Trey Cranfield

Trey Michael Cranfield (born April 3, 2003) is a retired American politician who served as the 15th president of the United States from June 30 until his resignation on July 4, 2018. He served in multiple other offices during his nearly two year career, and has been awarded two presidential Medals of Freedom, one with distinction from president Maleek Diaz in 2019. Cranfield is recognized as one of the pioneers of Mock Election Community politics and has been commended for his style of play by peers past and present. 
== Early Life ==
Trey Michael Cranfield was born on April 3, 2003 in Jasper, Indiana. Although, he has and currently lives in Paoli, IN.
Cranfield attended elementary school at Throop Elementary, graduating with academic honors, winning the honor roll every year. He also received the Presidential Award for Academic Achievement.
After graduating elementary school in good fashion, he attended Paoli Jr. Sr. High School. He was the Secretary of the Paoli Jr. Sr. High School NJHS program, and the Vice President of the 9th grade class (freshman class).
Cranfield is also in the Pride of Paoli band program, one of the top notch programs in the state of Indiana. The band has won 15 ISSMA Championship titles, 6 runner-ups, and has been in the finals 34 times. The program is led by new band director, Benjamin Werne.
== Political Career ==
Cranfield stumbled into MEC politics in late December of 2017[2]. He initially stayed back, and learned how the ways of the community worked before he began his official office career. His first political office run was in February, where he ran for the D-7 House of Representatives.
=== 1st D-7 HoR Run ===
Cranfield’s first attempt at the United States House of Representatives started in Mid-February[3]. He was going up against Derpy Toucan in the primaries, who lied about Cranfield, saying he “deletes comments off of his post to eradicate freedom of speech”. The accusation was later found to be false, and was acknowledged by Toucan.
Cranfield went on to win the Republican Primary[4], though it was a narrow margin. Toucan stated that voter fraud must’ve been the problem since he was in the race a good 2 weeks before Cranfield, and Cranfield was just in the race for a couple of days. Voter fraud was never found.
After winning the Primary, Cranfield faced a former President, Kelvin Hawthorne, and Speaker of the House of RepresentativesJackson Hitchcock. Hawthorne initially switched his party after the primaries, and Cranfield knew he had minimal support needed for a victory, and dropped out a few days before the General Election[5]. Hitchcock went on to beat Hawthorne in the General Election.
Since the election, Cranfield has gotten a long very well with both Jackson Hitchcock and Kelvin Hawthorne.
=== 2nd D-7 HoR Run ===
Cranfield then ran again for the District 7 House of Representatives in the next election[6]. He ran unopposed in the primaries, winning 92% of the vote with around 8% of the vote going to write-ins.
Cranfield faced a very popular member of the community. That was current MEC News CEO Terrell McCann Jr[7]. It was a tough challenge for Cranfield, but he figured he could gain enough support to beat McCann, so he stayed in the race until the General Election.
Come Election Day, McCann was the narrow favorite. At the end of the day, McCann was declared the winner[8], though it was very narrow. It was later found out that the vote split was a mere 3 votes.
=== 3rd D-7 HoR Run ===
Cranfield ran for the D-7 House of Representatives yet again. He was unopposed for quite some time, until MEC veteran Caleb Andrew[9] began spreading speculation of joining the race. A few days later, Andrew announced that he would be challenging Cranfield for the D-7 Republican nomination. A couple days passed, and Cranfield announced the suspension of his campaign[10]because of Andrew’s hefty base.
Andrew went on to win the primary, but in the General Election on March 24, he lost heftily against Democratic opponent Mr. Panda[11].
=== RNC Vice Chairman ===
The RNC Leadership elections took place on March 10, 2018. Cranfield announced his run for Vice Chairman[12][13] on the 5th. Cranfield never had an opponent in the race, and was immediately placed in the spot as Vice Chairman. The other leadership included;
* Matthew Sorrells, Chairman[14]
* John Lampros, Deputy Chairman
* Stephen Bryant, Vice Deputy Chairman
* President Jon S. Überfeld, Donut Holder
Cranfield left office on March 16, 2018 to be Chairman.
=== RNC Chairman ===
Cranfield’s as Chair of the Republican National Committee
Matthew Sorrells failed to properly conduct the House Primaries on March 16, 2018, which caused a lot of controversy. At around 9 pm on March 16, Sorrells announced that he would resign as Chairman of the RNC[15]. Power was immediately handed over to Cranfield[16]. He took office and later appointed Max Finland[17] as Vice Chairwoman.
The following day, Caleb Andrew called for an RNC meeting[18]. In that meeting, there was a vote to remove the current leadership and establish a new one. Some members called if the “GOP Coup”. Cranfield was voted to be removed as Chairman with a vote of 4-4, with the deciding vote undetermined. A few of the members changed their votes, and Cranfield remained Chairman with a vote of 6-2. Matthew Sorrells, who commended the chairmanship of Cranfield, was one of the no votes, along with Adam Evans.[19]
In that exact same meeting, Deputy Chairman John Lampros was removed[20], and Andrew was later appointed by Cranfield as the Deputy Chairman. He won the vote count 4-3 over Jackson Hitchcock, who was in a Juvenile Delinquency Center at the time and was nominated as a joke.
After that meeting, Cranfield created the “GOP Delegation”[21], a team of members responsible for voting on the RNC (convention) location, and RNC (committee) related legislature. Cranfield has been criticized for the creation of this team. A couple weeks later, the team was abolished[22] by Cranfield following the hefty controversy. The abolishment was commended by a majority of the party. On April 7, 2018, Cranfield drafted the first ever GOP Rules Doctrine[23], much like a constitution, and put it into effect immediately.
Cranfield announced on April 29, 2018 that he would be resigning from the post as Chairman due to being tired of the job and controversy[24]. Cranfield officially resigned on May 5, 2018.
=== Secretary of Defense ===
Cranfield took the office of Secretary of Defense on April 7, 2018[25]. He was sworn in by Vice President Conservative Chico as the 6th Secretary[26], succeeding Evan Hunt who was appointed by President Jon S. Überfeld temporarily. On April 8, Cranfield ordered the military to DEFCON 4[27] due to US/Syrian tensions. That level was since retracted. In the latter parts of the Delaney presidency, Cranfield worked along the United States Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs (Chris Miller[28]) on an ISIS eradication plan that never advanced passed the stage of deliberation.
Cranfield was re-nominated as Secretary when President Georgian took office[29]. On May 26, Cranfield officially took office again as the Secretary. Throughout the tenure of President Georgian, no major conflict arose, and no immediate or urgent action was needed.
On June 30, 2018, Cranfield resigned from the post of Secretary of Defense to be President of the United States[30].
=== Vice Presidential Candidate ===
In April 2018, Max Finland announced that she had chosen Cranfield to be her Vice Presidential pick[31], for the Season 14 Presidential election. On April 29, 2018, Cranfield became the GOP nominee for Vice President of the United States.
On May 1, 2018, Finland left MEC[32], and left the ticket unattended to. Cranfield announced that the ticket would be abandoned, and no Republican would be on the ballot for the May 5, 2018 election.
=== Presidential Campaign ===
Cranfield’s Presidential Campaign poster, June 2018
Cranfield announced his run for President of the United States[33] on May 19, 2018. On May 25, 2018, Cranfield announced via MCNN that Tom Kirkman would be his Vice Presidential pick[34] (running mate) for the duration of the campaign. Throughout the month of June, Cranfield traveled to 7 different rally locations.
Many believe that the candidates themselves ran a primarily clean campaign[35], but the members of each campaign had moments of vicious remarks and snide comments to each side. The only debate of the election cycle occurred on June 22, 2018. It featured the top three candidates in the race, being Cranfield, Ivor Meśtrovič, and Joshua Huntington. The general election commenced on June 23, 2018.
Cranfield was elected President on June 24, 2018 with 29 votes to Meśtrovič’s 26 votes and Huntington’s 5 votes[36]. This was later announced as the closest Presidential race in MEC history.
