Chapter 1164: Unified Opinion

Since the call had already gone through, naturally they couldn't just chat about these things; soon, Senator Cleveland began talking about matters regarding the general election.

"This year, the federal government intends to hold even grander Saint Agriculture Festival celebrations in every region than in the past, so Congress is considering potentially pushing the election date to after the Saint Agriculture Festival."

"We have been having very intense discussions these past few days, and we are all quite supportive of this approach because the timing is too rushed."

"However, the Liberal Party has some different views. The things you gave me can help us resolve this disagreement very well."

The date of the Saint Agriculture Festival is October 25th, which is traditionally understood as "after the harvest."

In the Federation, this is a very important holiday, even on par with Christmas and New Year's Day. After all, it is closer to people's lives. When industry was not yet able to cover the entire Federation, and a large number of people still relied on agriculture and animal husbandry to maintain their livelihoods, the Saint Agriculture Festival was their most important holiday.

Participating in festival celebrations and praying for a better harvest in the coming year is very important.

Generally speaking, federal elections do not affect the Saint Agriculture Festival; voting is completed before the festival begins, and then the results are calculated after the festival.

But this time, the victory in the war and some other matters have all piled up together, which makes the federal government hope to use the festival to disperse some of the unhappy atmosphere among the people. This plan gained support, but it also created a problem: it conflicts with the general election.

If the festival is made grander, it will affect the voting. So, although the Liberal Party side agrees with doing it this way, they do not agree with it affecting the general election.

Thus, there was a disagreement. But if the popular presidential candidate himself takes the initiative to stand up and state that they are willing to support postponing the election, then the Liberal Party congressmen won't have any very good reasons.

If the presidential candidate himself isn't in a hurry, what reason does a congressman have to be so anxious?

At the same time, Senator Cleveland also reminded him, "How have you handled the issue between you and Luo Lan?"

"I am not urging you, just reminding you. After the new president takes office in January next year, if Luo Lan can get the support of the new president, he might be free from the constraints of the law and Congress. You should understand what I mean."

Lans gave an "mm" sound. "Presidential special order, I know what you mean. And you can rest completely assured, because very soon he won't be able to jump around anymore."

The two chatted briefly again, touching on the year-end bonus issue.

Like some "major shareholders," they certainly cannot be like those small shareholders who receive money every quarter. Their money is basically given in a lump sum at the end of the year. About 70 to 80 million in funds will pass through the foundation's account at once and be transferred into those accounts.

This year's list will have some adjustments. After the changes in congressional seats next year, some senators will lose their current jobs and status.

It's not that they are completely finished, unable to get back up after falling in the political arena; it's just that if they don't hold this power, then they don't deserve to enjoy better treatment.

Perhaps this is the reason why many people say federal citizens are always strictly business. It's not that they are truly strictly business, but that they value actual benefits very highly and are also very realistic.

Useful people have the qualifications to obtain more income.

And useless people, who have no value, naturally do not deserve to receive more income.

They will only sit down and talk about this matter in detail after Lans goes to New Jincheng. It will mainly be Senator Cleveland talking, and Lans listening.

After ending the call, Senator Cleveland looked at the phone and couldn't help but laugh twice. Just then, Tang Mu walked in from outside, and he asked curiously, "Is there something happy?"

Senator Cleveland looked up at him, "Just thought of some fun things. Is the car ready?"

Tang Mu nodded and said, "Ready to depart at any time."

The chief aide had been arranged by Senator Cleveland to serve as the speaker for the legislator of his "home state." Doing this was not very difficult. The reason for such an arrangement—transforming from an aide beside a core senator into the speaker of one of the state's two houses—ultimately, besides continuing to expand and fill his own political sphere of influence, was also a kind of insurance measure.

Changes in congressional seats might also fluctuate toward him, bringing some influence, more or less.

Perhaps it might not be so intense or obvious at first, but there would certainly be some signs.

Once the Liberal Party becomes the majority party, the congressional side will be led by them. By then, if they put some pressure on the governor's side or the state legislature's side, Senator Cleveland would be in a lot of trouble.

Federal senators are elected by the state government and the legislature, two people per state.

Of course, this is the rhetoric for the public, to ensure that the public believes the birth of a senator also has something to do with them, but in reality, it does not.

If the governor, lieutenant governor, or secretary of state are pressured by Congress, they might make some adjustments to the candidates for the congressional seats representing the state.

Even if it's not a real adjustment, just the transmission of these signals would make Senator Cleveland very passive.

Theoretically, such a thing is unlikely to happen, but what if?

To avoid the destruction brought by any political fluke that shouldn't appear, he arranged his most trusted chief aide to serve as one of the two house speakers, so that he could constrain the resolutions of the state legislature.

