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The next step is cabinet focus. Unfortunately for us, with all the domestic problems we have, the lowest four cabinet focuses (foci?) have a tension chit on them, so I can't roll for them. I can only roll for our top two focuses, cabinet effectiveness, and domestic crisis. They both succeed. The results are I get 3 more AP's, and my domestic crisis level goes down, now at 0. I need to get these tensions chits off before the next time this step happens.
Media relations drops by 1. This happens throughout the game. I guess as you go on, you have to keep fostering your relationship with the media, or it goes south.
Now we get to perform 2 domestic actions. My first action, as mentioned earlier, is to remove tension from my cabinet. Since I have the team builder ability, I can remove 2 markers. For my second action, I give some serious thought to trying and improve my relation with the media, but I really need to start focusing on the terror group in the US, so I choose that instead. We are successful, and the terror group goes into the Gathering Info box.
We've got a lot of problems on the domestic front, so I choose to spend 2 AP's to take an additional action. I perform the Presidential Presence action, which is basically going on a media tour. Not only is it unsuccessful, but it actually hurts my public approval rating. What a waste!
The final step is the legislation phase. Congress is unable to pass my opponent's Social Security bill at this time. Next is the congressional maneuvering and drama roll. This is a mixed bag. I improve my RWC by 1, but I also get a new opponent in Congress. I now have 4 of them, and need to figure out how to mitigate that.
We now can attempt to introduce new bills. We can only do 1, and since control of congress is split, I roll to determine if my party or the opponent's get to introduce. I get the lucky roll, and choose to introduce Energy Independence, as it is the public's #1 priority right now.
Looking at my friend's and opponents, their media rating is slightly higher, so my public approval drops slightly as they make the rounds on the morning news shows. And because there are more radicals than moderates, cooperation decreases, which will make it harder to get bills passed.
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