=== Presidency ===
Main article: Presidency of Trey Cranfield
A draw-up by appointed Military adviser Kelvin Hawthorne during the 2018 Russian Invasion of Kiev, one of the factors of Cranfield's resignation
Cranfield’s Presidency began on June 30, 2018[37]. Within the first 12 hours, Russia invaded Ukraine and took over the capital of Kiev[38]. Cranfield responded by sending in troops with intentions to retake the capital[39]. He then removed troops from the hostile zone[40] with heavy scrutiny from members of the community. However, this event was voided.
On July 2, India imposed 15 billion dollars in tariffs on the United States[41]. Later on in the day, Cranfield proposed an infrastructure plan that would benefit the Indian economy[42] with the help of Former United States Senator Andrew Dominguez. However, there was a large populist backlash to this decision. The next day, on July 3, Cranfield then retracted the former plan and placed retaliatory tariffs ($20B) on Indian goods (iron, steel, and petroleum)[43].
Numerous MEC members and officeholders including Adam Daniel, Ryan Servis, Sam Martinez, and others were still not satisfied with the President's action, and called for his removal. Cranfield resigned as President on July 4, 2018[44], following huge pressure from a minority in the community.
=== 4th D-7 HoR Run ===
Cranfield announced on July 8, 2018 that he would be seeking the Republican Nomination for the District 7 House of Representatives[45]. He was unopposed in the primaries, and went on to face Bryson Pittman, the democratic nominee[46]. A couple days before the election commenced, Dom Cons, relatively new to MEC politics, entered the race to challenge both Pittman and Cranfield[47]. Both Cons and Pittman fought on numerous occasions while Cranfield elected to remain neutral in the argumentative state[48].
On July 22, Cranfield went on to beat Cons and Pittman, although the race was fairly close[49][50]. He and the rest of the newly elected representatives were sworn in on July 25, 2018.[51]
=== House of Representatives (July-August) ===
==== Committee Assignments ====
* House Armed Services Committee, Chairman
* House Homeland Security Committee, Ranking Member
* House Veterans' Affairs Committee, Chairman
* House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ranking Member
==== Caucus Memberships ====
* Congressional Air Force Caucus
* Republican Study Committee
* House Liberty Caucus
* House Freedom Caucus
==== Tenure ====
Cranfield, upon the resignation of Ryan Servis to be Vice President of the United States, was appointed to the House of Representatives 7th district[52] by RNC Chair and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Fernando Diaz.
Cranfield was elected D-7 rep on July 22, and was sworn in on July 25, 2018. On July 30, 2018, Cranfield introduced the "Leatherneck Separation Act", which acknowledges the separation of the United States Marine Corps and the United States Department of the Navy, establishing the Department of the Marine Corps[53]. The bill was passed by both the House and the Senate, and was later signed by President Tom Kirkman.
On August 2, 2018, Cranfield introduced his second bill, the "Veterans Affairs Fair Debt Collection Notice Act", which encourages the United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs to notify both veterans in debt, and Congress of the collection of debt. The bill ultimately passed the house 4-2-0.
Cranfield introduced his final bill to congress on August 14, 2018, the "Homeland Security Emergency Deployment Force Act", which entails a creation of a deployment force in the event of an emergency. That bill also passed the House of Representatives 4-2-0. The bill ultimately failed in the Senate 3-2-1.
=== 5th D-7 HoR Run ===
Cranfield's official campaign poster for his 5th D7 House of Representatives run, October 2018
Cranfield announced his candidacy for the D-7 U.S. House of Representatives on October 5, 2018. His announcement post is one of the most liked posts in MEC history, with 29.[54][55] He was, in the beginning, facing incumbent representative and Speaker of the House, Jon Ossoff. They had a debate around 15 minutes after Cranfield's announcement. A few days after the debate, Ossoff suspended his candidacy for House because he had "bigger ambitions"[56]. Kelvin Hawthorne also announced his candidacy in the following days[57].
On October 12, Hawthorne launched an attack ad on Cranfield[58], claiming he was against LGBT rights. Cranfield responded with an attack ad of his own, saying "personal opinions don't reflect prejudice"[59] on a poster that had Hawthorne's name spelled out with the words "all talk" and "no action" on the a and n letters of his name. After that, Hawthorne released an ad of his congressional record in which Cranfield did the same. By this point, it was Thursday evening and many members of the community had become annoyed with the constant reiteration of attacks.[60]
The ballot was dropped on late October 13. Cranfield won with 34 votes (54.84%) to Hawthorne's 25 votes (40.32%), with 3 votes allocated to the write in option (4.84%).[61]
=== House of Representatives (October-November) ===
Cranfield's D7 office official logo, 2018
Speaker pro tempore Cranfield logo, 2018
==== Committee Assignments ====
* House Homeland Security Committee, Chair
* House Armed Forces Committee, Chair
* House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ranking Member
* House Social Services Committee, Ranking Member
* House Ethics Committee, Ranking Member
==== Caucus Memberships ====
* Congressional Air Force Caucus
* Republican Study Committee
* House Liberty Caucus
* House Freedom Caucus
==== Tenure ====
After his election to the seat, Cranfield was sworn in by Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aaron Stemann.[62] Within the first hour of his tenure, Cranfield introduced 4 pieces of legislation onto the House floor (3 bills, 1 concurrent resolution).[63] He was also voted in to be the House Minority Leader, and was appointed the 4th Speaker pro tempore of the United States House of Representatives[64]. All four pieces of legislation passed the House with unanimous consent, and three of the pieces of legislation passed the Senate with one not having obtained a Senate sponsor.
On October 25, 2018, Cranfield introduced the Eliminating Congressional Bureaucracy Act of 2018 (H.R. 0022), which makes it harder for un-elected members of MEC to introduce legislation to MEC Congressional legislative sessions. The bill passed the same day with 8 aye votes, and 1 nay vote. The bill is currently up for debate in the Senate.
Cranfield introduced H.R. 0042 on November 8, 2018, which is entitled the "School Threat Reporting Program Creation Act of 2018". The bill passed the House of Representatives unanimously, along with the Senate. Cranfield left office on November 12, 2018 to be a United States Senator.
=== D5 Senate Campaign ===
President Adam Evans took the office of the Presidency on November 3, 2018, leaving District 5 vacant until a special election could be held. In the early parts of the following week, former Speaker of the House Jackson Hitchcock announced his candidacy. In the latter parts of the week, speculation was beginning to rise that Cranfield was considering a run for the seat. Upon this speculation, Cranfield made a post in the main MEC community that stated he would not be seeking the seat (mostly because of Hitchcock's candidacy). Hitchcock dropped out of the race on November 8, 2018. Moments later, Cranfield announced that he would be seeking election to the seat[65]. A few hours prior, another MEC veteran, Mark Kennedy Gallagher announced his candidacy[66]. Former Speaker Jon Ossoff, coming off a month hiatus from the community, announced his candidacy as well, within the first couple of hours of his return. [67]
On November 9, 2018, Gallagher made a post in the main MEC community expressing his immense discontent with Cranfield announcing his candidacy only two days before the election, stating that he "spent countless hours trying to win an election". It is noted that Gallagher had only posted two rallies and one town hall in the duration of his two-day campaign. Cranfield responded by commenting on Gallagher's post, which sparked a comment war between Cranfield, Gallagher, and former Acting President and Season 15 Democratic Presidential Nominee, Ivor M. Tensions remained high as the ballot dropped on November 10, 2018.[68]
The ballot was released on November 10, 2018. Cranfield took an early lead over Gallagher, but the returns quickly shifted into Gallagher's favor. At one point overnight, Gallagher took a seven point lead over Cranfield, but that dwindled as the late morning came with a surge of Cranfield voters. By the afternoon, the race was tight and at points, changed leads. By the evening returns, Cranfield shifted ahead of Gallagher and won the general election portion by four votes. Since the race was considered a "jungle primary", the top two candidates then went into a runoff, which was held the following afternoon.[69]
The polls for the runoff election opened at 1:35pm EST on November 11, 2018 between Cranfield and Gallagher. In the early returns, Gallagher opened up a 10 vote lead over Cranfield, but then quickly lost that lead in the span of around an hour. At the poll closings, Cranfield beat Gallagher by 4 votes, making it one of the closest D5 Senate races in modern MEC history. [70]
=== United States Senate (November 2018-January 2019) ===
Cranfield's D3 (redisrict) re-election official campaign poster
==== Committee Assignments ====
* Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Chair
* Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, Chair
** Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, Chair
* Senate Armed Services Committee, Chair
* Senate Homeland Security Committee, Chair
* Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, Ranking Member
* Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, Ranking Member
* Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee (former)
* Senate Budget and Finance Committee (former)
==== Caucus Memberships ====
* Senate Coherence Caucus, Chair
* Mock Election Liberty Caucus
* Congressional Air Force Caucus
* Congressional Biodefense Caucus
* Congressional Defense Communities Caucus
* Missile Defense Caucus
* Climate Solutions Caucus
* Bipartisan Working Group to End Domestic Violence
* California Aerospace Caucus
* Congressional Caucus on Korea
* Congressional Second Amendment Caucus
* Task Force on Anti-Terrorism and Proliferation Financing
==== Tenure ====
Cranfield was sworn in by Vice President Ben Shair on November 12, 2018 to fill the vacant seat left by President Adam Evans [71]. Cranfield assumed the committee assignments of Evans, and is not a member of any caucus.
