Campaign 2026: 53rd Congress election primer

 

Patria is flooded with SRM 2026 campaign posters!

Election time in Patria! Here's what you need to know:

Election Day: April 18, 2026 (Third Saturday in April; Patriot’s Day long weekend). Fredonia votes one week early, on April 11.

Inauguration Day: June 30, 2026

What’s at stake: 333 seats in Patria’s Fifty Third Congress (LIII Con. Pat.), elections for Precinct legislatures and local city, county or demi-precinct councils in some of Patria’s 13 Precincts and the Federal District of Castoropolis (FDC). There is also an upper house in Patria, like the US and Canadian Senate or UK House of Lords, but its 57 members are selected by the Precinct legislatures, not by direct popular vote.

Three hundred thirty three seats, same as it has been since 1982. An effort to shrink the Congress to 315 (the number of seats from 1966 to 1982) or even 300 seats has apparently failed as of Oct. 10, 2025. The bill was introduced at the outset of the Fourth Session, but failed to make it out of the Elections Committee to be voted on by the full House.

Members of Congress are elected by proportional representation. In each precinct, lists of candidates are prepared by each party and seats are awarded in proportion to the percentage of votes received. In the Federal District of Castoropolis, Caesarea, Antioch and Haldimania, a mixed-member proportional format is used. One-third of the seats (district seats) are awarded by traditional US, Canadian and UK-style first past the post, the remainder are proportional from party lists.

Congressional apportionment per precinct:

Caesarea – 61 seats (20 district, 41 proportional)

FDC – 38 (13 district, 25 proportional)

Nova Columbia – 36

Lazuria – 27

Centralia – 25

Aeolia – 24

Arboria – 21

Antioch – 19 (6 district, 13 proportional)

Ambrosia – 17

Canardiere – 16

Mauretania – 15

Pottsylvania – 13

Haldimania – 12 (4 district, 8 proportional)

Fredonia – 9

Term of office: Four year term ending June 30, 2030.

Vote counting: paper ballots counted by hand. Early mail-in voting will be encouraged. There will also be advance polls to allow in-person voting prior to Election Day. Fredonia is traditionally the first precinct to vote and its vote count is released a few hours before the polls open on Election Day in the rest of Patria.

Follow on X/Twitter @Patria1818. Hashtags: #PatriaVotes2026 #53rdCongress

Patria is as far as it gets from the dishwater-dull, boring, uninspired US two-party system, and what is essentially a two-party Liberal-Conservative duopoly in Canada. Following are capsule descriptions of the parties contesting the 2026 election.

Social Democrats “Go Forward!” democratic socialists in the tradition of the NDP/CCF and Bernie Sanders. Populist/dissident left, not PC, little tolerance for snowflakes. Won plurality in 2018, allied with Amrita and Chakra parties. (Unofficial color: blue, cf. US Democratic Party)

SRM (Swadeshi Ramrajya Movement) “Bring the jobs home” “Patria first” Small-c conservative Hindu nationalist, economic protectionist. Partially inspired by India’s BJP. Once used to be leftist-progressive, when the party originated among hippie students in the late 1960s, and SRM used to stand for Spiritual Regeneration Movement. Although the “BRING IT HOME” slogan didn’t work for Pierre Poilievre, the SRM will be using it hard for 2026. (Unofficial color: saffron) 

Chakra Party “no gurus, just right” yoga/new age liberal. Unreconstructed 1990s new agers. Generally allied with Amrita and/or Social Democrats. (Unofficial color: teal) 

National Union “where a man belongs”, “big dogs, tough men” macho, populist law and order, obedience, respect for authority. Owning a big dog is a test of manhood. Cats are for pussies. In 2026 the NU will likely stick to strictly law and order issues, push for restoration of the death penalty, and not go after the cat owners and non-macho men. (Unofficial color: deep purple) 

Jungle Party “Have a take, don’t suck”, inspired by Jim Rome. Really a fringe party with no real platform. Silk Brah (failed candidate in Huntington Beach, CA) led the Jungle caucus in 2022. (Unofficial color: red, cf. US Republican Party as a lot of Jim Rome’s US clones, the late Trapper notwithstanding, would probably vote GOP.) 

