Chapter 611 - 287: Bombardment

Pittsburgh. The data command center on the top floor of City Hall.

The lights here never went out.

Sarah Jenkins stood before a massive display screen, her fingers swiping across the touchpad, pulling up one complex web of personal connections after another.

"Boss, this is the final list."

Sarah sent the list to Leo, who was far away in Harrisburg.

"Thirty-five key swing votes from the Republican Party caucus in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Their districts are mostly located in the suburbs, exurbs, or on the fringes of the Rust Belt. They’re in poor economic shape, with heavy healthcare burdens."

Leo received the list, his eyes sweeping over the names.

In the game of traditional politics, these people were opponents, sworn enemies.

They belonged to the opposing camp. They opposed big government, welfare spending, and everything the Democratic Party stood for.

But in Leo’s big data model, they were just a group of opportunists, trembling at the thought of losing their seats.

"Let’s begin."

Leo put on his headset.

He was going to do the reaping himself.

...

The call connected.

The first target: Old Tom, a Republican Representative from Bedford County.

"Good evening, Representative Tom." Leo’s voice was steady, devoid of any pleasantries.

"Mayor Wallace?" a wary voice came from the other end of the line. "It’s late. What can I do for you? If you’re calling to persuade me to vote yes, you can forget it. My principles..."

"Your principles are firm, I know," Leo cut him off. "But I have some data here I think you should hear."

Leo looked at the numbers flickering on his screen.

"In your district, Bedford County, forty-three thousand voters have registered on the interest website for my Rust Belt Health Mutual Aid Alliance in the past two weeks."

The other end of the line fell silent.

"Forty-three thousand people. That’s forty-two percent of your district’s total population."

Leo continued, "Among them are farmers who have always supported you, retired truck drivers, and old women who pray for you in church. They’re all waiting to get my Red Card, waiting to buy insulin for thirty-five US Dollars."

"Mr. Representative, if you press that red ’nay’ button in the assembly, if you cause the bill to be delayed or killed..."

"Next Monday, ten of my mobile pharmacies will drive into Bedford."

"I’ll have them park right outside your campaign office and outside the church you frequent."

"They’ll have banners hanging on them that read: ’We want to sell you cheap medicine, but Representative Tom won’t let us. It’s Representative Tom who made your insulin cost three hundred US Dollars again.’"

"What do you think? When that time comes, will your constituents stick to your principles of free-market economics, or will they want to tear you to pieces?"

Heavy breathing came through the phone.

"You... This is extortion!" Old Tom’s voice was trembling.

"No, this is democracy," Leo corrected him. "I’m helping you understand the will of the people."

BEEP—

Leo cut the call and dialed the next number.

Montgomery County, Representative Miller.

"Mr. Miller, I’ve noticed the construction company under your brother’s name is bidding on the second phase of the Pittsburgh South District’s urban renewal project. That’s a ten-million-US-Dollar deal."

"If you press the green button during the bill’s vote, the Alliance Trust Foundation will add that company to our list of long-term strategic partners."

"If you press red, then I’ll have to suggest the audit bureau take a close look at his overseas building material purchases from that questionable source."

"It’s illegal lumber, isn’t it? I imagine that would prevent him from ever picking up a bid proposal for the rest of his life."

Next, Representative Crawford of Lancaster County.

"Mr. Crawford, the main hospital in your district is closing its emergency room next month due to severe losses. Your constituents will have to travel an extra thirty miles for emergency care."

"As soon as this healthcare bill passes, the Mutual Aid Alliance’s first round of funding will go to that hospital. Not only will the emergency room stay open, it’ll be upgraded."

"Do you want to be the hero who saved your hometown hospital, or the bystander who watches his neighbors die in the back of an ambulance?"

"The result of the vote in the assembly will be your answer."

Next.

"Ms. Rogers, you’re a mother. There are two thousand children with asthma in your district. If you stand in the way, I’ll have the mothers of those two thousand children stage a sit-in at your office."

...