On November 12, 2018, Cranfield introduced the NCCOA Creation Act of 2018, which creates the Climate Change Overwatch Administration, a sub-cabinet level department in the United States Federal Government. The bill passed the Senate with unanimous consent, and is currently up for vote in the United States House of Representatives.
On November 14, 2018, Cranfield introduced his second piece of legislation to the Senate floor, which is the Enhancing Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative Act of 2018. The bill passed the Senate and the House, and was signed by President Evans.
On November 16, 2018, Russia inflicted aggression on the Russia-Georgia border, leading to the response of the Georgian government. Cranfield, along with fellow Senator, Ivor M, crafted the Temporary Aid Package to the Sovereign State of Georgia, which provides United States military aid to assist Georgia in the conflict. The bill passed the Senate.
On November 24, 2018, Cranfield introduced the American Industrial & Middle Class Recovery Act, written by President Adam Evans and co-authored by former congressman, Andrew Dominguez. The bill easily passed the Senate, along with the House prior.
Cranfield presided over his first Senate confirmation hearing on November 26, 2018[72]. The hearing was for Kenneth Quinones, to be the Chief Justice of the United States. Quinones failed by a vote of 1-6 with one vote still unaccounted for.[73] Most in the community believe that the appearance of Senator Sam Martinez led to the downfall of the nomination due to the extremely fierce questioning and personal interrogation.[74]
On December 5, 2018, Cranfield introduced his 12th piece of legislation to the Senate Floor, the Income and Pension Capping Alternative Act of 2018 which provides an alternative system to income and pension capping. The bill passed easily through the senate, with two votes still unaccounted for. The bill was put up for vote in the House by Speaker Kelvin Hawthorne, and passed with no opposition. The bill was signed by Acting President Fernando Diaz on December 15, 2018.
Cranfield, on December 11, 2018, introduced two pieces of legislation to the Senate floor, including the Servicemembers Improved Transition through Reforms for Ensuring Progress Act, disapproving a course of education provided by an educational institution unless the educational institution has adopted certain policies. He also introduced the Religious Cultural Globalization in the United States Reduction Act of 2018, which adds consequences for groups and organizations that practice the mass display and forcing of religion on other groups and organizations. Both bills passed the Senate.
On December 19, 2018, Cranfield introduced the Establishing a Ceremonial Congressional Delegation Act of 2018, which creates a congressional delegation based of geographical location by district. The bill is currently up for vote on the Senate floor.
Cranfield was the primary Senate sponsor of The Veteran Well Being Act, written by Representative Mark Kennedy Gallagher. The bill easily passed both the House and the Senate on December 27, 2018.
Cranfield was re-elected President pro tempore of the United States Senate on December 27, 2018 by a vote of 6-1-1 over challenger George Cross, who surprisingly announced his candidacy on the Senate floor in executive session.
Cranfield officially left office on January 24, 2019, upon him deciding not to run for re-election. Cranfield is succeeded by former President Jon S. Überfeld as the district's Senator, and is succeeded by Nathan Brown as President pro tempore.
===== Rise to the leadership and election to President pro tempore =====
On November 24, 2018, Cranfield was elected to the post of President pro tempore of the United States Senate[75], the senior-most and highest-regarded position in the Senate. After the expulsion of Atton Pearson, the post was vacated. In addition to that, the MEC Constitution was passed, with articles stating that the President is ineligible to run for re-election, because of his home state of Kentucky, which sparked outrage in Congress and in the civilian side of the community. The vote was held in the early parts of the evening, and Cranfield was sworn in shortly thereafter as the 5th President pro-tem of the U.S. Senate.
===== Re-election =====
Early in the afternoon on November 24, 2018, Tom Kirkman, co-MEC Moderator, gave semi-results and projected certain races, including the D-3 Senate race, featuring Cranfield v. Dom Cons. At the "update", Cranfield was leading Cons 36-19 with minor candidate, Robert Leary receiving 8 votes.[76]
At the official poll closings, Cranfield beat Cons with a margin of 36 votes to 21. Robert Leary, after the deletion of alt votes, finished with 6 votes (10%). Cranfield will go on to serve his first full term in the United States Senate.[77]
===== Removal of President Evans Controversy =====
On December 1, 2018, at around 4:25pm EST, the United States Cabinet invoked the 25th Amendment on President Evans, citing mental health complications and lack of fitness to properly serve as President of the United States. Cranfield swore Vice President of the United States Ben Shair in shortly thereafter. Cranfield released a statement at around 5pm EST that stated, in part "I can say that his [President Evans] removal has tilted us closer to a hybrid regime in this community. The imbalance of power between the MODs, Congress, the Executive Branch, and the biased opinions formed by those holding office in the latter have me genuinely concerned..." along with his recusal from the situation. President Evans was eventually reinstated as President in the middle parts of the evening, and the controversy was settled.
===== Filibuster of the Evans-Olabode Amendment =====
On January 2, 2019, Senator Cranfield, in executive session with six other fellow Senators, heavily addressed the Evans-Olabode Amendment, regarding the federal minimum wage levels set forth with provisions in the bill. Cranfield and Senator Fitzgerald traded jabs regarding the positives and negatives of the piece of legislation.
Cranfield stated on many occasions that the bill is "full of loopholes and unspecific provisions and regulations regarding the federal minimum wage", citing the bills' many "contradictions", including TITLE II SECTION 201 and 202 regarding state and corporation exceptions to the legislation's overall content regarding federal minimum wage. Cranfield said in the latter parts of the session that fellow Senators should be focused "solely on crafting pinpoint legislation with no loopholes, no miscommunications, and no contradictions". Cranfield then went on to say that "a body that realizes that every member should be crafting legislation that is specific, comprehensible, and commendable from members of outside the [United States Federal] government, is a body that will succeed with carrying out the needs and problems of the American people. [Mr. President, I yield back all of the time I may have]".
Toward the end of the session, the theme shifted to the rules of the United States Senate, in which Cranfield chairs the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration. Cranfield, along with fellow Democratic Senator Terrell McCann, noted that all Senators in the body should be fully educated on the Senate's floor procedure and rules. Cranfield cited "Every Senator on this floor needs to realize that this is not a body of loose canons and unregulated speaking time. I, just like the Senator of Pennsylvania noted, encourage all Senators to educate themselves of the standing rules of the United States Senate. What we've all witnessed this evening is a travesty, and hopefully will be corrected the next time we hold deliberative discussion regarding a boisterous subject."