Green Party, environmentalist, sustainable growth, same as in macro-world. (color, duhhhh, green) 

Libertarian Party, more freedom, less government, also same as in macro-world. (Unofficial color: grey/silver) 

Lilith Party, for biological women only, originally intended as the anti-National Union. Mostly made up of radical left feminists who love cats. Extremely TERF. Co-sponsored the SAAB (Sex Assigned At Birth) act along with the NU and SRM. An unlikely alliance is forming between the NU (who are also extremely trans-phobic) and Lilith: REAL MEN AND REAL WOMEN! NO TRANS! (unofficial color pink, to no one’s surprise) 

IAM Party: new for 2026, a possible resurrection of the Amrita Party that was dissolved in late 2021. Name of party would simply be IAM, not Independent Amrita Members. In Patrienish “I am” is literally “ími sím”. 

Minor parties: fringe groups and nutbars (Chastity Party, Family Values Party, Freedom Party, Patriots’ Union of Nova Columbia, etc.) that get in thanks to no votes being wasted under proportional representation. There are several parties that hold only a single seat in Congress. 

Hot-button campaign issues and slogans: 

Continuing the post-pandemic recovery. “Just move on” is not acceptable. Patria should say “never again”, i.e. no more over-reaction and government over-reach. IT WAS ONLY THE FUCKING FLU! Or a bad cold. Why is there not a COVID Nuremberg? Why is no one in the macro-world being held accountable for the spike in domestic violence, drug abuse, alcoholism, children’s learning deficits, bankruptcies, suicides and other collateral damage? 

PATRIA FIRST! No need to fear populism, whether from the right or left. 

TAKE BACK THE ECONOMY! Return the Patrienish Rupee to the gold standard. Patria says NO FIAT CURRENCY! NO GREAT RESET! 

Attempting to re-define or ret-con the legacy of the 43^rd Congress, after 40 years, along with attempting to rehabilitate the failed 41^st Congress. 

Four more years of Social Democrat populist/dissident left? If so, Patria says NO to cancel culture. NO to PC virtue signaling. YES to free speech and open debate. Patria may be leftist or socialist in economic policy but it rejects Cultural Marxism and is NOT WOKE! 

“BRING IT HOME!” – slogan of the SRM-led coalition of right-populist Hindu nationalists and Patria-Firsters in 2026. Social Democrats: “PROGRESS WITH A PURPOSE”. Chakra Party: “BRING IT TOGETHER!” National Union: “BIG DOGS! LAW AND ORDER!”

Patria Votes 2022: SRM foiled again by Social Democrats, Chakra and Green Parties

 “Whose Patria? Our Patria?” But not quite the SRM’s Patria. While the Hindu right “Patria First” SRM won the most seats in the Fifty Second Congress, they ran into a progressive (but not woke) buzz-saw: the “Progress with a purpose” Social Democrats, “Bikes not cars” Greens and “Inquire Within” Chakra Party, who have enough combined seats for a simple (50%) majority in the House. For those bills, constitutional amendments and other resolutions that require a two-thirds majority, they will still need support from the minor parties, Jim Rome’s Jungle, National Unionists and at least a few SRMers. The election really did not change much of the power balance from the Social Democrat-Amrita-Chakra dominated Fifty First Congress, even if the SRM won 34 more seats than in 2018. Despite the demise of the Amrita Party, there will be four IAM – Independent Amrita Members – sitting in the new Congress, who were elected through write-in votes and the party remaining on the ballot in Caesarea. 

The law and order National Union campaigned hard on a “don’t be a pussy” platform, but equating manliness with owning a big dog and supporting the police right or wrong (aka Blue Lives Matter) seemed hardly worth it as they managed to win only one more seat than in 2018. Jim Rome’s Jungle Party finished down one seat from 2018, but at least they took some votes away from the NU, those votes being unemployed or minimally employed adult boys living in their mom and dad’s basement, spending most of the day playing video games. 

The SRM claims its “win” was in large part due to the demise of the Amrita Party. But the real winner was the Chakra Party, who scooped up 43 more seats than in 2018. Most of those votes would likely have gone to Amrita. 

