Shadow Empire

Chapter 1164 Reaching a Unified Opinion
Now that the call had gone through, it was impossible to just talk about these things. Soon, Senator Cleveland started talking about some things related to the election.

"This year, the federal government plans to hold larger-than-usual Saint Farm celebrations across the country, so Congress is considering postponing the election until after Saint Farm."

“We’ve been having very intense discussions these past few days, and we all support this approach because time is of the essence.”

"However, the Liberal Party has some different views, and what you've given me can help us resolve this difference very well."

The date of Sacred Farmer's Day is October 25th, which is traditionally considered "after the harvest".

In the Federation, this is a very important holiday, no less important than Christmas and New Year's Day. After all, it is closer to people's lives. When industry could not yet cover the entire Federation and a large number of people still relied on agriculture and animal husbandry for their livelihood, Sacred Farm was their most important holiday.

It is important to participate in festival celebrations to pray for a better harvest in the coming year.

Generally, federal elections do not affect the Saint Farm festival. Voting takes place before the festival begins, and the results are calculated after the festival.

However, the victory in this war, along with other events, led the federal government to hope to dispel some of the unhappiness among the public through the holidays. This plan gained support, but it also created a problem: it conflicted with the election.

If the festival is made more extravagant, it will affect the vote. So while the Liberal Party supports it, they do not support it influencing the general election.

This is where the disagreement arises, but if the leading presidential candidates themselves come forward to indicate their willingness to support postponing the election, then the Liberal Party members of parliament will have little good reason to back down.

Even presidential candidates aren't in a hurry, so why are you, a senator, so anxious? What's your reason?
Senator Cleveland also pointed out, "How did you handle the issues between you and Rowland?"

“I’m not urging you, I’m just reminding you that after the new president takes office in January next year, if Roland can get the new president’s support, he may be able to go free from the constraints of the law and Congress. You should understand what I mean.”

Lance hummed in agreement. “Presidential order, I understand what you mean, and you can rest assured, because he won’t be able to cause trouble any longer.”

The two exchanged a few more words and talked about the year-end bonuses.

Unlike smaller shareholders who receive quarterly dividends, major shareholders typically receive their money in a lump sum at the end of the year. A sum of approximately 70 to 80 million yuan is transferred to these accounts through the foundation's account.

This year's list will be adjusted, and some senators will lose their current jobs and positions after the changes in congressional seats next year.

It's not that they're completely incapable, or that they can't get back up after falling in politics; it's just that since they don't hold these powers, they don't deserve better treatment.

Perhaps this is why many people say that federal officials are always very businesslike. It's not that they are really just doing business, but that they value practical interests and are very realistic.

Useful people are entitled to earn more income.

Those who are useless and have no value naturally do not deserve more income.

They would sit down and discuss this matter in detail after Lance went to New Gold City. It was mainly Senator Cleveland who was speaking, and Lance was listening.

After ending the call, Senator Cleveland couldn't help but chuckle as he looked at the phone. Just then, Tom walked in from outside and asked curiously, "Is something good happening?"

The senator looked up at him. "I just thought of something fun. Is the car ready?"

Tom nodded and said, "We can leave anytime."

The chief aide was assigned by Senator Cleveland to serve as the speaker of a legislator in his "home state." This was not a difficult task. The reason for this arrangement, where an aide to a core senator was transformed into the speaker of one of the state's two houses, was ultimately not only to continue expanding his political sphere of influence, but also as a form of insurance.

Changes in his parliamentary seat could also affect him, bringing some degree of impact.

It may not be so strong or obvious at first, but there will definitely be some signs.

If the Liberal Party becomes the majority party, they will dominate Congress. If they then put pressure on the governor and the state legislature, Senator Cleveland will be in big trouble.

U.S. Senators are elected by state governments and legislatures, with two senators from each state.

Of course, this is just rhetoric to the public, to ensure that they believe the election of senators is related to them, but in reality, it is not.

Governors, lieutenant governors, and secretaries of state may make some adjustments to the selection of congressional representatives for their states if pressured by Congress.

Even if it's not a real adjustment, just sending these signals will put Senator Cleveland in a very passive position.

Logically speaking, such a thing is unlikely to happen, but what if it does?
To avoid any political mishaps that could lead to destruction, he appointed his most trusted chief aide as one of the speakers of both houses of parliament, thus controlling the state legislature's decisions.

