novelnext Chapter 141 Power First, Party Membership Later
Chapter 141 Power First, Party Membership Later
Chapter 141 Power First, Party Membership Later (Bonus Chapter for 29000 Monthly Tickets)
The mayor's office is on the third floor of the city hall.
Leo opened the door, hung his coat on the hanger, and before he could even pour himself a glass of water, the phone rang.
Leo glanced at the caller ID.
Washington, D.C.
It's obvious who it is without even guessing.
At this point in time, the only person in Washington who could call him was that old man from Vermont.
Leo picked up the receiver.
"Leo!"
Daniel Sanders's roar was so loud that Leo didn't even need to put the receiver to his ear to hear him.
"Are you crazy?!"
"I saw it on TV! What did you do in court? You blatantly tore up the contract! You turned a franchise agreement approved by the city council into a worthless piece of paper right in front of the judge!"
"This is a declaration of war against all capital! This is destroying the cornerstone of business rules!"
"And Murphy! I made myself perfectly clear: to preserve our faction's strength and minimize losses, he should have withdrawn from the race gracefully. And what happened? He listened to your instigation and insisted on continuing this damn campaign!"
"Without funding from the Democratic National Committee, without the party's endorsement, and now even the business community treats you like a mad dog, how can Murphy win a statewide election? How can he compete with Warren?"
"Are you going to use your lousy port that's still just on paper?"
"Or are you going to rely on your meager public opinion, which could backfire at any moment?"
"Have you ever considered what those slightly more moderate donors will think of your behavior? What will they think of us progressives? They'll think we're a bunch of unscrupulous bandits!"
The sound of someone slamming their hand on the table came through the receiver.
"The bigger picture! How many times have I told you about the bigger picture!"
Sanders was heartbroken.
"We've finally built up a little advantage in Congress, finally made the establishment wary of us. We need stability, we need to prove that progressives can govern the country, that they are rational, not a bunch of crazy people who just want to overturn tables."
"And what about you?"
"You instigated a riot in Pittsburgh, sacrificing our overall strategy in Pennsylvania, and even across the entire Midwestern swing states, for the sake of one city's gain or loss!"
"You've made everyone think we're a bunch of unpredictable destroyers!"
Leo listened quietly.
He put the receiver on the table, walked to the water dispenser, and filled himself a glass of cold water.
He tilted his head back and drank it down; the icy liquid flowed into his stomach, suppressing the churning restlessness within him.
Sanders' anger is understandable.
From Washington's perspective, and on the chessboard of partisan politics, Leo's actions were indeed a disaster.
He broke the unspoken agreement, overturned the table, and left all the respectable people humiliated.
But Leo stands in Pittsburgh.
He stood on muddy ground, and behind him were workers crying for food.
Different perspectives lead to different overall views.
When the roaring on the other end of the phone gradually subsided, leaving only heavy breathing, Leo picked up the receiver again.
"senator."
Leo's voice was calm and cold.
"Are you finished speaking?"
"If you don't have any other explanation, then it's over," Sanders replied coldly. "I've already had Marcus draft a statement; we will condemn this breach of contract, and we must cut ties."
"Cut?"
Leo let out a short laugh.
"Senator, is your so-called 'big picture' just about getting me and Murphy dead so that some puppet in Philadelphia can take over?"
"Do you think that by sacrificing us, the establishment will be grateful to you? Will they give more seats to the progressives? Will they compromise on your bills?"
Don't be naive.
Leo sat in the chair, leaning back with his feet resting on the edge of the desk.
"You're saying there's no victory without a party? You're saying we're nothing without the support of the Democratic National Committee?"
"You are wrong."
"Power came first, then political parties."
Leo stared at the chandelier on the ceiling.
"The Senate seat belongs to the winner. It doesn't belong to the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, nor to the White House chief of staff."
"If Murphy loses, even if he kneels on the steps of Washington, even if he gets all the party endorsements, he's still a loser. Those big shots won't even give him a second glance; they'll just sweep him into the dustbin of history like trash."
"But what if he wins?"
"If he relied on that lousy port, and on us mad dogs, to carve a bloody path through the Pennsylvania wasteland, defeat Warren, and take that seat."
"What will the National Committee do then?"
"They would kneel down and beg him to come back."
"They would send the best resources to his office, and they would praise him as a hero of the party and a contributor to the recovery of lost territory."
"In this country, the victors are not blamed."
"If we win on our own, then the party is just an ornament for us; if we win through the party, then we are just an ornament for the party."
3
"We chose the former."
There was silence on the other end of the phone.
The underlying nature of politics is always that the victor is king and the loser is villain.
This is the ultimate form of realism.
"You—" Sanders' voice was hoarse, "You really think you can win on your own?"
