"Me? I’m just an old-school Representative from the Rust Belt. What do I have to compete with? Me running for Senate would be a joke!"

Murphy rattled off a countless list of difficulties.

Funding, geography, party support.

Each one was an insurmountable mountain.

"Look at his eyes, Leo."

Roosevelt’s voice echoed in Leo’s mind.

"He’s listing the obstacles, but he hasn’t said he doesn’t want to."

"If he really didn’t want it, he would have just laughed at your ignorance and walked away. But this exasperated act right now proves he’s tempted."

"Fear is the shadow of ambition."

"The longer the shadow, the taller the object called ambition."

"He’s just terrified by the sheer size of the gamble. You need to help him overcome that fear. Or rather, you need to use a greater temptation to help him devour that fear."

Leo looked at Murphy, who was still rambling on about the difficulties.

He suddenly reached out, grabbed Murphy by the shoulder, and forcefully cut off his complaints.

"John! Look at me!"

Leo shouted.

Murphy stopped, looking at Leo in astonishment.

"It’s precisely because you’re just a Representative that you think this five-hundred-million-US-Dollar bond is a joke."

"It’s precisely because you’re just a Representative that you’re intimidated by that Vice Governor from Philadelphia."

"And it’s precisely because you’re just a Representative that you can’t solve my problem, and you can’t solve your own."

Leo released his grip and pointed to the bond proposal on the table.

"You think I’m talking to you about money?"

"No. I’m talking to you about votes. The votes of the entire state."

Leo walked over to the whiteboard, picked up a pen, and drew a crude map of Pennsylvania on it.

"You just said you have no name recognition in Philadelphia, no foundation across the state."

"That’s right. That’s the you of today."

"But what if you bring this five hundred million US Dollars back to Pittsburgh?"

Leo forcefully drew a circle on the western side of the map.

"This five hundred million US Dollars means we’ll start the Inland Port expansion, we’ll renovate three large communities, and we’ll hire thousands of workers."

"This isn’t just about construction projects; it’s about jobs. Real, high-paying, Union-guaranteed jobs."

"Do you know who lives in that vast expanse of countryside and small towns between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania?"

"It’s the forgotten white blue-collar workers. The people who used to work in factories and can now only find jobs as cashiers at Walmart." 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"They are the swing votes. The key to victory."

"That Vice Governor from Philadelphia, all he talks about is diversity, environmental protection, all those lofty concepts. That stuff works in Philadelphia, but in central Pennsylvania, in the Rust Belt, nobody understands it."

"But you can bring them something different."

Leo pointed at the circle.

"If you can help me secure this bond, you’ll be the man who brought jobs back to Pennsylvania."

"You’ll no longer be just an ordinary Representative from Pittsburgh. You’ll become the face of the ’Rust Belt Revival.’"

"We’ll use this money to create an economic miracle. And then, you’ll stand at the pinnacle of that miracle and tell the workers of this entire state, ’Look, this is what I can do for you. I don’t deal in empty promises. I give you jobs.’"

"That’s your campaign platform, John."

"With a platform like that, do you still need to be afraid of a Vice Governor who can only read from a script?"

Murphy stared blankly at the whiteboard.

His breathing grew ragged.

The picture Leo painted seeped into his blood like a poison.

"But... the funding..." Murphy was still putting up a final struggle. "Even with a platform, where am I going to find the fifty million US Dollars needed to run for Senator? The Democratic National Committee won’t give me any money."

"That’s why we’re issuing this bond."

Leo’s lips curved into a cold smile.

"A five-hundred-million-US-Dollar bond issuance. How many underwriters does that involve? How many law firms? How many engineering contractors?"

"Those bankers on Wall Street, as long as they can secure the underwriting rights and earn massive commissions, they’ll be more than happy to donate a little pocket change to a future Senator’s campaign fund."

"After all, the money never really leaves the hands of those capitalists. It’s just moving from their left hand to their right."

"And then there’s Morganfield."

"If he wants his port project to get off the ground smoothly, he has to support your bid for the Senate. Because only if you’re in the Senate can you secure more favorable policies for him at the federal level."

"Even if he’s backing Warren right now, I have ways to convince him to support you instead."

"As soon as this bond is issued, money will flow into your campaign account like water."

"It’s called using debt to fund a war."

Murphy felt a wave of dizziness.

He looked at the young man before him.

This was an insane, interlocking scheme.

Use a five-hundred-million-US-Dollar municipal bond to leverage a multi-hundred-million-dollar port project; use the jobs and benefits from the port project to leverage the entire state’s votes; and then use the massive chain of interests created by the bond issuance to feed Wall Street and the donors in exchange for campaign funds.

It was a perfect, closed loop.

It was also an out-and-out gamble.

It didn’t just hold Pittsburgh’s finances hostage, it held Morganfield hostage, it held the Pennsylvania Senate election hostage, it was even holding Sanders, the entire Progressive movement, and even the whole Democratic Party hostage.

Leo Wallace, this crazy young man, was about to shove everyone’s political future onto the table of this five-hundred-million-US-Dollar poker game.

"You..."

Murphy swallowed hard, his throat suddenly dry.

"You’re holding Washington hostage."

"No," Leo corrected him. "I’m giving Washington a reason they can’t refuse."

"If you want to win, if you want to go further, you have to take this crazy ride with me."

Leo walked to the office door and, with a CLICK, locked it from the inside.

Ethan had left the office at some point. Now, only the two of them remained, along with the proposal lying quietly on the table.

The air was thick with the scent of desire—the most primal craving for power.

"Come on, John."

Leo walked back to the sofa, sat down, leaned forward, and looked into Murphy’s eyes, which were now flickering with the fire of ambition.

"The door is closed."

"Now, let’s talk seriously."

"Let’s talk about how we’ll divide the work, how we’ll persuade those greedy bankers, and how we’ll handle those arrogant party bigwigs."

"Let’s talk about how to throw that title of ’Representative’ into the trash."

Murphy looked at Leo.

He saw the madness in the young man’s eyes, but he also saw the absolute confidence needed to control that madness.

He had spent too long in the noisy marketplace that was the House of Representatives.

So long that he’d nearly forgotten the true taste of power.

Now, the opportunity was right in front of him.

It was dangerous, it was insane, but it might be the last chance he’d ever get in his life to turn things around.

If he didn’t seize it, he would remain in that mediocre position until he retired, forgotten by everyone.

The fear was still there.

But ambition had begun to devour the fear.

Murphy took a deep breath.

He reached out and picked up the bond proposal from the table, the same one he had considered trash just moments ago.

This time, his hand was steady.

He turned to the first page.

"What’s our move?" Murphy’s voice was a bit hoarse, but firm. "The Wall Street crowd is tough to handle. We’re going to need a perfect story."

Leo smiled.

"I’ve already prepared the story."

"We just need a little catalyst."

At that very moment, Roosevelt’s voice slowly echoed in the depths of Leo’s mind.

"In this circle, people who are willing to sell out their ideals for personal gain are a dime a dozen. That’s not special; that’s just mediocre corruption."

"But to be able to accurately grasp someone else’s ideals, package them, put a price on them, and then sell them back to that person, making them willingly pave the way for you just to achieve their own ambitions..."

"You’re using him, but he thinks it’s all for his own benefit."

"Now *that* is real skill."

"You’re growing up too fast."

"Right now, you are on the path to taking a seat at the main table, to carve up this country with the real power players."