Darkstone Code

During the ongoing "war" between the Duncan Clan and the current Federation Government, Mr. Truman’s personal campaign office quietly opened.

Actually, for each presidential election, every party doesn’t just launch one individual to participate in the election; they might push forth two or three, or even four or five candidates.

Among them, aside from the core candidates, the others are just running alongside.

Does running alongside have no purpose?

No, this idea is incorrect.

Running alongside is still very useful, because it provides voters with more options.

For instance, some voters may dislike both the core candidate of the Progressive Party and the core candidate of the Conservative Party; without more roles, they might abstain or randomly fill the ballot.

After all, some companies offer small rewards to employees who successfully submit their ballots to encourage participation in voting.

Of course, these incentives aren’t due to the company’s kindness but rather because they need to supply more "ammunition" to the factions they support.

If someone dislikes the two core candidates, what happens when there’s an extra candidate?

Maybe there will be someone they like, or maybe not.

If it’s the former, this vote will have a clear political stance.

For instance, this year the Progress Party Committee decided on three running mates, which include an actor, a lawyer, and a teacher.

When the public votes for these individuals because they dislike others, the votes they hold are regarded as "votes with a valid party stance."

Simply put, voters cast their votes for candidates with the same political stance; as these running mates gradually fall behind and are eliminated in the race, out of emotion or various reasons, they might vote for others from the same political camp even if they do not favor them.

These running mates will also declare that after losing the "race" in stage competitions, they’ll publicly express hope that everyone continues supporting the candidate from the same party, referring to this as a form of spiritual heritage.

This is why even when many know that running mates won’t make it to the end, parties still put forth these individuals in the election.

They need to use the power in hand to cater to the preferences of the populace and finally transfer all strength to the needed individuals to clinch victory.

Of course, these running mates won’t receive too many resource allocations, as their tasks are transitional, and losing won’t displease them.

Especially for those not part of the core political circle, being a running mate is an honor, and some are willing to participate at their own expense, like celebrities.

This can effectively expand their influence and also gain the friendship of a party, which is quite advantageous.

In many people’s eyes, Mr. Truman might also be a running mate, even though the announcement wasn’t made by him personally or his campaign office, but by the Progress Party Committee.

Many still aren’t optimistic about Mr. Truman; there are too many shadows of the current President on him, and an announcement of resignation or not seeking reelection from the President will affect Mr. Truman’s campaign.

Within the Progressive Party, some friends believe he should leave the election to eight years later -

Since the President has not run for reelection, once the Progressive Party candidate wins, it will definitely seek reelection to the maximum extent.

Even if this President doesn’t perform outstandingly, the Progressive Party will ensure reelection because it relates to the development of the party.

But Mr. Truman eventually decided, taking Lynch’s advice, to run directly.

The campaign office is located not far from the President’s Mansion, in the administrative center. People have divided Bupen into three districts.

The administrative center, the financial center, and the commercial center, which aren’t official divisions but carry out self-initiated actions among the populace, choosing three representative streets to stand for the three centers.

In the new office, Mr. Truman’s mood was quite subtle.

At least in his perception, he shouldn’t have thought that he would have such an opportunity to run for that position.

So the feeling is quite fascinating!

He patted the chair in the living room; Lynch was fully responsible for the arrangement here, including furniture and decoration.

This place doesn’t look very luxurious, but the clean white walls are striking; Mr. Truman walked over, touched the wall, revealing a look of surprise, "Is this... paper?"

He turned to look at Lynch, thinking it was paint, white cement, lime, or something else, but never expected that the wall was paper.

He never heard of white wallpaper; Lynch smiled, patting the wall, "There are ten layers in total, sometimes we need to casually record something, inspiration comes so quickly but leaves just as swiftly."

"We shouldn’t waste the inspiration given by the Lord, so...", he smiled, "These are all writeable, drawable, and then we’ll organize them uniformly."

"Besides, this place doesn’t entertain others, so the decoration style doesn’t matter."

Mr. Truman nodded, "This method is excellent; what is that word called?"

They continued to tour the campaign office, as Lynch mentioned the word Mr. Truman wanted - pragmatism.

A new trend of thought is emerging within society, still weak, just budding.

After experiencing the Great Depression and alternating party governance, people began to reflect.

The consequence of reflection is the proliferation of various thoughts, among them one that is quietly growing - pragmatism!

What is pragmatism?

Simply put, when we do something, what benefits can it bring us?

If the benefits are plentiful, then we will act.

If the benefits aren’t enough or nonexistent, we won’t act.

Of course, pragmatism includes various different thoughts, like the blindly optimistic faction - this exemplifies the spirit symbol of the Federation!

These individuals believe that as long as they act, the future outcome will be good, even if it doesn’t seem good now; once completed, the outcome might improve.

Some argue that this isn’t a branch of pragmatism, but in reality, it is; though the blind optimism looks incredibly stupid, its core hasn’t changed, which is "what good can it bring if I act."

There’s also the rationalist faction, who pull out data or other relatively rational things for analysis before acting to ensure their final interest won’t change.

Some even define this rationalist pragmatism as "selfish notice," because when they view the development of an issue, all referenced factors are "whether it benefits oneself."

It is typical selfishness, yet it remains a branch of pragmatism.

Besides, there are many factions growing continually; some even believe pragmatism is not much different from capitalism since both ultimately pursue benefits!

Saying so isn’t wholly right; although both possess strong utilitarianism, they have ample differences.

People’s perception of pragmatism might hold some bias, but that isn’t crucial; what’s important is its existence, rapidly developing.

Next is the conference room, several small reception rooms, a large bathroom, and some relatively private rooms.

According to some scholars and experts, sometimes thinking in bathrooms or small environments assists in thinking capabilities.

There’s a relatively small kitchen with matching appliances here; sometimes, people might need to work overtime, and they won’t want to miss lunch or dinner, in Bupen, the most successful profession isn’t those in the financial center but chefs!

You might not need a stock broker, but surely you have interactions with chefs.

After touring the entire office, Mr. Truman was very satisfied; he didn’t like the overly flashy medieval style, like now, it’s quite good.

"Where do you plan to find office members?", looking at Lynch, he asked.

Lynch was a bit puzzled, "This should be your task to complete; you are the core of this team, not me."

Mr. Truman slightly shook his head, "Surely, I won’t have fewer things to deal with recently, so you need to help me share some, like...", he looked around, his gaze circling the room, finally back on Lynch, "...campaign office manager!"

This is an exceedingly important position, as Mr. Truman puts complete trust in Lynch currently, with no reservations.

The campaign office manager ... this position often goes to certain campaign team cores, and these people are either former Senators or previous Presidents or core members of influential political dynasties.

Lynch doesn’t fit in here, yet he didn’t hesitate to decline this role again, mentioning some famous campaign teams in the Federation.

To succeed in the Federation campaign, besides enough money operation, having a formidable campaign team is most critical.

The Federation has a team that aided seven Presidents to win elections; Lynch aims for them.

Of course, the costs for these people aren’t low.

This team is composed almost exclusively of former Congress Senators, whose relationship network and influence in the Federation’s political sphere are indisputable.

To invite them, it requires at least four million in fees and granting them the greatest power, but it is worthwhile.

After Lynch’s introduction, Mr. Truman hesitated, "Would this cause significant financial pressure?"

He feels that just the campaign team’s cost occupies so much money, and once things fully unfold, the expenses could be terrifying.

After all, he’s still a "rookie"!