If someone proposes to replace Senator Cleveland with someone else in Congress, the matter will have to be reconsidered if either house fails to approve it.

This is equivalent to him arranging a bodyguard in his most basic location, a last line of defense.

Those people haven't been put under any pressure yet, and they're on his side, so this matter was easily approved.

If they start making some underhanded moves after Mr. Porter becomes president, then the speaker can play a big role.

If necessary, Senator Cleveland could use this as a springboard to directly counter-purge those in his state who oppose him.

So now, the only close advisors left around him are Tom and a few others, and Tom is highly valued because of his close relationship with Lance.

Now, Tom basically arranges his daily work and life.

Soon he followed Tom to the courtyard, got into his car, and headed to Congress, where they would discuss whether to postpone the election.

He was initially reluctant to participate because the discussion was unlikely to yield any results. The conservative forces were still quite strong in this era, and they felt that when faced with questions that could not be answered quickly, they should prioritize handling them according to "conventional practices."

But it's different now.

When he arrived at Congress and entered the conference room, many people greeted him along the way. Some of their smiles were genuine, but many others began to appear insincere.

Some even looked at him with a mocking gaze, as if he were looking at an "emperor from the last century," full of ridicule.

The era of Senator Cleveland is coming to an end, and his "era" didn't even last long, only five or six years in total, making it a very short-lived dynasty.

The unfriendly look in their eyes is evident here: they covet the power in Senator Cleveland's hands, waiting for his gradual decline and eventual death, and then dividing up the power vacuum he leaves behind.

Senator Cleveland simply kept these people in mind, knowing there would be plenty of opportunities to settle scores with them later.

When he arrived in the meeting room, the Liberal Party and the Social Party were sitting on either side and had already started arguing about the matter.

Despite having a small number of Liberal Party MPs, they exerted considerable pressure on the Socialist Party in terms of their presence.

As for the Federalist Party?
They sat silently in the corner, knowing that whoever won or lost would ultimately have no direct bearing on them.

As one of the two parties in the Union, they had a glorious period, but unfortunately, with the development of the world and the progress of society, they gradually became marginalized.

There's even a joke circulating in society that if the Federalist Party doesn't work harder and produce a strong leader, they might eventually lose to the Workers' Party!
Senator Cleveland sat there listening to them argue for a while longer, and when it escalated to mutual accusations and personal attacks aimed at undermining their opponents by blaming them for being stupid, he called for a halt.

"Everyone's emotions are running high. We should take a short break before we discuss this issue again."

“This is Congress. We should be civilized people, not savages, and not solve problems like barbarians.”

"If you're not satisfied, I can find you a ring and you can go up there and fight."

Upon hearing this, both sides, who had been arguing most fiercely, fell silent. It would be truly shameful to actually put them in a fight in the ring. Although the future is bright, the Socialist Party's dominance is still in its final stages, and the Liberal Party has gained the upper hand in this confrontation—a significant advancement and victory in recent years.

They certainly wouldn't provoke further, or even incite a more intense political struggle, so at Senator Cleveland's request, they immediately indicated that they did need a break.

During his break, Senator Cleveland made a phone call to Mr. Porter.

He is preparing for the event, and as the voting date approaches, the number of events is increasing, with his schedule almost full every day.

He made the call during Mr. Potter's break time, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., which was the only time he could rest during the day.

He needs to rest well during this time and recharge so that he can participate in and attend the afternoon and evening events with full energy, instead of appearing as a sickly candidate.

So Senator Cleveland found him easily.

“I just fell asleep!” Mr. Porter said impatiently. He didn’t have any subjective ill will or goodwill toward Senator Cleveland, but his political stance and the faction he belonged to required him to treat this man as an opponent, so his tone was not so polite.

The senator didn't seem to care much about his tone, because he sometimes spoke very unfriendly to Liberals, even scolding them like children.

"We were just discussing whether to postpone the general election until after Saint Farm."

"We've actually been discussing this for a while now. Putting the general election and the Saint Farm festival together is indeed too hasty. Perhaps we should take this opportunity to officially postpone it. This would be beneficial for us and for the future."

"In future elections, candidates will have more time to campaign and organize events."

Mr. Potter frowned upon hearing this. "You should be talking to people in Congress, not calling me and disturbing my rest!"