Cranfield nayed the Evans-Olabode Amendment on January 2, 2019. This also led to the creation of the Senate Coherence Caucus, founded by Senator Cranfield with assistance from Senator McCann. It was established through a call between the two Senators, and Cranfield was established as Chair of the caucus.
The debacle carried over into a second day of heated rhetoric from both sides, eventually culminating in community-wide attention and outreach. Former Representative Jackson Hitchcock stated his loyal support to the President's legislation, while attacking Cranfield's moral character and his political ambitions and career in the community. Cranfield responded by stating that his "political career is not in a vulnerable state" and "nobody will ever silence me from voicing my own opinions. I was the first and only person to publicly display my opinion regarding this bill and its idea, and when that happens, I'm attacked and taken for some monster."
The Evans-Olabode Amendment officially failed in the Senate on Thursday January 3, 2019 with the abstention of Senator George Cross.
===== Response to the State of the Union =====
On January 6, 2019, President Adam Evans held his first State of the Union Address. The speech was primarily focused around the President touting his legislative and executive accomplishments. The address was very short, lasting only around nine and a half minutes. The address was broadcasted by MCNN, and was attended by the Vice President, the Speaker of the House, and other miscellaneous members of Congress.
Around an hour after the President's address, the Congressional Coherence Caucus, chaired by Senator Cranfield, gave their official response to the State of the Union. It was broadcasted by MEC News, and was attended by Chairman Cranfield, Vice Chairman McCann, and other prominent members of the caucus. President pro tempore and Chairman Cranfield was the one that spoke on behalf of the caucus.
Cranfield's speech was heavily rhetorical and incriminating. One of the lines of the address is as follows;
Many members attending the response showed signs of testament and agreement as the Senator gave his remarks. After the conclusion of the fiery speech, the response was opened to questions, in which four were asked. The response lasted around seven minutes.
===== Second Re-election bid =====
Cranfield formally announced his candidacy for re-election on December 19, 2018, exactly one month before the election was to commence. On January 8, 2019, Cranfield traveled out of Washington D.C. to Detroit, Michigan for his kickoff rally that attracted nearly 29,000 people. Cranfield's challengers in the race are former President Jon S. Überfeld, and Epideli II. Ashton Shabazz was formerly in the race, but announced the suspension of his campaign on January 8, 2019. On January 14-15, 2019, Cranfield went inactive for the period of a week, periodically showing up in the MEC Chat. Officially, on January 18, 2019, Cranfield announced the suspension of his campaign, citing personal issues to be dealt with, leaving Jon S. Überfeld and Ryan Servis (who announced the day before election commencement), to fight for the seat in the election. Überfeld was declared the winner on January 22, 2019.
=== Acting Vice President of the United States ===
On December 13, 2018, owner Ethan Kelly called for an investigation into the presidential election results, citing possible fraud and corruption, henceforth delaying the Season 19 Presidential Inauguration. On December 14, it was announced that upon the culmination of the presidency of Adam Evans, Speaker of the House, Fernando Diaz, would be sworn in as Acting President of the United States, and Cranfield as Acting Vice President of the United States. At 12:11pm EST on December 15, Cranfield was sworn in as the Acting Vice President of the United States[78], subsequently followed by Diaz as Acting President of the United States. Upon being sworn-in, it was the third time that Cranfield has held office in the Executive Branch of the United States Government, and the first time since his resignation from the Presidency on July 4, 2018.
Later in the afternoon, Cranfield resigned the post of Acting Vice President to resume his role as a United States Senator. Cranfield, in his resignation letter, noted that he just wanted to temporarily hold the position to provide assistance to Acting President Diaz, and felt that he fulfilled that responsibility. Cranfield is now the shortest serving Vice President in MEC history, Acting or not, holding office for 4 hours, 35 minutes and 34 seconds.
=== Season 19 presidential election ===
The Season 19 presidential election is looked at as one of the most toxic federal elections in Mock Election history. The candidates in the general election were incumbent Adam Evans and Senator Ryan Servis. The election officially commenced on December 8, 2018, with the ballot being ran by moderators Tom Kirkman and David Delaney. In the earlier parts of the election, states such as Indiana and Kentucky were called, and gave no certain indication as to who the winner would be. But as the night and weekend went on, more and more states were being called, and by the time the polls closed, the results showed an electoral tie, in which Senator Servis edged out President Evans by 2 votes, triggering the two-vote rule, meaning the election would be sent to the House and the Senate.
President pro tempore Cranfield put up the Vice Presidential motion in the Senate shortly after the announcement, in which former Senator and Vice President Terrell McCann won unanimously. Cranfield was criticized by President Evans for putting up the motion in such a premature manner, but the voting continued.
In the following days, Speaker of the House Fernando Diaz reluctantly put up the Presidential motion in the House, but finally did the vote in private messages three days after the polls closed. Most representatives pledged to support the winner of the popular vote, which was Senator Servis.
However, during the Presidential vote, owner Ethan Kelly, in conjunction with former Moderator Jon S. Überfeld, announced that they would officially be reviewing the results of the election, due to suspected voter fraud and the handling of the ballots. On December 15, 2018, President Evans' term ended, and Speaker Diaz was sworn in as the Acting President, and Cranfield as the Acting Vice President, in which Cranfield resigned hours later to resume his position as a Senator.
In the days after the redo ballot was announced, moderator Überfeld jokingly purged important government figures from the Mock Election main community in Google+, took over the MEC Wiki, and repeatedly changed the name and cover image of the Mock Election main community. Owner Ethan Kelly removed him as moderator and banned him from the community, re-appointed old mods, and added Ivor M to the moderator team.
The next week was full of attack-based campaigning and toxic separation. By the time the redo ballot had dropped, the community, already fatigued from the election, had separated into two factions based on who they supported, with the Servis faction led by leading instigators, Jakob Tawney and former moderator Tom Kirkman, and the Evans faction led by President Evans himself and close adviser Benjamin Roy.
That same week, President Evans dropped Vice President Ben Shair of the ticket. He subsequently asked Cranfield to be his running mate, in which Cranfield heavily considered the option. However, Cranfield turned down the offer down in proxy, leaving Evans to choose Senator Griffin Bates as his new running mate. In the following days, Shair left the campaign and vocally endorsed Servis. On December 25, 2018, Shair was banned from the community by owner Kelly.
The redo election commenced on December 22, 2018, and without live results. The divisiveness was strong as ever, and tensions had already boiled over the top thrice before. On December 23, 2018, Secretary of Health and Human Services Logan Rabe committed by mass fraud by bulk voting. The tally on Christmas Eve, with the bulk votes, was 350 for Servis and 47 for Evans. After the deletion of the bulk votes, Servis led 51-47.
In the latter parts of Christmas Eve heading into Christmas Day, Ethan Kelly removed more fraudulent votes and reduced the overall tally. At around 1:30am on Christmas Day, Kelly announced the new results, which was 38 votes for Evans and 37 votes for Servis. This, of course, sparked outrage since earler, the vote count had Evans at 37, leaving many to wonder where that extra vote came from. It is believed it authentically came in before official poll closings. This sparked another battle between the pro-Evans and pro-Servis forces in the very early morning of Christmas Day. The battle eventually settled, and everybody went to sleep.
On Christmas afternoon, Kelly announced another deletion in fraudulent votes, which saw President Evans at 37 votes, and Servis at 34 votes, with one write-in. That sparked more internal conflict, yet less heated than the morning before. Amidst all of the chaos with the redo ballot, Acting President Diaz resigned his position. Senator Cranfield declined the position of President (in this specific continuity, the government line of succession just keeps funneling downwards), leaving Acting Vice President Ivor M to be sworn in as the Acting President, with Secretary of Commerce and Labor Andrew Dominguez as the Acting Vice President. Those familiar to the Mock Election community know the Mestrovic/Dominguez Acting Administration duo has become odd naturalism.
