Chapter 518 - 239: Acknowledgment from the Republican Party
Leo’s pupils contracted slightly.
For that name to appear here was, in itself, a huge anomaly.
As one of the most radical members of the Democratic Party, Leo had always been a target of vitriolic attacks from the Republican media in Washington.
In their propaganda, he was the specter of socialism, a sinner destroying the values of the United States.
But now, they had called him directly.
"Mr. Taylor," Leo’s voice was remarkably calm. "If I recall correctly, your name appears quite often on Fox News, usually accompanied by the most vicious attacks on me and my policies."
"If you’re calling to declare war, I believe we’re already on the battlefield."
A light chuckle came from the other end of the line. "No, Mr. Mayor, I’m not here to sell you on policy. I’m here to express our goodwill. We’ve been watching your moves in Pennsylvania, and I must say, they’ve been brilliant."
"You’ve almost single-handedly turned the system the Democratic Party spent decades building in that state completely upside down. We in Washington particularly relished the scene where you backed that hypocrite Campbell into a corner."
Leo said nothing, listening quietly.
"We noticed your pragmatism a few months ago, during the vote on that two-billion-US-Dollar bill."
Taylor continued.
"We showed you our sincerity back then. Although some of the hardliners in our party had strong objections, as you saw, those four crucial ’yes’ votes ended up in the box."
Leo’s heart skipped a beat.
’So that’s how it was.’
He had always thought those four votes were purely the result of the energy Lobbying Group’s efforts—money buying power.
Now it seemed things were far from that simple.
Without the tacit approval of the Republican Party’s leadership, or even their help in fanning the flames, those four Senators would never have dared to switch sides at such a critical moment.
They had been watching him even back then.
"As for the Critical Infrastructure Protection Bill..."
Taylor’s voice took on a perfectly measured tone of regret.
"We are genuinely sorry about that. That was a deal between the Leader of the Senate and the insurance company lobbyists. You know how it is in this circle; sometimes, we have to bow to our benefactors."
"But, it also allowed you to see the Democratic Party’s true colors, didn’t it?"
Taylor’s tone became extremely seductive.
"Look at how they’ve treated you. You won Pittsburgh for them. You held the line for them in the Rust Belt. And what was the result? When you wanted to get something real done, to enact some reforms, how did they repay you?"
"They blocked your data, obstructed your bill, and they even tried to label the people you support as terrorists."
"In the eyes of those elites, you’ll always be an outsider, an unruly barbarian."
"They will never truly accept you."
"So?" Leo asked coldly. "The Republican Party will accept me?"
"We don’t need to accept you, Leo. What we need is a consensus."
Taylor’s voice was full of confidence.
"Take a close look at your platform."
"You oppose globalization. You believe free trade has destroyed the industrial base of the United States. We completely agree on that point."
"You oppose extreme environmental dogma. You support fracking and the revival of heavy industry. We’re wholeheartedly in favor of that, too."
"You emphasize law and order, the interests of the working class, and an ’America First’ supply chain."
"To be honest, if we covered up the name on your speeches and tweaked the parts about the Union a little..."
"Your ideology actually has a surprising degree of overlap with our core demands."
"Compared to those woke Democrats who are obsessed with gender pronouns and welfare for illegal immigrants, you’re more like one of us."
Leo fell silent.
Taylor was right.
The populism of the Rust Belt was, in essence, a product of the convergence of left and right.
The workers didn’t care if you were left or right; they just wanted their era back.
And Leo’s policies stood right on that blurry borderline.
"We just want to reach a tacit understanding."
Taylor finally laid out his core proposal.
"On certain key issues in the future, if you need some fire support from right-wing media to attack Campbell, or if you need our cooperation in the State Assembly..."
"Even if it’s just to throw the Democratic Party into more chaos, we’d be happy to oblige."
"For example, your Mutual Aid Alliance bill. While we are ideologically opposed to big-government healthcare, if that bill can bring down Campbell and split the Democratic Party in Pennsylvania..."
"I think we’d be very happy to see it get some unexpected votes in the State Assembly."
This was a deal.
A deal that required no signatures, no promises, not even a face-to-face meeting.
The Republican Party would provide the bullets, and Leo would be responsible for pulling the trigger.
There was only one goal: throw the Democratic Party into chaos, throw Pennsylvania into chaos.
"I’ll consider it."
Leo gave a noncommittal answer.
"Excellent." Taylor laughed. "That’s enough. We look forward to your performance, Mr. Mayor."
「The call ended.」
Leo tossed his phone onto the desk and sank deep into his chair.
’Mr. President,’ Leo said in his mind. ’Did you hear all that?’
’I did.’
Roosevelt’s voice was grave.
’No wonder the previous deal went so smoothly. No wonder those energy lobbyists were able to handle the Senators so easily.’
’I always felt it was a little too smooth, abnormally so.’
’It turns out they’ve had their eyes on you for a long time.’
’They’re investing in you.’
Leo nodded. "They see me as a knife to stab into the Democratic Party."
’Exactly,’ Roosevelt analyzed. ’For the Republican Party, this is all preparation for the next general election.’
’They see your influence in Pennsylvania, they see your ability to mobilize those blue-collar voters.’
’They want to use you to divide the Democratic Party.’
’As long as you keep causing trouble and attacking the Establishment Faction, the Democratic base will fracture, and swing voters will be disgusted.’
’Even if the people you control don’t end up voting for the Republican Party, as long as they become completely disillusioned with the Democrats and choose to stay home and not vote, that’s a huge help to the Republicans.’
Roosevelt’s tone was certain.
’I know you’ll eventually accept Taylor’s proposal, Leo. To people like us, party labels are just coats that can be changed at any time.’
’However, before you decide to start cozying up to the Republican Party, you must first solve a problem within your own team.’
Roosevelt reminded him.
"What problem?"
’You need to deal with someone’s emotions first.’
"Who?"
’Ethan Hawke.’