Chapter 1192: Chapter 1190: Speaking Up Again

Many people hope to have their own office in the city center of Bupen, which is perhaps a lifelong dream for many professionals.

It seems like... this should be easy to achieve, since this is Bupen. As long as you have money, you can definitely rent an office.

Most people think like this, but they face two problems.

Either the rent is too high, making it impossible for ordinary people to afford the downtown office rent in Bupen City, which is a breathtaking price!

Or cheap rent is only available to certain designated people. After all, this is Bupen, a place where capital and politics intersect.

Here, you can find a 500-square-meter office for just $165 a month, and also see a 100-square-meter office for $2000 a month.

They could even be next to each other!

Mrs. Tracy has a nice office here, about 200 square meters. It’s not too big, but definitely not small, with a monthly rent of $650.

This price might not even afford a 50-square-meter space elsewhere.

This luck is thanks to her uncle, a Shepherd in one of the many dioceses of the Federation. When she expressed her desire to set up an office in Bupen, someone quickly brought rental notices to her door.

A workplace with a private campaign office sign, Mrs. Tracy’s face showed little joy as she encountered trouble again.

She never intended to campaign in a Progressive Party stronghold state. She doesn’t have that kind of Energy within the Progressive Party to get the committee and its chairman’s support.

Nor would she make a stir in the Conservative Party’s turf, although they lost the President, that doesn’t mean they lost their base.

The President ended his presidency in a very "shameful" way, but saved the dignity and respect of the Conservative Party.

For the less reputation-damaged Conservative Party areas, they remain as unwelcoming to outsiders as before.

She could only run in a swing state, where she previously targeted a lack of significant competitors, and having spent a lot of money, even before the campaign started, she made herself somewhat known statewide.

The entire campaign team’s strategy was also very simple and effective, mobilizing female supporters to vote; the women-to-men ratio in the chosen swing state was almost equal.

But recently, a very strong opponent emerged.

The Conservative Party, after years of dormant contractions, seems to be plotting a return to activeness, and her opponent is a 42-year-old highly charismatic, decorated retired soldier.

After retirement, this soldier studied law independently and is now participating in the Governor race as a Lawyer.

His resume almost has no inappropriate points, soldier and Lawyer, fitting perfectly with Federation citizens’ need for politicians with such a background.

The Lawyer profession indicates he is at least rational and knows right from wrong.

And a military background means he won’t be as conservative as past Conservative Party politicians and possesses aggressiveness.

Politics, parties, never revolve around a fixed political platform; when they need to change, they do so faster than anyone else.

Just like years ago when the Progressive Party talked conservative strategy, now it’s the Conservative Party proactively moving into the radical camp.

Whatever citizens need, politicians give them, and then gain support, that’s politics.

Compared to these "old politicians" of the Conservative Party, Mrs. Tracy is somewhat...slightly out of touch.

In the Federation, it’s not impossible for someone with no political ability to win an election, as long as they have money!

That’s probably the most magical thing about Federation politics; candidates don’t need experience in politics at any Level.

Before they become Mayor, Governor, even President, they can be a singer, an actor, a chef, a beggar, or even a car washer.

Whether they have political experience doesn’t matter to voters or politicians.

But that’s not applicable everywhere, like in Congress.

To get a seat in Congress, lack of political experience makes it very difficult; that’s a side note.

So how does an inexperienced woman compete with her experienced, flawless-resume opponent?

Very simple, it’s a Federation specialty, spend money.

Yes, just spend money; it might be the world’s uniquely distinctive election.

More densely packed posters, more frequent events, high-priced drafted speeches, plus an outstanding campaign team, winning is easy.

A cat, a dog could win, this explains how sometimes Federation politics is utterly stupid.

However, after all, this is a capital-first country; doesn’t it precisely meet the capitalists’ needs?

Just spend money to support a Political Spokesperson.

Now if Mrs. Tracy wants to defeat her opponent, she either has to fork out more money or find her opponent’s weaknesses.