On December 26, 2018, the results were announced, and President Evans defeated Senator Servis with 37 votes to 34 votes. At approximately 3:05pm EST, Cranfield administered the Oath of Office to the President and Vice President-Elect.
=== Second Secretary of Defense Tenure ===
On January 21, 2019, President-Elect Fernando Diaz nominated Cranfield to be the United States Secretary of Defense, despite Cranfield's plans of retirement. This is the fifth time Cranfield has been nominated to the position, and is the current longest serving cabinet secretary in MEC history with 84 days (2 months, 23 days) of service prior to his nomination.
On January 30, 2019, Cranfield held his confirmation hearing to be in the position, chaired by newly-elected President pro tempore and Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee Nathan Brown. He was officially confirmed just 15 minutes after the floor vote went up, being described by Senator Raymundo Felix as "Frankly the MOST qualified nominee I have ever seen for any cabinet position. I was largely impressed with this hearing, therefore I vote AYE." Cranfield was confirmed unanimously by the Senate, with the vote count officially binding on February 1, 2019. He was sworn in by Vice President Ivor Mestrovic in the late evening of January 30, 2019.
On February 1, 2019, Cranfield announced the creation of the United Nations International Defense Forum, a multi-day event comprised of national conversation regarding national defense mechanisms. By February 3, 2019, the deadline for nations to submit a delegation, 72 UN-member states had filled out an application, including the nations of Syria and North Korea, among others. Secretary Cranfield expressed his pleasure with the two nations via G+ post, in which received the commendation of fellow MEC members.
Cranfield left office on March 2, 2019 to be a United States Senator upon his appointment after the resignation of Mayowa Olabode.
=== Return to the United States Senate (March 2019) ===
==== Committee Assignments ====
* Senate Armed Services Committee, Chair
* Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, Chair
* Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, Ranking Member
** Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, Ranking Member
* Senate Appropriations Committee, Ranking Member
* Senate Homeland Security Committee, Ranking Member
==== Caucus Memberships ====
* Mock Election Liberty Caucus
* Congressional Air Force Caucus
* Congressional Biodefense Caucus
* Congressional Defense Communities Caucus
* Missile Defense Caucus
* Climate Solutions Caucus
* Bipartisan Working Group to End Domestic Violence
* California Aerospace Caucus
* Congressional Caucus on Korea
* Congressional Second Amendment Caucus
* Task Force on Anti-Terrorism and Proliferation Financing
==== Tenure ====
Cranfield was sworn in as a United States Senator on March 2, 2019 by Vice President Ivor Mestrovic, his second tenure in the position. Unlike his first tenure, he now serves in District 4 and is from the state of Pennsylvania, where he holds legal residency. In executive session on March 2, Cranfield switched his party caucusing affiliation from Democrat to Independent, which he informally noted he'd do to DNC Chairman and Senator Raymundo Felix. Upon switching his caucus affiliation, Cranfield immediately assumed the role of Senate Minority Leader since he is the only non-Democrat in the Senate.
Late in the evening of March 2, there was a vote held for President pro tempore of the United States Senate after the resignation of Senator Nathan Brown who left after his close loss in the Season 21 presidential election. Cranfield decided to run and faced District 1 Senator Ethan Fitzgerald, the Assistant Floor Leader. The binding vote count was 3 for Fitzgerald and 2 for Cranfield. Senator McCann was the proctor and could not cast a vote either way, making the simple majority 3, which Fitzgerald reached.
Cranfield resigned on March 14, 2019 and announced his retirement from MEC politics after over a year-long career, making his longevity one of the longest in the community.
== Post-political retirement ==
Following Cranfield's retirement from politics in the MEC arena, he accepted an offer to be an Advisor to President Quentin Lewis, who succeeded Easton Wilkins after his retirement. Cranfield, from March 29, 2019 to April 20, 2019, was the Advisor to the President for Foreign Military Affairs.
Cranfield's position on the staff of President Lewis rendered itself irrelevant after Cranfield's growing inactivity in the group along with the China/Vietnam Territorial Waters Skirmish of 2019 being solved.
It was rumored in mid-April that Cranfield is expected to receive the Presidential Medal of Honor - the highest civilian award - for his tremendous and longevity of service to the United States. He was officially awarded the Medal on April 18, 2019 by the President.
On April 18, 2019, Cranfield became one of three members in the community to receive two Presidential Medals of Freedom, the other members being Ivor Mestrovic and MEC Founder Tim Taft. President Diaz awarded Cranfield the Medal before leaving office. Both Mestrovic and Taft also received the Medal on the night of April 18.
On June 29, 2019, Cranfield made an impromptu visit to check on current members of the community, where he engaged in a fight regarding abortion with female new member, Heidi Allen. The debate was heavily criticized by members of the community. It was speculated on the same day that Cranfield would be challenging both Allen and Kelvin Hawthorne for the District 3 Senate seat, his former constituency. Even with good support in polling, Cranfield later denied that he would be seeking election to the seat, but noted “future political endeavors will not be ruled out”, in the same post. 
== Public image / popularity ==
=== Early MEC ===
Cranfield, upon joining MEC, saw very stagnant popularity growth, mostly due to his short inactive spree from December 25, 2017 to January 12, 2018. Cranfield gained a little name recognition after his barely failed D-7 House campaign against Terrell McCann, ushering in the support of former Senate candidate Ryan Servis, former RNC Chairman and Secretary of Defense, Fernando Diaz, among others.
The third time he ran for a congressional seat, in March, his popularity still lacked, yet he was backed by a few prominent MEC members. He of course dropped out after veteran Caleb Andrew announced his candidacy, who went on to be embarrassingly defeated in the inevitable blue wave of March 2018.
=== RNC Chairmanship ===
On March 16, 2018, Cranfield took over the post of the Chairman of the Republican National Committee, due to the resignation of Chairman Sorrells. Cranfield was still seen as a skeptical, hard-right Republican figure, who opposed rights for members of the LGBTQ community, abortions, and other important topics. As the Chairmanship of Cranfield progressed, he faced a grueling test with Mendel Ratinov regarding his authoritarian views in his governance.
Cranfield was sued by Ratinov on his birthday, April 3, 2018, for his failure to properly conceive power in the Republican National Committee. The lawsuit was later disregarded by owner Ethan Kelly, and Ratinov left the Republican party. At this point, Cranfield's popularity was reaching fast growth, as bipartisan figures from Congress, the Executive Branch, and party establishment were beginning to see his political motives.
=== Secretary of Defense Nomination by President Delaney and tenure ===
Cranfield, upon being selected to be the Secretary of Defense by then President David Delaney, faced no political opposition within the Republican Party's mainstream politics, and won in an 80-20% landslide over JP Cenzoprano in the March leadership elections. Cranfield, still trying to gain popularity among vitals in the simulation, found this as an opportunity to showcase his military might and knowledge.
Cranfield simultaneously served as SoD and Chair of the RNC. In the Syrian crisis, Cranfield played a vital role of assisting President Delaney on alternatives to combat the growing problem. Cranfield received the heavy commendation from both the Secretary of Homeland Security (Mark Kennedy Gallagher) and the President.
In the latter parts of his SoD tenure, Cranfield was seen as primarily a war-monger and military opportunist. He worked to drastically increase the military, sought legislation to ban homosexuals from joining, a looked to incorporate more modern technology into foreign bases that lacked.
=== Presidential Election and Presidency ===
Cranfield gained the most political traction during his Presidential run in the latter parts of May into the latter parts of June. Cranfield campaigned tirelessly alongside Tom Kirkman, and Matthew Sorrells. One of the most controversial parts of the campaign was when then DNC Chairman Sam Martinez, requesting the post of Secretary of Staterecorded and transcribed a phone call between Cranfield, Kirkman, and himself. The call was seen by the leaders of the campaign as "regretful" and "something we don't recommend in future references".
