MR. PRESIDENT 2004 (the original 1967 3M bookcase game brought up to date)

With the Presidential election season upon us again, I recently revisited the boardgame I've played longer than any other, Mr. President.

As a teenager with an interest in politics, 3M's '67 offering, Mr. President, was tremendously exciting. My brother and I played countless games, chuckling uncontrollably over the inane names and faces on the candidate cards and eagerly anticipating the Humphrey/Nixon clash. The fact that the candidate pictures for the Republicans were the mirror image of those for the Democrats was a veritable fountainhead of jokes--and all too telling in those days.

Mr. President then lead to other 3M bookcase titles like Twixt, Feudal and Origins of WWII, and so it went.

I've always kept my brother's and my copy up to date by changing the state electoral vote numbers as the US census made old numbers obsolete. California, for example, had 40 electoral votes in '67. It now has 55. And we've never hesitated to tinker with the rules, which in the original version, are ...shall we say... disjointed.

But I've now decided to give the entire game an upgrade. The silly references to "states rights" and "urban renewal" as topics for debate fall flat after nearly 40 years. And, let's face it, the game's mechanics are awkward by today's standards.

I'll be running a Mr. President tournament at the WBC this year (I'll have 5-6 copies and there will be 4 different heats). If you'd like to try out my version beforehand, all you'll need is the '67 version's card deck and the Tally Board and game rules below.

Warning: the 1971 version of Mr. President is radically different from that published in '67 and can't be used. '71 has an illustration of a candidate on the front of the rulebook among other differences.

Any feedback you might have regarding the balance (the Built-In-Edges and how various states rate on the five Debate topics) is welcome. I've balanced things out by multiplying a state's electoral vote number by its Built-In-Edge and made these totals equal. I also did this for the Debate topics. Luckily, for game balance purposes, politics in the US seems to be fairly evenly divided between Red and Blue.

Jared Scarborough

Mr. President -- 2004

OBJECT OF THE GAME
Both players attempt to win 270 or more electoral votes by campaigning, advertising and debating across the nation.

SETUP
Players roll a die and high roll chooses to be the Democrat (blue) or Republican (red).

Each player chooses a Home State for his President and Vice President, making these choices known to his opponent. Then, using a total budget of 13 points, each player secretly allocates between Campaign Ability (from 5 to 10 points--the number of cards with which each turn is begun), Fundraising (from 1 to 5 points--the number of cards used when advertising) and Debating (from 2 to 5 points--the number of issues a candidate is identified with).

Each player then checks off a number of 'Identified' boxes equal to the number of his Debating points. Players also choose a '1', '2' or '3' position for all five issues.

Players now reveal their allocations and positions, then circle numbers corresponding to these choices for each state.

Place each player's three Presidential and three Vice Presidential Home state cards in the Undecided Envelope. Each player now shuffles their Presidential deck and places it face-down in front of them. Players next shuffle their Vice-Presidential deck, placing its top three cards in the Undecided Envelope, then drop the deck face-down on top of their Presidential deck. Players now draw cards from their respective decks equal to their Campaign Ability.

CAMPAIGNING
The player who did not choose sides plays first, with turns then alternating between players.

To Campaign, a player first declares which region of the country he is campaigning in (East, South, Midwest or West), then rolls two dice.

A player may Campaign in any states which correspond to the numbers rolled, or their combined total. [Example, a player campaigning in the Midwest who rolled a '3' and a '5' may choose to campaign in Indiana ('3'), Ohio ('5') or Iowa ('8).]

To Campaign, he plays any cards in his hand that list the identified states. [Example, a player with one Wisconsin, two Ohios, three Illinois and one Iowa among his seven cards may play any of his two Ohios and one Iowa, if he wishes.] Played cards are placed in the appropriate region's slot on the player's side of the game's plastic tray.

If a player rolls a '7', '11' or 'doubles' he may elect to do one of three things: Advertise, Debate or Campaign as usual.

ADVERTISING
If a player chooses to advertise, he draws a number of cards from the Undecided Envelope corresponding to his candidate's Advertising rating (1-5). These cards are then used in the region he chose at the beginning of his turn (East, South, Midwest, West). Any number of cards may be played per any given state during a given turn of advertising.

The Undecided Envelope is now refilled with an equal number of cards as those actually used for advertising. Draws are from alternating candidate decks, one at a time, beginning with the player who did not advertise.

DEBATING
If a player chooses to debate, he selects one of the remaining Issues which has not yet been 'won'. The Debate Table is consulted, both players place 'risked' votes, and finally the challenger rolls two dice. If he is identified with the chosen issue he may roll a second time, if needed. If his position is 'neutral', he may roll a third time, if needed, but only if he is identified with the Issue.