A whopping 22 parties (including the remnants of the Amrita party, known as “IAM”) will be represented in the 52^nd Congress, though nine of those parties hold only a single seat each. Try doing that with first-past-the-post! Thanks to proportional representation, no vote in Patria is ever wasted or elects no one. Even write-ins can win a seat, though this was due to nostalgia for the defunct Amrita Party rather than proportional representation per se.

 Campaign 2022 final score:

 SRM – 90 (+34 from 2018)

Social Democrats – 84 (-12)

Chakra – 76 (+43)

National Union – 22 (+1)

Green – 17 (+1)

Jungle – 10 (-1)

Lilith – 8 (+2)

Libertarian – 5 (unchanged)

Independent (Amrita) – 4**

Chastity – 2 (-1)

Family Values – 2 (unchanged)

Peoples’ Party – 2

Reconstruction Party - 2

Others* – 9

*one seat each: Pottsylvanian Alliance, United Patriots of Pottsylvania, United Farmers of Antioch, Lazurian Independent Party, Patriots Union of Nova Columbia, Incels’ Rights, Victory and Peace, Freedom Party, Popular Front of Caesarea.

** Now-defunct Amrita Party, aka “IAM” (Independent Amrita Members).

Seats won by precinct: 

Fredonia (9)

Chakra – 2, Green – 1, Jungle – 1, NU – 1, SD – 2, SRM – 2

 Haldimania (12)

Chakra –2, Green – 1, Libertarian – 1, NU – 1, SD – 3, SRM – 4

 Pottsylvania (13)

Chakra – 3, Lilith – 1, NU – 1, SD – 3, SRM – 3, Pottsylvanian Alliance – 1, United Patriots of Pottsylvania – 1

 Mauretania (15)

Chakra – 3, Green – 1, Jungle – 1, Lilith – 1, NU – 1, SD – 4, SRM – 3, Peoples’ Party – 1

 Canardiere (16)

Chakra – 3, Green – 1, Libertarian – 1, SD – 6, SRM – 5

 Ambrosia (17)

Chakra – 4, Green – 1, Lilith – 1, NU – 1, SD – 5, SRM – 5

 Antioch (19)

Chakra – 5, Jungle – 1, NU – 1, SD – 5, SRM – 6, United Farmers of Antioch – 1

 Arboria (21)

Chakra – 4, Green – 1, Lilith – 1, NU – 2, SD – 6, SRM – 6, Independent (Amrita) – 1

 Aeolia (24)

Chakra – 5, Green – 2, Jungle – 1, Libertarian – 1, NU – 1, SD – 6, SRM – 8

 Centralia (25)

Chakra – 6, Green – 2, Jungle – 1, Lilith – 1, NU – 3, SD – 5, SRM – 7

 Lazuria (27)

Chakra – 7, Green – 1, Jungle – 1, NU – 1, SD – 8, SRM – 8, Lazurian Independent Party – 1

 Nova Columbia (36)

Chakra – 9, Chastity – 1, Green – 2, Jungle – 1, Lilith – 1, NU – 1, SD – 8, SRM – 9, Patriots’ Union of Nova Columbia (PUNC) – 1, Peoples’ Party – 1, Incels’ Rights – 1, Reconstruction Party – 1

 Federal District of Castoropolis (38)

Chakra – 10, Chastity – 1, Family Values – 1, Green – 2, Jungle – 1, Libertarian – 1, NU – 1, SD – 7, SRM – 10, Independent (Amrita) – 1, Victory and Peace Party – 1, Freedom Party – 1, Reconstruction Party – 1

 Caesarea (61)

Chakra – 13, Family Values – 1, Green – 2, Jungle – 2, Libertarian – 1, Lilith – 2, NU – 7, SD – 16, SRM – 14, Independent (Amrita) – 2, Popular Front of Caesarea (PFC) – 1

As Patria awaits the 52nd Congress Inauguration Day on June 30, a reminder that Patria is not a place for social conservative culture wars. The tired old horses such as modest dress for women and no same-sex marriage left the barn a long time ago.