It came as a shock to many members of the community when Cranfield won the Presidential election over DNC heavyweight Ivor M, one of the biggest rising political figures in the community. The popularity of Cranfield rose and fell drastically over the course of 72 hours, with the Russia crisis, India crisis, and the impersonation crisis that plagued his presidency.
Cranfield, ironically, never lost much popularity following his resignation on July 4, 2018, confusing many. Just 7 days later, Cranfield would be appointed to serve in the US House of Representatives, a position he had been eyeballing for months.
=== Post-presidency ===
Cranfield faced a lot of important responsibilities following his short presidency. On July 11, 2018, RNC Chairman and later President of the United States, Fernando Diaz appointed him to fill the D-7 House seat vacated by Vice Presidential Nominee Ryan Servis, He took office the same day, while being on a trip in the state of Texas. Two days later, Cranfield was elected as the House Minority Whip, beating fellow congressman Jakob Tawney.
Despite the events of the Cranfield Presidency, his popularity and approval continued to incline due to his transparently public time as a congressman. In his first tenure, Cranfield crafted three successful House floor bills, including one that separates the Marine Corps and the Department of the Navy, creating the Department of the Marine Corps.
In the latter parts of his term, Cranfield was attacked by subsequent opponent Dom Cons for not presenting, sponsoring, or voting on more bills during his time in Congress. Cranfield, along with his base, was relatively not phased by the accusations, considering he won the election with 42% with a three man field and a 92 vote turnout, one of the highest ever, since owner Ethan Kelly had been promoting the community recently before the election. Most of the incoming members were progressives, and shifted the balance of Congress in the July elections.
After the end of his first full term, Cranfield had decided not to run for re-election, citing that he was wanting to follow other opportunities in the community. Cranfield was unemployed for nearly two months after his congressional term ended, until he became the Deputy United States Special Counsel, appointed by then United States Attorney General Terrell McCann, to help investigate prior occurrences with Presiding Special Counsel Bryson Pittman. Cranfield was only in the position for four days, until the investigation ended.
One month later, Cranfield officially announced his candidacy for a second term in the US House of Representatives, this time with almost peak recognition by the community, party establishment, and fellow political peers. The campaign was primarily rough, and brought down, yet slightly, the approval of both Cranfield and opponent, Kelvin Hawthorne. At the end of the election, Cranfield pulled through in a surprising over-performance with 54% of the vote, compared to Hawthorne's 40%.
During his second, nonconsecutive House term, Cranfield was seen as the most productive in recent Congresses, putting up four pieces of legislation within the first hour of his term, being appointed and unanimously approved as the Speaker pro tempore of the House, and introducing two more bills to the House before he left to be a US Senator. All the bills that were introduced by Cranfield passed with either overwhelming or unanimous consent by his colleagues. Also prominent in his second House term, Cranfield was responsible, alongside Andrew Dominguez on the sustainability of the House voting record and legislative document. His overall time in congress helped dramatically to boost his credibility among fellow MEC politicians and citizenry voters.
President Adam Evans, one of the most controversial Presidents in history, was inaugurated on November 3, 2018, and a special election was to be held. Originally, the only candidate was former congressman Jackson Hitchcock. Hitchcock dropped out of the race on November 8, 2018. Many prominent members of the community urged Cranfield to run, citing that he would have the best chance to attain the seat over any other potential opposition. Both Mark Kennedy Gallagher and Kenneth Quinones announced their candidacies subsequently following Cranfield. This, somehow, sparked outrage between MKG and Quinones, considering the two felt as if they deserved the seat "more" than Cranfield. The constant bickering caused the community some immediate reprieve, and the race was considered to be closed. Cranfield barely beat Gallagher in the special election, receiving 44% to Gallagher's 38%. He also narrowly edged out MKG in the runoff election, winning 51-46%, making it one of the closest Senate races in history.
==== United States Senator ====
Cranfield's approval maintained impressive status as he took the oath as a United States Senator with no surprise from MEC peers and now Senate colleagues. In his first term, Cranfield introduced four pieces of successful legislation. His immediate clique and group of colleagues began expanding into a powerful group of vital legislators, which was known as the Mock Election Libery Caucus, a congressional caucus comprised of members from the House and the Senate. The caucus was successful in the passing of the MEC Constitution, the removal of President Adam Evans, the acting Presidency of Ben Shair, the impeachment of Senate President pro tempore Atton Pearson, among others.
Once Pearson left office after his impeachment, Cranfield was selected unanimously to become the President pro tempore of the Senate, and immediately became recognized as a powerful presence, with the Liberty Caucus on his side, and fully cooperative congress. Cranfield was known to have said on many occasions, "the dumber the House of Representatives is, the more I can accomplish in this position, and I love it".
Cranfield's popularity and recognition soared in the middle to latter parts of his term. By the middle of his time in the Senate, he had introduced 13 pieces of successful legislation to the Senate floor. On November 24, 2018, Cranfield was easily elected over second-time opposition, Dom Cons.
===== Increase in power and popularity =====
Towards the end of his term, Cranfield became more vocal on his policies and his opposition of Adam Evans, mostly because of the President being condescending to him regarding a vote on the Evans-Olabode Amendment, a federal minimum wage bill that rose the rates to $15 by 2024. A very heated exchange took place regarding the amendment on January 1, 2019 between the President and Cranfield. On January 2, 2019, he held a closed-door session with fellow Senators about the ordeal. It was classified as "salty", "distasteful", and "powerful". Cranfield still enjoyed very impressive approval ratings, and had a lot of room to test the waters, in which he elaborated on many times following the session and why he chose to become much more vocal regarding his opposition to President Evans' policies.
Cranfield became perhaps the most powerful person in the community following the vote on the amendment, where if failed overwhelmingly after the session. Cranfield privately considered it a massive win, and boasted it to the President on few occasions, telling the President "not to mess with me, for I have tools you can not discover nor destroy. There's a blockade, Mr. President, I recommend you let it be".
At this point, the feud between the President and Cranfield just shifted to ridiculous proportions, especially following the State of the Union Address, where the President singled out Cranfield on multiple occasions. Cranfield, along with the newly founded and extremely credited and powerful Congressional Coherence Caucus gave their response, and attacked the President on many things, including one line that stated, "when will the dictatorship end, Mr. President?". Ironically, the new Speaker of the House was Tom Kirkman, who then wished to avoid gridlock, yet threatened Cranfield to block all Senate Coherence Caucus-sponsored legislation if it had made it to the House floor. Cranfield welcomed the idea of gridlock, especially if it included pinpoint legislation that he believed as the right thing.
===== Bout in the political hierarchy =====
On January 11, 2019, Cranfield, in an unofficial joint deliberation of Congress, regarding the budget, was cut off with speaking time, and banned from the Discord server. Speaker Kirkman cited that Cranfield "has went on too long" and "other people are in congress, not just you". This infuriated him to the point where he publicly announced that gridlock had officially arrived in the United States Congress between Cranfield and Kirkman. The event became a bout as to who could become the most powerful person in MEC politics, Cranfield and the Congressional Coherence Caucus or Kirkman and the Evans loyalists in the House.
===== Retirement from the Senate[edit] =====
Former President Jon Überfeld, plagued with problematic aggravation, abuse of power, banishment from the community, and other problems, had announced his intentions and candidacy to challenge Cranfield in the District 3 Senate race to be held the weekend of January 19, 2019. Cranfield led in many early polls with immense support. He traveled to two different rally locations until his stint of inactivity began in the late evening of Monday January 14, 2019. On January 17, 2019, Cranfield announced the suspension of his campaign following lowering poll support and personal issues.
Cranfield leaves his position being regarded as one of the most aggressive, passionate, and powerful legislators in MEC community history. Fellow congressman and former adversary Mark Kennedy Gallagher noted that Cranfield was the LBJ of MEC politics, congress, and Senate.