"We can win."
Leo sat up straight, his voice softening.
"Daniel."
Leo changed his name.
"Actually—we have never left the progressive movement."
"Our goals are aligned. We all want to beat Warren, we all want to improve the lives of workers, and we all want to break the oligopoly."
"It's just that our paths are different."
"I know your current predicament," Leo's tone became respectful. "You are in Washington and have to balance the various forces. You cannot openly support our rule-breaking behavior because that would offend all the big spenders and break ties with the establishment."
"This will affect your reputation in the Senate."
"We understand, and we accept it."
Leo paused for a moment, then presented the plan he had prepared long ago.
"So let's break up in public."
"You can publicly criticize me for breaking the rules, you can issue a statement accusing Murphy of being reckless, you can even let Marcus say in the media that we are misguided radicals."
"It's okay."
"We don't need your public support, nor do we need your funding. Build that firewall and keep us out."
"In this way, no matter how much trouble we cause in Pennsylvania, whether we win or lose, the fire won't reach you, and it won't affect your plans in Washington."
"You are safe."
Leo tapped his fingers lightly on the table.
"But please give us a chance."
"Please maintain a tacit silence and don't actually point your guns at us."
"If we lose, you can stand on our corpses without any burden and say: I warned them long ago."
"But if we win—"
"Murphy remains your most loyal ally in the Senate."
"Pittsburgh remains the model for bringing your vision to life."
"We will return to your camp with the spoils of victory and the territory of Pennsylvania."
"You won't lose out on this deal."
"Zero risk, high return."
"All you have to do is make one move: publicly insult us a few times, then turn around and pretend you can't see what we're doing."
Leo paused, then said, "You know better than I why Warren's speech in Scranton was so effective at beating us. It's because we were labeled as Washington progressives."
"As long as we bear this label, we will be forever dragged into the quagmire of identity politics. They will attack our culture and our stance."
"We need to tear off this label."
"Only through this public break, only by letting voters see that we have been abandoned by Washington and suppressed by our own party, can we completely shake off the suspicion of being a puppet of the Democratic Party."
"Only then can we truly win over those angry centrist voters by being a forgotten party."
"This is for Pittsburgh, for Murphy's election, and for your long-term interests."
"The cutting is so that we can perform better."
On the other end of the phone, Sanders slowly loosened his grip on the receiver.
He leaned back in his chair, looking out the window at the view of Washington.
He understood.
This is an extremely well-developed political proposal.
Through this "fake break," Leo not only proactively severed his overt ties with Sanders, providing Sanders with perfect political cover, but more importantly, he found a completely new narrative path for Murphy's campaign.
Sanders doesn't have to take any risks, yet retains the possibility of reaping the rewards in the future.
This is practically taking political opportunism to an art form.
Sanders sighed.
"----All right."
"Don't expect me to give you a single penny in the remaining months of the midterm elections."
"And don't expect me to go to Pennsylvania to support you, not even for one show."
"If a reporter asks me for my opinion on this matter, I will say that I am very disappointed in you, and that your actions do not conform to the principles of the Party."
"I wouldn't even vote against the Democratic National Committee's proposed sanctions against you."
Leo smiled; he knew that Sanders had agreed.
"That's enough, Daniel."
"I can say that sincerely," Leo said.
"As long as you don't point your real guns at us, as long as you don't personally come and undermine us."
"We would be extremely grateful."
"Go on," Sanders said. "Go fight your battles, and don't die a horrible death."
"beep-
'
The phone hangs up.
Leo put down the receiver and felt his whole body relax.
The most dangerous hurdle has been overcome.
He preserved his and Murphy's independence while also stabilizing the situation at home.
"Wonderful."
Roosevelt's voice echoed in my mind, filled with unreserved praise.
"Leo, you just executed a perfect political severance and reconnection."
"In politics, allies don't necessarily have to stand hand in hand."
"Sometimes, attacking and blaming each other for survival can actually make the alliance more solid."
"You gave Sanders face, and you also gave him substance."
"You allowed him to maintain his position in Washington without any scruples, while also preserving that hidden connection between you."
"That's what maturity is."
Roosevelt appeared to be applauding.
"You no longer act like a child, crying and begging for adult approval and protection."
"You're starting to learn how to manage your allies."
"You begin to understand that so-called allies are nothing more than communities that maximize their own interests."
"As long as the interests remain, formal divisions are completely unimportant."
Leo stood up and walked to the window.
The sunlight finally pierced through the clouds.
"Yes, Mr. President."
Leo looked at the golden light.
"Now, we are truly free."
"Without the entanglements of Washington, without the constraints of partisanship."
"We can fight this war in our own way now."
"I have an idea that has been in my mind for a long time, and now it is time to put it into practice."
>