novelnext Chapter 51 Dissecting Elections
Chapter 51 Dissecting Elections
Leo began to explain his overall strategic thinking on the election to his team.
Everyone present fell silent.
Frank and Sarah wanted to know what Leo's plans were to fight against Cartwright and Morganfield.
Karen and Ethan, two professionals from Washington, wanted to use this presentation to truly understand the mindset of the leader of their newly joined team, a young man favored by both Sanders and Murphy.
Leo drew a timeline on the whiteboard.
"Gentlemen, our upcoming war will mainly consist of two phases."
"The first stage, which is also the most crucial stage for us, is the Democratic Party's primary election. According to the election schedule, the primary election will be held in five months."
"If we can defeat incumbent Mayor Cartwright in the primaries and successfully secure the Democratic nomination, then we've already won 80 percent of this election."
"Pittsburgh has been a 'deep blue' city for the past fifty years. That is to say, the vast majority of voters in our city tend to vote for the Democratic Party."
"If we can secure the Democratic nomination, we will have a huge natural advantage in the final race against our Republican opponents."
"Therefore, all our energy now must be focused on how to win this party primary."
"To win the primary, we must first understand a very basic question."
"Who exactly are the voters who participate in the party primary election?"
Sarah answered the question immediately.
"The primary election is not attended by all the citizens of Pittsburgh, but only by those voters who explicitly registered as members of the Democratic Party during voter registration."
"This group of people is usually more politically conscious than ordinary voters, their political stance is more steadfast, and their voter turnout is higher."
“Absolutely right, Sarah.” Leo nodded. “And according to our previous data, registered Democratic voters in Pittsburgh can be mainly divided into the following groups.”
He drew several circles of different sizes on the whiteboard.
"The first, and largest segment, consists of union members and their families, represented by Frank and others. This group is our most important base."
"Second, there are minority voters living in the city's eastern and northern neighborhoods, primarily African American and Latino Americans. This group has historically been a stronghold for the Democratic Party."
"Thirdly, there are middle-class liberal intellectuals living in upscale neighborhoods around university towns and city centers. They are mainly university professors, lawyers, doctors, and young people working in high-tech companies."
"The last one is the community strongholds that are firmly controlled by local Democratic Party branches and the establishment. The leaders of these communities, such as pastors and community activists, have intricate connections with Cartwright and can effectively mobilize voters in their communities to vote for Cartwright."
"Now, let's analyze our respective strengths and weaknesses compared to Cartwright."
"Cartwright's advantage lies in the fact that, after eight years of management, he has firmly controlled the last segment I mentioned earlier, namely the establishment's strongholds. At the same time, through exchanges of favors with some upper-level union leaders, he still maintains a portion of traditional support among union members."
"Our advantage lies in two points."
"First, we have overwhelming support among blue-collar workers at the bottom, especially among the unemployed and underemployed. This is our stronghold, a position we absolutely cannot lose."
"Secondly," Leo's tone became excited, "because of Alex Cortez's scandal, a large number of radical young people and idealistic student voters who originally belonged to him have now become a group of homeless drifting voters."
"Therefore, whoever can successfully obtain this portion of the votes in this primary election will gain an advantage."
After a clear analysis of the voter structure and their respective strengths and weaknesses, Leo returned to the core issue.
"Now, let's go back to our initial assumption."
"If Morganfield really supports Cartwright at all costs, what will he do? What impact will his massive injection of funds have on this election?"
"First, information saturation attack."
"They will buy out primetime slots on all local Pittsburgh TV and radio stations. They will bombard us with negative comments 24/7 on all social media platforms, including YouTube, Facebook, and X."
"They will repeat their smear campaign against me a thousand times, ten thousand times, until even the moderate voters begin to doubt and fear us."
"Secondly, bribery on the ground."
"They would hire thousands of temporary workers at far above-market wages to go door-to-door campaigning for Cartwright."
"And we can only rely on Frank's limited number of volunteers, who are driven entirely by enthusiasm."
"This will put enormous pressure on our efficiency and coverage in ground mobilization."
Third, economic coercion.
"Morganfield controls tens of thousands of jobs in Pittsburgh and the surrounding area. He doesn't need to make public threats; he can simply spread anxiety in the factories—if that radical Wallace is elected, the group may have to consider reducing its local production lines to mitigate the risks."
"To keep their jobs, even those workers who support us might be forced to side with Cartwright at the polls."
Fourth, completely shut down social relations.
"Many charities, nonprofits, and even church food banks in Pittsburgh rely on annual donations from the Morganfield Foundation to keep operating."
"Once he hints at cutting off funding, those community leaders, pastors, and philanthropists will immediately become Cartwright's most ardent lobbyists, using their prestige in the community to suppress our voices."
"This is the true power of capital; it uses resources for survival as weapons to hold the entire city hostage."
Leo's analysis gave Frank and Sarah an incredibly clear understanding of the whole picture of a modern political election.
They finally understood just how arduous and brutal the war they were about to participate in truly was.
Karen and Ethan were incredibly impressed by Leo's amazing strategic analytical skills.
They initially thought Leo was just a community activist who acted on passion and intuition.
But what they are seeing now is a strategist who can calmly analyze the electorate, accurately assess the opponent's situation, and formulate clear operational intentions for a war that can last for months.
Karen looked at Leo with a look of genuine approval in her eyes.
"Leo, your analysis just now was more accurate and thorough than the analysis report I bought for $50,000 from a political consulting firm in Washington."
"I'm starting to believe that you might actually be able to be a good campaign manager."
Ethan Hawke nodded as well.
"Now I understand why Senator Daniel Sanders speaks so highly of you."
"You were born knowing how to run an election."