==== Secretary of Defense (second tenure) ====
Cranfield took office as Secretary of Defense on January 30, 2019, almost a week after separating himself from the MEC political arena and regaining friendships with his closest adversaries. Cranfield's vocalism has been on a steady declination since his oath. Cranfield resigned on March 2, 2019 to be a United States Senator.
==== Return to the United States Senate ====
Cranfield returned to the United States Senate on March 2, 2019 with a much lessened amount of name recognition after being politically hibernated for nearly two months. He was sworn in by Vice President Ivor Mestrovic. He resigned on March 14, 2019, and retired from MEC politics. He left being regarded as one of the most successful members in community history.
== Political Views ==
=== Abortion, sex education, and stem-cell research ===
Cranfield has publicly expressed his opposition to abortion, calling it "unethical" and "morally wrong". Cranfield is also noted to have favored time in federal prison for anyone who partakes in the practice. He has received a lot of criticism for his views.
Cranfield has criticized comprehensive sex education. He believes strongly in an abstinence-education system. He is quoted saying on record; "teaching about sexual behaviors does not deviate young teenagers from engaging in sexual activity, yet it encourages them to try it out and see for themselves how they "might like it", whereas an abstinenceeducation program encourages said teenagers to steer away from sexual activity until it is appropriate."
Cranfield is a vital supporter of the embryonic stem-cell research program, noting the positivism of its works and breakthroughs. In a post political debate, Cranfield asserted that "the [embryonic stem-cell] research program helps with educating and informing millions of Americans on what exactly is happening within the bodies of millions.
=== LGBT Rights ===
Cranfield had been strongly opposed to legislative recognition of LGBT rights, asserting at one time that "it has a tendency to cause millions of straight-practicing people to feel discriminated against, or walked on". In addition, Cranfield supported the idea of companies being able to deny-access to homosexual couples if they see fit.
In MEC, Cranfield has been widely criticized for his views relating to LGBT rights, many calling him a "mini Mike Pence". It is noted that Pence is a staunch supporter of homosexual equality.
Cranfield has also said that homosexuals should not serve in the military, saying, "Homosexuality is incompatible with military service because the presence of homosexuals in the ranks weakens unit cohesion, and causes collateral distraction within the deployment force." Cranfield opposed the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," saying that allowing gays and lesbians to openly serve in the military would "have an impact on unit cohesion and attentiveness".
In the latter parts of 2018, Cranfield stated that he had began changing his views on homosexuality, yet not drastically. He still opposes public homosexuality in the Armed Forces, and still thinks that companies should have the right to deny homosexual companies access to their services, however, he frowns upon the idea.
=== Economic Policy ===
Cranfield is a strong proponent of a strong economic plan, and favors the economy of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Cranfield also strongly believes that free markets and individual achievement are the primary factors behind economic prosperity. To this end, he has publicly advocated in favor of laissez-faire economics, fiscal conservatism, and eliminating government run welfare programs in favor of private sector nonprofits and encouraging personal responsibility.
In addition, Cranfield opposes a government-run single-payer health care system, claiming it constitutes socialized medicine and is in favor of a personal or employer-based system of insurance, supplemented by Medicare for the elderly and Medicaid, which covers approximately 40% of the poor.
Cranfield supports increased health insurance portability, laws promoting coverage of pre-existing medical conditions, a cap on malpractice lawsuits, implementing a streamlined electronic medical records system, an emphasis on preventative care rather than emergency room care, and tax benefits aimed to make health insurance more affordable for the uninsured and to promote universal access. He also generally opposes government funding for elective abortions, as noted above.
=== Foreign Policy ===
Cranfield strongly supports unilateralism on issues of national security, believing in the ability and right of the United States to act without external support in matters of its national defense. In general, Cranfied's thinking on defense and international relations is heavily influenced by the theories of neorealism and realism, characterizing conflicts between nations as struggles between faceless forces of international structure, as opposed to being the result of the ideas and actions of individual leaders. The realist school's influence shows in Reagan's Evil Empire stance on the Soviet Union and George W. Bush's Axis of evil.
=== Climate Change ===
In the recent months, Cranfield's views on climate change had changed drastically. On October 10, 2018, Cranfield posted in the main MEC community relating to his pro-environment views, stating "I've got a confession to make--I'm pro-environment. Thanks. Have a nice Wednesday" with a picture of his D7 campaign poster. On November 12, 2018, within hours of being sworn in as a United States Senator, Cranfield introduced a piece of legislation that would create the National Climate Change Overwatch Administration, a sub-cabinet level department in the United States Federal Government.
Cranfield believes there should be a bipartisan effort to combat global climate change, but remains skeptical of whether or not global warming is man-made, however, he feels that it could be a possibility. Cranfield has worked with his Congressional colleagues for quite some time to come up with ways to combat the ongoing crisis.
=== Crime and Illegal Drugs ===
Cranfield has questioned proposals to decrease penalties for low-level marijuana offenses, saying that the nation should focus on "reducing crime, not reducing penalties".
=== Civil Rights ===
Cranfield is strongly against affirmative action for women and some minorities, describing it as a 'quota system', and believing that it is not meritocratic and that it is counter-productive socially by only further promoting discrimination. He supports race-neutral admissions policies in universities, but support taking into account the socioeconomic status of the student.
=== Income and Pension Capping ===
Cranfield heavily opposes capping on earned income and pensions from retired or removed United States Congresspeople. He developed this stance after real-life incumbent West Virginia State Senator, Richard Ojeda announced that one of his main presidential campaign priorities was to introduce a system where retired congressmen were only allowed to earn a total of $250,000 in income, and $130,000 in pension yearly after their retirement from Congress.
Cranfield publicly announced his opposition of income/pension capping with a statement saying "there are alternatives to ensure that congressmen are in Washington for the appropriate reasons. I agree that we shouldn't be allowing lawmakers to legislate themselves into wealth, but we must simultaneously recognize that taking away the earned income of congressmen and replacing with an absurd amount after their retirement is not only not fair to them, but is frankly demeaning to the entire legislative branch of the United States. Let's just find another way."
=== Globalization and Job Outsourcing ===
Cranfield opposes globalization, including economic, cultural, and political. He also heavily opposes the outsourcing of domestic companies to international markets. He has stated that both forms of global interdependence hurts the economy and promotes job loss. Cranfield is a strong proponent of lowering the operating cost in rust belt manufacturing companies, and has stated that the economy can make up for the loss in operating costs with strong revenue being developed by strong job growth and infrastructural interest.
Within the idea of cultural globalization, Cranfield believes that no single religious group or outlying culture should be pushing their beliefs or practices on other areas of the world, and has promoted the idea of independent thinking when it comes to global religious and cultural affairs.
Political globalization is something that Cranfield has opposed since his entering in politics, and has never really understood why certain groups or governments would push for it. This idea hasn't drawn much criticism mainly because most MEC politicians find no interest in such topic.
=== Syria ===
Cranfield has vocally opposed the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party dynasty in the Republic of Syria. Cranfield, on numerous occasions, has called for military regime change, and even proposed cutting off all diplomatic relations with the Middle East until a suitable government had been restored in the region. During his tenure as the United States Secretary of Defense, Cranfield worked alongside President David Delaney on initiatives to combat the growing and fierce regime, noting that the United States should provide military assistance to the opposing Democratic Federation of Northern Syria. However, these proposals were met with criticism from the President, considering his extreme opposition of military-sponsored drone strikes, and his disliking of Cranfield's Neoconservative view of military intervention. Cranfield has also been criticized for his suggestion to allocate certain tax-payer dollars to combat the conflict.
In many instances as Secretary of Defense, Cranfield tried to push out belligerent Russian forces, who were heavily supporting and providing military, diplomatic, and economic aid to the nation's ruling government. His attempts at overtaking Ba'ath strongholds typically failed, however were commended for their extremely limited loss of life and "shoot-to-kill" orders. After leaving the post of Secretary of Defense and President, Cranfield said "in hindsight, it might've been a good idea to have tried harder. We had the power, we had the men, we just didn't execute thoroughly, and I take full responsibility for that, and I hope my successors [President & SoD] are coherent to the problems."