Once someone proposes to replace Senator Cleveland and bring another person into Congress, as long as one of the two houses doesn't pass it, this matter has to be discussed again.

This is equivalent to him arranging a bodyguard in his most basic place, a final defensive measure.

Right now, those people certainly haven't received any pressure, and they are of one heart with him, so this matter passed very easily.

If they start making small moves after Mr. Maple Yuan becomes president, then this speaker can play a big role.

When necessary, Senator Cleveland can use this springboard to directly carry out a counter-purge against those in his home state who oppose him.

So now, the only aides left beside him who are relatively close are Tang Mu and a few others, and Tang Mu is highly valued because of his close relationship with Lans.

Now, his daily work and life are basically arranged by Tang Mu.

Soon, he followed Tang Mu into the courtyard, got into his official car, and headed to Congress. Today, they still have to discuss the matter of whether to postpone the general election.

Originally, he didn't really want to participate, because it was highly probable that the discussion wouldn't yield a result. The power of the conservatives is still very strong in this era; they would feel that when there is a problem for which an answer cannot be quickly given, they should prioritize handling it according to "precedent."

But now it's different.

After he arrived at Congress and entered the conference room, many people greeted him along the way, but while some of these people's smiles were very sincere, many others began to become hypocritical.

Some even had a hint of mockery in their eyes, as if looking at an "emperor of the last century," full of ridicule.

The era belonging to Senator Cleveland was about to exit the stage, and this "era" of his actually hadn't lasted many years either; adding it up, it was only five or six years, which could be considered a very short-lived dynasty.

The unfriendly gaze of these people was manifested here: they coveted the power in Senator Cleveland's hands, waiting for his gradual decline and ultimate death, and then to divide the power vacuum he left behind.

As for these people, Senator Cleveland just kept them in mind; there would be plenty of opportunities to settle accounts with them later.

When he arrived in the conference room, the Liberal Party and the Social Party were sitting on both sides, already arguing over this matter.

Even though the number of Liberal Party congressmen was not large, they gave the Social Party side enough pressure in terms of momentum.

As for the Federal Party?

They sat in the corner and remained silent; no matter who won or lost, it wouldn't have any direct relationship with them in the end.

As one of the Federation's former "two parties," they had had a glorious period, but unfortunately, with the development of the world and the progress of society, they gradually became scraps.

Now there is even a saying in society, spoken with a joking tone, that if the Federal Party doesn't work harder and can't produce a powerful character, they might even lose to the Workers' Party in the end!

Senator Cleveland sat there and listened to them argue for a while longer, and when it reached the point of mutual accusations—just to strike at opponents, ignoring facts to accuse the other side of being stupid and other personal attacks—he took the initiative to call for a stop.

"Everyone's emotions are a bit intense. We should take a short break, and then we will discuss this issue again."

"This is Congress. We should be civilized people, not like barbarians solving problems."

"If you are not convinced, I can find a ring for you, and you can go up and have a fight."

Hearing this, the people on both sides who were arguing the most intensely closed their mouths. If they were really made to go to a ring and have a fight, that would truly be a huge loss of face.

Although the future is bright, it is still the late stage where the Social Party has the upper hand, and the Liberal Party has already gained the advantage in this confrontation. This is a huge progress and victory over these years.

Naturally, they wouldn't go further to provoke or trigger even more intense political struggles, so at Senator Cleveland's request, they immediately indicated that they indeed needed a break.

Taking advantage of the break, Senator Cleveland made a call to Mr. Maple Yuan.

He was preparing for activities. With the approach of voting day, the frequency of activities became increasingly frequent, and almost every day was fully scheduled.

When he made the call, it was Mr. Maple Yuan's rest time. From 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM was the only time he could rest during the day.

He needed to rest well during this time and recharge his energy so that he could participate in and attend the afternoon and evening activities with full energy, rather than letting people see a sickly candidate.

So it was easy for Senator Cleveland to find him.

"I just fell asleep!" Mr. Maple Yuan's tone was a bit impatient. He didn't have any subjective malice or goodwill toward Senator Cleveland, but his political stance and team forced him to treat this person as his opponent, so his tone wouldn't be very polite.

The senator didn't really care about his tone, because sometimes his own tone toward the Liberal Party people was also very unfriendly, even scolding them like scolding little children.

"We were just discussing the matter of whether to postpone the general election voting until after the Saint Agriculture Festival."

"Actually, we have always been discussing this matter. Putting the general election and the Saint Agriculture Festival together is indeed a bit too rushed. Perhaps we should take advantage of this opportunity to formally push it back. This would be good for us and for the future."

"In future general elections, candidates will have more time to canvass for votes and hold activities."

