Forging America: My Campaign Manager is Roosevelt

Chapter 240 - 124: An Egg Without a Crack (Part 3)

Ethan quickly jotted in his notebook, "So, we need a smoking gun that proves Warren betrayed the workers."

"Exactly. Go check his voting records."

Leo looked at Karen.

"Karen, starting tomorrow, have your team dig up all of Russell Warren’s past voting records."

"I want a list."

"A list of ’Warren’s Crimes Against the Workers of Pennsylvania.’"

"We’re going to print a million copies and plaster them on every gas station, every bar, and every factory gate in Western Pennsylvania."

"We’re going to ask the people who’ve voted for him all these years one question: What has he done for you?"

Karen nodded, rapidly typing notes into her phone.

"Got it."

Leo raised his glass.

"Everyone, the strategy is set."

"Cheers."

"Cheers!"

The four glasses clinked together again.

Leo looked at his companions’ excited faces.

’He knew that naive part of him was gone for good.’

’But he didn’t regret it.’

"Bartender, check please."

Leo slapped a few crumpled bills onto the bar.

He pushed open the bar door, and the damp night wind rushed to meet him, instantly scattering the slight buzz from the alcohol.

The country music and boisterous noise from behind were cut off by the door, and the world became damp and quiet once more.

After that night, the skies over Pittsburgh never cleared.

The clouds hung low, pressing down heavily on the ridges of the Allegheny Mountains.

A light rain began to fall, enveloping the entire city in a bleak, damp chill.

「Three days passed to the sound of the rain.」

The rally-like excitement from the bar had long since faded, and coffee cups were piled high on the desks at campaign headquarters.

THUD.

A dull, heavy sound.

Karen Miller slammed a stack of documents, at least four inches thick, onto the center of the conference table.

It was a pile of printouts, their edges curled from being flipped through countless times. They were covered in a dense web of marks from different colored highlighters.

This was the fruit of her team’s labor: three full days and nights spent digging through public databases for every voting record, proposed bill, and committee transcript from Senator Russell Warren’s time in the Senate.

"It’s no use."

Karen pulled out a chair and collapsed into it, reaching up to rub her throbbing temples.

Her voice was laced with frustration.

"It’s all just waste paper."

Leo sat at the head of the table, twirling a pen in his hand.

He looked at the pile of documents, his brow furrowed.

"What do you mean?" Ethan asked, picking up the top document. "Any politician who’s been in Washington long enough is bound to have holes in their voting record."

"Warren’s different." Karen shook her head. "He’s not your average politician. He’s a slippery old eel."

Karen pointed at the pile of documents and began to recap her findings.

"Our original strategy was to attack him for supporting outsourcing and for selling out Pennsylvania’s manufacturing sector for the benefit of Wall Street. It was the approach that best fit our class-warfare narrative."

"It should have been a slam dunk," Karen added. "He’s a Republican. Logically, he should have unconditionally supported any policy pushed by the Republican Party, especially bills that help big corporations lower their costs."

"But, see for yourselves."

Karen opened a document showing the voting record for a supplementary clause to the North American Free Trade Agreement.

"Warren voted against it."

Leo froze.

"He voted against it? But he’s a Republican, and that was a Republican-backed bill."

"That’s right, he voted against it." Karen scoffed. "He even gave a thirty-minute speech denouncing the harm free trade does to domestic industry. That speech is still on his campaign website’s homepage, under the title ’For Pennsylvania’s Last Blast Furnace.’"

Ethan quickly flipped through the rest of the records, his expression growing darker.

"That’s not all," Ethan added. "He also voted for the auto industry bailout after the financial crisis. The mainstream Republican opinion at the time was to let Detroit go bankrupt, but he sided with the Union."

"He also proposed twelve amendments to protect the state’s strategic resources," Karen continued. "They all ultimately failed due to lack of funding or procedural issues, so not a single one actually became law."

"But in the congressional record, Russell Warren’s name will forever be associated with protecting industry and supporting workers."

Frank, sitting in the corner, scratched his head as he listened.

"So this old geezer’s a good guy?" Frank asked, looking confused. "Then what the hell are we attacking? Aren’t we just trying to frame an innocent man?"

"No, Frank."

Leo spoke up, his voice low and deep.

"That’s what’s so terrifying about him."

Leo picked up a document, staring at Warren’s flamboyant signature on it.

"He voted no because he knew that bill was going to pass anyway. Even without his vote, it would have become law with an overwhelming majority."

"He was putting on a show."

Leo’s gaze sharpened.

"It’s a political calculation. The Party Whip allows him to break ranks on these inconsequential votes to bolster his reputation back in his home district."

"He cuts a deal in Washington, letting his financial backers get the trade agreement they want. Then he comes back to Pennsylvania, stands before the workers, waves around his record of voting ’no,’ and proclaims, ’Look, I did my best! It was Washington that failed us.’"