It was a powerful appeal to their emotions.

Murphy looked at the excited faces in the crowd below and knew the groundwork had been sufficiently laid.

Now, it was time for the main course.

"I know you’ve all heard too many speeches, too many promises."

Murphy’s tone suddenly turned pragmatic.

"You’re going to ask: ’Murphy, that sounds nice, but what can you do for us? Can you pay my bills? Can you pay for my kid’s tuition?’"

"Those are good questions."

"I’m not standing here today to make you empty promises."

Murphy turned, extended his arm, and pointed behind him at the massive port construction site, at the towering cranes.

"Take a look at these big boys."

"They’re not just for show."

"I’ve got a check right here in my pocket."

Murphy patted his chest.

"Five hundred million US Dollars."

"This is what I, John Murphy, and your Mayor, Leo Wallace, wrestled away from Washington, from the hands of those stingy bankers!"

"This money is already sitting in the city hall’s account!"

"It’s going to be used to expand this port, to make Pittsburgh the logistics hub connecting the Midwest to the world once again."

"It’s going to be used to renovate our communities, to give our seniors heat and our children schools."

"It’s going to be used to establish worker cooperatives, so you can be the masters of your own labor."

"What does this mean?"

Murphy held up three fingers.

"It means three thousand high-paying, Union-guaranteed jobs!"

"It means for the next five years, the machines here won’t stop, and your paychecks won’t either!"

"This is what I’m going to do!"

"I don’t want to talk about grand theories. I just want to talk about jobs!"

"I will bring Federation money back to Pennsylvania!"

"I will bring industry back to the Rust Belt!"

"I will make sure that every Pennsylvanian who wants to work has a decent job!"

Murphy walked to the very edge of the stage.

"This is my promise."

"I am John Murphy."

"I’m asking for your support not so I can become some official in Washington."

"It’s so I can go to Washington with a bigger hammer in my hand to smash open that locked door for you!"

"Let’s take back the era that belongs to us, together!"

The speech ended. After a moment of silence, an earth-shattering cheer erupted.

"Murphy! Murphy! Murphy!"

The workers waved their fists, chanting his name.

Under the shadows of the cranes, the wave of sound seemed powerful enough to shatter the fog in the river valley.

From the side of the stage, Leo watched the scene unfold quietly.

As he watched the commanding figure on the stage, Leo’s mind drifted back to the past three days—to the smoke-filled conference room where Murphy had recited this very speech, over and over again.

Ethan had written the speech, Leo and Roosevelt had worked out the logic, but its soul had to be injected by Murphy himself.

Murphy was old. His eyesight had deteriorated to the point where he needed reading glasses just to see a menu, and his memory was not what it used to be. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

To memorize the lines about the "Keystone" and the "Rust Belt New Deal," he had read them aloud again and again late into the night, refusing to stop even when his voice grew hoarse.

In the last half hour, he hadn’t glanced at the teleprompter once, nor had he stumbled over a single word.

He had etched every pause, every wave of his hand, every emotional inflection into his muscle memory.

This was an old gambler betting his entire political life at the table, unleashing his final burst of energy under the spotlight.

Even Leo had to admit that this old slicker, who had spent twenty years navigating Capitol Hill, really knew what he was doing.

"Brilliant."

Roosevelt’s voice rang out.

"He’s learned, Leo."

"He’s finally learned how to speak like a true leader."

"No matter what kind of backbencher he was before, at this moment, he’s worthy of the title of Senator."

Leo nodded.

The performance had been a success.

The tumultuous cheers traveled on the river valley wind, carrying far into the distance, over the Allegheny Mountains, all the way to Harrisburg and Philadelphia.

The curtain had risen on the race for Senator.

The fires of battle had been lit.