The campaign office advised her to use her father’s Mayor position for a political transaction to gain support from the State Senate, thus increasing her chance of winning as Governor.

Also, her uncle should leverage religious advantages, hopefully adding mystical background during television evangelism, to gain votes from constituents.

Finally, bring in a few million in campaign funds, and the problem won’t be big.

For the campaign team, the value and significance of a Mayor never surpass those of a Governor; hence, sacrificing a Mayor for local State Assembly’s support is very worthwhile.

Mrs. Tracy is considering this idea, she still isn’t quite sure how to bring up the matter with her father—

"For your beloved daughter’s political career, we’ve decided to let you retire early..."

A bit cruel.

"What if more money is procured?" Mrs. Tracy asked with her hand on her forehead, "If a million is secured, will it help our election?"

The ladies and gentlemen in the office who looked unusual nodded, and the leader of the campaign team gave a positive reply, "If there’s a million, it will certainly be very useful."

"But I still lean towards using your father for transaction; State Assembly support is more important than money; they themselves are a big net..."

The plan is actually simple, use the real-power Mayor position as a transaction to gain support from three to five state Senators, which isn’t hard.

Politicians care about the Mayor. It looks like just a Mayor, but it can accurately manage residents within a city’s work and life.

A Mayor can specifically impact a city’s industrial and commercial development and formulate policies.

If the superstructure is to sell political resources at a good price, then the lower politicians are the specific executors, and this executor’s position is very important.

Not only can some promised policies from upper echelon become reality, but also new city capitalists can be drawn into the party’s embrace; very important.

A Mayor transaction often involves very many, very complex relationships, as a pit can only hold one radish. As long as three or five state Senators support Mrs. Tracy, then with some public relations work, flipping the State Assembly won’t be hard.

After thinking for a long time, Mrs. Tracy rubbed her temples, "I need to make a call..."

The ladies and gentlemen in the room left one after another, giving Mrs. Tracy enough private space.

She picked up the phone, hesitated a bit again, eventually dialing Lynch’s number.

Dialed three different numbers to find Lynch; this is the most unsettling problem of this era, communication can’t sync timely.

Sometimes missing certain information can evolve into big trouble, and this "miss" keeps happening.

The moment the call was answered, Mrs. Tracy mustered her courage, and after two simple small talk sentences, sincerely said, "Lynch, I need your help."

On the other end of the line, Lynch didn’t sign a check without saying anything like the first time, nor say a few words before signing a check like last time.

This time, he refused.

"I’ve already given twice the money, Mrs. Tracy."

But even in refusal, it didn’t cause anger, instead Mrs. Tracy felt slightly embarrassed, ashamed.

Yes, Lynch gave twice the money, and now calling to demand election funds made her seem like a greedy, ugly shrew.

"I’m very sorry, I know this... is a bit excessive, but I really need help now," thinking of her election career, Mrs. Tracy braced herself and continued to ask.

"An unexpected opponent appeared outside the plan, and they seem very aggressive. Our analysis shows that maintaining the current situation makes it challenging to win the final election."

"You know, not just you, others have also invested considerable funds and Energy, myself included. We can’t just watch all these investments go to waste!"

"Not much needed, just three to five million will do. I will also use other methods to make up the gap between us..."

Mrs. Tracy explained recent happenings, Lynch felt a bit surprised after listening, yet not so surprised.

When there is no obvious strong candidate among Governor candidates in a state, particularly a swing state, that’s when politicians launch attacks on the state.

The swing state’s uniqueness lies in political stance shifts and uncertainty, meaning anyone has a chance, as long as they can let voters like them.

If people like a cat or a dog, as long as its owner has money to pave the way, it can win too.

"There are many ways to defeat an opponent, maybe we can sit down and talk..." Lynch didn’t agree directly but wanted to discuss with her.

Mrs. Tracy didn’t hesitate much, immediately agreed.