Battleground Precincts as Campaign 2022 ends

Today is the last day of the race for Patria’s Fifty Second Congress. Tomorrow is Election Day. Just as there are battleground states in the US presidential election campaign, there are battleground or swing precincts in Patria as the SRM, Social Democrats, Chakra and other parties attempt to woo voters from the now-defunct Amrita Party. The following is a brief look at the precincts that could swing the 2022 election.

Arboria

As the home base of the Amrita Party and Amma’s adopted “home” since the party’s formation in 2002, Arboria is one of the leading battlegrounds thanks to the demise of the Amrita Party in late 2021. The Chakra Party and SRM have been battling tooth and nail for Arboria’s 21 seats, with the Social Democrats and Greens also strongly in the hunt. There are likely enough Amma devotees in Arboria longing for the now-defunct party to elect at least one independent Amrita member through write-in votes.

Centralia

Patria’s old de-industrialized Rust Belt. Amrita took 9 of its 25 seats in 2018 while the Social Democrats won 6. The Social Dems are fighting hard for Patria’s former industrial heartland, in an attempt to stave off frustrated, poverty-stricken voters going for the macho-tough National Union and the “Patria First” SRM.

Nova Columbia

Usually a breeding ground for fringe and nutbar single-seat parties such as the Patriots’ Union of Nova Columbia (PUNC), as well as minor parties such as the Lilith, Chastity and Libertarians. With 36 seats up for grabs, a fair chunk of the minor party representation in the 52^nd Congress could come from Nova Columbia.

Pottsylvania

Like Nova Columbia, another hotbed of fringe and nutbar parties. The Pottsylvanian Alliance, United Patriots of Pottsylvania or some other stupid party is likely to take one of Pottsylvania’s 13 seats.

Federal District of Castoropolis & Caesarea

With 99 seats in play – 38 in Castoropolis and 61 in Caesarea – Patria’s largest city and the Caesarean suburbs and exurbs that surround it are the major prize in the 2022 election cycle. Note that unlike the District of Columbia, Patria’s capital city enjoys full representation in Congress. Like most major macro-world cities, Castoropolis is chock-full of liberals and hard-leftists, who will split the vote between the Greens and Social Democrats. The proliferation of yoga studios will translate into votes for the Chakra Party. Minor fringe parties usually pick up a seat or two in the Federal District and Caesarea, and along with Arboria there are some hard-core Amrita supporters who could write in an independent Amrita member or two.

As in 2018, Social Dems are playing the Bernie card.

Typical SRM campaign poster seen all over Patria.

Chakra Party could hold balance of power between SD and SRM.

NU men are tough as nails.

Early voting in Fredonia: SRM, Chakra, Social Dems in dead heat

 The feisty little Precinct of Fredonia (“First in freedom, first to fight”) traditionally votes one week earlier than the rest of Patria (TROP). As Patria’s smallest precinct, Fredonia holds only nine seats in Congress. The SRM, Chakra Party and Social Democrats took two seats each, with almost the same percentage of popular votes. The National Union, Green Party and Jungle Party were awarded one seat each of Fredonia’s delegation in the Fifty Second Congress. Fredonia more often than not goes its own way. Its early election returns are a poor predictor of how TROP will vote on April 16, but the 52nd Congress election is still too close to call in Patria’s 12 other Precincts plus the Federal District of Castoropolis.

SRM took two seats in Fredonia's early voting.

Two seats for the Chakras and Social Dems in Fredonia.

As Fredonia’s Early Election Day is also Ram Navami, the traditional “birthday” of Lord Rama, Patria post issued a stamp depicting Ram and Sita together.

Patria's Left: for the worker, not the wokester

 

Friends of Patria know this, but as Election Day 2022 is less than six months away it bears repeating: Patria may be liberal or progressive, but PATRIA IS NOT WOKE! The Social Democrats (along with their leftist allies such as the Chakra Party and the Greens), who hold a plurality of seats in the 51st Congress and who hope to repeat that success in the 52nd Congress, focus primarily on improving the lot of working people, increasing union representation in the workplace, ensuring that the rich pay their fair share of taxes, supporting public broadcasting, re-building the infrastructure, and in general being the anti-establishment Old Left in the picture above, the one driving the 1971 VW bus.

