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The Political Machine
FAQ by Craig Gettman

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Table of Contents
I. Introduction/Version History
II. About the game
1) The basics
2) Stamina
3) Political Capital, Endorsements, and Operatives
4) Money (and the importance of fund-raising)
5) "Random" events and Activists
6) Interviews
7) The Fifty States (an overview)
8) Issues and Advertising
9) Miscellaneous Info.
III. The "Walkthrough"
1) Setup, controls, and general guidelines
a) Game Setup
b) Controls
c) General guidelines
2. Quick Play
3. Campaign Mode
a) Democratic Campaign
b) Republican Campaign
4. Fantasy Play
5. Multiplayer
IV. The Characters
1) Barbara Bush
2) George Bush
3) George W. Bush
4) Laura Bush
5) Jimmy Carter
6) Dick Cheney
7) Wesley Clark
8) Bill Clinton
9) Hillary Clinton
10) John Edwards
11) Mike Forbes
12) Gerald Ford
13) Dick Gephardt
14) Al Gore
15) Ulysses S. Grant
16) Jeffory Jackson
17) Thomas Jefferson
18) Lyndon B. Johnson
19) John Kerry
20) Abraham Lincoln
21) Bill Mason
22) Richard Nixon
23) Ronald Reagan
24) Condoleezza Rice
25) Bill Richardson
26) Franklin D. Roosevelt
27) Theodore Roosevelt
28) Arnold Schwarzenegger
29) Chloe Sullivan
30) William Taft
31) Tom Vilsack
32) George Washington
33) Woodrow Wilson
V. Endorsements, Operatives, and Activists
VI. The Hard Data
1) Stamina costs
2) Political Capital Costs
3) Money costs
VII. The Issues
1) Main Issues
2) Fantasy Issues
VIII. Glossary of terms
IX. Secrets and stuff
X. Bugs, Observations, and Wish List
XI. Acknowledgements, etc.
XII. The end of the FAQ

Note: All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by
their respective trademark and copyright holders.

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The Political Machine FAQ

I. Introduction/Version History

Hi. So, this is it: my first FAQ. There's not a lot of guesswork here, as
this is just a basic cut and dry FAQ that I hope will suffice. Please note
that this FAQ is not intended to replace the game manual, which is where you
should turn if you're having trouble getting the game to run, etc.

+ Version 1.00: Started the FAQ.
- Wrote initial info.
- Started Walkthrough section.
- Wrote Candidate info. section.
- Started Endorsements, Operatives, and Activists section.
- Started Hard Data section.
- Started Acknowledgements, etc. section.
- Started Secrets and stuff section.
- Started Glossary section.
- Wrote "The end of the FAQ"

+ Version 1.01: Project "Clean-up"
- Corrected some spelling/grammar errors.
- Checked document for consistency.
- Reformatted document.

+ Version 1.10: Additional Info
- Added "The Issues" section
- Added "Bugs, Observations, and Wish List" section
- Corrected some info.

+ Version 1.11: Minor stuff
- Updated legal info
- Added comment about Maryland
- Added Illinois to EV list (sorry to any Illinois residents out there)

+ Version 1.20: Random updates
- Added Cheat codes
- Included some outside comments
- Started "Links" section
- Made a few minor corrections

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II. About the game

Here, I've tried to think of some basic questions people might have about
this game. Please feel free to submit more.

1) The Basics

Q: What is The Political Machine (TPM)?
A: The Political Machine (TPM) is a turn-based game simulating a 41-week
campaign for Presidency of the U.S. There are different modes of play, but
that's basically what the game consists of.

Q: Who made TPM?
A: Stardock Entertainment. It was published by Ubisoft.

Q: Why buy this game? Won't the election be over after this year?
A: The developers put Bush and Kerry in there because they're the current
focus of the election year. However, there are many other candidates you can
use. Also, there will be periodic updates on the official website as the
current political climate changes. See the "Links" section under Section XI.

Q: What's with candidates like Chloe Sullivan and Arnold Schwarzenegger?
A: The game is meant to be a bit tongue-in-cheek; although, it's a pretty
accurate representation of how a political campaign might work (albeit a very
streamlined one). I'll assume, unless I hear otherwise, that the designers
put a few fantasy candidates in there to see if people are paying attention.

Q: So who's the best candidate?
A: Hands down, George Washington is the best overall. But you can't use him
until you unlock him in the Democratic Campaign mode. Thomas Jefferson is no
slouch, either, but you have to unlock him via the Republican Campaign mode.
Before you unlock anyone, Chloe Sullivan is the best Democratic candidate
(aside from a lack of experience) while George Bush Sr. is probably the best
Republican Candidate. Of course, it all depends on how you like to play, too.

2) Stamina

Q: What is Stamina?
A: Stamina is the basic "currency" of TPM. You spend Stamina points almost
every time you do something in the game.

Q: How many Stamina points does it cost to do x?
A: Raw data on this sort of thing is located in Section VI.

3) Political Capital, Endorsements, and Operatives

Q: What is Political Capital?
A: Political Capital (PC) is a secondary "currency" in TPM. You spend Stamina
points to buy PC, which can in turn let you earn Endorsements and hire
Operatives.

Q: What are Endorsements?
A: You can spend PC to earn the backing of one of the main organizations
present in TPM. For full info on these people, look no further than Section
V.

Q: What are Operatives?
A: Operatives are people you can hire by spending PC. These people can then
be used to tweak something in a specific state. For more info, please refer
to Section V.

4) Money (and the importance of fund-raising)

Q: What about money?
A: Yes, you have to spend money. A candidate usually starts out with a few
million dollars in cash, which you can use to buy him/her HQ's and set up
ads.

Q: Should I ever "Raise Funds"?
A: Yes, definitely! Don't neglect the importance of money, especially in the
latter part of your campaign. Remember it costs money just to move from state
to state, so keep that in mind if you're low on cash.

5) "Random" events and Activists

Q: What are Random Events?
A: When a question mark pops up on the map, you can make the choice whether
or not you want your candidate to visit that state (though 9 times out of 10,
your opponent will beat you to it). These events can be helpful or hurtful,
depending on what sort of Activist you find there.

Q: What are Activists?
A: Activists are anything you find when your candidate visits a Random Event.
One example of a harmful Activist is the "Time Waster." This particular
Activist saps your candidate's remaining Stamina! So be careful, but don't be
afraid to visit Random Events: you might find some money waiting for you. ;)
For more information, please refer to Section V.

6) Interviews

Q: How do I do an Interview?
A: First of all, you have to wait until a camera pops up in a specific state.
If you see one, it's almost always a good idea to go there and do the
interview. Answering however you might think your candidate might answer is
critical.

7) The Fifty States (an overview)

Q: Which states should I focus on?
A: That's really up to you and your style of play. Below, I've included a
table, listing each state's Electoral Votes (EV) and political leanings.

State - EV - Politics
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Alabama - 9 - R
Alaska - 3 - E
Arizona - 10 - D
Arkansas - 9 - D
California - 55 - D
Colorado - 9 - R
Connecticut - 7 - D
Delaware - 3 - D
Florida - 27 - R
Georgia - 15 - R
Hawaii - 4 - D
Idaho - 4 - R
Illinois - 21 - E (Chris at GameFaqs pointed this omission out. Thanks!)
Indiana - 11 - R
Iowa - 7 - R
Kansas - 6 - R
Kentucky - 8 - D
Louisiana - 9 - R
Maine - 4 - D
Maryland - 13 - D *