America 1982-Chapter 534 - 106: One VS Three
After Jeff finished his answer, the three people behind him couldn’t possibly attract the audience’s attention unless they streaked on the spot, because neither the live audience nor the voters in front of the TV could digest the shock the plumber had given them in just six minutes.
But Tommy listened intently to the next two speakers. Their statements were clearer than the previous ones. After listening, they would at least rank in the top three for the night in Tommy’s personal evaluation. However, American elections do not require such plain and unadorned presentations. They just need to be sensational.
Moreover, it was quite obvious that these two individuals did not have any major financial backers. They couldn’t even afford newspaper ads and had to rely solely on their own two feet to travel through the entire Eighteenth District. They had barely made it into this pool of candidates thanks to small business donations and public support. Should such a person actually get elected, they would only face two outcomes: either they would reluctantly change their original intentions or they would prove to be ineffectual and be ousted by their opponents after a single term.
The answer from James Meg, a black insurance broker, was to promote the district’s most important fruit growing industry by establishing a complete deep-processing production line, ensuring that from planting a citrus sapling to a bottle of canned citrus being shipped to supermarket shelves, the entire process would be completed within the district. This would create many job opportunities for local residents in different positions, while also calling on the government to provide subsidies to businesses willing to establish a complete chain within the district to quickly meet their workforce needs and put people to work, achieving a win-win situation.
This was the only answer in the five segments Tommy had heard tonight that seemed to offer potential benefits to the voters of the district. The problem might be that the black man lacked a well-prepared campaign team. Had he found a financial backer before the candidacy and filled his speech with more direct statistics to increase its stirring appeal, he would definitely not have been ranked as far back as fifth.
Raoul Wright, the mixed-race black owner of a furniture store, followed with the belief that to improve the district’s environment, it would be best to start by strengthening the tourism industry. After all, Miami is a world-renowned vacation destination that attracts a constant stream of tourists every year to enjoy their vacations. Most tourists concentrate in the Southern District due to the rapid growth and excellent reputation of Little Havana. It has become the first and last stop for most tourists arriving in Miami. The pressing issue is how to make the Eighteenth District the second stop for these visitors, encouraging them to spend money in the district. To attract tourists, he suggested adjusting the consumption taxes or considering the promotion of Jamaican culture and reggae music to compete with the Cuban culture of the Southern District, quickly establishing its own cultural features.
Upon hearing the furniture store owner’s ideas, Tommy couldn’t help but doubt if he was still in America. The answers from the two black men were more feasible than those from Jeff and everyone else. They were neither vague nor false. Their only flaw was that their speaking style, like their answers, was too plain to attract the attention of the general populace.
"Martin, the moment the primaries are over, call James Meg and Raoul Wright first thing to see if they are willing to have a frank talk with Jeff," Tommy said to Martin, who was watching Jeff on stage from the hallway of the studio, through a communicator.
Martin responded in a hushed and puzzled tone, "Both of these black guys have expressed support for the Cubans. According to your previous plan, shouldn’t I be airing news tomorrow of these ’n-words’ being beaten up by Cubans on the streets to celebrate their outstanding primary performance?"
The fate of the three black candidates had already been arranged by their boss. As long as these ’n-words’ showed the slightest goodwill towards the Cubans during the primaries, the news next day could have them cursed to oblivion by their angry black compatriots, not just within the Eighteenth District but across all of America.
Why the sudden change of heart now?
"Ruining them doesn’t conflict with acquiring their carefully prepared election plans," Tommy said calmly. "Whether or not they are given to Jeff, we still have to ruin them. If they provide more detailed plans, you won’t have to have your people make one up based on a partial two-minute speech. If they don’t provide it, your employees should also know how to copy it over."
"What’s the use of copying their ideas?"
"You can use them to do business with your company and politicians. These two ideas are only worth investing in if they get elected. But do you think either of them has the look of a winner?"
"Nope, if either of them gets elected, I’ll run for President myself," Martin said with certainty.
"But you can take their materials and develop them into two more detailed reports. Then, leveraging your reputation, you can do business with congressmen, repackage the ideas from two failed candidates as the politicians’ business affairs, like how to secure substantial subsidies or how to acquire land cheaply under the guise of creating cultural style," Tommy casually explained.