Over the course of Campaign 2022, the Social Democrats will run on slogans such as "Progress not PC", "say NO to cancel culture" and "for the Worker, not the Wokester". The SDs steer clear of the so-called culture wars such as teaching Critical Race Theory (CRT) and "canceling" any dead, white Anglo-Saxon who did something which may have been acceptable in their lifetime but does not conform to today's politically correct orthodoxy, such as by removing their name from educational facilities or destroying their public statues and monuments. It should be noted that cancel culture  extends to living persons as well and is not even limited to Anglo-Saxons or White people (note that the Aunt Jemima brand of pancake mix and syrup is still available in Patria).

Virtually all parties represented on Patria's 2022 election ballot agree that CRT is a toxic indoctrination that does little except teach Blacks to hate Whites and Whites to hate themselves, and should never be taught in Patria's schools. The initials should stand only for Cathode Ray Tube.

The US Democratic Party would do well to follow Patria's Social Democrats rather than getting suckered by Republicans into fake culture wars.

Campaign 2022: Patria adopts an old song from Rhodesia

Video courtesy of Youtube.

An old Rhodesian patriotic song from the 1970s, when the country now known as Zimbabwe was a maverick White-ruled state under the late and very unlamented Ian Smith, has re-surfaced in Patria as a popular (or populist) patriotic song intended to rally supporters of the Patria-first SRM as well as the old-left Social Democrats for the upcoming 2022 election. With a few small tweaks in the original lyrics, here is the made-in-Patria version:

 Here’s the story of Patria, a land both fair and great.

Since 1818 an independent state.

It never has been recognized by any government.

No foreign aid’s been gotten or ambassadors sent.

Chorus:

‘Cause we’re all Patríenish and we’ll fight through thick and thin.

We’ll keep our land a free land, stop the enemy coming in.

We’ll keep ‘em north of the New Ganges till that river’s running dry.

And this mighty land will prosper, for Patríens never die!

 

They can call us a fake nation, they can shout their words of hate.

But the cost of keeping this land free can never be too great.

Doing yoga and singing bhajans are the things that we hold dear.

And this land and all its bhaktas will never disappear.

 

We’ll preserve this micronation for our next lifetimes too.

Once you’re Patríenish no other land will do.

On the path of Sanatan Dharma with Amma at our side.

And if we have to go alone, we go alone with pride! 

(repeat chorus 2 times).

Disclaimer: Patria does not endorse the former and horribly racist regime in Rhodesia. This is just a cool song, too cool not to adopt and share. Note the Rhodesian motto: SIT NOMINE DIGNA (May it be worthy of the name).

Patria feels the Bern for the 51st Congress!

Patria awakens on Earth Day - the day after Election Day 2018 - to find the Bernie Sanders-inspired Social Democrats have won the most seats in the 51st Congress-elect. The Social Dems took 96 seats - elected by mixed-member proportional representation - in the 333-seat Congress, up 47 from 2014. The Amrita Party of Amma's "Embracing Patria" devotees finished a strong second with 78 seats (up 10 from 2014). The "Patria First" SRM, despite all the noise they made about taking back the economy and bringing the jobs home, gained only one seat more than 2014, but with 56 seats the SRM is still a strong force that will oppose the likely SD-Amrita-Chakra-Green coalition. Notwithstanding the popularity of right-wing populists and nationalists in the macro-world from Donald Trump's America to Doug Ford's Ontario, voters in Patria just weren't buying the economic nationalism, tariffs and protectionism that the SRM has been pushing for years. Why such a strong surge for the SD? A need for real change? Giving the right wing the middle-finger salute? Not buying the fear-mongering of the "Faith. Family Freedom" types tweeting @Patriavotes2018 who warned against an impending communist takeover? More likely that voters across Patria simply said "FUCK THIS!" and threw their lot in with the so-called Berners or Bernie-crats, hoping that old-school democratic socialism added to the Amrita and Chakra Party's Hindu/yoga/embracing the world mix will improve their economic prospects over the next four years more than building tariff walls and promises to "make Patria great again".

