Letter from the Dais

Dear Delegates,

Welcome to SAMUN VIII’s Constitutional Convention Committee! We have put together this background guide as a starting point for your research and hopefully a helpful reference source for the committee. We’ve been hard at work since the fall preparing to make this committee as exciting as possible, anticipating an action-packed, challenging, and most importantly, fun conference. We hope this committee will push your intelligence, develop your cooperation skills, and of course create new friendships.

A bit about us; our names are Daphne Schisgall and Becca Davis, and we will be serving as your co-chairs throughout the conference! We are both sophomores at Saint Ann’s school and have participated in various Model UN programs since sixth grade. We both attended a SAMUN conference in middle school and last year we were able to run our first committee.

SAMUN is composed solely of crisis committees and our committee is no exception. We are so lucky to have an amazing crisis staff, made up of Luca Zankel and Sam Hancock Saint Ann’s junior and sophomore respectively. They will work directly with all of you to make both their and your ideas become reality and we are so thankful for all the work they are already doing.

We would like to say one more time how excited we are to meet you all and moderate what we know will be thoughtful and lively debate! Model UN is one of the ways Daphne and I became friends and therefore we know how much it means to all of you to be able to do it in person. If you have any questions please email us at either rdavis.2025@saintannsny.org or dschisgall.2025@saintannsny.org.

Please note that all positions are timed as though in January 2024. Even if your position might shift jobs or rank in real life, your powers and job title are as of January 2024. 

Best Regards,

Becca Davis and Daphne Schisgall 

Historical Background

Following the 2016 federal elections, the United States political climate became increasingly polarized. Throughout the presidency of Donald Trump, long-established democratic practices were eroded by tyrannic policies and disloyalty towards what the United States stands for. 

In 2020, Former Vice-President Joe Biden was elected in a close race against incumbent President Trump. The tightness of the race along with Trump’s crippling ego prompted a movement titled Stop the Steal, in which Trump encouraged his supporters to prevent the physical electoral ballots from being counted. The result was an insurrection on January 6th, 2021 that left both Capitol police officers and rioters dead, an entire nation watching wide-eyed. 

Unfortunately (or fortunately), Donald Trump passed away from natural causes in April of 2023. Additionally, our 81-year-old president Joe Biden has decided that he may just be a little too old to continue his career in politics and will not run for a second term. While infuriated Trump supporters are striving to continue his legacy, claiming he was assassinated, the Democratic Party is fed up with old men in office. The 2024 election is sure to be the most crucial one since 1800.

Because Biden decided not to run as an incumbent, the Democratic playing field was left wide open. Many democratic politicians and celebrities alike threw their hat into the primary race, too many it turned out to be, as the result of the Democratic primaries were inconclusive. The Democratic ticket is now left to be decided by a brokered convention. The primary decisions no longer matter; any member of this committee can now run for presidential or vice presidential office (the ticket will be voted on separately).  

The same goes for the Republican party as their expected nominee has died (read above). If you’re a member of the GOP, you must decide whether to dive into the far right, stay “more central”, or actively work to reunite your party.

Throughout this committee our main goal will be to craft party forms for the next four years (the presidential term), with a secondary goal of selecting presidential and vice presidential candidates. You must work with your fellow delegates to craft a meaningful action plan on what you as a committee decide to be the most vital topics. Only then will we move forward to crafting our tickets.

Positions

                       Please read all positions, not just your own.

• Mitch McConnell (R) - Mitch McConnell is the senate majority leader from Kentucky. Although McConnell is recognized as a moderate Republican, he is not interested in any form of bipartisanship. His main goals are to thwart democrats and keep the Republicans in power. He proudly calls himself “The Grim Reaper” towards the Democratic Party.

• Ted Cruz (R) - Ted Cruz, a hard line conservative senator from Texas, is the most disliked member of the senate for Democrats and Republicans alike. Many of his colleagues would categorize him as self-promoting and selfish. As former senator Al Franken said, “I am probably Ted Cruz’s best friend in the senate, and I hate Ted Cruz.” 

• Lindsey Graham (R) - Lindsey Graham is a long-serving Republican Senator from South Carolina. Graham is a craven follower and flatterer as shown by his rapid switch from number one enthusiast for famous moderate war hero John McCain, to supporting McCain’s arch enemy Donald Trump. Graham is one of the leaders of Southern white conservatives. 

