If you change your position on an issue in your platform, you risk a backlash among your supporters. The greater the change, the greater the risk. If there is a backlash, a news article will notify you of this.
To set your platform
- From the main screen, click “Platform”.
- To change your position on an issue, click the right or left arrows beside the issue.
There are seven possible positions (far-left, left, center-left, centrist, center-right, right, and far-right) for each issue and you gain or lose a bonus or penalty in barnstorming, speeches, ads, depending on how far your position is from the center depending on your stance.
To view another candidate’s platform
- At the top of the Platform dialog box, click the green arrows.
Regionalism and your platform
+- numbers next to issue names are for regional issue bonuses/penalties for campaigning on these issues (barnstorming and ads) if you selected a region on the map before clicking the Platform button, including any bonuses/penalties gained by campaigning (this happens infrequently) and having a scandal (about the candidate being displayed) stick on a certain issue. If you are playing during primaries, there will be a second set of +- numbers in brackets, which indicate your bonus when attacking another candidate in your own party or boasting about yourself. This second set of +- numbers applies only during the primaries phase of the game.
A carrot appears where your issue position (far-left, left, center-left, centrist, center-right, right, far-right) is on a given issue spectrum. If you selected a region before clicking the Platform button, then a white bar is displayed indicating where the regional center is. If you are playing during the primaries, a gray bar indicates where your party’s regional center is. This affects your bonuses during the primaries when attacking another candidate from your own party or boasting about yourself. If you can only see a white bar during the primaries, it means the normal regional center is the same as the party’s regional center.