The real losers in 2018 are the macho law-and-order, pit bull-owning, gun-toting, cop-loving National Union, who sink further into irrelevance with only 21 seats (down 5 from 2014) despite running one of the loudest campaigns of 2018, vilifying wimpy soft-on-crime liberal "pussies" (both two legs and four - the NU hates cats and cat owners because real men own big dogs such as pit bulls and rottweilers). Jim Rome's Jungle Party also lost big. The Clones could manage only 11 seats (down a whopping 17 from 2014) as the Rome show has become tired and uninspired over the past four years.

96 seats in the 51st Congress-elect. Because FUCK THIS SHIT!

Party standings in the 51st Congress-elect:

Social Democrats – 96 (+47 from 2014)

Amrita – 78 (+10)

SRM – 56 (+1)

Chakra – 33 (-26)

National Union – 21 (-5)

Green – 16 (+3)

Jungle – 11 (-17)

Lilith – 6 (-1)

Libertarian – 5 (-2)

Chastity – 3 (unchanged)

Family Values – 2 (unchanged)

others* – 6

*one seat each: Pottsylvanian Alliance, Lazurian Independent Party, Patriots Union Nova Columbia (PUNC), Peoples’ Party, Reconstruction Party, Popular Front of Caesarea.

Seats awarded by Precinct:

Fredonia (9)

Amrita – 2

Chakra – 1

Green – 1

NU – 1

SD – 2

SRM – 2

Haldimania (12)

Amrita – 2

Chakra – 1

Green – 1

Jungle – 1

NU – 1

SD – 4

SRM – 2

Pottsylvania (13)

Amrita – 3

Chakra – 2

Green – 1

Libertarian – 1

SD – 3

SRM – 2

Pottsylvanian Alliance – 1

Mauretania (15)

Amrita – 2

Chakra – 1

Green – 1

Lilith – 1

Jungle – 1

NU – 2

SD – 5

SRM – 2

Canardiere (16)

Amrita – 2

Chakra – 1

Chastity – 1

Libertarian – 1

NU – 1

SD – 6

SRM – 4

Ambrosia (17)

Amrita – 3

Chakra – 2

Green – 1

Lilith – 1

NU – 1

SD – 5

SRM – 4

Antioch (19)

Amrita – 4

Chakra – 1

Jungle – 1

NU – 1

SD – 7

SRM – 5

Arboria (21)

Amrita – 5

Chakra – 2

Green – 1

NU – 2

SD – 7

SRM – 3

Reconstruction Party – 1

Aeolia (24)

Amrita – 6

Chakra – 2

Green – 1

Libertarian – 1

Jungle – 1

SD – 7

SRM – 6

Centralia (25)

Amrita – 9

Chakra – 2

Green – 1

Jungle – 1

NU – 2

SD – 6

SRM – 4

Lazuria (27)

Amrita – 6

Chakra – 5

Green – 1

Jungle – 1

NU – 2

SD – 7

SRM – 4

Lazurian Independent Party – 1

Nova Columbia (36)

Amrita – 7

Chakra – 4

Family Values – 1

Green – 1

Jungle – 2

Lilith – 1

NU – 2

SD – 10

SRM – 6

Patriots Union (PUNC) – 1

Peoples’ Party – 1

Federal Dist. of Castoropolis (38)

Amrita – 12

Chakra – 2

Green – 2

Lilith – 1

Jungle – 1

Chastity – 1

Libertarian – 1

NU – 2

SD – 11

SRM – 5

Caesarea (61)

Amrita – 15

Chakra – 7

Chastity – 1

Family Values – 1

Green – 4

Jungle – 2

Libertarian – 1

Lilith – 2

NU – 4

SD – 16

SRM – 7

Popular Front of Caesarea (PFC) – 1

The Fourth Session of the 50th Congress (4·L 2017-18) is about to return for a lame-duck session that will continue until a couple days before Inauguration Day, June 30. There are a number of items on the order paper while the 51st Congress-elect waits out the transition, including Patria's fiscal 2019 budget. Traditionally the budget is the last item to be ratified before Congress adjourns for the summer recess or Inauguration Day.