• Susan Collins (R) - Susan Collins is a senior United States senator from Maine who presents herself as a moderate Republican. She is often quartered by Democrats to be a partner in bipartisanship, but she frequently disappoints them. During the first Trump impeachment trial,  she did not vote to impeach him, as she claimed “Trump has learned his lesson.”

• Kim Kardashian (?) - Kim Kardashian (Kim K) is one of the most influential people in society today. Where she stands politically is presently unclear, and will develop throughout the course of the committee. 

• Mitt Romney (R) -  Mitt Romney is a moderate senator from Utah, a devoted Mormon and a former successful businessman. He ran against Obama in 2016 but lost. Additionally, he is a consistent critique of Donald Trump, and the only Republican senator to march in a Black Lives Matter protest.

• Ben Shapiro (R) -  Ben Shapiro is an American conservative political commentator, media host, columnist, and author. Ben Shapiro’s podcast The Ben Shapiro Show is widely popular among the most radical of conservatives. Additionally, at 17, Shapiro was the youngest columnist to be nationally syndicated. 

• Elon Musk (R) -  Elon Musk currently stands as the wealthiest person in the world. He is the CEO of Space-X, Tesla and the owner of Twitter. In the last few years, Musk has been criticized for his allowance of hate speech on Twitter. However, this has not dampened his popularity, and he is planning on sending the first humans to Mars in the next five years. 

• Claudia Conway (D) - While Claudia is not currently eligible for presidency, she has been a vocal advocate for lowering the presidential age to 18. In hopes of this reform, Claudia has begun her own presidential campaign on Twitter. Although she grew up in a Republican household, she has spoken out many times against her mother, Kellyanne, and her beliefs. 

• Kellyanne Conway (R) - Kellyanne Conway was the manager of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. She is one of many who strongly believe that Trump had his Diet-Coke poisoned by ANTIFA members. She is currently searching for a strong candidate to return the Republican party to the white house. 

• Rick Scott (R) - Richard Scott is the junior US senator in Florida. He has been in office since 2019. Prior to his election to the senate, he served as Florida’s governor.

• Gretchen Whitmer (D) - Gretchen Whitmer is the current governor of Michigan. Beloved by Democrats and heavily despised by some Republicans, her positions are typically progressive. 

• Bernie Sanders (I) - Bernie Sanders is a Democratic Socialist senator from Vermont who is now running for president. His strong  left-wing beliefs on social and economic issues have landed him a very sizable following. 

• Joe Manchin (D) - Joe Manchin is a Democratic senator from West Virginia. Due to his strong right-wing beliefs, he is the most conservative member of the Democratic senate, which puts him at odds with many Democrats. In January 2021, when the senate split 50/50, the pressure landed especially on him during legislative proposals. 

• Elizabeth Warren (D) - Elizabeth Warren is a liberal Democratic senator from Massachusetts who is now running for president. She is on the left flank of Democrats and has a fervent following in the election.

• Kamala Harris (D) - Kamala Harris is a senator from California who is currently running for the presidential race as a moderate Democrat. Like Klobuchar, she was a tough prosecutor, which worked against her during her campaign. 

• Chuck Schumer (D) - Chuck Shumer is a centrist minority leader of the senate from New York. Additionally, he holds the position of Dean of New York’s congressional delegation. His colleagues describe him as very pragmatic and wise.

• Cory Booker (D) - Cory Booker is a moderate senator from New Jersey who is running for president. Prior to this position, he was the very successful mayor of Newark. During his presidential run, he has gained lots of attraction due to his charismatic personality and influential speeches. His popularity has recently slightly declined, but he remains in competition. 

• Tammy Duckworth (D) - Tammy Duckworth, from Illinois, is a United States Senator, a position she’s maintained since 2017. Senator Duckworth is an activist for disability rights, as she was the first female double amputee in the Senate.

• Taylor Swift (D)-  Following her Eras tour, Taylor Swift has taken a surprising turn into the world of politics, and her fan base has remained loyal . While Swift is not currently running for president, her fans and supporters are strongly urging her to, and Taylor Nation is in utter support.