"There's nothing I can do!"

The senator continued in a tone that revealed neither anger nor pleasure, "But you are a party involved, and a very important one at that. If you can step forward and express your willingness to support our proposal, then this matter will most likely be settled."

In the past, general elections were held before the Sacred Farm festival because it was still an agricultural country, and agriculture and animal husbandry accounted for a relatively high proportion of the economy.

A president needs the support of large landowners to have a chance of becoming president, rather than relying on emerging entrepreneurs or the like.

So in order to gain the support of these people, they linked the general election with the Sacred Farm festival to show their respect for farmers.

However, with the development of society and the times, this approach has gradually become outdated, and change seems necessary.

However, as the main party involved, Mr. Porter would certainly not agree, because it concerns whether he can become president sooner.

He scoffed, "I thought I was well-rested, but it turns out you're the one who wasn't. Jeffrey, aren't you oversimplifying things?"

Senator Cleveland said with a smile, "I'm just chatting with you, maybe I can win you over?"

Mr. Porter refused very decisively, “That’s impossible, but I support you doing it in the next general election, not this time.”

next time?
The next presidential candidate will not agree either; this is the answer to the repeated delays.

"I'm sorry, you can't agree to this."

"Speaking of which, I heard some interesting news these past few days."

Mr. Porter suddenly became somewhat sensitive, realizing that saying anything interesting at this time was all part of his plan to postpone the election.

"What interesting news?" he asked.

Senator Cleveland chuckled twice. "I don't know if some of the rumors about Porter Jr. are true or false, but they seem very real, and they even include names and some information."

Mr. Potter's brow furrowed; he realized that not only had the information been leaked, but this guy had also gotten his hands on it.

He asked calmly, "Can you tell me where you found out?"

"I'm also very curious about the question you raised. What exactly is it about?"

Senator Cleveland chuckled twice. "Anyway, it's not a good thing. This is really bad, and I wonder if it will affect your election."

"You should ask Porter Jr., your grandson. If he really did something, you'd better be prepared. After all, it's terrible news to come out like this."

Mr. Porter took a deep breath, mentally cursing his grandson and Senator Cleveland on the other end of the line, his entire family, and even inadvertently cursing himself.

But since it had already happened, he had to find a way to solve the problem. He didn't know where Senator Cleveland got the information from, nor did he know if the other party had any evidence that could shake the foundation of his election campaign.

He dared not take the risk; after all, it was a terrible rumor, and what was worse, he had already sent his son to deal with the victim's family, leaving him with no way back.

After a brief silence, he said softly, "I will teach that child a lesson and let him know what he did wrong."

"Thanks for the information, Jeffrey. What did you just say?"

Senator Cleveland knew his "threat" had worked, but the conflict between him and the future president began to escalate from that moment on.

Actually, if you look at it another way, he won't regret it because he is now the Socialist Party's representative in Parliament, so naturally there will be very intense conflicts between him and the Liberal Party in the next four years!

This conflict can be described as a life-or-death struggle, after all, Congress has only so much power and so many seats.

If you take more, others will have less. With the Liberal president about to come to power, and with the support of these forces, they are unlikely to let their "dynastic period" continue, and Parliament will still be firmly controlled by the Socialists.

They will do everything they can to get Senator Cleveland out of Congress; the political infighting will be extremely fierce, even to the point of life and death.

So it's not excessive for him to state his position and take some measures now; rather, it's a warning to the other party, letting them know that he has the goods.

Seeing Mr. Porter's "pragmatism," he laughed and said, "I was talking about postponing the election until after Santa Fe."

"If you can step forward and speak your mind as a party to the issue, we can spend more time on things that are meaningful to the country, instead of sitting there arguing about whether or not to postpone the election."

After a moment of calm on the phone, Mr. Potter said, "I'll call you back later and give my opinion on the phone."

"That is indeed a constructive suggestion. We always combine the general election with the Saint Farm festival."

"This has led to poor election results and poor holidays, and some changes really need to be made."

“Your thoughts are important to me, Jeffrey. Thank you for reminding me. You can remind me later that I should make this call.”

Senator Cleveland had achieved his goal, and he said with a smile, "Thank you for your understanding and cooperation, David."

David is Mr. Potter's first name.

"It's okay, I also support this proposal."

You could tell he was gritting his teeth as he said those words.

(End of this chapter)