Patria feeling the Bern, grants Sanders honorary citizenship

If you've been following Campaign 2018, the race for Patria's 51st Congress on Twitter @Patriavotes2018 it would seem like the macho law-and-order National Union and the "Make Patria Great Again" SRM are about to swing the Inner Realm hard to the right. The Amrita Party, Social Democrats and their allies such as the Chakra Party and the Greens have barely gotten a tweet in. The election is still four months away, but just a few days before Christmas the Social Democrats received a YUGE gift from the waning 50th Congress. Before adjourning for the Festivus-Christmas-Solstice-Yule-Saptah-Mahasamadhi (and whatever else gets celebrated in Patria at the end of the calendar year) break, Congress has voted to make Bernie Sanders an honorary citizen of Patria.

The resolution passed by Congress, with even some of the SRM and NU caucus voting "yea", praised Senator Sanders' commitment to social democracy and to reversing economic inequality: "For more than half a century, since he was on the front lines of the civil rights movement...as an active protest organizer for the Congress of Racial Equality and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, as well as a participant in Martin Luther King Jr.'s March on Washington in 1963, Senator Sanders has built a reputation as a leading progressive voice on issues such as climate change, corporate welfare, income inequality, LGBT rights and universal single-payer health care...and an outspoken opponent of US imperialist foreign policy, such as the costly, endless and virtually unwinnable wars in the Middle East...although he opposed the wars, Senator Sanders never criticized those who fought and has been a strong supporter of veterans' benefits... Senator Sanders represents all that is right with America or that could have been right with America... Patria still believes he would have been the best choice to succeed Barack Obama as the 45th President".

The 76 year old Independent Senator from Vermont was unavailable for comment, but Patria is about to "Feel the Bern" once again in 2018. Sanders, of course, was hugely popular in Patria and was unofficially endorsed by Patria as a candidate for President of the United States in 2016. Many citizens of Patria still believe he would have been elected President (#Berniewouldhavewon) had the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton not conspired to rig the primaries and derail his nomination. With the granting of honorary citizenship, Sanders is all but ready to assume the role of de facto House Leader of Patria's Social Democrats, after choosing a Precinct to represent in the 51st Congress. He may opt for Centralia in the heart of Patria's Rust Belt, or more likely Fredonia - the gritty, little independent-minded maverick Precinct that would remind him of Vermont.

There had been rumors that the SDs would merge with the Amrita Party prior to the 2018 election, but it would appear now that the two parties are likely to form a post-election coalition if they win a plurality of seats in the 51st Congress. Amma and Bernie together for Patria's bicentennial! How could they not win? At least the Social Democrats will immediately close the gap with the Patria First right wing parties who are currently burning up the @Patriavotes2018 Twitter timeline.

This is a major and unusual honor, as Patria does not grant many macronationals honorary citizenship. In recent years the late Nelson Mandela was proclaimed an honorary citizen of Patria, as was the Canadian singer, songwriter, yoga teacher and environmentalist Parvati Devi, who has devoted her life towards the establishment of Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary (MAPS). In 2016 Patria ratified the MAPS treaty, becoming the first government (albeit unrecognized) to do so.

Amma and Bernie. Let's get this party started!

50th Congress winners and losers, remembering "Hurricane" Carter

The real winner in Patria's election is true democracy. Unlike in Canada's nearly useless first-past-the-post, where so many votes are wasted and elect no one, Patria's proportional representation ensures that virtually every party on the ballot will obtain representation in Congress, even if only a single seat.

Although they lost 10 seats from 2010, the Amrita Party can claim victory in Campaign 2014. There will be four more years of "love and serve", four more years of Amma as the Honorable Member from the Precinct of Arboria. The Social Democrats, an old-school liberal-progressive and social justice party that was virtually untouched by the Dharmic Revolution in 1989-90, is arguably the biggest winner of Campaign 2014. With 49 seats in the 50th Congress-elect, up 16 seats from 2010, they are no longer a "mid-major". The SD will be a key ally of the Amrita and Chakra parties, giving the so-called Positive Possibilities coalition the simple 51% majority needed to pass most legislation. Note that Patria's annual budgets and special bills designated as requiring a "super majority" for ratification require a two-thirds majority; consequently the Amrita-Chakra-SD coalition will require support of the some of the smaller parties such as the Greens and Lilith, as well as any SRM or Jungle Party votes they can pry away.

