Does winning endorsements at the beginning of a game help that much?

I'm getting my butt kicked by Woodrow Wilson and so I was wondering if winning endorsements at the beginning of a game help that much?
7,217 views 5 replies
Reply #1 Top
Winning endorsements usually only helps at the beginning. The biggest advantage is an awareness boost. By the end of the game, you should have 100% awareness in almost every key state. The endorsement at that point is just an issue boost and usually the 10 or 15 point boost to your issue score is dwarfed by the massive effect of TV and even radio ads.

The AI uses the endorsements to boost his awareness and that helps him steal little states, but against the upper level AI you really have to focus on the minimum number of states anyway, so it doesn't matter too much.
Reply #2 Top
getting endorsements (as well as advertising and speeches) also helps to boost how important that issue is to people. Endorsements sorta give you double advantage because they boost your ratings on a subject and how important that issue is to people.
Reply #3 Top
To me, endorsments are kinda like a flash in the pan. Yes, they do increase awareness and boost the issue, but after a couple of turns, it goes back down to normal. As an experiment, put the map on awareness mode and win 3-4 endorsements. You'll see awareness stays the same. Then try it again with polling data. If you're not campaigning, you'll see the states sway to your side, then back to normal. There is little long-lasting effect, so I agree that it's good only early in the game, or week 39-41.
Reply #4 Top
Unless you do it on week 41, I have found it best to just use the precious capital on a couple of extra operatives - a much more effective tool. One smear merchant has virtually the same effect and endorsement would have on a state, and it's permanent.
Reply #5 Top
I use endorsements differently depending on the level of my opponents. I have found the endorsements to be less valuable against harder opponents and, like the poster above, use the capital on operatives instead. But in the easier rounds of the campiagn mode and on low settings in quick game, getting endorsements makes a big difference.