The Political Machine 2020 – How to Win on the Masochistic Difficulty

In this guide, I will explain how to win on the hardest difficulty in the Political Machine 2020. It will be explained in 5 crucial steps.

Step 1: Select a Good Candidate

Note: Credit goes to CaptainSiDog

Though it may be common Knowledge, you need to pick a good Candidate. If you don’t know, each Candidate has different Statistics.

They are:

• Stamina (How much Stamina a Candidate has at the start of a turn)
• Intelligence (Higher amounts means more responses are available during an Interview)
• Charisma (Increase effectiveness of Ads and Speeches)
• Media Bias (Allows for a higher amount of Ideology Points at Town Halls)
• Minority Appeal (Higher it is, the more votes you will receive from Minority Voters)
• Experience (Changes how much it costs to purchase Operatives)
• Starting Money (How much money you start with)

For example, here is Joe Biden’s Stats:

He has the lowest Stamina Level, but he has High Charisma and Intelligence. He has a lot of Media Bias, Minority Appeal, and Experience. He also starts with a lot of money.

If you want to win, you need to pick someone that has good stats. I’m not saying create a candidate and max out the Stats (Which you actually can’t do because you would need infinite points and if you did that then you would not be able to actually get Achievements), I’m instead saying that you should pick someone with good stats. At the end of the Guide I’ll put links to my Custom Candidates so that you can download them and use them.

Step 2: Secure Florida

In every election, in game and In Real Life, Florida is key. Though is doesn’t have the most electoral votes, it has a large amount. Meaning that if you are a Democrat, you will win if you get Florida and all of the other Democrat states. If you are a Republican, you won’t always win if you get Florida and the other Republican states, but it will get you really close to winning. Florida is also a State where many starting top issues are supported fully by Democrats, Independents, and Republicans. This means that if you support any of the top issues in Florida, you will probably win it.

I won in this election by winning the usual Democratic States along with Florida (Sorry, but my picture of the final Electoral Map was lost).

Step 3: Choose a Good Running Mate

When you choose your Running Mate, which is in Week 11, they have the same Stats as if you were using them as your candidate. Though Running Mates only go States to States giving speeches, they can be very useful if you choose a good Running Mate.

For Example, Here’s Kamala Harris’ Stats:

You can see that she has really good Stats, so if I pick her it is likely that I’ll win. Also, the State that your Running Mate is from matters as well. This is because you get an Enthusiasm boost in whatever State that your Running Mate is from.

Step 4: Go onto all of the Interview Shows

Throughout the game, you will be invited onto 4 different Interview Shows where you will be asked between 2 and 4 questions. Based on how you respond, you will end up with getting between 0 and 5 Ideology Points after the Interview. Also, the Audience’s Response is based off of the type of Audience the Show has. So respond based off of the Audience.

Here is the Audience of each of the Shows:

• Tucker Carson Tonight (Mostly Conservative Audience, some Independents)
• Late Night Show (Mostly Liberal Audience, some Independents)
• Good Day! (Mixed, some Liberals, some Conservatives, and some Independents)
• Ben Sharp Show (Mostly Conservative Audience, and some Independents)

Here is an Example of a question and the Audience’s response to my answer:

As you can see, the Audience liked my response. If you want to win, you have to appeal to the Audience of whatever show you are on.

Step 5: Purchase as Many Ideology Purchases as Possible

One of the cool things about the Political Machine 2020 is that you can build up your Ideology with Ideology Points.

There are three main ways to obtain Ideology Points:

1. Go to Town Halls and turn Stamina into Ideology Points
2. Go to Political Opportunities and ask for Ideology Points
3. Go on Interview Shows and get a good response from the Audience

You can use Ideology Points to get a boost and it is a quick way to obtain more support. For example, here is the things that Joe Biden can start with:

As you can see, each of them lead to one or more other Ideology Purchases. Also, each of the starting Purchases cost 3 points. However, after you or your Opponent purchase an Ideology Purchase, both your costs and their costs go up by one point.

Each Ideology Purchase has different effects, for example, here is National Mask Mandate Ideology Purchase:

As you can see, there is a sharp rise in Democrat Importance if I Purchase it. There is only a subtle rise in Republican and National Importance if I Purchase it. However, I get +50 Issue Stance and 4% Voter Enthusiasm bonuses. But, Trump gets a 1% Voter Enthusiasm Bonus. By choosing the right Ideology Purchases at the right time, you can win by a large margin.

Conclusion

To wrap up, if you are trying to win on the hardest difficulty, remember these steps:

1. Select a Good Candidate
2. Secure Florida
3. Choose a Good Running Mate
4. Go onto all of the Interview Shows
5. Purchase as Many Ideology Purchases as Possible

If you remember all of those steps, you will be able to win. Good Luck!