"Rules and Restrictions Suddenly Seem Like Opportunities"

Congratulations to Justin Nickels, the new mayor of Manitowoc, Wisconsin! The 22-year-old managed to juggle college courses, a day-job as a grocery store cashier, and an effective mayoral campaign against the 39-year-old alderman Dave Soeldner, whom Nickels beat by a mere 16 votes.

This young up-and-comer has arrived thanks to a fundamental awareness of the modern political playing field and how it's navigated. Like the Prince of Coins, he's both an idealist and a pragmatist, in whose hands rules and restrictions suddenly seem more like opportunities. While it's easy to put on the show of a good campaign with a slick website, in these days of low voter turnout it's really still all about making contact with actual people in the real world, cultivating a presence that will motivate people to act in their own best interest (which coincidentally happens to be his as well).

The Prince of Coins is chock full of ideas, but they are only valuable to him to the extent that he can channel them directly into concrete results. He's almost single-minded in his approach, which makes him thoroughly dependable, but his youthful spirit and quick wits give him ambitions beyond the materialism of his suit, making him more approachable than, say, the King. If you (like myself) are not much like this in your everyday life, then this card is most likely meant to steer you toward a duty that could use more attention; for those of you who can already relate, then hopefully Nickel's story will be an affirmation, an incentive to keep up the good work.

Previously On Arcanalogue: The Prince of Coins