The SRM is back in force, its "Patria first" and "take back the economy" messages resonating well with voters who are still trying to recover from the GED (global economic downturn) of the last decade. The SRM's commitment to traditional Hinduism also got out the votes in Campaign 2014, and will help the more moderate SRMers find common ground with Amrita, and support the PosPos coalition on key legislation. Bipartisan in the US Congress is more like "quadripartisan" or "pentapartisan" in Patria!

The Jungle Party (28 seats, up 7 from 2010) stepped its game up. Jim Rome and the Clones are no longer a niche party. Jim Rome attracts more than unemployed (or unemployable), overweight, socially inept 20 or 30-something men living in their parents' basements or couch-surfing with fellow nerds and getting little pleasure or intellectual stimulation out of life beyond what they hear on the radio for three hours every working day. Rome attracts Patriens from all walks of life who crave a mature, sober voice of in-depth sports talk and hard-hitting social commentary.

The macho he-men of the National Union came up losers in 2014. They have sunk further into irrelevance - from 70 seats in 2006, to only 35 in 2010, and now down to 26, and trailing the Jungle Party, who likely siphoned off some NU voters. National Unionists have only themselves to blame. The image of NU men owning big dogs and portraying cat owners as pussies in every sense of the word did not go over well. Unlike previous campaigns, the NU did not even mention the death penalty or public flogging for petty lawbreakers. Indeed, the NU's traditional law and order "lock 'em up and throw away key" platform took a back seat to the image of the NU man as a pitbull-owning, Marlboro-smoking, Harley-riding alpha male.

The biggest losers are arguably Patria's social conservatives and the tiny evangelical Christian fringe that has been fighting an incredibly losing battle to take Patria back to the 1950s. On the Campaign 2014 trail, support for such social conservative hobby horses as banning public displays of affection by boyfriend-girlfriend couples and advocating "modest" dress for women dwindled to an all-time low. Patria's apparent shift to the left - if the resurgence of the Social Democrats is any evidence of a leftward or liberal trend - also helped put the nails into this particular right-wing coffin. Even the most orthodox SRM Hindus recognize that Patria's streets and public squares are not ashrams and temples, where of course they would frown on couples' kissing and women in short skirts. And of course, two days before election day the Supreme Court bitch-slapped the Bible-toters by overturning Patria's ban on same-sex marriage.

The day after the election, Patria paused to remember Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, the former boxer and advocate for the wrongfully imprisoned, who died at age 76. Carter's boxing career was cut short when he was sentenced to life in prison for a murder he didn't commit. Following his release in 1985 after almost 20 years in the New Jersey State Prison, he took up residence in Canada and established the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted. In the 1970s a song by Bob Dylan drew attention to Carter's case and may have helped expedite his release from prison.

Hurricane - Bob Dylan from LA REVOLUCION ES AHORA! on Vimeo.

Patria is not Gilead: Social Democrats

In one of the strongest condemnations yet on the 50th Congress campaign trail, the Social Democrats denounced Patria's social conservative rump:

Patria is not Gilead. Patria is not, and will never be, a Christian theocracy. The Family Values and Chastity Parties cannot be allowed to be the tail wagging the socially liberal, Sanatan Dharma-based dog. Patria must move forward into the 2010s, not be dragged back to the 1950s. There is a reason why Family Values and Chastity parties hold only five seats in the 49th Congress and are not likely to win many more in the 50th: the voters of Patria are not buying your tired old "safe place for social conservatives" schtick. Patria is not willing to enforce "modest" dress codes on women or ban couples from kissing in public. There is no political will anywhere in Patria to criminalize abortion, homosexuality, pre-marital or extra-marital sex. Check your social mores at the door when you leave your church.

The Social Democrats are a traditional tax-and-spend liberal, left-leaning social democratic party, like the Democrats in the US or NDP in Canada. With 33 seats in the 49th Congress, they are more than a small niche party but not quite a major player like the SRM, Amrita or Chakra Parties. To use the NCAA March Madness terminology, the SD would be a mid-major party. And as college basketball fans know, Mid-Majors can make some noise in March.