Stardock News (thanks Frans) has the official announcement of The Political Machine, an upcoming politics simulation from Stardock first revealed then the game's official website went online (story). Word is: "The Political Machine is scheduled to be released in June 2004 at most retail outlets. Stardock will be starting a public beta of the game starting April 8th via its Drengin.net (www.drengin.net) gaming network." Here's a bit more:

In the game, players must campaign, raise money, take out advertisements, win endorsements, and even go on cable TV news shows such as the O’Maley Factor, HardHitter, Barry King, and more to answer tough questions on the issues of the day. The game map uses real demographic information to accurately portray the political landscape of the United States. Different states are more “liberal” or “conservative” than others. The political issues they care about differ from state to state. How candidates respond to these issues determines how strong their support is with their political base as well as wooing the all-important independent voters as well.