Mr. Maple Yuan frowned upon hearing this. "You should discuss this with the people in Congress, not call me and affect my rest!"

"I can't do anything!"

The senator continued to maintain his tone, which made it impossible to tell if he was angry or happy. "But you are the person involved, and a very important person involved. If you can stand up and express your willingness to support our proposal, then this matter will highly likely be finalized."

In the past, the general election was placed before the Saint Agriculture Festival because it was still a country dominated by agriculture, and the economic pillar of society was also like that; the proportion of agriculture and animal husbandry was relatively high.

A president needed to gain the support of large farm owners to have a chance to become president, rather than relying on those emerging entrepreneurs or whatever.

So, in order to gain the support of these people, they linked the general election and the Saint Agriculture Festival together to show their importance to the farm owners.

But with the development of the social era, this approach gradually became unable to keep up with the times, and change seemed necessary.

However, as the main person involved, Mr. Maple Yuan certainly wouldn't agree, because this relates to whether he can become president a little earlier.

He sneered. "I thought I had rested well, but I didn't expect it was you who hadn't rested well. Jeffrey, did you think about this matter too simply?"

Senator Cleveland smiled and said, "I'm just chatting with you. Maybe I can move you?"

Mr. Maple Yuan refused very decisively. "That's impossible, but I support you doing this during the next general election. Not this time."

Next time?

The presidential candidate next time wouldn't agree either. This is an answer that just keeps getting dragged on.

"It's a pity you can't agree to this matter."

"Speaking of which, I heard an interesting piece of news."

Mr. Maple Yuan immediately became a bit sensitive. Saying something interesting at a time like this was all for the sake of the plan he proposed to postpone the election.

"What interesting news?" he asked.

Senator Cleveland laughed twice. "Some rumors about little Maple Yuan. I don't know if they are true or false, but the rumors are very real, and there are even people's names and some information."

Mr. Maple Yuan's brow was already tightly knitted. He realized that the news might have been leaked, and not only that, but it had also fallen into this guy's hands.

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

"I am also very curious about the question you mentioned. What exactly is it about?"

Senator Cleveland laughed loudly twice. "Anyway, it's not a good thing. This is really terrible, and I don't know if it will affect your general election."

"You should ask little Maple Yuan, your grandson. If he really did something, you'd better be mentally prepared. After all, news like this coming out is very bad."

Mr. Maple Yuan took a deep breath. In his heart, he was constantly greeting his grandson and Senator Cleveland on the other side of the receiver, greeting their entire families, and even inadvertently greeting himself.

But the matter had already happened, and he had to find a way to solve this problem. He didn't know where Senator Cleveland got the news, nor did he know if the other party had evidence that could shake the foundation of his general election.

He didn't dare to take the risk. After all, this was a very bad rumor, and what was worse was that he had already let his son go to deal with the victim's family. He had no way back.

After a brief silence, he said softly, "I will educate that child well and let me know what wrong things he has done."

"Thank you for the news you provided, Jeffrey. What were you saying just now?"

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

Actually, thinking about it another way, he wouldn't regret anything because of this, because he is now the representative of the Social Party in Congress, so naturally, there will be very intense conflicts between him and the Liberal Party in the next four years!

This kind of conflict can be said to be a life-and-death one. After all, the power of Congress is only so great, and there are only so many seats.

If you occupy more, others will have less. The Liberal Party president is about to take office, and with the blessing of these forces, it is impossible for them to let Congress remain firmly controlled by the Social Party during their "dynasty period."

They will try every possible means to kick Senator Cleveland out of Congress. The political infighting will be very intense, even rising to the level of life and death.

So now he is expressing his attitude and bringing out some means, which is not excessive. On the contrary, it is a warning, telling the other party that he has goods in his hands.

Seeing Mr. Maple Yuan's "timeliness," he also laughed. "I was talking about the matter of postponing the general election until after the Saint Agriculture Festival."

"If you can take the initiative to stand out as the person involved and express your point of view, we can spend more time on things that are meaningful to this country, rather than sitting there arguing about whether or not to delay the time of the general election."

After Mr. Maple Yuan was calm on the phone for a while, he said, "I will call you later, and I will express my views on the phone."

"This is indeed a constructive opinion. We always put the general election and the Saint Agriculture Festival together."

"This has led to the general election not being chosen well, and the festival not being celebrated well. It really should be changed."

"Your idea is very important to me, Jeffrey. Thank you for your reminder. You can remind me about this phone call later."

Senator Cleveland had already achieved his goal. He smiled and said, "Thank you for your understanding and cooperation, David."

David is Mr. Maple Yuan's first name.

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

It could be heard that he was gritting his teeth while saying these words.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1165 =====