively. The bus automatically follows the candidate and actually increases in strength up to 100% as the campaign ramps up and the candidates popularity ramps up. It also increases the candidates travel expenses exponentially as well.
7-
An intereresting campaign follower would be a ...."Escort", You place her in key states where your opponent and his followers are, and she attempts to cause a scandal. She has one use: once she is revealed, she and her opponents follower are removed from the game in disgrace causing sort of a scandal in that state. In addition if it happens to be the president or VP the stigma will follow them for several turns (but they will not be removed). The Escort is a double edged sword, she has a much lower perecentage of doing this, but she may do it to someone on your side if they are in the same state.
8-
This last one has probably already been discussed, but I'll throw it out there.
When getting an endoresement, it should be cheaper or more expensive and/or impossible to get based on your stance.
For example:
If I have been coming out against gay rights, I shouldn't get the ACLU's approval.
If I have been coming out FOR gay rights, or against abortion, I should get the religous right.
If my opponent is a female, and I am a male, it should be harder for me to get the Womens rights groups endorsement.
Whoever has the highest minority appeal should get a break on the cost for the endoresement of the NAACP.
Whoever has the lowest minority appeal should get a break on the NRA group. (Hey, I realize that sounds racist, but if you think about it, thats how it works.)
I think you should also have a possiblity based on those Hubris, key events, and your speeches/endorsements/advertising to lose the backing of those groups.
This game rocks, keep it up.
10--
Now that political machine is out there, after you fix it up a little more, I fully expect the second half to this game-- Which is simulating actually keeping those promises and running the government. Making a difference or staying the course.