Lyndon Johnson used a little black book, filled with dirt and leverage on congressmen, to work his will on Capitol Hill.

He knew who was afraid of his wife, who had gambling debts, and who wanted to build a dam.

He used threats and inducements to force the representatives into submission.

But now, Leo Wallace didn’t need a little black book.

He had a database.

He was more terrifying than Lyndon Johnson.

Through the Mutual Aid Alliance’s registration data, through social media browsing histories, through consumer data.

Leo knew exactly what the people in every district wanted and what they feared.

He turned these needs into bullets, loaded them into a gun, and pressed the muzzle to the foreheads of those Republican Party representatives.

To these rank-and-file representatives, the ideology of Washington was too distant, and the directives from the Republican National Committee were too abstract.

Only two things were real:

The next election’s votes and their angry neighbors.

"Mr. President."

Leo took off his headset after dealing with the last representative.

He felt a trace of fatigue.

’They’ll compromise, won’t they?’

"Of course."

Roosevelt’s voice echoed in his mind.

"Because the House of Representatives was designed, from its very inception, to make them afraid."

Roosevelt said, "Leo, you need to understand the essence of the American political system."

"Senators serve six-year terms. They’re high and mighty. They can occasionally ignore public opinion and play long-term strategic games because they’re the aristocrats."

"But representatives are different."

"They only have two-year terms, which means they’re in a perpetual state of campaigning. They have to watch every change in their community every day, shake every hand, and listen to every old lady’s complaint."

"They’re too close to the ground."

"And so, they’re also the weakest."

"When the tsunami of public opinion comes crashing down, a Senator might be able to hide out in his Ivory Tower for a bit, but a Representative can only be submerged."

"You just have to nudge the direction of the wind a little, and they’ll bend toward you like reeds in the wind."

"But..."

Leo looked at the data models on the screen, which had already turned from red to green.

’What if they actually have a backbone? What if they really do ignore public opinion and insist on voting no for the sake of their so-called principles?’

Roosevelt let out a sneer.

"Principles?"

"Child, don’t be so naive."

"In this circle, no one becomes a representative for the sake of principles."

"Why would they go to such great lengths—fundraising, giving speeches, enduring slander from the media, even selling their souls—just to climb into that position?"

"For power."

"For the power to control resources."

Roosevelt’s voice grew deep.

"In a capitalist society, power and money are the most important forms of hard currency."

"Money can buy goods, but power can define the rules."

"A representative, even just a representative in the State Assembly, can decide where a road is built, what a school’s budget is, and which contractor gets the contract."

"That is the thrill of controlling resources."

"That thrill is addictive."

"When a man gets used to sitting on the dais, used to being petitioned, used to holding the fates of others in his hands, it’s easier to ask him to die than to ask him to give up that position."

"If he ignores public opinion, the result is simple: he’ll lose the election."

"He’ll go back to being an ordinary person."

"He’ll lose that sense of control, lose the privilege of being toasted at the dinner table, lose the ability to arrange a job for a relative."

"That’s worse than death to him."

Roosevelt concluded.

"So, they don’t dare to gamble."

"Between keeping their seat and sticking to party principles, any fool knows which to choose."

"Besides, you’ve given them the perfect excuse: ’I’m doing this for the good of the people in my district.’ It allows them to vote yes while still saving face."

"You’ve given them a ladder. They’ll climb down."

Leo listened to these words, gazing at the night outside his window.

The lights of Harrisburg twinkled.

He felt as though he were operating a colossal machine.

A machine built from greed, fear, desire, and calculation.

He didn’t need to change human nature.

He only needed to exploit it.

’It’s over.’

Leo stood up.

All his plans were in place.

The Democratic Party had been hijacked.

The Republican Party had been fractured.

Public opinion had been ignited.

The chain of interests had been locked down.

He had done everything he could.

And even some things he couldn’t.

Now.

He just had to wait quietly.

Wait for that great door to be smashed open, for the old world to crumble before him.

Wait for his era to officially arrive.