Do you have what it takes to be president? Today Stardock announced the 2012 edition of its popular political strategy game, The Political Machine. Play as Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich or create your own candidate from scratch.

Players take to the campaign trail against a computer controlled opponent or a human challenger over the Internet. The goal: win the hearts and minds of America’s voters to achieve victory in the 2012 presidential election.

The Political Machine 2012 features updated political topics from across the United States. Issues such as Afghanistan, the economy, Obamacare, income inequality, gay rights, and the national debt have been integrated into the game’s election database. Regional issues such as “right to work”, state minimum wage, local environmental policies, farm subsidies and more require the candidate to walk a tight rope between appealing to the widest range of voters and appearing to “flip flop”.

The 2012 version includes user interface and graphical improvements, new gameplay features and enhancements to update in-game topics based on new polling data after release.

The Political Machine 2012 will be available this Summer for $9.95 through most digital distributors. It requires a Windows PC and an Internet connection to download.

Visit www.politicalmachine.com to learn more.