His opponent now rolls. A second roll, if needed, may be made, but only if he is both identified with the chosen issue and his is a 'neutral' position. If both players roll successfully, or both roll unsuccessfully, neither wins the debate and both claim their own risked vote cards. If either player rolls successfully and the other doesn't, the winner is entitled to all risked cards. If the challenger wins, he is entitled to an extra turn.

THE DEBATE CHART
2 Debate Points ... If Challenger, 4 Ballots risked; If Opponent, 1 to 4 ... Dice Total Needed to Win: 4 or 10
3 Debate Points ... If Challenger, 4 Ballots risked; If Opponent, 2 to 4 ... Dice Total Needed to Win: 5 or 9
4 Debate Points ... If Challenger, 4 Ballots risked; If Opponent, 3 or 4 ... Dice Total Needed to Win: 2, 3, 8 or 11
5 Debate Points ... If Challenger, 4 Ballots risked; If Opponent, 4 ... Dice Total Needed to Win 6, 7 or 12

DRAWING CARDS
Prior to his next turn, a player draws enough cards from his deck to replenish his hand up to his Campaign Ability point number.

EVENT CARDS
If, after rolling to Campaign, a player is dissatisfied with his Campaign choices, he may 'draw' an Event Card. He rolls a die and compares the total with the Event Chart (see below).

If draws occur, refill the envelope with the number of cards drawn, alternating draws between decks, beginning with the current player's opponent.

HOME STRETCH
When either player's deck is exhausted (you may always count the remaining cards in your own deck), the game has reached the Home Stretch. At this point both players may campaign in two regions instead of just one. [Example: if in the South and Midwest, a card for New York, Mississippi, Illinois and Texas could be played in Mississippi or Illinois if the die roll allows this.] There is no Advertising, Debating, or Event Chart rolls during the Home Stretch. Once one player has used all the cards in his hand during the Home Stretch, his opponent has one more turn. After that turn, any remaining cards in his opponent's hand and/or deck are placed in the Undecided Envelope. If a player's deck is exhausted while refilling the Undecided Envelope, draw from the other deck until the envelope is filled or both decks are gone.

UNDECIDED VOTERS
At the end of the game the cards in the Undecided Envelope are shuffled and dealt as follows:
* 5 cards to the player with the most Debate 'wins'--none is dealt if tied.
* the player who campaigned in the most states receives as many cards as the difference between his states-campaigned-in and his opponent's (one or more played cards = campaigned-in)
* now, beginning with the player to finish first, and alternating between players, cards are dealt one at a time until none remains.
Players place these undecided votes as they see fit, without informing the other player.

WINNING
Once all cards have been assigned, players divide each region's cards by state, then, count cards beginning with Connecticut in the East.

Also, each of a player's positions that match those of a given state's earns the player 100,000 votes times the number of cards he played in the state. [Example: in Arizona, a player with positions of 1-3-1-2-3 played two cards. Since his position on 'A' is identical to Arizona's 1-2-2-1-2, he would receive an additional 100,00 x 2 = 200,000 votes.] Furthermore, a President's home state uses a 300,000 vote bonus and a Vice President's home state a 200,000 bonus, instead of the usual 100,000 bonus

Remember to add Built-In Edges. If ties in vote totals occur, break in favor of the party with the Built-In-Edge.

The player with 270 or more Electoral votes wins.

THE EVENT CHART

'1' Voice Gives Out -- Place your deck's top card in the Undecided Envelope
'2' Opponent Stumbles -- Place opponent deck's top card in Undecided Envelope.
'3' Internal Poll -- Opponent must count and reveal his vote total in your choice of up to three states in the region you are in.
'4' Opposition Research -- Draw and play a number of Undecided Cards equal to your opponent's current Home State* using this formula: Electoral Votes divided by 5--round down--plus 1 (example: Utah: 1+1; Ohio: 4+1; Texas: 6+1). See top undrawn card of opponent's deck to determine whether Veep or Pres. Home State.
'5' Reinforce Base -- Draw and play one Undecided card for each point that your Total Issue Points** are over or under 10
'6' 'Red Meat' Speech -- Draw and play two Undecided cards for each point that your total Issue points** are over/under 10

* Home State cards--both Blue- and Red-backed Home State cards may always be played in one's own Home State no matter the current region
**Total Issue Points: add together the numbers for the positions you've taken (example: 2, 3,1,3,2 = 11).