=== Term Limits ===
On January 3, 2019, Cranfield spoke about his views regarding federal term limits, especially congressional. In the current draft of the United States Constitution, term limits are not imposed, whereas each congressman serves a total of two years for as many terms as they wish, and Senators serve six years for as many terms as they wish.
In MEC, the system heavily reminisces that of real life, where congressmen serve a total of four weeks for as many terms as they wish, and Senators serve six weeks for as many terms as they wish. The President can serve up to two six-week terms.
Cranfield's stance became public after real life Texas Senator Ted Cruz announced his intentions to introduce legislation that imposes term limits for U.S. Congressmen. Cranfield responded by saying; "Why would I want to impose a limit on a lifetime career goal? It would be a complete and utter oxymoron. Besides, what else am I going to do with my life after college?"
=== Military Spending ===
Cranfield is a controversial figure when it comes to the national defense budget. During his time as the 6th Secretary of Defense, Cranfield heavily advocated for a raised budget. In the middle parts of 2018, the MEC defense spending numbers were on a constant decline with the Überfeld, Delaney, Georgian and Karturi eras. It is noted that Cranfield served as the Secretary of Defense under three of the four aforementioned Presidents. By the end of 2017 into 2018, the MEC defense budget had been what seemed like permanently stationed at around $450 billion, in which Cranfield noted as "blatantly absurd".
Cranfield was attacked repeatedly on the Presidential campaign trail, among other political aspirations regarding his stance on defense spending in the middle to late summer months of 2018. Cranfield always supported his stance of an upped military budget, that is until a slip of the tongue almost costed him the Season 15 Presidential Debate. Moderator Terrell McCann asked the candidates a question about military spending, in which Cranfield accidentally replied with raising the budget to $900+ billion. This sparked Libertarian candidate Joshua Huntington to attack his stance, saying the number is "incomprehensible". Cranfield later retracted his statement, saying he meant to say $700 billion.
Cranfield has stayed partners with the $700 billion mark since his early days, and still advocates for a raise in the spending as the 8th Secretary of Defense under President Diaz. In his confirmation, Cranfield said that his ultimate priority was to "work diligently with Congress to draft and execute a sufficient, coherent DoD budget". It is noted that he passed the confirmation with unanimous consent, henceforth notifying members of the community that Congress stands with his proposal and are willing to compromise such numbers.
=== Israel ===
Cranfield has a strong opinion in favor of the United States ally of Israel and supports the right-wing populist government of Benjamin Netanyahu. Cranfield has been known to heavily oppose Muslim rhetoric that degrades the Israelis, and has went as far to say that anti-Israel Muslims should not serve in the United States Federal Government, i.e., congress.
In 2019, Israel and the State of Palestine engaged in an Intifada-style conflict that lasted multiple days, starting with a terrorist attack in the Israeli capital of Jerusalem. Cranfield, as Secretary of Defense, advised President Diaz to not engage with American military intervention in fear of progressing the conflict further. Cranfield, as a vocal Neoconservativesupports common-sense military intervention, but feels as if the Israel conflict, being simply a terrorist attack, did not qualify for further American assistance and intelligence.
== See also ==
* Presidency of Trey Cranfield
* List of MEC Legislators
* List of MEC House of Representatives Leadership
* List of MEC Presidents
* List of MEC Board of Directors Members
* List of Chairs of the Republican National Committee
* List of MEC Secretaries of Defense
== Electoral History ==
February United States House of Representatives Election, 7th District
Party 	Party 	Candidate 	Votes	% 	±
 	Democrat 	✓ Jackson Hitchcock	39 	50.65%	
 	Republican 	Kelvin Hawthorne 	31 	40.26%	
 	Republican 	Trey Cranfield 	7 	9.09% 	
Turnout	Turnout 	Turnout 	77 	100% 	
 	Democratic hold	Democratic hold 	Swing	 	
March United States House of Representatives Election, 7th District
Party 	Party 	Candidate 	Votes	% 	±
 	Democrat 	✓ Terrell McCann Jr.	35 	52.24%	
 	Republican 	Trey Cranfield 	32 	47.76%	
Turnout	Turnout 	Turnout 	67 	100% 	
 	Democratic hold	Democratic hold 	Swing	 	
RNC Vice Chairman Election, March 2018
Party 	Party 	Candidate 	Votes	% 	±
 	Republican	✓ Trey Cranfield	17 	100%	
 	 	Unopposed 	 	 	
Turnout	Turnout 	Turnout 	17 	100%	
RNC Chairman Election, April 2018
Party 	Party 	Candidate 	Votes	% 	±
 	Republican	✓ Trey Cranfield	15 	78.95%	
 	Republican	JP Cenzoprano 	4 	21.05%	
Turnout	Turnout 	Turnout 	19 	100% 	
Republican Presidential Primaries, May 2018
Party 	Party 	Candidate 	Votes	% 	±
 	Republican	✓ Max Finland/Trey Cranfield	29 	60.42%	
 	Republican	Conservative Chico 	15 	31.25%	
 	Republican	Ryan Servis 	4 	8.33% 	
Turnout	Turnout 	Turnout 	48 	100% 	
15th MEC Presidential Election, June 2018
Party 	Party 	Candidate 	Votes	% 	±
 	Republican 	✓ Trey Cranfield 	29 	48.33%	
 	Democrat 	Ivor M 	26 	43.33%	
 	Independent 	Harvey Long 	5 	8.33% 	
Turnout	Turnout 	Turnout 	60 	100% 	
 	Republican gain from Democratic	Republican gain from Democratic	Swing	 	
July United States House of Representatives Election, 7th District
Party 	Party 	Candidate 	Votes	% 	±
 	Republican 	✓ Trey Cranfield	39 	42.39%	
 	Independent 	Dom Cons 	32 	34.78%	
 	Democrat 	Bryson Pittman 	21 	22.83%	
Turnout	Turnout 	Turnout 	92 	100% 	
 	Republican hold	Republican hold 	Swing	 	
October United States House of Representatives Election, 7th District
Party 	Party 	Candidate 	Votes	% 	±
 	Republican 	✓ Trey Cranfield	34 	54.84%	
 	Democrat 	Kelvin Hawthorne	25 	40.32%	
 	 	Write-in 	3 	4.84% 	
Turnout	Turnout 	Turnout 	62 	100% 	
 	Republican hold	Republican hold 	Swing	 	
November United States Senate Special Election, 5th District
Party 	Party 	Candidate 	Votes	% 	±
 	Independent	✓ Trey Cranfield 	28 	44.44%	
 	Democrat 	✓ Mark Kennedy Gallagher	24 	38.10%	
 	Republican 	Jon Ossoff 	8 	12.70%	
 	 	Write-in 	3 	4.76% 	
Turnout	Turnout 	Turnout 	63 	100% 	
November United States Senate Special Election Runoff, 5th District
Party 	Party 	Candidate 	Votes	% 	±
 	Independent 	✓ Trey Cranfield 	40 	51.28%	
 	Democrat 	Mark Kennedy Gallagher	36 	46.15%	
 	 	Write-in 	2 	2.56% 	
Turnout	Turnout 	Turnout 	78 	100% 	
 	Independent hold	Independent hold 	Swing	 	
November United States Senate Election, 3rd District
Party 	Party 	Candidate 	Votes	% 	±
 	Independent 	✓ Trey Cranfield	36 	57.14%	
 	Democrat 	Dom Cons 	21 	33.33%	
 	Republican 	Robert Leary 	6 	9.52% 	
Turnout	Turnout 	Turnout 	63 	100% 	
 	Independent hold	Independent hold	Swing	 	
Category:People
Category:Presidents